#SellBeforeWeDai Action/Inaction Group

[OLLIE KEARNS]

So, even before its designation as a community asset, the SCL had a covenant that it can only be used to host sport. The idea that Dai could get around this by liquidating the club is bonkers; the council will not give him anything out of the moral outrage for what he's done. It would make it super clear to any buyer that they can't do anything with it. It would remain a white elephant for at least a decade.

As for Bearwood, it's not specifically protected. But as a green space in a leafy part of berks, best of luck to anyone trying to build homes or a retail park.

Stadium. A white elephant or leased to another sporting entity ? Ricoh Arena / Wasps for example

Bearwood. Similar story for Maidenhead Golf club. Not sure where that stands at present but I believe the fundamentals amount to a £16m purchase for land that will contain around 1,000 houses and a school. Bearwood would be prime land for development being right next to the M4 regardless of green space / leafy location.

This is most likely the crux of any sale valuation / deal as things stand.

[WestYorksRoyal]

So, even before its designation as a community asset, the SCL had a covenant that it can only be used to host sport. The idea that Dai could get around this by liquidating the club is bonkers; the council will not give him anything out of the moral outrage for what he's done. It would make it super clear to any buyer that they can't do anything with it. It would remain a white elephant for at least a decade.

As for Bearwood, it's not specifically protected. But as a green space in a leafy part of berks, best of luck to anyone trying to build homes or a retail park.

Stadium. A white elephant or leased to another sporting entity ? Ricoh Arena / Wasps for example

Bearwood. Similar story for Maidenhead Golf club. Not sure where that stands at present but I believe the fundamentals amount to a £16m purchase for land that will contain around 1,000 houses and a school. Bearwood would be prime land for development being right next to the M4 regardless of green space / leafy location.

This is most likely the crux of any sale valuation / deal as things stand.

Cool, so you just need to find another sports team to play in your stadium and get a NIMBY area to approve your development plans having destroyed their football club. Easy and makes perfect business sense.

[Hound]

Did Pang or Parry say anything of interest? Assuming not

Maybe we can lock Pang and Bobsworth in a room together until Pang cracks and persuades Dai to sell. Reckon it’d be all over in half an hour

[Snowflake Royal]

The Reading FC twitter feed has gone eerily quiet. I dread the day they announce liquidation.

It's incompetence. They don't have a clue how to respond to Saturday, nor the build up to it where Pang's statement plus the December meeting with SBWD have all been exposed as lies.

Haven't some of them been made redundant?

Also, what can they say... this stuff will go through an approval process and Pang and Dai are awol.

[Snowflake Royal]

People pushing for more pitch invasions, not sure what traction it will get, but for me Saturday sent out a big message and achieved it`s goals, any more will be counter productive and do more damage than good.
It will almost certainly stop fans coming if they`re uncertain of seeing a full game.

My best guess would be that it firstly ensures relegation as a result of lost revenue and further sanctions such as points deductions for not paying wages. Secondly, the EFL may disqualify him from ownership thus requiring a new source of funds just to fund the club on a daily basis. .

One independent 'expert' on Twitter (he seems to know what he is talking about and has produced a lot of info about Dodgy Dai's dealings/troubles in China) said that they can only bar him from being a director. He will remain as majority shareholder as long as he chooses.

They can bar him from being an owner or director, hence the application they've already made to do so.

What people need to understand is they have zero power to take ownership of the club off him. Its a private business. All they can do is kick the club out the league for having an owner who is barred and won't sell.

[Whore Jackie]

So, even before its designation as a community asset, the SCL had a covenant that it can only be used to host sport. The idea that Dai could get around this by liquidating the club is bonkers; the council will not give him anything out of the moral outrage for what he's done. It would make it super clear to any buyer that they can't do anything with it. It would remain a white elephant for at least a decade.

As for Bearwood, it's not specifically protected. But as a green space in a leafy part of berks, best of luck to anyone trying to build homes or a retail park.

Stadium. A white elephant or leased to another sporting entity ? Ricoh Arena / Wasps for example

Bearwood. Similar story for Maidenhead Golf club. Not sure where that stands at present but I believe the fundamentals amount to a £16m purchase for land that will contain around 1,000 houses and a school. Bearwood would be prime land for development being right next to the M4 regardless of green space / leafy location.

This is most likely the crux of any sale valuation / deal as things stand.

Cool, so you just need to find another sports team to play in your stadium and get a NIMBY area to approve your development plans having destroyed their football club. Easy and makes perfect business sense.

Given Wokingham BC's historical disregard of Reading FC they might not be quite as fussed as you'd think. That whole area south of the M4, is seemingly up for grabs. Shinfield Studios and British Museum archives already there. Talk of the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens setting us similar warehouses. Reading Uni looking to flog of Halls Farm cattle research area for housing. There's not huge amounts of land left for Wokingham to develop.

[Snowflake Royal]

My best guess would be that it firstly ensures relegation as a result of lost revenue and further sanctions such as points deductions for not paying wages. Secondly, the EFL may disqualify him from ownership thus requiring a new source of funds just to fund the club on a daily basis. .

