Thanks to Dai Yongge, Reading Football Club are currently in a situation which every fan dreads, an uncertain future. Reading has a matter of weeks to find a buyer, if not, more than 150 years will cease to remain as we know it.
The short history of Reading Football Club
The club was founded back in 1871 in the centre of the city on Bridge Street by a group of young townsmen. In the clubs very first match, they played out a nil-nil draw against Reading School at what is now King’s Meadow Park in February 1872. Just 7 years later the club managed to get its first silverware in the Berks & Bucks Senior Cup. Reading’s first official home was made in 1896, Elm Park in the West part of the city. Reading became a professional club in 1897, a year after securing their first ground. The early 20th century is recognised as the clubs most successful time, winning the Southern League Division Two title in 1911 and finishing runners up in the Southern League Division One 3 times. The club had its best FA Cup run in the 1926/27 season, making it to the semi-final of the competition losing to eventual winners Cardiff City. The only other time Reading have made the FA Cup semi-final was 10 years ago in 2015, losing out to Arsenal.
From 1931-1971 the club spent its time in Division 3 before their eventual relegation in the 1970-71 season. Reading then for the next 14 seasons kept switching between Division 3 and 4 until the 1985-86 season when the club gained promotion to Division 2 for the first time in more than 50 years. More fluctuating seasons followed until the Royals record breaking 2005/06 Championship season scoring 106 points in a single Championship season. Steve Coppell’s side also broke the longest unbeaten record as they went 33 games unbeaten from the first game defeat against Plymouth Argyle to the defeat at the hands of Luton Town in February.
In the clubs first Premier League season they managed to finish in an impressive 8th position, the highest position that the club has finished in its history. The club were relegated from the Premier League in 2008 after finishing 19th in the table. It took the Royals 4 seasons to get back into the top tier after winning the Championship but their time was short lived as they suffered instant relegation back to the Championship in 2013 and that would be the last time the team from Berkshire would be in the top flight.
After a couple of mediocre seasons back in the second tier, Reading looked for promotion in the 2016/17 season. After finishing 3rd in the normal season, Reading qualified for the play-offs and faced London side Fulham. The first leg was played at Craven Cottage which ended in a 1-1 draw. In the second leg Reading defeated Fulham 1-0 courtesy of a Yann Kermorgant goal. On the same evening the Chinese investors Dai Xuili and Dai Yongge were approved by the EFL to have a majority share of the club. The play-off final was held on the 29th May at Wembley against Huddersfield Town. The game would end nil-nil after extra-time, subsequently going to penalties. Ali Al-Habsi would save Huddersfield player Hefele’s penalty which had Reading ahead after 2 had been taken each. Liam Moore would blast his penalty over the bar making the penalty score line level, 4 had been taken by both sides. Jordan Obita would have his penalty saved by Danny Ward, Christopher Schindler would step up and slot the ball into the bottom left corner to take the Terriers up and leave Reading in the Championship.
The following 2 seasons the club flirted with relegation finishing 20th both times. The 2021/22 season saw the first points deduction at the club, 6 points were taken from the club after breaching the EFL profitability and sustainability rules. Reading would survive by the skin of their teeth in 21st. Reading saw another 6 points deducted the following season but sadly, it wasn’t enough for them to survive, Reading were relegated to League One. In the first season back in the third tier, the club had major difficulties on and of the pitch. Reading would finish in 17th position with fans wanting the owner, Dai Yongge, out of the club. This season Reading currently sit just outside the play-off places with under 10 games remaining. But with all that’s going on off the pitch, Reading may not be able to compete next season.
The question is; How has the club slumped from the brink of promotion to the Premier League to League One with their future in the balance? And how has Dai Yongge, in his position, let this happen?
Dai Yongge and the collapse of Reading FC
Lets get an understanding of who Dai Yongge and his family is. Dai Yongge and his family own a Chinese investment holding company. The family have made and own shopping malls in China. They opened their first shopping centre in the early 90’s but by the time Dai Yongge took over the club, they had acquired 30 malls across China.
