EFL says Reading owner must ‘fund club adequately’ or sell

Reading fans have held numerous protests against owner Dai YonggeReading owner Dai Yongge must either “fund the club adequately” or “make immediate arrangements to sell”, the English Football League has said.

The Chinese businessman has been fined a further £50,000 for failing to meet financial deadlines over wages.

Royals fans forced the abandonment of Saturday’s League One match with Port Vale in protest at Dai’s ownership.

The EFL said it will discuss the pitch invasion at a board meeting later this week.

“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,” the EFL said.

“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.”

‘Keep attention on Reading owner rather than fans’Listen to BBC Radio Berkshire’s Reading FC podcastDai’s latest fine – taking the total issued to him to £80,000 – comes after he failed to meet last Friday’s deadline to deposit 125% of the total staff wage bill to a registered account, meaning he has now been in default for nearly four months.

When Dai was fined £20,000 last month, the EFL had recommended he be banned from all football activity for 12 months, but an independent disciplinary commission opted against enforcing it.

“His continued failings mean that once again the club’s hard-working staff have no reassurance as to payment of wages and demonstrates a clear disregard for his obligations as a director of the club,” the EFL added.

The league says it will meet with Royals supporters’ groups across Monday and Tuesday, and reiterated its desire to work with Dai and any potential purchasers to “bring an end to this difficult period for all parties”.

The EFL described Saturday’s pitch invasion as “unfortunate”, adding that though it “demonstrated the impact the current situation is having on everyone associated with the club”, entering the field of play is a criminal offence. 

MP ‘would have gone on pitch too’Speaking to BBC Radio Berkshire earlier on Monday, James Sunderland – MP for Bracknell – said he would have joined Reading fans on the pitch had he been at Saturday’s abandoned match.

Royals supporter Sunderland was not able to be in his usual seat at the Select Car Leasing Stadium for the game.

“Going on the pitch and protesting in that way is not what I should be condoning as an MP,” he said.

“But I sympathise with the fans. If I’d been there I would have done it as well.”

An estimated 1,000 Royals fans poured on to the pitch after 16 minutes, signifying the number of points the club have had deducted since Dai took over in 2017.

Following relegation from the Championship after being docked six points last season they are 21st in League One, three points from safety, having been stripped of four points this campaign.

Sunderland said he would be meeting sports minister Stuart Andrew this week to ask for the forthcoming Football Governance Bill to be sped up, and for Reading to be the “test case”.

“I’m a fan and seeing fans on the pitch, seeing the match abandoned, seeing the emotion and heartbreak is tragic. We’ve got to the point now where something really serious has to be done,” he added.

“We have got to put pressure on the EFL. They are part of the solution, not part of the problem now, in my view.

“Points deductions must not happen – this is about the fans and the club and making sure we wrestle control from Dai Yongge, however we do it. The club is broken under him.

“We have got to do whatever it takes to make sure Dai Yongge does not run any clubs in British football ever again.”

Reading’s timeline of tormentMay 2017 – Chinese brother and sister Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li become majority shareholders of Reading. Royals lose Championship play-off final to Huddersfield on penalties.November 2021 – Club docked six points for exceeding EFL’s permitted loss limit.May 2022 – Reading finish fourth-bottom of Championship, avoiding relegation by four points.April 2023 – Reading deducted six points for breaching the terms of an agreed business plan. Royals relegated to third tier for first time in 21 years.July 2023 – Two-year transfer embargo lifted after tax bill settled, but new embargo imposed shortly after over another HMRC debt.August 2023 – Club handed one-point deduction, and three points suspended, for failure to pay wages on time three times in 2022-23.September 2023 – Suspended three-point penalty triggered after failure to comply with deadline to deposit funds. Dai said to be open to “credible offers” to sell club.October 2023 – For the second time in four months the club is served with a winding-up petition by HMRC over unpaid taxes.November 2023 – Dai pays latest outstanding tax bill to stave off threat of club being wound-up.December 2023 – Fans protest at televised FA Cup tie at Eastleigh and outside the Houses of Parliament. Redundancy notices issued to staff the week before Christmas.January 2024 – Amid reports of players having to bring in their own microwave meals, staff wearing coats at their desks to cut costs and the club selling two promising players behind the manager’s back, a fan-led pitch invasion leads to the home game with Port Vale being abandoned.