One independent 'expert' on Twitter (he seems to know what he is talking about and has produced a lot of info about Dodgy Dai's dealings/troubles in China) said that they can only bar him from being a director. He will remain as majority shareholder as long as he chooses.

Correct. The Government can't just take people's property from them, this goes back to Magna Carta.

They can only take away your things if they are proceeds of crime or in the case of Abramovich are sanctioned for the purposes of national security. Or if you owe them money.

Or if it's for national infrastructure.

Compulsory land purchase is a thing. Even for private companies providing a public service.

[Orion1871]

Simon Jordan summed it up pretty well. Disqualifying the owner leaves an immediate funding issue and doesn’t force him to sell anything. At best (if some funding can found) a continued tumble down the leagues is highly likely. Staying in league 1 may be very important in the overall scheme of things.

There's a rarity.

[Snowflake Royal]

Did Pang or Parry say anything of interest? Assuming not

Maybe we can lock Pang and Bobsworth in a room together until Pang cracks and persuades Dai to sell. Reckon it’d be all over in half an hour

With any luck they'll bore each other to death.

Make it a sealed room and they'd use the oxygen in minutes, and probably make it hot enough to cook with all their hot air.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

So, even before its designation as a community asset, the SCL had a covenant that it can only be used to host sport. The idea that Dai could get around this by liquidating the club is bonkers; the council will not give him anything out of the moral outrage for what he's done. It would make it super clear to any buyer that they can't do anything with it. It would remain a white elephant for at least a decade.

As for Bearwood, it's not specifically protected. But as a green space in a leafy part of berks, best of luck to anyone trying to build homes or a retail park.

Stadium. A white elephant or leased to another sporting entity ? Ricoh Arena / Wasps for example

Bearwood. Similar story for Maidenhead Golf club. Not sure where that stands at present but I believe the fundamentals amount to a £16m purchase for land that will contain around 1,000 houses and a school. Bearwood would be prime land for development being right next to the M4 regardless of green space / leafy location.

This is most likely the crux of any sale valuation / deal as things stand.

Cool, so you just need to find another sports team to play in your stadium and get a NIMBY area to approve your development plans having destroyed their football club. Easy and makes perfect business sense.

Sorry if I’m not being clear WYR. What I’m highlighting is a) the reason Dai is likely to be valuing the assets above and beyond the value a prospective purchaser may have for ongoing football purposes and b) he will very likely have a plan b.
In terms of the Plan B I’m pretty sure he could run the stadium at breakeven if needed (sports based lease, concerts, boxing matches etc) and I fear you may be wrong with regard to planning permission at Bearwood. There were very similar objections at Maidenhead and the only concession so far has been a small reduction in the number of houses to be built.
Regardless of those outcomes the main point is the asset value in any negotiation.

[WestYorksRoyal]

Stadium. A white elephant or leased to another sporting entity ? Ricoh Arena / Wasps for example

Bearwood. Similar story for Maidenhead Golf club. Not sure where that stands at present but I believe the fundamentals amount to a £16m purchase for land that will contain around 1,000 houses and a school. Bearwood would be prime land for development being right next to the M4 regardless of green space / leafy location.

This is most likely the crux of any sale valuation / deal as things stand.

Cool, so you just need to find another sports team to play in your stadium and get a NIMBY area to approve your development plans having destroyed their football club. Easy and makes perfect business sense.

Sorry if I’m not being clear WYR. What I’m highlighting is a) the reason Dai is likely to be valuing the assets above and beyond the value a prospective purchaser may have for ongoing football purposes and b) he will very likely have a plan b.
In terms of the Plan B I’m pretty sure he could run the stadium at breakeven if needed (sports based lease, concerts, boxing matches etc) and I fear you may be wrong with regard to planning permission at Bearwood. There were very similar objections at Maidenhead and the only concession so far has been a small reduction in the number of houses to be built.
Regardless of those outcomes the main point is the asset value in any negotiation.

I get your point that Dai may still have ambitions of going down this route whether he knows it's feasible or not. Perhaps this is an area for SBWD to be on the front foot; work with the council to get a statement that there's no chance of this working for him.

[Hound]

Surely it’d take years, loads of hassle and a lot of money for Yongge to make any kind of money from the stadium without a club in it and selling Bearwood for housing. Makes no sense really

[rabidbee]

Did Pang or Parry say anything of interest? Assuming not

Just skim-watched it here. Reading came up at 10:44 for a few minutes (during questioning by Reading fan Damian Green), and again at around 11:28.

EFL very supportive of reaching a solution, and will keep working towards something, but they have limited powers to act. Parry said that an owner simply sitting on his hands and refusing either to maintain the club or sell is a new one. They have the power to disqualify him but not the power to force a sale. Asked if they will continue to punish the owner and not the club/fans, he was obviously careful. The EFL also has a duty to 71 other clubs who aren't breaking the rules, so he can't rule out future disciplinary measures against the club, but certainly the current focus is on Dai and not RFC.

