Thames Sports Investment

[MmmMonsterMunch]

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~2584687,00.html

Madejski very excited.

In reading that it just gets better and better.

URZ!

Shame everyone else seems to be ignoring this. It's bloody insightful, and very encouraging.

It does sound very good. Imagine if they pull out & all this debate is for nothing!

[winchester_royal]

http://www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10306~2584687,00.html

Madejski very excited.

In reading that it just gets better and better.

URZ!

Shame everyone else seems to be ignoring this. It's bloody insightful, and very encouraging.

I'll be relieved when it's all signed and sealed....

Too good to be true!

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I take it half season tickets are available still?!!

[chilipepper91]

Yeah it is somewhat worrying that SJM says they still have to agree to it in March... if we now lose 5 on the trot and we're nowhere near the playoffs, does that change the price?

[Royal With Cheese]

An exciting thread has turned duller than dull.

Since you started contributing to it I'd agree.

[winchester_royal]

I think we can take encouragement from then investing money into the club now.

This would be unlikely if it wasn't 99% certain I'd have thought.

[Friday's Legacy]

Sir John in depth on club's future
Posted on: Sun 22 Jan 2012

Royals Chairman Sir John Madejski spoke to the media after our match with Hull, and gave a transparent update on what he believes could is a promising future for the club.

Having announced 24 hours earlier that he had entered into an initial agreement with Thames Sports Investment, Sir John spoke to our supporters on the pitch just before kick off, as well as visiting fans in Bar 1871. In addition TSI communicated with our supporters in their own statement outlining details of their proposed plan, including confirmation that funds will be made available for signings in this transfer window.

In order to keep our supporters fully informed as much as possible, the Chairman spoke after the game and outlined his hopes and aspirations moving forward. Sir John spoke at length and we would be grateful if our supporters are able to take a moment to read it in full as below.

He said, "This represents an incredible move forward if it comes off.

"At the moment we're doing due dilligence and Heads of Agreement have been signed. It's not a deal until it's done, and it won't be a deal until the end of March. Hopefully everything will be fine - but that is the bottom line.

"It's a great day for me, a great day for Reading Football Club and a great day for everyone.

"When you sign Heads of Agreement, you sign in principle what you want to achieve. Then, the new shareholder will come in and look over everything to do with the football club and make sure they're satisfied that everything we've been telling them is right. Then we move forward, they become a shareholder and so on. That's the way that it works.

"In the meantime, as a leap of faith I guess you could say, they will provide funds to strengthen the squad during this window of opportunity - which they are going to take. There won't be anything done irresponsibly, or stupidly.

"Overall this means long term stability, and it means going forward with an opportunity of building. It means we carry on as we are, there's no fundamental change, the ethos and way we do things at Reading will continue in the same spirit and same way.

"We're very proud of our reputation here at Reading, we've got a great manager, a great staff on and off the pitch, and a great squad of players which will no doubt be strengthened before the end of January. As I say there will be money immediately available to strengthen the squad before the end of the month.

"But the club will always be prudent, as it always has been. There will be a possibility to strengthen, but only in a sensible way. It won't be a situation of just throwing money at something. Everything we do must be prudent, if it's not prudent then we won't do it. There's just more security around the club and a real opportunity of progressing.

"It's great news for Reading, it's great news for the fans and for football. It means we can get investment, which is what we need, what any football club needs."

Sir John reaffirmed that keeping hold of the club's best players would potentially be a major benefit, commenting, "Instead of getting to the end of each season and possibly relinquishing our better players, we're now hopefully in a position - if the deal concludes at the end of March - where we can keep those players and move forward, which is great news for Reading and the fans.

"I am delighted, I have always said I will take the club as far as I can and stay Chairman as long as necessary. I'm delighted to say the new shareholders share the ambition the club has, they want to me to continue as Chairman for two more years at least, therefore there is no change at all. I can still be the proud Chairman of Reading Football Club, the fourth oldest club in the Football League.

