Villa’s rise and Reading’s ruin should provide context for...

Many people are rightfully frustrated with Fulham’s performance against Aston Villa, particularly with the changes

and extra time. The Whites’ lack of urgency in moving the ball to the opponent area made it easy to believe they were

ahead.

The chance to win a point that would have brought us closer to Europe, which has been tantalisingly close for so

much of this season, made it difficult to watch, whether at Villa Park or on television. Both so near and yet far away.

However, when watching a lot of football on Saturday, I couldn’t help but think of two teams that we used to play

against in the Championship and the paths we’ve all taken since. First and foremost, we defeated our hosts that day

in the Championship Play-off final on that historic, sun-drenched day in 2018.

Since then, Villa has been on what seems to be an endless upward trajectory. They made it to the Conference League

the following season, barely survived, brought in a top-tier manager, and then went one step further to make it to the

quarterfinals of the Champions League this year.

It’s been intense, and it’s unbelievable to consider that Tyrone Mings and John McGinn, two players from the team

who lost to us at Wembley seven years ago, were also on the team over the weekend.

But it’s a reminder that we can dream, that making the right decisions and building the right squads under the right

A manager can produce magic that seems sustainable. Villa has been on the brink of PSR for a while, and they have a

far bigger stadium and fan base, but that shouldn’t detract from how well-assembled they are to accomplish their

objectives.

While Fulham’s current situation may seem far apart, consider Reading as a counterexample. On Friday, Reading’s

journey from a Championship team vying for promotion to one that feared for its own survival as a football

institution came to an end.

There was nothing I detested more than Reading Football Club back in 2017, when they eliminated Fulham from the

playoffs at the Madjeski. I rode on that ill-fated bus back to the station, seeing Tom Cairney be wooed and jeered by

pitch-invading Reading supporters. However, they went from being one game away from the Premier League to a

nightmare you wouldn’t want to happen to your worst enemy.

For the Royals supporters, it has been one setback after another: unpaid players, relegations, the sale of the training

facility, and the dissolution of the women’s team. The supporters have taken the fight to their absent ownership and

won—and they deserve all the love and recognition for it—thanks to tenacious pressure organisations and a team on

the pitch made up primarily of academy graduates and free agents who are fighting much above their weight. In

seconds, a dream became a horror.

I say this not so much to express sympathy for Reading or to imply that we should be thankful for our circumstances,

but rather to emphasise the fact that Reading, Fulham, and Villa all participated in the same 2017–18 Championship

and are now in quite different situations.

Football is fleeting and fast-paced. Being the best version of ourselves should always be our goal, and Saturday’s

dissatisfaction is a perfect example of how that doesn’t always happen. Although Villa’s Champions League successes

seem far away, they are far closer to us than they are to Reading, and while it will be painful if we lose out on Europe,

I still think we are headed in the right direction.

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