‘This is a heart-breaking time for Royals fans who want urgent action’: MP’s letter to EFL CEO calls for action over Reading FC’s plight

‘THIS is a heartbreaking time for Royals fans who want to see quick action to rescue their beloved club,’ a Reading MP has warned.

Matt Rodda has joined the fan-led initiatives to save Reading FC from possible administration.

On Friday, January 19, he wrote to Trevor Birch, CEO of the English Football League (EFL), requesting that the league intervene and resolve the concerns to safeguard the club’s survival.

The Reading East MP stated that “(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.” Many Royals fans are now deeply concerned about the club’s survival.”

He reminded Mr Birch that the present owner, Dai Yongge, had mismanaged the club’s finances, resulting in a transfer embargo and relegation from the Championship. It has also witnessed redundancies, the departure of important members, players sold without the manager’s knowledge, and fines for failing to satisfy payroll obligations.

“It appears that the current owner no longer intends to give the absolute essentials in terms of stability and financial support required for the club to continue to function until a “A suitable buyer can be found,” Mr Rodda added.

While Mr Dai and Reading FC CEO Dayong Pang continue to publicly state that the club is for sale, many fans are concerned by recent claims that the sale is being delayed due to outstanding debts that the owners must pay before a transfer of ownership can take place.”

This, Mr Rodda continued, making fans concerned that the club’s assets may be removed.

“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.”