Former Reading FC chairman Roger Smee has confirmed that his bid to takeover the club has been rejected by current owner Dai Yongge.
The i Paper has reported that Smee made a ‘sizable and serious’ bid to Reading last week, but it has been rejected.
A statement from Smee says: “I confirm that my team submitted a carefully considered bid last week.
“I believe it was firmly competitive with previous proposals that had been entertained and publicly granted exclusivity.
“I am sad to tell you my bid has been rejected.”
Smee, who played for Reading in both the 1960s and 1970s, helped to save the club from a merger with Oxford United back in 1983.
After Oxford chairman Robert Maxwell announced intentions to buy a majority shareholding at Reading and merge with Oxford into a club called ‘Thames Valley Royals’, Smee and Reading director Roy Tranter opposed the merger with a rival bid.
Smee was chairman of the Royals until John Madejski took over from him in 1990.
Protest group Sell Before We Dai said: “We are just monitoring reports that Dai has rejected a bid from Roger Smee, one of the 1983 heroes to save our club the last time it is under threat.”
