Published: Thursday, 30th April, 2009 9:00am

Premier ambition

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Sir John Madejski

LOVE it or loathe it, there is no escaping the fact that football is a major factor in all our lives.

Time and again it has been shown that a football club's success rubs off on the local economy and community because the feelgood factor kicks in and gives everyone something to smile about.

We know that feeling because, after an incredibly long wait, Reading Football Club reached the promised land for the first time in 2006. We loved being in the Premiership and we want the Royals back there again.

Despite the town's other undoubted attributes, the football club really put Reading on the map when we began rubbing shoulders with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. Not just in this country but further afield. Good heavens, people even started pronouncing the name Reading correctly.

Those two marvellous Shane Long headers at Carrow Road on Monday mean that, once again, Steve Coppell's team stands on the brink. On Sunday lunchtime those who cannot be at the Madejski Stadium will pack pubs, clubs and living rooms to watch the Birmingham City game on television.

Naturally it's not that simple. Straight victory is not enough.

We'll all have one eye on Selhurst Park where we hope Coppell's former team Crystal Palace, managed by Neil Warnock who's had some well publicised bust-ups with the Reading management in the past, can prevent Sheffield United winning. United, of course, were managed by Warnock when they dropped out of the Premiership themselves.

If it sounds like a whodunnit thriller, then fingers crossed we get a happy ending.