Do you agree with todays pitch invasion and match abandonment?

[Mr Optimist]

So, this was an embarrassment.

Hit a new rock bottom since the treatment of our club captain Matt Mills.

You won’t catch anything with that puny maggot.

[Dirk Gently]

Can't see what an abandonment will actually achieve, except an FA fine and a points deduction (presumably suspended). Because of precedent, there's no way the FA & FL can let this go unpunished, no matter how deep the emotions.

IMHO it would have been much more effective and impressive to go on for 10 minutes, then all get up and go back to the stands and let the game go on.

That would have given the perception of an organised and co-ordinated group who knew what they were doing and wanted to protest in a way that didn't impact the club, rather than a disorganised group determined to stop the match and impact the club.

[St Pauli]

Streakers should form part of the next phase of Project Chaos

Preferably attractive women streakers. Could actually help attendance.

[Snowflake Royal]

I don't know what your point is? Do you think we are survivng relegation if Dai is allowed to sell the first team in January and finish the season with the reserves?
Attempting to force a sale now is the only viable solution.

How does abandonment force a sale ? It won’t change the asset value of the stadium or Bearwood. To your other point, you may be right but we don’t yet know how many players will be sold. According to Selles, Abbey has turned down a move and Tom Holmes is thinking it over so nobody has actually left as yet. In turn, I would think a player accepting a move away is far more likely if every match turns into a circus.
As previously stated, this is just my opinion and I have full respect for yours and any other views.

Well the EFL already attempted in November to have Dai Yongge disqualified from football activity/ownership. Since then he has rejected multiple serious offers to buy the club, failed to pay staff wages on time, failed again to deposit 125% of player wages into an account.

And now forced match abandonments are threatening the integrity of the league.

I don't think allowing Dai Yongge's continued ownership is a viable option for the EFL.

Dai isn't going to be banned from ownership for a pitch invasion. If it happens, it will be for failing to pay his fine and deposit the 125%, and/or not paying tax or players again.

And it isn’t the FL we have to persuade to do it, its the independent commission.

Abandoning games won't get him removed by the FL quicker, and even if he gets barred, he still has to agree to sell the club. It can't be taken off him.

Abandoning games can only try to persuade Dai to agree to sell. And he seems to be only going to sell if he gets a deal he thinks is worth it. It might work. It might not. It also might make potential buyers walk away or offer less. I'm pretty sure its not going to make them offer more.

[WestYorksRoyal]

How does abandonment force a sale ? It won’t change the asset value of the stadium or Bearwood. To your other point, you may be right but we don’t yet know how many players will be sold. According to Selles, Abbey has turned down a move and Tom Holmes is thinking it over so nobody has actually left as yet. In turn, I would think a player accepting a move away is far more likely if every match turns into a circus.
As previously stated, this is just my opinion and I have full respect for yours and any other views.

Well the EFL already attempted in November to have Dai Yongge disqualified from football activity/ownership. Since then he has rejected multiple serious offers to buy the club, failed to pay staff wages on time, failed again to deposit 125% of player wages into an account.

And now forced match abandonments are threatening the integrity of the league.

I don't think allowing Dai Yongge's continued ownership is a viable option for the EFL.

Dai isn't going to be banned from ownership for a pitch invasion. If it happens, it will be for failing to pay his fine and deposit the 125%, and/or not paying tax or players again.

And it isn’t the FL we have to persuade to do it, its the independent commission.

Abandoning games won't get him removed by the FL quicker, and evenif he gets barred, he still has to agree to sell the club. It can't be taken off him.

Abandoning games can only try to persuade Dai to agree to sell. And he seems to be only going to sell if he gets a deal he thinks is worth it. It might work. It might not. It also might make potential buyers walk away or offer less. I'm pretty sure its not going to make them offer more.

Got no idea what his plan is. If he didn't like what was on offer in November, he won't like what's available for a L2 club with its playing staff and football operations hollowed out.

[Uke]

Streakers should form part of the next phase of Project Chaos

Preferably attractive women streakers. Could actually help attendance.

We'll probably have the Auckland streaker...


https://www.georgefm.co.nz/home/good-ch ... cular.html

Although it would certainly get more publicity than a traditional streaker? Would Hannah Cockcroft be up for it?

[Dirk Gently]

Streakers should form part of the next phase of Project Chaos

Preferably attractive women streakers. Could actually help attendance.

It's always more entertaining at football when there are two big'uns up front...

[72 bus]

TLDR, leave it to the grown up's.

