morganb https://www.cityam.com/ahead-of-the-game-reading-fc-hero-emerges-as-potential-saviour/
Former Reading chairman Roger Smee is considering making a last-ditch attempt to rescue the club from the ownership of Dai Yongge.
The 76-year-old property tycoon, who also played for Reading in the 1960s and 1970s, is already a hero among older fans for helping to block Robert Maxwell’s proposal to merge the club with Oxford United when he was on the board in the 1980s.
Smee went on to become Reading chairman after ousting Maxwell, before selling up to John Madejski in 1990 with the club in financial difficulties.
With Reading’s cash-flow problems approaching crisis point, City AM has learned that Smee has held initial talks about funding a rescue package.
Reading have been on the market for over a year but Yongge has been unable to sell, partly due to a number of outstanding loans the Chinese businessman has taken out which are secured against the club’s stadium.
A £25m sale to former Wycomber owner Rob Couhig was agreed last summer but collapsed in September and the club now face a struggle to meet their operating costs for the rest of the season.
A £5m loan from Couhig was repaid by Yongge in September, leaving Reading short of funds to pay the wages of players and staff.
The club announced that they had entered exclusive negotiations with another buyer in October but their identity remains unknown.
Be wonderful if it could happen but how would he be funded (and when would he reappoint Ian Branfoot)?
