WAGS

The Wives and Girlfriends of footballers are pretty famous for living it up and flashing the cash. During the World Cup this year there were almost as many stories about the WAGS and their behaviour and spending habits as there were about the fitness of various England players.

So it is really nice to see a group of WAGS raising the cash instead of splashing the cash. The Wives and Girlfriends of the Reading Footballers have got together under the banner of the Royal Families charity, which was set up by Amanda Hahnemann and Karen Murty (wives of goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and captain Graeme Murty). They aim to raise sixty thousand pounds throughout the season for local charities.

We went to the launch event last night at the Madejski Stadium. The Champagne tasting night was the first of six fundraising events organised by the WAGs so far and raised over Thirty Two Thousand Pounds!

At least nine first team players were at the event (a fact which delighted my Reading fanatic son who came with us) and they took part in the event with great enthusiasm. At least two Reading players won the bidding for some of the auction items. Ibrahima Sonko walked away with a weekend break in Iceland and Steve Sidwell was seen leaving the event dwarfed by the two giant cuddly dogs he had bought in the auction.

Hats off to the Royal Families for a really positive initiative.