We got twenty seconds on national TV for a demonstration to make Dai sell a club that he's already trying sell and will in his own time as is his prerogative as the owner.
Alternatively we could have won the game against Port vale and be outside the bottom four with a side finally finding some form.
I would much rather the grown ups got on with negotiating a sale and leave the fans to support their improving team and help us finish mid table and safe.
It was nice of Sellers to mention the "It's their club for life" but most of those on the pitch yesterday won't be there in division two.
The club now need to tell the FA that the next game will be season ticket only before the FA dictate that X amount of games will be behind closed doors.
The last pitch invasion cost the club £50,000 the next fine will probable more because this time it was an abandonment , this at a club where players now have to bring a packed lunch to training because the club can't pay caterers.

Well done Lads.

[Lower West]

Dai is actively and vindictively pursuing liquidation, first getting in any cash he can as he asset strips.

Shows how much misinformation circulates on social media these days. Complete tosh. I'd suggest the asset stripping narrative is a smokescreen. Now that the implications of yesterday's events are sinking in. The fans involved may have seriously damaged the financial situation at the club. Making further asset sales more likely.

[Snowflake Royal]

TLDR, leave it to the grown up's.

We got twenty seconds on national TV for a demonstration to make Dai sell a club that he's already trying sell and will in his own time as is his prerogative as the owner.
Alternatively we could have won the game against Port vale and be outside the bottom four with a side finally finding some form.
I would much rather the grown ups got on with negotiating a sale and leave the fans to support their improving team and help us finish mid table and safe.
It was nice of Sellers to mention the "It's their club for life" but most of those on the pitch yesterday won't be there in division two.
The club now need to tell the FA that the next game will be season ticket only before the FA dictate that X amount of games will be behind closed doors.
The last pitch invasion cost the club £50,000 the next fine will probable more because this time it was an abandonment , this at a club where players now have to bring a packed lunch to training because the club can't pay caterers.

Well done Lads.

You're mad if you think most of them weren't season ticket holders or that restricting games to that would appease anyone.

[ozzygull]

Can't see what an abandonment will actually achieve, except an FA fine and a points deduction (presumably suspended). Because of precedent, there's no way the FA & FL can let this go unpunished, no matter how deep the emotions.

IMHO it would have been much more effective and impressive to go on for 10 minutes, then all get up and go back to the stands and let the game go on.

That would have given the perception of an organised and co-ordinated group who knew what they were doing and wanted to protest in a way that didn't impact the club, rather than a disorganised group determined to stop the match and impact the club.

As my username suggests I am a Brighton fan. I happen to live in Reading. In 1996 after hearing that our ground was to be sold (asset stripping) leaving us with nowhere to play, during a home game against York City Brighton fans invaded the pitch and broke the goal cross bar so the game could not be continued. Before that point nobody gave a monkey what was happening with a team stuck at the bottom of division 3 (League 2 today). It was the start that changed the course of our club’s history. It got our fight in to the national consciousness, we were deducted points for it and as result on the last game of the 97 season we are actually relegated to the conference league for about 45 minutes until we equalised and sent Hereford down on goals scored. The pitch invasion got the FA to get their finger out and became a mediator between the consortium that wanted to take over and the asset stripping aholes.

By the time they were gone and the consortium took over the only thing we had left was our league status and our name. No ground, no training facilities, no club office. We ended up to spending two seasons ground sharing with Gillingham.

Brighton put out a montage on the eve of our first game In Europe it started with the game against York.

https://youtu.be/KAqQiE44kXQ?si=iXGy_ZVBxVMMe6nJ

Living in Reading I was aware of what is happening in Reading and I join your protest march when you played Portsmouth. I wore my Brighton shirt, lot of your fans came up to say thank you to me and chatted about what was going, their fear, frustration and anger was very familiar to me.

On “northstandchat” the Brighton fans forum after your game yesterday there was a thread started about your issues and the overwhelming attitude is one of support and discussion on how we can help. I tried to bring Reading’s issues to the attention of our fans before, but not many were interested. What happened yesterday really made people sit up and take notice. I really hope it is the start of the end for Dai Yongge and Reading. ( if you do check on there have a thick skin as some people have no got over Steve Coppell leaving and the non playoff pitch invasion )

It may get worse for Reading yet, but the most important thing is you stick together as a fan base, once this fella is out of your club be there to pick up the pieces of what’s left.

[The Royal Forester]

Thanks ozzygull, we can only hope our recovery, if we have one, is as spectacular as yours. I enjoy reading your posts, always trying to raise our spirits and encourage us to keep at it.

