• Make a contribution
  • Get the Print Edition
  • Sign up for our daily newsletter
Saturday, July 26, 2025
  • Login
Reading Today Online
  • HOME
  • YOUR AREA
    • All
    • Caversham
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Katesgrove
    • Reading
    • Southcote & Coley
    • Tilehurst & Norcot
    • Whitley

    PCC allocates nearly £2M in Home Office funding to counter serious violence in Thames Valley

    The Barberettes Shine at International Choir Competition in Europe

    Reading Rep announces team behind next production, The Last Five Years

    Reading Biscuit Factory set to celebrate fourth birthday

    Orthodox Bishop of Great Britain attends Reading church for major celebration

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: PACT is a ‘genuinely welcoming, nurturing environment’

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: PACT is a ‘genuinely welcoming, nurturing environment’

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: Meet the sponsors – Cherubs Floral Design

    PRIDE OF READING AWARDS: Meet the sponsors – Cherubs Floral Design

    Enjoy a spectacular afternoon tea of indulgent chocolate and sparkles

    Reading footbridge to close for footbridge in central Reading

  • COMMUNITY
  • READING FC
  • SPORT
    • All
    • Basketball
    • Football
    • Rugby

    Reading FC confirm new signing as midfielder joins on permanent deal

    Former Reading FC loanee joins rivals

    Reading FC sign German attacker on permanent deal

    Reading and Chelsea legend Kerry Dixon set for Q&A at Purple Turtle

    Ex-Reading star Ejaria on trial with former Royals manager

    League One side set to win race for former Reading FC young star

    Reading FC opinion: Where are the goals coming from this season?

    Reading FC midfielder Knibbs linked with Championship move

    Reading FC forward Ehibhatiomhan features in friendly despite unresolved future

  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Reading Today Online
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

FROM THE MP: Yuan Yang – Reading FC is vital to our local community

Guest Contributor by Guest Contributor
Sunday, March 9, 2025 4:38 am
in Opinion, Politics, Sport
A A
Yuan Yang

Yuan Yang

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Reading FC is vital to our local community; it is much more than a collection of assets to be valued and traded. Since I’ve gotten involved in efforts to save the club, supporters from across the country have reached out to share their affection for the Royals.

The messages are often deeply personal and reflect fans’ despair at the current situation. “The club is a foundation of our community that brings friends and family together over the generations”, one noted. Another said, “I have witnessed the club’s demise

in slow motion, up close, and with a heavy heart”.

I was glad to amplify the voices of Reading fans like these at the debate that I’m chairing in Parliament on March 6th, in which MPs from across the country and I described the problems we all face with football finances and governance. Many of my fellow MPs

also represent clubs that have also suffered from absent ownership or poor management.

To address these issues, we need an independent football regulator. The Football Governance Bill will resolve many of the issues raised. However, for some clubs, the Bill may not come soon enough, nor can it be applied retrospectively. And the passage of the

Related posts

PCC allocates nearly £2M in Home Office funding to counter serious violence in Thames Valley

The Barberettes Shine at International Choir Competition in Europe

Reading Rep announces team behind next production, The Last Five Years

Reading Biscuit Factory set to celebrate fourth birthday

Bill has been sadly delayed in the House of Lords by Conservative peers, who have filibustered it. This is shameful and only serves to delay much-needed progress.

Reading FC’s story presents a vital opportunity to learn the right lessons and how to avoid the same mistakes again. During Dai Yongge’s ownership of Reading FC, the club’s challenges have mounted. From points deductions to staff redundancy, the mismanagement

has been devastating. While fans have demanded answers, the silence of the owners has been deafening.

The collapse of a near-sale last summer has only deepened uncertainty, with reports suggesting complications involving the stadium being allegedly used as collateral for loans abroad. Thankfully, we hear these complications have now been resolved. I’m pleased

to hear the news that the club have entered a period of exclusivity with a new potential buyer. I’ll be watching this process very closely.

In the past six months, I’ve brought attention to Reading FC’s plight in Parliament. On the floor of the Commons, I’ve twice raised the future of the Club in a question to the relevant Secretary of State, and made clear that clubs like ours cannot wait for

solutions to come too late. I’ve met with the Sports Minister, Reading fan groups, and other MPs to discuss what we can collectively do to support the club’s future. I’ve also spoken to legal experts, written to the Chinese Embassy and to Dai Yongge himself,

all to ensure that we left no stone unturned.

Last week, I launched a petition in conjunction with Sell Before We Dai, calling for a parliamentary inquiry into what has happened at Reading, so that other clubs don’t suffer the same fate. This petition quickly gathered over 10,000 signatures. I’ll present

it in Parliament in the coming week.

I would like to acknowledge the different groups such as Sell Before We Dai, STAR, the staff at Reading FC, the EFL and Reading fans; their patience, tolerance, organisation and determination to make their voices heard over the last few years has been admirable.

I hope that the Club has better days ahead once again, both on and off the pitch.

Keep up to date by signing up for our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people who have requested it.

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Previous Post

Innovative system to track train cancellations launched in Reading

Next Post

Decision due on neighbour request of overhaul to parking in Southcote

FOLLOW US

POPULAR STORIES

  • 47-year-old woman arrested after two pedestrians die in road traffic collision in Caversham

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Former Reading FC striker Andy Carroll joins new club in England after leaving France

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Masked men armed with weapons rob store in Reading

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • League One side set to win race for former Reading FC young star

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reading FC forward given ultimatum over future at the club

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

RDG.Today – which is a Social Enterprise – provides Reading Borough with free, independent news coverage.

If you are able, please support our work

Click Here to Support RDG.Today

ABOUT US

Reading Today is dedicated to providing news online across the whole of the Borough of Reading. It is a Social Enterprise, existing to support the various communities in Reading Borough.

CONTACT US

news@wokinghampaper.co.uk

Reading Today Logo

Keep up to date with our daily newsletter

We don’t spam we only send our newsletter to people that have subscribed

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

The Wokingham Paper Ltd publications are regulated by IPSO – the Independent Press Standards Organisation.
If you have a complaint about a  The Wokingham Paper Ltd  publication in print or online, you should, in the first instance, contact the publication concerned, email: editor@wokingham.today, or telephone: 0118 327 2662. If it is not resolved to your satisfaction, you should contact IPSO by telephone: 0300 123 2220, or visit its website: www.ipso.co.uk. Members of the public are welcome to contact IPSO at any time if they are not sure how to proceed, or need advice on how to frame a complaint.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • MY AREA
    • Central Reading
    • East Reading
    • Bracknell
    • Calcot
    • Caversham
    • Crowthorne
    • Earley
  • COMMUNITY
  • SPORT
    • Reading FC
    • Football
    • Rugby
    • Basketball
  • ENTERTAINMENT
    • ARTS
    • READING FESTIVAL
    • READING PRIDE
    • WOKINGHAM FESTIVAL
  • PRIDE OF READING
  • OBITUARIES
  • JOBS
  • ADVERTISE
  • CONTACT US
  • SUPPORT US
  • SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER
  • WHERE TO GET THE PRINT EDITION

© 2021 - The Wokingham Paper Ltd - All Right Reserved.