AFC Reading???

[winchester_royal]

What's your point? I'm not saying we wouldn't be better off if SJM had been in charge for the prem year, I'm saying the situation we're in now is just as bad as the one we were in 3 years ago.

but AZ lent all the money to us....
we lost 3 in the prem. and lost much more than that in the other years.
& our wage bill is much higher than it was 3 years ago.

Not anymore it isn't, and we didn't have parachute payments 3 years ago.

I'm not saying we're better off, but we had a £10m hole to fill 3 years ago so lets not pretend like things are massively worse.

[melonhead]

What's your point? I'm not saying we wouldn't be better off if SJM had been in charge for the prem year, I'm saying the situation we're in now is just as bad as the one we were in 3 years ago.

but AZ lent all the money to us....
we lost 3 in the prem. and lost much more than that in the other years.
& our wage bill is much higher than it was 3 years ago.

Not anymore it isn't, and we didn't have parachute payments 3 years ago.

I'm not saying we're better off, but we had a £10m hole to fill 3 years ago so lets not pretend like things are massively worse.

think the gap is bigger than 10 million this time. even with parachutes
and that ignores the ~22 million(?) we lost the year we went up

[winchester_royal]

I doubt it, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Royal Biscuitman]

Can't we just take Reading Town - yes the pitch and stadium is shit but it's a start

And what about the Reading Town supporters?

Yes we can go and support Reading Town as an alternative but let's not tread on their history and traditions and destroy their club.

[floyd__streete]

Yes we can go and support Reading Town as an alternative but let's not tread on their history and traditions and destroy their club.

A jumped up pub team run by some fat bloke playing next door to a load of old Gypos in front of one man and his dog

[Green]

I'd rather be watching non league football from some crumbling terrace than "The Championship", yeh why not, I'm in.

A jumped up pub team run by some fat bloke playing next door to a load of old Gypos in front of one man and his dog

There's still the odd snooty attitude to overcome, of course

[Nameless]

There isn't even the option of a ground share at Scours Lane as they are sharing with Woodley Town next season.

[SPARTA]

I don't love the game enough any more to bother with it if RFC disappeared. I have zero interest in it outside of our club.

[AthleticoSpizz]

That's a bit sad Sparts

plenty of local and non-league set-ups playing some decent stuff around here

[Tilehurstsouthbank]

Can't we just take Reading Town - yes the pitch and stadium is shit but it's a start

Sh*t hole inside and out and I have a 0% record there, not the best of starts!

[Sutekh]

Please god don't name the team AFC Reading it's just so unoriginal.

[SPARTA]

That's a bit sad Sparts

plenty of local and non-league set-ups playing some decent stuff around here

Agreed, but to what end? The dream of reaching the Football League and ultimately drowning in debt, maybe being bought by a local businessman who means well but ruins the club. I can't stand the game any more. There's too much money in it, too many shady owners. The little clubs are pissing in the wind, and the mediocre clubs like us are drowning in debt trying to get to the Premier League. I take very little notice of any of the leagues any more, only our own well-being. If my marriage hadn't of just gone tits up we'd have renewed our ST's, but now we'll have to pick and choose, and the love affair with the club and game diminishes further.

[tmesis]

Please god don't name the team AFC Reading it's just so unoriginal.

+1

Why not just Reading AFC?


Mind you, even if administration is possibly on the cards, I struggle to see why we'd get liquidated when far bigger basket cases survive.

[Major Monkey]

Herbert Von twinkletoes is a massive cock gobbler

[Reading4eva]

That's a bit sad Sparts

plenty of local and non-league set-ups playing some decent stuff around here

Agreed, but to what end? The dream of reaching the Football League and ultimately drowning in debt, maybe being bought by a local businessman who means well but ruins the club. I can't stand the game any more. There's too much money in it, too many shady owners. The little clubs are pissing in the wind, and the mediocre clubs like us are drowning in debt trying to get to the Premier League. I take very little notice of any of the leagues any more, only our own well-being. If my marriage hadn't of just gone tits up we'd have renewed our ST's, but now we'll have to pick and choose, and the love affair with the club and game diminishes further.

I see your point with this Sparta. This can be highlighted in no better way than the Wimbledon saga. In the 1970's when Wimbledon with an equally ramshackle ground to their Phoenix club reached the league, clubs could storm through divisions. They were mostly well run.

With AFC Wimbledon the club are scraping the barrel to survive. They are going to spend millions on a new stadium but this will put them in massive debts which really can they sustain?

[Lower West]

With AFC Wimbledon the club are scraping the barrel to survive. They are going to spend millions on a new stadium but this will put them in massive debts which really can they sustain?

No harm investing in facilities. As that's something which will last for years.

What's harming football is £100 million parachute parachute payments from the premiership. Next season promoted Rotherham are going to have compete with relegated Cardiff. Pretty obvious who will have the stronger squad over the course of a season. Money is buying success, and for some financial destruction.

I'm pleased Sir John is still at the helm. As at least he will have the commercial sense not to over commit financially. Reading will survive and the team will play in the league it deserves. Atkins is the right guy for the job as well.

[Ian Royal]

we are, because we spent two and a half seasons under AZ spending even more than we would have under SJM.

Yes, but we've also had a far greater revenue stream than we did back then. We ran at a £3m loss last year according to the accounts. That's considerably better than the £10m that we were running in the couple of years before AZ.

Agree with Brendy, although I do think there difference isn't that huge.

Don't forget we lost masses when we got promoted and still made a loss in the PL as well. I dread to think what this latest season's finances are going to look like when they're published.

I remember a hole a few years ago, but not £10m! More like half that. And I'm not sure how you think we'll have been able to cut a £46m wage bill down to about £18m in one season, without making any significant player sales and actually adding big earners to the squad.

[tmesis]

What's harming football is £100 million parachute parachute payments from the premiership.

without them every relegated club would have to go into administration pretty much immediately.

What's far more damaging is the fact that there's the huge cash gap there in the first place, coupled with the fact that it seems impossible for clubs to reward players with pay rises for promotion which don't incorporate equal pay drops if the club falls back down.


The most damaging thing in the game though is the number of short-term chairmen now, "chasing the dream" financed by running at a loss. It puts any club trying to run to a budget at a disadvantage.

I would ban chairmen from loaning clubs money. If they want to chase the dream of promotion with a £30 million plurge, they should have to put the money in as sponsorship, and not be able to claim it back a few years down the line.

[St Pauli]

A few Nags Head RFC fans started going to Reading Town this season just gone. For a couple of us it was the treatment of Mcdermott and the AZ takeover that pissed them off, for me it was mainly to save money to get my house deposit together.

It's now owned by Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Council and they want it to be a community club. I'd recommend it to anyone interested in coming down.

[Westwood52]

I think we are in serious trouble.

Selling players to pay off HMRC is not good.

Sure one or two speculators are interested-but a bit of due diligence has put them off.

Sir Mad is running scared and cannot afford/is not prepared to bank role current losses-while AZ wants all his money back and quick-plus some Executive salaries linked to AZ interests are putting off potential suitors.

Hopefully AZ & his boys are playing a game of who blinks first-if they get it wrong, leaves it too late & don't accept someone's offer-he loses the lot if we go into administration.