A Reading MP has sent a heartbreaking warning to Royals supporters, saying that they want immediate action taken to preserve their beloved team.
Matt Rodda has given his support to the fan-driven initiatives that seek to keep Reading FC out of the hands of possible administrators.
He wrote to Trevor Birch, the CEO of the English Football League (EFL), on Friday, January 19, pleading for the league to step in and address the problems in order to guarantee the club’s survival.
“(The club) is one of the oldest in English football; it has played an important role in the lives of many generations of local families,” the Reading East MP stated. Right now, a lot of Royals supporters are frantic for their team to survive.
He reminded Mr. Birch that the team was demoted from the Championship and placed under a transfer embargo due to financial mismanagement on the part of current owner Dai Yongge. In addition, there have been layoffs, the departure of important personnel, player sales that occurred without the manager’s knowledge, and penalties for missing deadlines for staff wage payments.
“It would seem the current owner no longer intends to provide the very basics in terms of stability and financial support needed for the club to continue to function until a suitable buyer can be found,” Mr Rodda continued.
“While Mr Dai and Reading FC CEO Dayong Pang are still publicly stating the club is for sale, many fans are worried by recent reports that the sale is being delayed due to outstanding debts that the owners would need to pay before a transfer of ownership could proceed.”
This, Mr Rodda continued, makes fans wary that the club could be asset stripped.
“Reading FC could end up as the third of Mr Dai’s football clubs to go out of business,” he added, saying the owner should sell his stake to “appropriate new owners at the earliest opportunity”, while also ensuring the club is funded to pay staff and players on time.
“I would like to join the fan-led campaign groups in asking the EFL to do everything they can within their existing powers to intervene in this serious case and protect our club,” Mr Rodda concluded.
Earlier this week, Mr Birch said: “We share the fans’ frustrations in trying to bring this to a conclusion.
“There is only so much we can intervene given UK corporate law and our regulations. All we can do is try to encourage the owner to sell and divest his ownership if he hasn’t got the desire to fund the club.
“We tried in November to take the owner to a hearing in order to make sure players and staff were to be paid on a regular basis and required the owner to deposit 125% of the monthly amounts in a deposit account.
“Unfortunately, he reneged on that and we tried to seek a disqualification. Unfortunately, the hearing would rather enforce a fine rather than disqualification.”
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