Fans join together to call for Reading's owner to sell the club

It comes as the Royals prepare for life in League One

Author: Greg DeanPublished 26th Jun 2023

Reading Football Club fan groups have united to launch "Sell Before We Dai" - a pressure group to demand a change of ownership at the SCL Stadium.

The move follows news that Reading FC have received another set of EFL charges, relating to unpaid wages and wider club funding mismanagement.

It caps a desperate period for the recently relegated Royals, who are currently without a manager.

The fan group collective is now calling for Mr Dai to sell the club.

Spokesperson Nick Houlton said:

"Despite his best intentions, Mr Dai's stewardship of Reading Football Club has been an unmitigated disaster. His reign has seen excruciating financial losses and a hat-trick of relegations as the academy and both men's and women's teams suffered relegation.

"In spite of this, Reading FC fans remained supportive of Mr Dai, with many seeing relegation as a chance to reset and follow in the footsteps of the likes of Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Sheffield United in recent years, who all bounced back from third-tier football to enjoy Premier League success."

"However, the latest round of charges and the potential for points deductions for the third season in a row - coupled with the apparent collapse of the hugely popular move to appoint Chris Wilder - has destroyed what little faith remained in the Reading FC owner and CEO Dayong Pang."

"We are now calling for Mr Dai to sell the club at the earliest opportunity and give Reading FC the chance to follow in the footsteps of Forest, Leicester and Sheffield United - rather than KSV Roeselare and Beijing Renhe."

"We know this is an unsettling time for other staff that work at Reading FC, and we are fully with them. Our focus is on seeing Mr Dai and Dayong Pang move on from the club."

The groups are now planning a series of protests to maintain pressure on the Reading FC ownership to sell up.

The "Sell Before We Dai" movement is comprised of Supporters' Trust At Reading (STAR), Club 1871, Proud Royals, Elm Park Royals and The Tilehurst End, but aims to be fully inclusive of all supporters who feel the same way.

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