Some of the wider discussion also interesting. Parry pointed out that parachute clubs are operating on about £110m a year, versus about £30m for other Championship clubs. The EFL would like to move to a system where owners are restricted to putting in no more than £5m a year, and ideally better yet, to a point where clubs are limited to £20m a year with no owner money allowed, which might make fan ownership achievable (if a trust was interested), but might also bring in more responsible owners. Also, EFL very keen on an independent regulator, asks MPs to hurry up and bring it in.

[OLLIE KEARNS]

Cool, so you just need to find another sports team to play in your stadium and get a NIMBY area to approve your development plans having destroyed their football club. Easy and makes perfect business sense.

Sorry if I’m not being clear WYR. What I’m highlighting is a) the reason Dai is likely to be valuing the assets above and beyond the value a prospective purchaser may have for ongoing football purposes and b) he will very likely have a plan b.
In terms of the Plan B I’m pretty sure he could run the stadium at breakeven if needed (sports based lease, concerts, boxing matches etc) and I fear you may be wrong with regard to planning permission at Bearwood. There were very similar objections at Maidenhead and the only concession so far has been a small reduction in the number of houses to be built.
Regardless of those outcomes the main point is the asset value in any negotiation.

I get your point that Dai may still have ambitions of going down this route whether he knows it's feasible or not. Perhaps this is an area for SBWD to be on the front foot; work with the council to get a statement that there's no chance of this working for him.

Exactly, something I’ve already raised in an earlier post. All areas of governance should be pursued to deter Dai from going down the property development path in negotiations. In addition, the Reading fans need help and clarity as to what the next actions should be and why. The abandonment of the Port Vale game has been an undoubted success but it delivers a small blow at this stage (lost revenue) to staying in league 1. To repeat it may well cause significant harm in terms of league 1 status and breach of contract for unpaid players I.e points deductions and player assets leaving for free.
Getting behind the team like never before in their quest to stay in league 1 may be critical when the dust finally settles on all of this.

[mikey_1871]

Surely it’d take years, loads of hassle and a lot of money for Yongge to make any kind of money from the stadium without a club in it and selling Bearwood for housing. Makes no sense really

Indeed. Bearwood is not allocated for housing and is in the countryside, therefore would likely require an allocation within a local plan to ever achieve housing on there. Even if this was successful, and there's no guarantee it will be, it would be years and years until any return would be seen on it.

[Wycombe Royal]

[qand I fear you may be wrong with regard to planning permission at Bearwood. There were very similar objections at Maidenhead and the only concession so far has been a small reduction in the number of houses to be built.
Regardless of those outcomes the main point is the asset value in any negotiation.

THe land on which the training ground is sited is part of a historic park and both the park and some of the buiildings that were retained on the site are grade II listed.
From the planning application:

Designation and Significance
55. Both the historic park and garden, and the main house at Bearwood are listed at
grade 2*, being of national or international importance. In addition, two Mole Road
entrance lodges (West Lodge and Park Lodge), and within the application site, are
individually listed at grade II.

English Heritage have a large say on what happens in the park and it was as a result of their objections that we couldn't build an indoor pitch there (built at the Forest School instead). It is very unlikely any housing development would ever get approved at that site.

[mikey_1871]

Maidenhead golf club just shows how long the process takes even when successful. That is part of an adopted local plan which the Council adopted in 2022, but had been working on since 2013.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

I think I may dai before he sells

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Surely it’d take years, loads of hassle and a lot of money for Yongge to make any kind of money from the stadium without a club in it and selling Bearwood for housing. Makes no sense really

If it guarantees him more money in the short and long-term, then it would make sense. As mentioned, if an investor is only willing to pay £30m for the lot but a property developer is willing to pay £25m for the training ground and then someone else a further £25m for the stadium, he can reap whatever he wants from that. I suspect he's holding out for all possibilities. He obviously doesn't care about the club, so why would he care who he sells his assets to because that's all he see's them as.

Also, Bearwood doesn't have to be just a property developer for houses, there are various other sites that could be built on that land e.g. golf course.

[Ten Bobsworth]

Dai has had all the time he would need to get relevant professional advice and is unlikely to be impressed by the personal abuse or attempts to steamroller him.

If anything, these are much more likely to stiffen his resolve to get the best financial outcome for himself and anyone else financially connected to him.

I think the perception seems to be that he can't be anymore obtuse with the situation at the moment, hence the protests.

It is possible that the whole thing has got to him and he's ceased to think rationally and is willing to cut off his nose to spite his face. I don't know the whole background but its not a conclusion I would jump to. The signs that I am picking up are of someone under pressure who may or may not be in full control of events.

I think its usually a good idea to follow the money when you can. Its not always easy and I suspect its particularly difficult in this case but a lot of cash has been spent on Reading. Where exactly did it all come from? Does Dai, for example, owe this money (or any of it) to somebody else.

I don't only take an interest in footie; I have just been having a look at the Fujitsu Story on its website. It begins with the statement:

We use technology to make happier lives

That's their 'perception' anyway.