shirt, brown velvet suit and snakeskin boots, sat on the steps of the church and rolled a joint. Friday had invited about two hundred people, mostly friends and relatives from London, who joined in the drinking and drug-taking and ending up fighting each other and stealing the couple's wedding presents, one of which was a large quantity of cannabis. Liza later called the wedding "the most hilarious thing ever". "I have been to a few weddings", recalled Rod Lewington, "but never one like that." Later 1976 "He lost his way when we got promotion", Hurley later reflected. "He really must have celebrated all through the summer". Friday reported back for pre-season training in bad condition, and although Hurley claimed that Friday was trying hard to regain fitness, the forward was having trouble with his asthma, had lost some of his pace and was obviously unfit. Although his performances during August quickly improved, they were still not up to his previous standard and the Evening Post revealed on the 30th that Reading were preparing to sell him "to a First Division club". After scoring in two successive Reading home wins on 4 and 7 September, against Walsall and Wrexham respectively, Friday took part in a third consecutive victory on the 13th, away against Northampton Town. After this he missed two matches, according to the Post because he was suffering from flu, and when he returned to the team was far from his best; "Suddenly he had lost a yard and his control of the ball was not as good", Hurley recalled. Hurley was by now aware that his forward was using drugs, and attempted to keep his player's habit a secret while he patiently worked to bring him back around. However, Friday began to regularly miss training and Hurley's subtlety was misinterpreted as inaction by the other Reading players, who became unsettled and complained about Friday's conduct. The club became increasingly minded to sell him, but although top-flight clubs Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United were interested, they were reluctant to buy because of Friday's temperament; in Downs's words, "They weren't sure they could handle him". By the end of October 1976, Hurley had given up on attempting to rehabilitate his player, believing that the only solution was to sell him to a bigger team. "The squad needs you but I owe it to the club because I can't have