Embargos, HMRC Payment defaults, non payment of wages, the usual under Dai Wrongge

[From Despair To Where?]

We may be a very large fish but that's in a league we're attendances are counted in the hundreds.

I'd look at the example of someone like FC United. They average about 1500.

Aldershot average about 2,500 in the National league.

The big issue would be finding a "home" which in all likelihood would not be in Reading.

[Snowflake Royal]

We may be a very large fish but that's in a league we're attendances are counted in the hundreds.

I'd look at the example of someone like FC United. They average about 1500.

Aldershot average about 2,500 in the National league.

The big issue would be finding a "home" which in all likelihood would not be in Reading.

I'd look at Wimbledon and add some.

FC United are a Man Utd splinter club. Nothing like comparable.

For the record AFC Wimbledon started with 3,500. So 4k home seems a reasonable optimistic expectation.

[tmesis]

For the record AFC Wimbledon started with 3,500. So 4k home seems a reasonable optimistic expectation.

It's difficult.

We have a lot more fans than Wimbledon. We had more fans even in the Elm Park days. We should be capable of getting significantly bigger crowds than they did, or any other pheonix club has.

The flipside is that if we end up somewhere terrible like Scours Lane or Rams RFC we'll get a lot less, not just because those places only hold 2000, but because they are awful places to watch football unless you are really used to the grass roots of the game.

[tidus_mi2]

What I don't understand about this £1m shortfall is the following:

Why does it magically stop becoming a problem next month?
We knew Dai's commitment to the club at the start of the season, why didn't we budget better?
How in the world can we be £1m short this month? I was under the impression we had greatly reduced outgoings.

[tmesis]

What I don't understand about this £1m shortfall is the following:

Why does it magically stop becoming a problem next month?
We knew Dai's commitment to the club at the start of the season, why didn't we budget better?
How in the world can we be £1m short this month? I was under the impression we had greatly reduced outgoings.

SCL rent payment due?

Somebody other than Dai calling in a debt?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Would be classic if we got deducted points for failing to pay rent to Dai.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

Would be classic if we got deducted points for failing to pay rent to Dai.

Probably not as he's not a football creditor

[Sutekh]

Why not? Maidenhead, Slough, Basingstoke; all get far less than 4K. I'm pretty sure most of their regulars would rather have that than no club at all.

I've been to all of those often and always enjoyed it.

Because we're recently a Championship club with an average attendance of 12k, who in good times average 17/18k.

If we can't get some enthusiasm for a fresh start to bring a big slice of them along we'll never get anywhere.

Maidenhead, Slough etc are all small NL clubs with an, until recently, Championship neighbour.

We've had a decade of unremitting shit and even when we were good under Stam, the football was stultifying. We've been haemorrhaging fans.

Taking 5 or 6 steps down the pyramid isn't going to turn this around, especially when a lot of our fanbase were weaned on much better. Old timers who remember Elm Park may be happy with slumming it but I fear a lot of our fanbase won't.

I make as many trips as I can to the SCL, but I don't even fancy a trip to Marine 3 miles up the road with Conference standard facilities In the North East Counties League. A 450 mile round trip to a phoenix club at a similar step doesn't fill me with enthusiasm.

Plastic

[Greatwesternline]

What I don't understand about this £1m shortfall is the following:

Why does it magically stop becoming a problem next month?
We knew Dai's commitment to the club at the start of the season, why didn't we budget better?
How in the world can we be £1m short this month? I was under the impression we had greatly reduced outgoings.

SCL rent payment due?

Somebody other than Dai calling in a debt?

If Reading's monthly outgoings are £1m and there is no cash coming in this month at all then you can be £1m short.

If TV money is paid quarterly, and sponsorship money is paid quarterly, and we have a small away attendance for one month, you can have some months where we wouldnt get much cash in at all.

One of the frustrations for me about the limp exit to Eastleigh was it denied us a chance of making some money.

[Sutekh]

What I don't understand about this £1m shortfall is the following:

Why does it magically stop becoming a problem next month?
We knew Dai's commitment to the club at the start of the season, why didn't we budget better?
How in the world can we be £1m short this month? I was under the impression we had greatly reduced outgoings.

SCL rent payment due?

Somebody other than Dai calling in a debt?

If Reading's monthly outgoings are £1m and there is no cash coming in this month at all then you can be £1m short.

If TV money is paid quarterly, and sponsorship money is paid quarterly, and we have a small away attendance for one month, you can have some months where we wouldnt get much cash in at all.

One of the frustrations for me about the limp exit to Eastleigh was it denied us a chance of making some money.

Yes, in this case, what would have been the club's "bi-annual" cup game against ManUre.

[Stranded]

What I don't understand about this £1m shortfall is the following:

Why does it magically stop becoming a problem next month?
We knew Dai's commitment to the club at the start of the season, why didn't we budget better?
How in the world can we be £1m short this month? I was under the impression we had greatly reduced outgoings.

SCL rent payment due?

Somebody other than Dai calling in a debt?

If Reading's monthly outgoings are £1m and there is no cash coming in this month at all then you can be £1m short.

If TV money is paid quarterly, and sponsorship money is paid quarterly, and we have a small away attendance for one month, you can have some months where we wouldnt get much cash in at all.

One of the frustrations for me about the limp exit to Eastleigh was it denied us a chance of making some money.

Eastleigh and Brighton U21s are the two biggest frustrations of the season - both games we should have won and if we had we would have likely had at least one big game in the FAC to fill coffers and in the latter, more than a slight chance we would be looking forward to taking a lot of fans to Wembley and making a decent wedge. Both *may* have seen us in a different position than the one we are discussing today.