"The club will still remain with its same ideology and principles. And it won't be a question of just throwing money at the club - that's not going to happen. It's going to be done in a prudent, sensible way - the Reading way. That is why they were attracted to this club - they could see it as a well-run club, which means a lot to them.

"So it's a great day for me, a great day for Reading Football Club. I'm delighted with the new shareholder, delighted with what their exponents are, what they want to do, I'm a delighted Chairman with no misgivings at all about my new partners, I'm delighted because it's just what we wanted."

He continued, "I still own the club but I've signed heads of terms, yesterday in fact, and time will tell when it unfolds, we've only signed heads of terms and I'm not in a position to divulge who or what and so on. When we've done a deal, then all will be revealed.

"All I can tell you is that we've run this club in a particular way, which was noticed. Keep it real, keep it sensible and the ambition is to get to the Premier League and keep us there. The shareholder likes what we do here at Reading - that's why they chose Reading.

"Generally it's business as usual, the only difference is that from the end of March, if the deal is satisfactory we will be a far more secure club going forward, with the opportunity of building and strengthening the squad and indeed being serious players for the Premier League, whether it's this season or next season. That's the very good news and I'm delighted to share that with you.

"I would say to the fans that football, like everything else, is a very, very difficult business - and always has been. It's very difficult at this moment in history when everybody knows there's enormous restraint all round.

"I think the one thing about this deal is the fact it's so good for the fans, because in these hard times it's great for the fans to come along - see some inspiring football, see an opportunity for them to forget about their worries and come to a darn good game of football knowing that the club's got enormous ambition to seek the promised land.

"Today was one of the happiest days of my life. Why? Because as you know I've led this football club since 1990 and today I'm absolutely over the moon about it and I think it's great for Reading Football Club. This is what I've always wanted for the club, at the end of the day I try to do things properly here. We've been living by stealth up until now.

"It's great for the fans, great for all the employees at Reading FC because it means a lot to me that they're all going to be secure, and they've all done their job incredibly well - and they'll keep doing that. As long as they do that they'll be here forever.

"The deal is with Thames Valley Sports Investment and only when they want to declare names, they will. At the moment they don't and I understand that, it's sensible and prudent.

"I would like to say I've obviously met the new shareholders, and they're fit for purpose, they're just the right fit for Reading. Obviously they were interested in other clubs, but I think they saw Reading's reputation as being so well-run, that they decided to pick this one, which we're delighted about.

"I've always said that it's got to be the right fit. And I believe this is, for a whole host of reasons, which I'm sure you'll understand at a later date when the deal has been consolodated."
_________________________________________________________________________________


very excited about this. no more black holes, we can build, we can bring in a different class of player. amazing.

also again an interview that lends to shareholders, not shareholder. i agree with those that have suggested anton heads a group of investers and somewhere in that it amounts to somewhere around the billion pounds mark if reports are again correct, and to be fair they've been spot on through most if not all of this.

we are suddenly one of the wealthiest football clubs in the country. very surreal.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

I think we can take encouragement from then investing money into the club now.

This would be unlikely if it wasn't 99% certain I'd have thought.

Maybe the awful interview from Brian & the defeat today was all planned to get more money! The new owners were more than likely there today.

[Friday's Legacy]

Yeah it is somewhat worrying that SJM says they still have to agree to it in March... if we now lose 5 on the trot and we're nowhere near the playoffs, does that change the price?

no of course not, but it could sway their interest. the interview mentions the investors were looking at a number of clubs and we were the preferred choice. i hope that remains so until the deal is signed and sealed. it's now up to the fa to do their bit and roll on march.

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Only 10 days left of the transfer window....HNA will be going wild!

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

Sir John in depth on club's future
Posted on: Sun 22 Jan 2012

Royals Chairman Sir John Madejski spoke to the media after our match with Hull, and gave a transparent update on what he believes could is a promising future for the club.

Having announced 24 hours earlier that he had entered into an initial agreement with Thames Sports Investment, Sir John spoke to our supporters on the pitch just before kick off, as well as visiting fans in Bar 1871. In addition TSI communicated with our supporters in their own statement outlining details of their proposed plan, including confirmation that funds will be made available for signings in this transfer window.

