麻豆社

Reading FC captain Graeme Murty and his wife Karen are regular fixtures on the Andrew Peach breakfast show every morning. The emotional couple bravely still turned up the day after Reading were relegated to the Championship to reveal their feelings and speak to fans.

Listen to the full interview here or excerpts below:

Andrew Peach: Can you put into words what it feels like waking up as a Championship player this morning?

"Not really. I don't know what you're on about 'wake up' - I've not been asleep yet."

"Your best efforts over ten months, almost a year of hard work, isn't enough."

Does it make it worse that it's not quite enough, does it make it worse that you get relegated when you win 4-0?

"It's just all a horrendous feeling to have so many games go by and to realise that at the end of it you haven't been good enough collectively. We're going to be looking at ourselves for months to come.
"It's a very bitter pill to swallow but you have to deal with it."

Take us to the dressing room afterwards, presumably you knew throughout the game what was going on, and as soon as Fulham scored you knew on the field of play.

"Ish."

Graeme Murty taking calls from fans

So even when Lita scored and it was 4 rather than 3, you knew it was all over?

"Leroy left with his family yesterday, and I texted 'I'm really sorry for not celebrating with you mate, but it all seems a bit pointless'. I would have loved to have had 20 minutes more because we could have had four more goals and made up the goal difference. But it's not about yesterday, we've always espoused that it's 38 games that you're judged on, and unfortunately we weren't good enough."

What did Steve Coppell say in the dressing room?

"He said 'You've done everything I've asked of you today, you've pushed on as hard as you can'. He shook all of our hands. We wanted to go back out on to the pitch and thank all the fans because they were brilliant but the stewards advised us against it."

It's still an emotional scene this morning.

"It's still very raw and I think people are making snap decisions and snap calls. It's a harsh reality but you have to deal with it. I have a great support structure in place with my wife and family and they're going to have a hell of a time trying to get me back up but I'm sure they will. You've got to come back ready for pre-season and I hope touch wood that the manager is still there."

You were really up for it Karen yesterday...

"When we arrived at Derby yesterday, going through the turnstiles and on to the concourse it was just amazing, the noise from the fans was just fantastic. We were really up for it as were the boys obviously to get the result that they did. It breaks my heart to know what it means to Graeme..."

Graeme and daughter Freya at 麻豆社 Radio Berkshire

"It was going our way for so long, and We had to put up with the Derby fans constantly making noises the whole way through, 'ooh that's it Fulham have scored now'. Inevitably it did come at that point.

"They are going to have to pick themselves up but it's horrible. It's just not what we wanted."

Will Reading FC be recognisable as a squad come August?

"I hope so, I hope the club aren't in a situation where we have to sell. Having said that I'm sure that players will be trying to plot their way out of it because the Premiership is the play where people want to play. But for my own part I hope we keep as much of the nucleus of the squad together as possible because I think the continuity is something that we need. I personally think that the manager knows the players well enough to get the best out of them this season."

"Part of my job as a captain is to ensure that come the first day of pre-season that the mentality is correct, that we don't take anything for granted and that we work hard to get back into the Premier League."

Listen to what the fans think of Reading FC's performance over the weekend: