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

[Hound]

Would Dai be unhappy if we got kicked out the league? Would then be free to sell the stadium, training ground and any other assets separately at his own leisure.

Whether this would total more than just selling the club now as a whole and in the league is debatable but he’s not be known for his good judgement.

[SCIAG]

I was thinking a lot about the playoff final yesterday

Was that penalty shootout a huge sliding doors moment?

Inevitably, play-off finals have huge impacts for the clubs involved.

We’d have struggled sporting wise but we’d have been in better financial shape for at least the next three years. Too hard to say anything beyond that.

We’d have needed a lot of recruitment to have much chance of staying up. Al-Habsi and Swift were good enough, and Beerens might have suddenly found the motivation. McCleary had just had his best season but the injuries ended things for him. Obita and Moore might have been fine with the right players around them, and a few more would be good squad players (Williams being the obvious one).

At minimum, we’d have needed a centre back, a right back, two defensive-ish midfielders, a right winger, and two strikers. Looks like that summer was pretty barren for most clubs at that end of the table, so I think we’d have struggled. Probably wouldn’t have had a problem finding the midfielders, and theoretically we could have taken Ivan Toney off Newcastle, but defence… the only names that stand out to me as realistic are Hector and Miazga on loan from Chelsea, and safe to say they wouldn’t have been enough.

Regardless, would have been better placed after relegation. Parachute payments make a huge difference.

[Brum Royal]

How does the EFL/FA actually force a sale though? If they ban him from ownership, how does that affect his position?

They give him a deadline or the club is expelled.

Can't own a Football League Club, if the club isn't in the Football League.

But in that instance, surely it accelerates the route to liquidation? If you have all the assets of a football club but nowhere for them to play, why not just get rid of the lot and make use of the land to sell to get money back (stadium protection excepted)?

[6ft Kerplunk]

Given the way the club was being run, I reckon we'd have wasted the Premier League money getting ineffectual players in on huge wages. They we'd have wasted the parachute payments having forgotten to put relegation clauses into contracts and chasing the 'dream' again.

[Snowflake Royal]

I am being ribbed by a Pompey supporting mate who thinks we should raise money like they did to save our club. The problem being even if we raised something like £10 to £20m I don’t believe Dai would enter negotiations with the fans or anyone else.

Tell him we're saving our money to set up a phoenix because Dai isn't getting a penny off us.

[Greatwesternline]

I am being ribbed by a Pompey supporting mate who thinks we should raise money like they did to save our club. The problem being even if we raised something like £10 to £20m I don’t believe Dai would enter negotiations with the fans or anyone else.

My mate was a shareholder in Pompey and the reality was the normal fans didnt raise enough to be useful so a handful of angel investors provided the rest.

I get the feeling that despite Reading and surrounding areas being home to many high net worth individuals, most of those people support London clubs or watch rugby. Whereas Pompey has an island mentality where almost everyone is a Pompey fan.

The Select Car Leasing owners appear to be unnecessarily helpful to RFC. Seems like had this happened in 5 years their owners may have had deep enough pockets and the inclination to do something.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Wasn't Conor Wickham doing okay then? We'd have given him £75k a week for 5 years. Plus many other similar signings; perhaps a final big contract for Younes Kaboul.

[Snowflake Royal]

How does the EFL/FA actually force a sale though? If they ban him from ownership, how does that affect his position?

They give him a deadline or the club is expelled.

Can't own a Football League Club, if the club isn't in the Football League.

But in that instance, surely it accelerates the route to liquidation? If you have all the assets of a football club but nowhere for them to play, why not just get rid of the lot and make use of the land to sell to get money back (stadium protection excepted)?

Pretty much, but it does solve the FL's problem.

The stadium isn't worth much as anything other than a stadium because the ground is contaminated and the stadium would need to be demolished. But maybe Dai thinks he can get more selling off the club's land and assets piecemeal once the club is gone, than he can selling the club as a package. Or maybe he knows he'll get less, but he sees it as not being beaten and shown up by someone else.

[Forbury Lion]

They give him a deadline or the club is expelled.

Can't own a Football League Club, if the club isn't in the Football League.

But in that instance, surely it accelerates the route to liquidation? If you have all the assets of a football club but nowhere for them to play, why not just get rid of the lot and make use of the land to sell to get money back (stadium protection excepted)?

Pretty much, but it does solve the FL's problem.

The stadium isn't worth much as anything other than a stadium because the ground is contaminated and the stadium would need to be demolished. But maybe Dai thinks he can get more selling off the club's land and assets piecemeal once the club is gone, than he can selling the club as a package. Or maybe he knows he'll get less, but he sees it as not being beaten and shown up by someone else.

Stadium has that community asset protection order on it, so presumably can't be demolished?

[Dirk Gently]

But in that instance, surely it accelerates the route to liquidation? If you have all the assets of a football club but nowhere for them to play, why not just get rid of the lot and make use of the land to sell to get money back (stadium protection excepted)?

Pretty much, but it does solve the FL's problem.

The stadium isn't worth much as anything other than a stadium because the ground is contaminated and the stadium would need to be demolished. But maybe Dai thinks he can get more selling off the club's land and assets piecemeal once the club is gone, than he can selling the club as a package. Or maybe he knows he'll get less, but he sees it as not being beaten and shown up by someone else.

Stadium has that community asset protection order on it, so presumably can't be demolished?

That "Asset of Community" isn't the magic panacea everyone seems to think. It only means that the community must be consulted and be given an option to purchase it before it can be sold to anyone else. But that's all it does. There are also plenty of precedents of it being ignored - not least when the MadStad was sold by the Thais.

Stopping demolition or change of use would be down to the local planning process, and is nothing to do with the ACV "protection".

[Sutekh]

Is Bearwood "protected" in any way?

[themwasthedays]

Although the ground has protection by a Community Asset Protection Order it is limited, what is actually needed
is for the ground to be a 'listed building', either as a building of significant architectural local importance or some other means.

[Dirk Gently]

Is Bearwood "protected" in any way?

Can't see how it would be. It doesn't qualify for ACV, so it'd be down to the planners to approve/deny a change of use application.

[Sutekh]

Is Bearwood "protected" in any way?

Can't see how it would be. It doesn't qualify for ACV, so it'd be down to the planners to approve/deny a change of use application.

Thanks, just asking as I think Reading had problems persuading the local council to let them develop the site even though it retained the site for sporting use.

[Clyde1998]

Pretty much, but it does solve the FL's problem.

The stadium isn't worth much as anything other than a stadium because the ground is contaminated and the stadium would need to be demolished. But maybe Dai thinks he can get more selling off the club's land and assets piecemeal once the club is gone, than he can selling the club as a package. Or maybe he knows he'll get less, but he sees it as not being beaten and shown up by someone else.

Stadium has that community asset protection order on it, so presumably can't be demolished?

That "Asset of Community" isn't the magic panacea everyone seems to think. It only means that the community must be consulted and be given an option to purchase it before it can be sold to anyone else. But that's all it does. There are also plenty of precedents of it being ignored - not least when the MadStad was sold by the Thais.

Stopping demolition or change of use would be down to the local planning process, and is nothing to do with the ACV "protection".

I doubt you'd get support for any planning permission to change the use of the site, but the silver bullet would probably be a compulsory purchase order (of course, compensation would be required).

[Dirk Gently]

Is Bearwood "protected" in any way?

Can't see how it would be. It doesn't qualify for ACV, so it'd be down to the planners to approve/deny a change of use application.

Thanks, just asking as I think Reading had problems persuading the local council to let them develop the site even though it retained the site for sporting use.

That'll be Wokingham, who are just generally opposed to football in general and Reading in particular because it creates traffic on their nice middle-class roads. They scuppered the stadium expansion plan back in 2006/7.

[Sutekh]

Can't see how it would be. It doesn't qualify for ACV, so it'd be down to the planners to approve/deny a change of use application.

Thanks, just asking as I think Reading had problems persuading the local council to let them develop the site even though it retained the site for sporting use.

That'll be Wokingham, who are just generally opposed to football in general and Reading in particular because it creates traffic on their nice middle-class roads. They scuppered the stadium expansion plan back in 2006/7.

It'll certainly be worth getting some pro RFC candidates into the local elections there then.

[Elm Park Kid]

EFL Statement

As Reading FC supporters are only too aware, it has in recent months become increasingly clear that Mr Dai Yongge is no longer in a position - or does not have the motivation - to support the Club financially as he did following the change of control in 2017.    

In November 2023, the EFL called for the disqualification of Mr Dai following the failure to fund the deposit account to cover player and staff salaries following repeated breaches of EFL Regulations. This was ultimately rejected by an Independent Disciplinary Commission and a financial sanction was imposed instead.  

The EFL has now received confirmation that Mr Dai did not meet last Friday’s latest deadline to fund the deposit account as ordered, meaning he has been in default for nearly four months.  As a result – and as per the terms of the 15 December decision - a further £50,000 fine has now been imposed, taking the total to £80,000.  

His continued failings mean that once again the Club's hardworking staff have no reassurance as to payment of wages and demonstrates a clear disregard for his obligations as a director of the Club.  

In respect of this issue, the League will now consider all available options it has under the Regulations and will have no hesitation in bringing further charges against Mr Dai. 

In the meantime, and for the sake of the future of Reading FC, its staff, supporters, and local community we urge Mr Dai either to fund the Club adequately or to make immediate arrangements to sell his majority shareholding to appropriate new owners so everyone can move forward with renewed optimism.  

 For our part, we will work with Mr Dai, his team, and the Club plus any potential purchaser to navigate and meet the requirements of the Regulations as quickly as is physically possible and bring an end to this difficult period for all parties.  

 What followed the events at the end of last week were the unfortunate scenes on Saturday afternoon that led to the abandonment of the fixture versus Port Vale, and further demonstrated the impact the current situation is having on everyone associated with the Club.  

However, entering the field of play is a criminal offence and puts the safety of all participants at risk.  The EFL Board will discuss events at Saturday’s match during its meeting later this week as it has a responsibility to the League’s member clubs and the competition to ensure all 72 Clubs meet the requirements of the rules as previously agreed by EFL Clubs.  

 Finally, the League has been in regular dialogue with the Supporters Trust at Reading (STAR) in recent months and has always made – and will continue to do so – itself available to recognised supporters’ groups to discuss challenging situations and, regarding current matters involving Reading, has arranged to meet with representatives of a number of groups in the next 24 hours. 

[Brogue]

excellent, problem solved then.

[genome]

EFL: "We're going to fine you"
Dai: "Okay, I won't pay it though."
EFL: "Alright, I'll fine you again"