“I’m Reading ‘til I die,” came the chant at kick-off from the away end, although many fear that the club will be the first to require a lengthy eulogy if Dai Yongge continues his lamentable ownership. The Royals are in crisis and 90 minutes of football at least brings some normality to the supporters from Berkshire who made the trek up to Wigan, even if the match ended in a 1-0 defeat.
Wigan fans know the pain of poor ownership, starting the season with an eight-point deduction after previous owners Phoenix Ltd failed to pay wages on time on five separate occasions in a season that concluded with relegation from the Championship alongside Reading. The Latics were served with a winding up petition in June relating to an unpaid tax bill and placed under a transfer embargo but a takeover from local billionaire Mike Danson has put Wigan back on firm ground after paying off outstanding debts.
The two clubs were relegated from the Premier League in 2012-13 and neither have returned to the top flight since. Unlike Reading fans, Wigan’s faithful know they will have a team to support next season, which is more important than any victory.
What Reading fans would do for their own saviour. They have been docked 16 points since November 2021 and sit 21st in the third tier, relegation to League Two an increasing possibility and the fans have decided to fight back. The “Sell Before We Dai” campaign leading the charge for Reading to raise awareness of their plight.
The level of cost-cutting is stark, from catering to heating to making 19 members of staff redundant. Centre-back Nelson Abbey was absent from the side, expecting to be sold imminently to raise funds. Rubén Sellés admits he is working on a day-to-day basis because uncertainty dictates how he can manage the club.
“The more people showing to be supporting the team and the players, as opposed to the owner, the better,” says Paul Ellix, one of 621 Reading supporters in attendance.
“The owner has made a right mess of this, whether he has done it deliberately or not, when he realised he could not make the Premier League after he took over. I think protests are right, I don’t think they are going to make the slightest bit of difference to the owner. I think at the end of day the owner is going to do nothing and we are going to have to create a phoenix club somewhere down the line.”
The players deserve the backing from the stands, watching a spirited second-half display at Wigan, worthy of a draw, but Thelo Aasgaard settled the result with a fine curling shot just after the half-hour. Amid all the chaos, Reading had lost one of their previous nine league matches. There is quality in the team but fans fear more players being sold before the window closes and potential additional sanctions from authorities which will make it almost impossible to survive.
“I can completely understand why the fans have taken the action they have,” says Reading supporter Mike Pendlebury. “How else would we get our voice heard? Dai Yongge has previous – he has put a Chinese and a Belgian one [club] out of business and I fear we will be the third.”
Last week’s home game against Port Vale was abandoned after Reading supporters invaded the pitch to protest against the owner but objections were more restrained in Greater Manchester, using words to make their point; “Stand up if you hate Dai Yongge” was repeated in the North Stand, not that Dai will listen. Fans fear this could be their final season watching the club as they know it.
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhone or the Google Play store on Android by searching for 'The Guardian'.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you’re on the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the Menu button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Turn on sport notifications.
“I think it would be tragic, not just for Reading but the whole of Berkshire if we went out of business,” Ellix says. “I don’t mind if we get relegated, I would prefer if we didn’t. I want him to sell, someone to take over that has the club at heart, not someone that is looking to make a club profit.”
Defeats hurt but nothing compares to the pain being felt by Reading fans fearing a football oblivion. There is plenty of spirit in the stands and on the pitch but they are all relying on the whim of one man. Football is not about owners, it is about fans and they deserve the final word: “Get out of our club”.
