REPLAY PROVIDES EXTRA EXCITEMENT

A cracking FA Cup replay at The Hawthorns on Wednesday night overshadowed the darker side to the night.

The extra-time 3-2 victory for Reading was fully deserved as they showed much more incisive football in the penalty area than West Brom.

The negative side was not being able to collect for Runcorn2wembley which meant only £35 was raised for Cancer Research through the donation of tickets from West Brom to me and Chris Horner.
I can't understand why West Brom didn't allow a collection, but the campaign was grateful for the tickets.

West Brom scored very early (not as early as the first game's nine seconds) before Reading made it 1-1 after just nine minutes.

A howler by the Reading keeper gave West Brom a 2-1 lead early in the second half before a great goal in the third of four added minutes sent the tie into extra time.

Reading's winner was excellent and they could and should have had more. The fans singing at the end while the team threw their tops over the sea of stewards was a memorable scene.

So Runcorn2wembley now goes to Reading for the third time as the sixth round draw pits them against Aston Villa.

I'm talking to Reading about a collection and hope we can have one. With just over £800 left to reach the £5,000 target, a collection will probably take us over the target.

With the semi-finals at Wembley, permission to collect around the ground before the game is proving difficult, which is why I hope Reading allow the collection.

I'm also hoping Reading 107fm will feature the campaign again, as this resulted in many people donating.

Updates will appear on here. Don't forget the match is in just nine days on Sunday 7th March at 1.45pm.

MIXED REPLAY NEWS

Just over 24 hours until the FA Cup fifth round replay between West Bromwich Albion and Reading.

Runcorn2wembley is unable to collect for Cancer Research before the game but will be attending thanks to the donation of five tickets by West Brom.

It's a huge blow to our collection target of £5,000 just ten days after collecting a record total for the campaign before the game at Reading. Almost £900 was donated by fans of both clubs taking the current total to £4,153.31.

If West Brom win and play Aston Villa in the quarter finals, a collection won't be allowed due to the proximity of the clubs. So everyone associated with Runcorn2wembley is hoping for either Crystal Palace or Reading to win.

If you would like to donate please go to www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles

The attending members of Runcorn2wembley will be highly visible in blue or white t-shirts at The Hawthorns tomorrow night.

See you there.

REPLAY OR NOT TO REPLAY

Back to the league action this weekend, but the next FA Cup adventure for Runcorn2wembley is just a few days away.

On Wednesday 24th Feb we travel to The Hawthorns for the replay between Reading and West Bromwich Albion.

After the record breaking collection before the thrilling 2-2 draw at Reading last weekend, Runcorn2wembley is waiting for confirmation on whether we can collect on Wednesday.

I'm hopeful the discussions with West Brom will end in a positive outcome, but the main thing is we are able to collect at the quarter final game, as the winner will be at home.

Further donations have come on the website www.justgiving.co.uk/richard-knowles and the target is getting closer and closer.

Thank you to everyone who has donated and I look forward to seeing the fans on Wednesday.

Runcorn2wembley will be in attendance at The Hawthorns although the numbers of people from the campaign is yet to be confirmed.

More updates on Monday.

A BRILLIANT DAY

Wow, and double wow! I'm still buzzing with excitement after yesterday's collection at Reading v West Brom in the FA Cup fifth round game.

Not only was it a classic FA Cup game, but Runcorn2wembley raised almost £900 from the fans of both clubs before the game, almost double the previous record amount.

Even celebrities managed to donate, with Chris Tarrant digging deep to one of the collectors.

The total of £875.58 has taken the amount raised for Cancer Research to an incredible £4,118.31, not far off the target of £5,000. Click here for the donation breakdown.

What's more, thanks to a late equaliser by West Brom, Runcorn2wembley now has another game to potentially collect at - the replay at West Brom.

I'll be in touch with West Brom tomorrow and see if this is possible. Either way Runcorn2wembley will be attending.

I was joined at Reading by my brother Rob, neighbour Neil Goodwin and friends Chris Corse, Chris Horner and John Horn. We suffered a few late drop outs due to family illnesses Valentine's Day.

Arriving at midday we quickly set about talking to fans at the main entrance to the complex near the away end.

I did a live interview with Dan Chisholm from Reading107fm about Runcorn2wembley and this had success with a number of fans donating after hearing the interview.

A trickle of fans became a flood and people we're even donating after the start of the game, despite Reading scoring after just 7 seconds!

We managed to see the rest of the goals, except I did miss the second goal while getting a pie!

In a match full of incident the four goals and two red cards served up a football feast for both sets of fans and the neutrals alike.

