It’s Groundhog Dai! Reading’s Chinese owner has overseen £191m in losses, 16 points deducted and relegation – now Royals fans are mobilising AGAIN before it gets worse… PLUS it’s party time for Southend and Scunthorpe
- Reading have fallen from the Premier League to League One within a decade
- Darren Moore was sacked by Sheffield Wednesday despite earning promotion
- Click HERE to listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport’s ‘It’s All Kicking Off’
Sell before we Dai. Do or Dai. Groundhog Dai. They are just three phrases to sum up the monumental mess at Reading, who have total losses north of £191million and have been docked 16 points by the EFL in the last two years, which has seen them fall to League One.
Royals fans, who watched their club in the Premier League little over a decade ago, point the finger mainly at Chinese owner Dai Yongge. Since taking over the club in May 2017, Reading’s wage bill has eclipsed their income and the club have been stalked by EFL investigations.
‘The EFL remains extremely frustrated at the consistent failures of the club’s ownership,’ began an EFL statement in August as they imposed a one-point deduction with three suspended.
Two weeks ago, those three points were docked, as the EFL noted Reading’s ‘latest instance of non-compliance’.
Upon relegation from the Super League last season, Reading’s women’s team were downgraded from full-time to part-time and the men’s academy has taken a hit due to lack of funding.
Reading owner Dai Yongge (left) has born the brunt of the blame after £191m losses and numerous points deductions
Reading’s women’s team was relegated from the WSL and therefore went from full-time to part-time
The men’s team were relegated from the Championship last season after being deducted 16 points in two years by the EFL
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The Royals have had dark days before and rallied around, of course. In 1983, Oxford United owner Robert Maxwell agreed to merge the club with Reading to form ‘Thames Valley Royals’. That did not happen due to staunch protests from fans of both clubs.
At the turn of the century, fans made the Players Are Not Trying Sufficiently (PANTS) group and waved underpants at the shoddy on-pitch performances. So the Groundhog Dai puns used by some supporters this time around is quite apt for a fanbase accustomed to peaceful but effective protests.
But Reading now are arguably at their lowest ebb and the fans are angry.
‘The latest owner has continued to bring this Reading down to the point where we now find ourselves in an existential crisis,’ read a Supporters’ Trust at Reading statement this week.
‘We hope that credible buyers will step forward and the owner will sell his full stake in Reading to new custodians. We urge DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) to use Reading FC as the test case for the new regulator to ensure that it is fit for purpose.’
So, how did Reading get themselves in this almighty mess? The answer warrants a full-length book, but here goes a summary.
It starts like many stories of financial woe across the EFL, as Reading originally had an influx of funding under Dai which led to losses of £57m in the first four years, ultimately breaching Financial Fair Play regulations in 2021. Too much money was used in an abysmal way.
The Royals threw money at players in a boom-or-bust approach with the aim of getting back into the Premier League. Reading were forced to operate under an agreed business plan but still managed to breach profit and sustainability regulations.
Talented young players like Michael Olise were sold on the cheap with the talented star going for just £8m to Crystal Palace
Ruben Selles has done an admirable job under such chaotic circumstances at Reading
After years of points deductions, EFL breaches and losing key players on the cheap — Crystal Palace’s highly rated Michael Olise left for little over £8m in 2021 — the situation reached a nadir last season when they were inevitably relegated to the third tier.
And so fans are right to fight back against the sorry state of affairs. ‘We’ve done a couple of different protests now, including a “sit-in” for the Peterborough game and the tennis-ball protests for the Bolton and Burton matches,’ says Adam Jones of the Sell Before We Dai campaign.
Fans threw tennis balls on the pitch in a peaceful but effective protest due to their visual impact.
The initiatives have the support of local MPs across political parties such as Bracknell’s James Sunderland, who has urged the Government to use Reading as a pilot in potential regulators for our game. Former prime minister Theresa May is part of a cross-party group supporting Reading.
On the pitch, former Southampton boss Ruben Selles is doing an admirable job in chaotic circumstances, as is director of football operations Mark Bowen, who has brought some good players to the club with hamstrung finances, such as Robbie Savage’s highly rated son, Charlie.
Sources close to the club say CEO Dayong Pang has rarely been seen at the Bearwood Park training base in recent months, with on-pitch boss Selles often fronting up to scrutiny and questions he does not know the answer to himself.
Reading go into this weekend 22nd in the table with just one win in the last six league games.
Jones adds: ‘I fear we will be heading into administration sooner rather than later if the club isn’t sold, and that’s a scary thought.’
Fans have protested against Yongge’s ownership by throwing tennis balls onto the pitch
Charlie Savage was signed under director of football Mark Bowen from Manchester United
Southend and Scunthorpe in party mode
While it is more bad news — and more protests — for Reading fans, two clubs who were in a similar situation are now in party mode.
On Wednesday, Southend United had a winding-up order dismissed, while Scunthorpe United announced they had found a new custodian.
Both teams have been marred by years of mismanagement off the pitch and have sunk through the divisions, with the very future of their clubs hanging by a thread. But now it is time to celebrate, at last.
It was expected to be a funereal atmosphere at Roots Hall in Southend’s game on Tuesday evening, with the club set for a date with destiny in the High Court the following morning.
But with news of Justin Rees’s impending takeover, there was fancy dress and plenty of dancing. I’ve followed the travails of the Shrimpers from afar for a few years. Above all, I have been taken aback by the journalism and campaigning of Southend Echo reporter Chris Phillips.
He has helped put pressure on Ron Martin to sell the club and worked tirelessly to bring fans the latest news. I am happy for Phillips and other fans, who can finally celebrate.
Fans have protested against owner Ron Martin and put pressure on him to sell the club of late
Wednesday’s potential manager swap
A potential manager swap at Hillsborough this Saturday as Darren Moore returns to Sheffield Wednesday with his Huddersfield side — and former Terriers boss Neil Warnock is said to be in contention for the Owls job.
Moore was let go by much-disliked chairman Dejphon Chansiri this summer despite working wonders at Wednesday by getting them promoted to the Championship, including overcoming a 4-0 first-leg deficit in the play-off semi-final.
Darren Moore was sacked by Sheffield Wednesday despite helping them get promotion from League One
And Warnock, who left the Terriers to make way for Moore, is said to be in line to take over at Wednesday despite his Sheffield United allegiances. He would have a monumental task on his hand, though.
Wednesday have had their worst start to a league season in club history, with just two points in their first 10 games culminating in the sacking of Xisco Munoz.
Elsewhere in the sack race, many feared trigger-happy Watford were ready to part ways with another manager this week.
But Valerien Ismael, who has had a slow start — two wins from 10 — has instead signed a new deal. Credit to Watford for sticking by Ismael but a contract extension seems a little bizarre.
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