[72 bus]

TLDR, leave it to the grown up's.

We got twenty seconds on national TV for a demonstration to make Dai sell a club that he's already trying sell and will in his own time as is his prerogative as the owner.
Alternatively we could have won the game against Port vale and be outside the bottom four with a side finally finding some form.
I would much rather the grown ups got on with negotiating a sale and leave the fans to support their improving team and help us finish mid table and safe.
It was nice of Sellers to mention the "It's their club for life" but most of those on the pitch yesterday won't be there in division two.
The club now need to tell the FA that the next game will be season ticket only before the FA dictate that X amount of games will be behind closed doors.
The last pitch invasion cost the club £50,000 the next fine will probable more because this time it was an abandonment , this at a club where players now have to bring a packed lunch to training because the club can't pay caterers.

Well done Lads.

You're mad if you think most of them weren't season ticket holders or that restricting games to that would appease anyone.

From where I was sat a good number of them were not old enough to buy a pint never mind a season ticket, restricting the next game to season ticket holders may possibly persuade the FA not to make the X amount of games behind closed doors.
This pitch invasion has achieved nothing apart from getting the EFL back on our case when they had moved on from punishing the fans and players to advising the independent panel to ban Dai from club ownership.
If, and I hope the EFL to ban the bloke,
it makes the sale even easier as it will be the administrators taking the best offer rather than Dai holding out for an unreasonable amount.
Anyway at the minimum it's cost the club at least £50,000 more than that if we play the next game behind closed doors.

As for raising the profile of the clubs struggles, it means fukk all, when I got back to the pub last night all the blokes were asking me about it (well taking the piss mainly, as a reading fan you get used to it) today nothing but then Man U V Tottenham was on the telly, that's football means for most even in the Reading area.

BTW how did it come across over the radio Ian ?

[WestYorksRoyal]

Brighton offer hope, but also the importance of the long game. How long was it between the nadir and finally having a decent ground, let alone where you are now?

There are clubs like Stockport and Wrexham who will probably replace us in L1 who didn't have years in non-league, it was decades. See also York City. It's basically hoping for a fan led takeover or small time businessman to hold the fort and tread water sustainably, while holding out for the winning ticket.

What's sad is we had the winning ticket in the 1990s and grew to a size that it should never have had to be repeated. But I think a successful Reading owner will need to do a job of SJM's magnitude again.

For Brighton, it's like imagining having to start all over again in L2 in 15 years.

[biff]

Can't see what an abandonment will actually achieve, except an FA fine and a points deduction (presumably suspended). Because of precedent, there's no way the FA & FL can let this go unpunished, no matter how deep the emotions.

IMHO it would have been much more effective and impressive to go on for 10 minutes, then all get up and go back to the stands and let the game go on.

That would have given the perception of an organised and co-ordinated group who knew what they were doing and wanted to protest in a way that didn't impact the club, rather than a disorganised group determined to stop the match and impact the club.

+1

Loved the pitch invasion, joined in, clapped PV fans, then retook my seat for the 3 points. Unfortuantely the sense of timing was lost of a few... They'd say it was the only choice. Hopefully SBWD can pay the wages of the backroom staff chopped to pay the fines...

[P!ssed Off]

TLDR, leave it to the grown up's.

We got twenty seconds on national TV for a demonstration to make Dai sell a club that he's already trying sell and will in his own time as is his prerogative as the owner.
Alternatively we could have won the game against Port vale and be outside the bottom four with a side finally finding some form.
I would much rather the grown ups got on with negotiating a sale and leave the fans to support their improving team and help us finish mid table and safe.
It was nice of Sellers to mention the "It's their club for life" but most of those on the pitch yesterday won't be there in division two.
The club now need to tell the FA that the next game will be season ticket only before the FA dictate that X amount of games will be behind closed doors.
The last pitch invasion cost the club £50,000 the next fine will probable more because this time it was an abandonment , this at a club where players now have to bring a packed lunch to training because the club can't pay caterers.

Well done Lads.

Of course, those risking arrest to get a game abandoned are probably not real fans... Utter cretin.

[Clyde1998]

Can't see what an abandonment will actually achieve, except an FA fine and a points deduction (presumably suspended). Because of precedent, there's no way the FA & FL can let this go unpunished, no matter how deep the emotions.

IMHO it would have been much more effective and impressive to go on for 10 minutes, then all get up and go back to the stands and let the game go on.