[Mr Angry]

I haven't seen this posted elsewhere; namely an interesting detail in the Wycombe statement from earlier today where they say they have put their purchase of the training ground "on hold" due to the planning issue.

"A Wycombe statement said: "Many of the details were still to be worked out, including potential sharing with Reading and how to ensure a smooth transition.

"Importantly, it was agreed that while the details were being finalised and due diligence carried out, Feliciana [Wycombe's majority investors] would provide sufficient financing to Reading to allow it to pay its tax obligations and operating expenses, including payroll for the staff and players."

That seems to suggest to me that our potential financial issues at the end of March have been sorted out; unless I have mis-read the meaning of the statement??

[Snowflake Royal]

I haven't seen this posted elsewhere; namely an interesting detail in the Wycombe statement from earlier today where they say they have put their purchase of the training ground "on hold" due to the planning issue.

"A Wycombe statement said: "Many of the details were still to be worked out, including potential sharing with Reading and how to ensure a smooth transition.

"Importantly, it was agreed that while the details were being finalised and due diligence carried out, Feliciana [Wycombe's majority investors] would provide sufficient financing to Reading to allow it to pay its tax obligations and operating expenses, including payroll for the staff and players."

That seems to suggest to me that our potential financial issues at the end of March have been sorted out; unless I have mis-read the meaning of the statement??

Hang on, Wycombe's owners are funding a League competitor for the privilege of negotiating the purchase of something they may not even be able to buy and use?

Someone is being played for a fool here.

[WestYorksRoyal]

I think it's fair that Bearwood falling through has thrown off Pang's funding plans. Presumably the plan now is exclusivity this week and loans provided by the buyer. I believe HMRC is due this week, but that will be lower than the wage bill. Perhaps ticket sales and efforts from the commercial team will get us over that hurdle, with exclusivity and loans arriving in time for next week.

Or everything is just fcuked. Or a middle ground. I'd rather have Bearwood than 2 points.

[Mr Angry]

I haven't seen this posted elsewhere; namely an interesting detail in the Wycombe statement from earlier today where they say they have put their purchase of the training ground "on hold" due to the planning issue.

"A Wycombe statement said: "Many of the details were still to be worked out, including potential sharing with Reading and how to ensure a smooth transition.

"Importantly, it was agreed that while the details were being finalised and due diligence carried out, Feliciana [Wycombe's majority investors] would provide sufficient financing to Reading to allow it to pay its tax obligations and operating expenses, including payroll for the staff and players."

That seems to suggest to me that our potential financial issues at the end of March have been sorted out; unless I have mis-read the meaning of the statement??

Hang on, Wycombe's owners are funding a League competitor for the privilege of negotiating the purchase of something they may not even be able to buy and use?

Someone is being played for a fool here.

All I can think of is that the payment was part of the purchase of the facility and used to guage genuine interest or not, like putting down a non-returnable deposit when buying a luxury car.....otherwise it absolutely makes no sense.

[WestYorksRoyal]

If I was a Wycombe fan I'd be pleased with today's development. Forget our own situation, it didn't make sense from their perspective and just felt off.

[Snowball]

I haven't seen this posted elsewhere; namely an interesting detail in the Wycombe statement from earlier today where they say they have put their purchase of the training ground "on hold" due to the planning issue.

"A Wycombe statement said: "Many of the details were still to be worked out, including potential sharing with Reading and how to ensure a smooth transition.

"Importantly, it was agreed that while the details were being finalised and due diligence carried out, Feliciana [Wycombe's majority investors] would provide sufficient financing to Reading to allow it to pay its tax obligations and operating expenses, including payroll for the staff and players."

That seems to suggest to me that our potential financial issues at the end of March have been sorted out; unless I have mis-read the meaning of the statement??

Hi, Mr A,

MY reading of the whole statement is that Wycombe (Feliciana) WERE going
to provide funds for March-April but they have pulled that offer.

Their last two paras seem to suggest we are on our own

Wycombe Wanderers Football Club and Feliciana have to put on hold the discussions and ongoing due diligence due to seeming planning limitations allowing only Reading FC to use the training grounds.

Wycombe continues to wish its neighbours good luck in solving its issues. For its part, Wycombe will continue its search for a training ground that meets its ambitions for the Club.

[Mid Sussex Royal]

I think it's fair that Bearwood falling through has thrown off Pang's funding plans. Presumably the plan now is exclusivity this week and loans provided by the buyer. I believe HMRC is due this week, but that will be lower than the wage bill. Perhaps ticket sales and efforts from the commercial team will get us over that hurdle, with exclusivity and loans arriving in time for next week.

Or everything is just fcuked. Or a middle ground. I'd rather have Bearwood than 2 points.

Yep HMRC is due on Friday, wages assume next Thurs....I'd hope maybe the enhanced ticket sales and efforts may get us over the line with the tax and hopefully exclusivity in the next 10 days in time for the wage bill.

[windermereROYAL]

We`ll know one way or another this time next week, it`s going to be a long one.

[andrew1957]

Assuming we just get 2 more points deducted and no more before the season end, I would much rather lose 2 points and keep Bearwood as part of a future sale than Bearwood being sold just to avoid a deduction. The win against Cambridge gives us a bit of a buffer and we can hopefully beat Northampton too.

The failure to sell Bearwood should also focus Dai's mind on pushing through the sale of the whole lot as one entity as quickly as possible - although the recent chain of events have left him with a very weak negotiating hand.