I approached the prize table, winning raffle ticket in hand. The only question was whether to go
for a bottle of red or white wine. It had been an entertaining evening at the Tilehurst British Legion
Club, listening to Glen Little and Jamie Cureton reminiscing on happier times for Reading fans.
A bottle of wine for the price of a raffle ticket would round things off nicely.
Then I spotted two grubby, tatty, torn objects tied together with what appeared to be an ancient frayed pyjama cord. All thought of alcohol left my mind. These sorry looking shinpads bore the initials II and the number 16. No need for explanations to Reading fans as to the contribution that Ivar Ingimarsson made to our club in his years of service from 2003-2011. Here was my chance to grab a physical relic of that magical 106 season.
In my mind those shinpads battled their way through every match of that wonderful promotion season. The they went on to all those famous grounds in the land, being kicked by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo Thierry Henry and Fernando Torres. It may be that in truth they only saw service for Valur RC Reserves in Iceland back in the day. One thing’s for sure, if I ever happen to meet Ivar I won’t risk asking him!
This piece of memorabilia is from Andrew Stone
Ivar Ingmarsson’s shinpads are now on display at ‘Collected – an exhibition to celebrate 150 years of Reading FC’ at Reading Museum, Sir John Madejski Gallery.