In order to keep our supporters fully informed as much as possible, the Chairman spoke after the game and outlined his hopes and aspirations moving forward. Sir John spoke at length and we would be grateful if our supporters are able to take a moment to read it in full as below.

He said, "This represents an incredible move forward if it comes off.

"At the moment we're doing due dilligence and Heads of Agreement have been signed. It's not a deal until it's done, and it won't be a deal until the end of March. Hopefully everything will be fine - but that is the bottom line.

"It's a great day for me, a great day for Reading Football Club and a great day for everyone.

"When you sign Heads of Agreement, you sign in principle what you want to achieve. Then, the new shareholder will come in and look over everything to do with the football club and make sure they're satisfied that everything we've been telling them is right. Then we move forward, they become a shareholder and so on. That's the way that it works.

"In the meantime, as a leap of faith I guess you could say, they will provide funds to strengthen the squad during this window of opportunity - which they are going to take. There won't be anything done irresponsibly, or stupidly.

"Overall this means long term stability, and it means going forward with an opportunity of building. It means we carry on as we are, there's no fundamental change, the ethos and way we do things at Reading will continue in the same spirit and same way.

"We're very proud of our reputation here at Reading, we've got a great manager, a great staff on and off the pitch, and a great squad of players which will no doubt be strengthened before the end of January. As I say there will be money immediately available to strengthen the squad before the end of the month.

"But the club will always be prudent, as it always has been. There will be a possibility to strengthen, but only in a sensible way. It won't be a situation of just throwing money at something. Everything we do must be prudent, if it's not prudent then we won't do it. There's just more security around the club and a real opportunity of progressing.

"It's great news for Reading, it's great news for the fans and for football. It means we can get investment, which is what we need, what any football club needs."

Sir John reaffirmed that keeping hold of the club's best players would potentially be a major benefit, commenting, "Instead of getting to the end of each season and possibly relinquishing our better players, we're now hopefully in a position - if the deal concludes at the end of March - where we can keep those players and move forward, which is great news for Reading and the fans.

"I am delighted, I have always said I will take the club as far as I can and stay Chairman as long as necessary. I'm delighted to say the new shareholders share the ambition the club has, they want to me to continue as Chairman for two more years at least, therefore there is no change at all. I can still be the proud Chairman of Reading Football Club, the fourth oldest club in the Football League.

"The club will still remain with its same ideology and principles. And it won't be a question of just throwing money at the club - that's not going to happen. It's going to be done in a prudent, sensible way - the Reading way. That is why they were attracted to this club - they could see it as a well-run club, which means a lot to them.

"So it's a great day for me, a great day for Reading Football Club. I'm delighted with the new shareholder, delighted with what their exponents are, what they want to do, I'm a delighted Chairman with no misgivings at all about my new partners, I'm delighted because it's just what we wanted."

He continued, "I still own the club but I've signed heads of terms, yesterday in fact, and time will tell when it unfolds, we've only signed heads of terms and I'm not in a position to divulge who or what and so on. When we've done a deal, then all will be revealed.

"All I can tell you is that we've run this club in a particular way, which was noticed. Keep it real, keep it sensible and the ambition is to get to the Premier League and keep us there. The shareholder likes what we do here at Reading - that's why they chose Reading.

"Generally it's business as usual, the only difference is that from the end of March, if the deal is satisfactory we will be a far more secure club going forward, with the opportunity of building and strengthening the squad and indeed being serious players for the Premier League, whether it's this season or next season. That's the very good news and I'm delighted to share that with you.

"I would say to the fans that football, like everything else, is a very, very difficult business - and always has been. It's very difficult at this moment in history when everybody knows there's enormous restraint all round.

"I think the one thing about this deal is the fact it's so good for the fans, because in these hard times it's great for the fans to come along - see some inspiring football, see an opportunity for them to forget about their worries and come to a darn good game of football knowing that the club's got enormous ambition to seek the promised land.

