Royals Face Opening Day Trip To Derby
Last updated : 13 June 2002 By Rob Cooper
The season starts for the Royals at Pride Park on Saturday 10th August, with both sides new to the First Division. It will be a difficult game for the Royals as the Rams are amongst the favourites for promotion.
Three days later Reading face their first home game in Division One, they will play Hillsbrough giants Sheffield Wednesday. The third match sees the Royals play another home game, this time at home to Coventry on Saturday 17th August.
Other dates worth noting include the August bank holiday visit of Burnley; the Boxing Day fixture at Coventry; the New Years Day fixture at home to Leicester and the visit to Stoke on the final day of the season.
All evening kick off games at the Madejski Stadium next season will kick off at 8pm.
Kevin Dillon told the Reading FC Official Site how he felt about the Royals gruelling first four games against Derby, Sheffield Wednesday, Coventry and Leicester:
“With the games we've got at the start we'll be going straight into the boiling kettle! Our first four games are against teams who have been in the Premiership in the last three years, and we couldn't really have asked for a more lively start!”