That would have given the perception of an organised and co-ordinated group who knew what they were doing and wanted to protest in a way that didn't impact the club, rather than a disorganised group determined to stop the match and impact the club.

As my username suggests I am a Brighton fan. I happen to live in Reading. In 1996 after hearing that our ground was to be sold (asset stripping) leaving us with nowhere to play, during a home game against York City Brighton fans invaded the pitch and broke the goal cross bar so the game could not be continued. Before that point nobody gave a monkey what was happening with a team stuck at the bottom of division 3 (League 2 today). It was the start that changed the course of our club’s history. It got our fight in to the national consciousness, we were deducted points for it and as result on the last game of the 97 season we are actually relegated to the conference league for about 45 minutes until we equalised and sent Hereford down on goals scored. The pitch invasion got the FA to get their finger out and became a mediator between the consortium that wanted to take over and the asset stripping aholes.

By the time they were gone and the consortium took over the only thing we had left was our league status and our name. No ground, no training facilities, no club office. We ended up to spending two seasons ground sharing with Gillingham.

Brighton put out a montage on the eve of our first game In Europe it started with the game against York.

https://youtu.be/KAqQiE44kXQ?si=iXGy_ZVBxVMMe6nJ

Living in Reading I was aware of what is happening in Reading and I join your protest march when you played Portsmouth. I wore my Brighton shirt, lot of your fans came up to say thank you to me and chatted about what was going, their fear, frustration and anger was very familiar to me.

On “northstandchat” the Brighton fans forum after your game yesterday there was a thread started about your issues and the overwhelming attitude is one of support and discussion on how we can help. I tried to bring Reading’s issues to the attention of our fans before, but not many were interested. What happened yesterday really made people sit up and take notice. I really hope it is the start of the end for Dai Yongge and Reading. ( if you do check on there have a thick skin as some people have no got over Steve Coppell leaving and the non playoff pitch invasion )

It may get worse for Reading yet, but the most important thing is you stick together as a fan base, once this fella is out of your club be there to pick up the pieces of what’s left.

Thank you. I think it's always worth remembering that other clubs have gone through similar issues and have managed to recover. Whatever any sporting animosity there may be between clubs, no set of fans should ever have to go through worrying about whether there will even be a club.

I'm relatively young (25), so throughout my early years of watching football, you were playing at the Withdean - a venue completely unsuitable for football. You were held back for years through lack of decent facilities. Now Brighton have one of the best grounds in the country. I've been to the Amex three times, most recently on Tuesday night, and it remains one of the most impressive venues I've been to of the 60-odd I've done; totally fitting of the current position of the club. Brighton are now one of the best sides in the country - especially of those outside the big six.

I think the impact of yesterday is greater than any of us expected. We're in a situation where we've got nothing to lose now; I don't think anyone really cares if we get relegated this season - as long as we've got a club at the end of it.

We've gone down hill so quickly, even a few weeks ago it didn't seem this desperate. I think the events of the last week - the CEO trying to sell players without informing the manager and DOF; the suggestion the owner is attempting to use our income to pay off his own debts and not being serious about selling the club; any sale of the club would involve the training ground being sold separately - has pushed people over the edge. It doesn't help that the owner and directors (all based in China) have been lying to the UK-based staff and supporters' groups about funding and their intentions since the start of the season.

We'll see what happens. Hopefully we can get back to normality at some point.

[P!ssed Off]

Can't see what an abandonment will actually achieve, except an FA fine and a points deduction (presumably suspended). Because of precedent, there's no way the FA & FL can let this go unpunished, no matter how deep the emotions.

IMHO it would have been much more effective and impressive to go on for 10 minutes, then all get up and go back to the stands and let the game go on.

That would have given the perception of an organised and co-ordinated group who knew what they were doing and wanted to protest in a way that didn't impact the club, rather than a disorganised group determined to stop the match and impact the club.

+1

Loved the pitch invasion, joined in, clapped PV fans, then retook my seat for the 3 points. Unfortuantely the sense of timing was lost of a few... They'd say it was the only choice. Hopefully SBWD can pay the wages of the backroom staff chopped to pay the fines...

If the owner can't afford to pay what will likely be a £50,000 fine I would suggest he hurries up and sells to someone else who has got a pot to piss in.

[Snowflake Royal]

He can afford to pay. He just won't.

[blueroyals]

I don't get the naysayers. If the punishment is going to be as bad for the club/Dai as you're all saying, then he would be well advised to dispose of it as quickly as possible to avoid a repeat, which is exactly what we want...