Another week, and the town’s football club remains firmly in the news.
Following on from fans venting their entirely understandable anger with a pitch demonstration against Port Vale – prompting widespread support from the football community – the English Football League (EFL) have handed the club a suspended three-point deduction.
In issuing its ruling, the EFL at least acknowledged ‘the ongoing challenges for the Club and its supporter base,’ which is at least to be welcomed.
To supporters, this has for a long time now felt like a slow-motion car crash.
While the owner continues to make positive noises about the sale of the club in the not-too-distant future, the football authorities, and indeed the Government, remain largely silent on how this has been allowed to happen to one of English football’s oldest and proudest clubs, to the point where its very existence is in jeopardy.
Last week the MP for Reading East, wrote to the EFL calling for it to intervene.
This week my councillor colleague and lifelong supporter, John Ennis, has followed that call up by seeking support for his motion to Full Council, which reads:
That this Council expresses its concern and indignation at the ongoing failure of the owner of Reading FC, founded in 1871, to run the club in a sustainable and proper way, as evidenced by ongoing and repetitive English Football League sanctions against both the club and the owner.
This Council also puts on record its support for the fan-led campaign, including ‘Sell Before we Dai’, and calls on the EFL and the future Independent Regulator to take the necessary action to end Dai Yongge’s ownership of Reading FC, obliging him to sell the club to new owners with a long-term interest in the club and the town.
This Council asks that the Chief Executive writes to the EFL to convey this motion and asking them further to take all possible actions towards developing a sustainable future for Reading FC and delivering a more robust model of football governance. The Chief Executive is also asked to make Berkshire’s MPs aware of the same so that they may be encouraged to lobby on behalf of the club.
At this time, we as a town and a collective voice must continue to ensure that the club’s plight remains in the public eye and keep calling on those authorities who hold the actual power to act.
Last year the Council took what practical action it could by making the Select Car Leasing Company Stadium an Asset of Community Value – an application supported by the ‘Sell Before We Dai’ campaign group. In summary, it means the owners of stadium are unable to dispose of it until a specified timeframe has expired.
There are, of course, limitations in what this protection can reasonably be expected to achieve, but the Council was nonetheless happy to make the move on behalf of the supporters group.
Supporters understandably want action rather than only words, however.
The fact remains the only people who can take action are the football authorities, the future Independent Regulator (which has been proposed but not yet created, and whose introduction into this process cannot come quickly enough), and, of course, Dai Yongge himself.
Cllr Jason Brock is the leader of Reading Borough Council and ward member for Southcote