"Today was one of the happiest days of my life. Why? Because as you know I've led this football club since 1990 and today I'm absolutely over the moon about it and I think it's great for Reading Football Club. This is what I've always wanted for the club, at the end of the day I try to do things properly here. We've been living by stealth up until now.

"It's great for the fans, great for all the employees at Reading FC because it means a lot to me that they're all going to be secure, and they've all done their job incredibly well - and they'll keep doing that. As long as they do that they'll be here forever.

"The deal is with Thames Valley Sports Investment and only when they want to declare names, they will. At the moment they don't and I understand that, it's sensible and prudent.

"I would like to say I've obviously met the new shareholders, and they're fit for purpose, they're just the right fit for Reading. Obviously they were interested in other clubs, but I think they saw Reading's reputation as being so well-run, that they decided to pick this one, which we're delighted about.

"I've always said that it's got to be the right fit. And I believe this is, for a whole host of reasons, which I'm sure you'll understand at a later date when the deal has been consolodated."
_________________________________________________________________________________


very excited about this. no more black holes, we can build, we can bring in a different class of player. amazing.

also again an interview that lends to shareholders, not shareholder. i agree with those that have suggested anton heads a group of investers and somewhere in that it amounts to somewhere around the billion pounds mark if reports are again correct, and to be fair they've been spot on through most if not all of this.

we are suddenly one of the wealthiest football clubs in the country. very surreal.

Exactly what i hoped for the club

Fair play to the new potential shareholders coughing up money when the deal isn't done to back us this window.

The paragraph about being big players for the premier league this year or next is very exciting to read!

Onwards and upwards.

Fair play to Madejski, without a man like him we would be absolutely nowhere

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

[FiNeRaIn]

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

I didn't know you were playing again mate!

[MmmMonsterMunch]

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

I didn't know you were playing again mate!

Who would you like to see us bring in?

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

I didn't know you were playing again mate!

im not sure if i even have it anymore

The thoughts of Soviet Union, Russians, Overlords etc reminded me of it!

Right im of to bed, im sure this is all a dream.

Can i be the first to welcome his wife... wow.... she can sit with the fans.

[Royal With Cheese]

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

I didn't know you were playing again mate!

im not sure if i even have it anymore

The thoughts of Soviet Union, Russians, Overlords etc reminded me of it!

Right im of to bed, im sure this is all a dream.

Can i be the first to welcome his wife... wow.... she can sit with the fans.

She can sit on my face if she wants.

[Coppell's Right Footed 11]

Right in with the new tradition im off for a vodka and a game of Command and Conquer

I didn't know you were playing again mate!

im not sure if i even have it anymore

The thoughts of Soviet Union, Russians, Overlords etc reminded me of it!

Right im of to bed, im sure this is all a dream.

Can i be the first to welcome his wife... wow.... she can sit with the fans.

She can sit on my face if she wants.[/quote]



You better be careful Boris has a history with the mafia! he won't be happy with you talking about his daughter-in-law like that!

[Mr Cinema]

im not sure if i even have it anymore

The thoughts of Soviet Union, Russians, Overlords etc reminded me of it!

Right im of to bed, im sure this is all a dream.

Can i be the first to welcome his wife... wow.... she can sit with the fans.

She can sit on my face if she wants.

Wow Stadium expansion already, these Russians dont mess about.

[Ian Royal]

All the information coming out of the club and investors is sounding very very positive. This could be utterly brilliant, no guarantees of course, but it is pushing most of the right buttons.

[Arch]

Gotta say, having resolutely supported the club and SJM in the face of barrages of criticism over the years, I'm not about to change tune now. It's hard to imagine a more encouraging statement coming from the old man. I guess the main residual danger is that he's being hoodwinked by smart and ruthless businessmen, but I doubt it.

[Gav]

Gotta say, having resolutely supported the club and SJM in the face of barrages of criticism over the years, I'm not about to change tune now. It's hard to imagine a more encouraging statement coming from the old man. I guess the main residual danger is that he's being hoodwinked by smart and ruthless businessmen, but I doubt it.

^^^ This. What a total hero.