Reading isn’t the first club that Dai Yongge has owned and have put into trouble. Yongge bought Chinese club Shaanxi Baorong Chanba in 2007. 5 years later the club got relocated from Shaanxi to the province of Guizhou in the South of China, over 1,300 km away. Clearly Dai didn’t like the club in Guizhou either as the club were relocated yet again, this time to the capital, Beijing, in 2016. After 2 relocations and 2 name changes the club folded in March 2021. Yongge attempted to buy Hull City at the start of the 2016/17 season for £130 million. He failed to purchase the club as the Premier League rejected his company to purchase the then top flight club.
As mentioned earlier, Dai Yongge acquired Reading Football Club in May 2017 on the evening after defeating Fulham in the play-off semi final. Ever since losing the play-off final, Reading as a club since Yongge’s purchase has been spiraling downwards, not making any positive inroads. The first two seasons Reading finished in 20th both times.
Manager Jaap Stam was sacked in March 2018 with the Royals fighting relegation. In fact, the club has been through 9 permanent managers since the summer of 2017. This shows the mess that the club has been in. It is impossible to build something and make strides towards promotion back to where the club should be. Reading just missed out on the play-offs in the 2020/21 season with new signing and star man Ovie Ejaria and striker Lucas Joao certainly helping the club get to this position. It would turn out that Ovie Ejaria is the last player that Reading football club paid a fee for, this transfer happened back in 2020 which means it is coming up to 5 years of free transfers and loan deals only.
The following season would be the the clear start of the downfall. Reading would receive their first points deduction due to EFL profitability and sustainability rules, 6 points were deducted. The club finished 1 place above the relegation zone in 21st, just 4 points above Peterborough United. This would be followed next season by, yet again, another 6 point deduction this time for breaching a financial agreement made between the club and the EFL. The 6 point deduction would turn out to be costly as the club saw relegation to the third tier, without the deduction Cardiff City would’ve been relegated.
Over the summer of 2023, HMRC lodged a winding-up petition for the club. There would also be a transfer embargo placed on the side. For the third successive season Reading were deducted 6 points last campaign. 1 point for failing to pay players on time and in full for 3 times, 2 points for late HMRC payments and 3 points for failing to deposit wages on time. The comedic ownership and management wouldn’t end there though as in March 2024, a news story broke that Wycombe Wanderers were in talks with Reading to purchase the Royals’ training ground, Bearwood Park. This ultimately would fall through as mass protests from both sets of fans would help the matter. Although it didn’t have an implication on promotion or survival, this would be the beginning of what could be the end for the football club as we know it.
Now we will be moving onto the current season. On the pitch it has looked promising as Reading are looking to make the play-off places as they sit just outside them currently. While Sam Smith (who moved to Wrexham in January) and Harvey Knibbs have been performing well, keeping the hopes alive for the unlikely but possible promotion through the play-offs, off the pitch it has been nothing short of bleak. On the 21st March 2025, the EFL disqualified Dai Yongge through the ‘EFL owners’ and directors’ test. This means that the Chinese businessman will not be able to own Reading FC. The EFL has given Dai Yongge a deadline of the 4th April to sell the club.
This has left the fans with mixed feelings, knowing that Dai Yongge won’t be able to own Reading has obviously got fans feeling optimistic. That optimism though is also met with a sense of anxiousness and fear, everyone realises that they might be without a club in a matter of weeks. If they have not been sold by Yongge or not purchased by anybody by the 4th April, the club may be suspended from playing matches for the remaining part of the season. If the club has not been purchased by the 4th May, the club will be disqualified by the EFL, subsequently meaning that Reading will not be able to compete in the EFL after May.
Fans and officials of every club around the country are hoping that Reading Football Club can get over the hill and be left in a better place in the coming weeks to where they are at now. It is impossible to hide from the fact that we might not see Reading as we know them after the 2024/25 season. The next month will feel like years to Reading fans with each second ticking by, the optimism and hope will start to diminish. Nobody would want to see their club in the current position that the Royals find themselves in currently. All we can do now is sit and wait until further news comes out next Friday as that will be the final day of Dai Yongge at the helm of Reading. All we can say is that we don’t want Reading to ‘Dai’ and hopefully the club can survive and have a sustainable future moving away from the torrid time under Dai Yongge.
