The tragic irony of Reading FC

Reading supporters and owner Dai Yongge have been engaged in a savage civil war for nearly a year and a half. This wasn’t how it was intended to be.

In 2024, approaching Reading’s home is a particularly depressing experience, akin to strolling along the main street of a town you once called home and realising that you will never be able to relive those years. During the prosperous years when fairy dust seemed to fall on Reading for a spell, this was the house that John Madejski had constructed and that once bore his name. It was occupied most weeks.

A man who grew up in the town’s children’s home before earning his millions, Madejski served as chairman starting in 1990. He saved Reading from receivership, constructed a new home for them, and then used shrewd delegating to well-chosen managers to finance a dream rather than extravagant spending.

Reading finished seventh in 2006–07 and played in the Premier League for three seasons, the most recent being 2012–13. Only in 2017 did they spend more than £3 million on a player. Using what they had and the people they met along the way—including Steve Coppell, Brian McDermott, Adam Le Fondre, Kevin Doyle, Nicky Shorey, Graeme Murty, Stephen Hunt, Dave Kitson, Ibrahima Sonko, Steve Sidwell, and others—they created a cult hero team. In 2007, Reading was just one point away from playing in Europe.

Not only do their faces, locked in moments of shared delight, decorate walls that have seen far worse times since, but that is the cast list that comes to mind when you walk around Select Car Leasing Stadium today. For almost a year, Reading has been in a state of civil war, a crisis that worsens every month and every failed takeover attempt. The most important advice here is to depart quickly, Dai Yongge.

As a result, Reading had fewer than 13,000 people there on Saturday lunchtime, with large expanses of blue seats visible at one end and the splash effect in the main stands, where a dense crowd of supporters in the centre gradually gives way to scattered dots. Some people believe that they are unable to offer the owner any more money, and even though it doesn’t quite work that way, you have to respect their want to avoid them. Some merely felt so depressed that attending the football game wasn’t enjoyable enough to make the expense, time, or effort worthwhile.

When Madejski sold Reading to Thames Sports Investments, a Russian consortium led by Anton Zingarevich, he lost control of the team. However, the Russian consortium was never able to finish the transaction, and a Thai ownership group took over. After their unsuccessful attempt to purchase Hull City, Chinese twins Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li started talks in November 2016 to acquire a majority stake. They were in by May of 2017.

Dai’s first game was the Championship play-off final at Wembley because he was more involved and is now essentially the only owner. Due to penalties, Reading lost that and has never been as high. The terrible irony is that after all of this suffering, regrettable waste, and energy, you will never even return to where you were before. Everything could have turned out quite differently, but for now, this is the way it is.

While Dai may face numerous charges, not spending money is not one of them. Their own excesses brought about the imposed parsimony that ultimately sucked Reading’s potential. Despite being a second-tier club with smaller income than many of their peers, they spent about £15 million for Sone Aluko and George Puscas. According to reports, their high-end transfer fixer was agent Kia Joorabchian. They were renowned for paying lavish wages, particularly to loan players.

Additionally, Reading didn’t sell very well, which was unhelpful. They have sold two players for over £2.5 million throughout Dai’s whole tenure. The first was Leandro Bacuna, who moved to Cardiff in January 2019 for slightly under £3 million (Reading spent more for Sam Baldock that season). Michael Olise, who was grossly undervalued due to a release clause that allowed him to join Crystal Palace for just £8 million, was the second.

More importantly, Reading wasn’t that great. Under Dai’s ownership, they placed 20th in the first two complete seasons before finishing 14th in the third. Before everything began to fall apart, in 2020–21, Reading was in a strong position to at least qualify for the Championship play-offs. They ended eighth in the league and only won one of their previous eleven games.

Only one likely reality resulted from that. Financial regulations began to pinch after spending on wages alone finally doubled income. In November 2021, Reading was docked six points for breaching the EFL’s agreed-upon loss caps. They were relegated to League One the following season after receiving an additional six points for not adhering to the schedule that had been agreed upon following the first punishment.

There were even more farces in the previous season. Reading lost two points for paying HMRC after the fact, three points for more late salary payments, and one point for not paying players on time during the previous season. Due to violations of sustainability and profitability rules, the club was subject to transfer embargoes. It became evident that Dai was making mistakes, and the club was bearing the consequences.

On Hosier Street, on the eastern outskirts of the town centre, thousands of people gathered at the Blue Collar Street Food market one year ago this month and marched the two kilometres to the stadium. That served as the catalyst for Sell Before We Dai, a campaign to draw national attention to their predicament ahead of a home match against Portsmouth, a team that had experienced a similar amount of upheaval.

But when it does happen, and the cloud finally lifts from this club and its 153-year history, we should take a step back to pay homage to those who have offered solace and made a difference over the last year. To the academy players who have stepped up to fill the gaps. To the manager who has somehow shut out the noise. To the staff who have kept on working, taking on more duties under harder circumstances.

And to the supporters: those within the protest groups, those leaders of the movement, those who have volunteered and organised and those outsiders who have lent their help, advice or simply listened. These are the people who went above and beyond because they felt they owed it to those who loved Reading before them and those who would love it after them. They have done so for far longer than they ever feared that they might have to. The things that keep football clubs alive are exactly the things that make that life worth fighting for.

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