A big thank you must go to the collectors, fans of both clubs who donated, Reading107fm, Reading FC and West Brom FC for the help and support yesterday. Without it the collections wouldn't have reached the amount it did.

It was a very long day, leaving at 8.30am and arriving home at 9pm, but well worth it.

So on to the replay on Wednesday 24th February at The Hawthorns with a 7.45pm kick off. See you all there!

FIFTH ROUND PREVIEW

Well another round of the FA Cup 2009/10 is upon us and for the second round in a row Runcorn2wembley is travelling down to Reading.

The Royals play Championship rivals West Brom, in the fifth round of the FA Cup, the winner progressing to the quarter finals.

With just three matches to go after this round, Runcorn2wembley is hoping for a big collection to help reach the target of £5,000 for Cancer Research.

Big thanks and much appreciation to Reading FC for allowing us to collect before the game against West Brom, particularly to Sara.

We're still looking for more helpers tomorrow so if you would like to volunteer just ask one of the collectors you see and I can supply buckets and t-shirt.

With the current total at almost £3,250, everyone associated with Runcorn2wembley is hoping to get near £4,000 after tomorrow.

So to everyone who's going, please dig deep and help us raise vital funds for Cancer Research.

The FA has promised to put information about the campaign on their Facebook page, so keep a look out on there.

More coverage is coming in of Runcorn2wembley. I'll update that next week with links.

Safe trip for all the fans tomorrow, see you at the Madejski from midday!

A BIG WEEK

Another week has slipped by and it's FA Cup week again. This time we're focused on the fifth round of the competition as we aim to reach the target of £5,000 for Cancer Research.

The good news is Reading has given Runcorn2wembley permission to carry out the usual pre-match collection before the game against West Brom on Saturday.

As the total collected so far is now almost £3,250, everyone connected with Runcorn2wembley is hoping we collect enough to take us near the £4,000 mark.

I've spoken to The FA and hope to have the campaign featured on the organisation's Facebook page, and maybe website.

For the next round I'm hoping we can link up with the FA Cup Trophy Tour with one of the teams Runcorn2wembley is following.

A cold week beckons and I can't wait for the spring and summer weather for the last couple of rounds of this year's competition.

More updates later this week.

FOUR ROUNDS TO GO

So with only four rounds (including the final) of the FA Cup to go, Runcorn2wembley is still short of the target of £5,000 for Cancer Research. To date we've raised just over £3,200.

In two of the last three rounds the campaign has been unable to collect at the grounds before a game.

At MK Dons we got over that predicament when the Asda store next door kindly allowed us to collect outside before the game.

Unfortunately, after being unable to collect at the Madejski Stadium, the major stores around the ground wouldn't allow a collection.

At least with MK Dons we were given up to eight tickets and we donated the value of the tickets to Runcorn2wembley.

But at Reading we were given two tickets, but had to buy two tickets and pay for car parking, meaning the donation to Runcorn2wembley by Reading was a minus figure. This was made even more frustrating as we had an 8-hour 420 mile round trip to watch the game.

Reading did put a small piece of editorial in the matchday programme. We did receive a donation from fans after the game, but this was from Burnley fans we chatted to outside the ground.

Fingers crossed we can have a collection of some kind at the next game, as we're off to Reading again, as they take on West Bromwich Albion.

The FA has offered to invite Runcorn2wembley to the trophy tour at some stage, although this is yet to be confirmed and the promise of a phone call last week failed to happen.

We're yet to hear back from Reading regarding the collection and any help at the next round.

Further updates later this week along with even more coverage.

ROYAL VISIT HALTS FUNDRAISING

So the eleventh game in the epic journey by Runcorn2wembley took my brother Robert, myself and two other volunteers(Chris Corse and Chris Horner) to Reading, for the FA Cup fourth round game against Burnley.

Unfortunately the usual pre-match collection wasn't allowed by Reading due to another collection for Guide Dogs for the Blind, another worthy cause which we didn't want to disrupt.

So after a 210-mile, four hour drive, Robert and I met with the two Chris' and set about meeting and talking to the fans.

We started at the away end as Burnley had kindly put information on their website and we had met many fans at the previous round in Milton Keynes.

Indeed this has already proved successful with an online donation made from some of the fans we met. Thank you very much Anthony and team!

Reading did provide two complimentary tickets and programmes (that contained an article about the campaign), although we did have to pay for another two, the expensive muddy field car park and watch a pretty drab first half.

The second half was much better and just when we though we would be collecting at Turf Moor a week on Tuesday, Reading got the winner. On overall play it was probably deserved.

So the draw for the next round takes us back to Reading and we can only hope we can get nearer our target with a collection at the game against West Bromwich Albion.

More news on that here when it happens.