Reading Football Club is currently a bit of a tragedy. If you’ve followed English football for any length of time, you know the vibe of the Select Car Leasing Stadium—or the Madejski, as most of us still call it. It’s a club with a pristine 24,000-seat stadium, a category-one academy that pumps out talent like a factory, and a fan base that has been put through the absolute ringer by ownership issues. Honestly, it's exhausting just watching it from the outside.
The Royals aren't just another League One team. They are a club that held the record for the most points in a single Championship season—106 points back in 2005/06. That record still stands. It’s a monument to what this club can be when the stars align. But right now? The stars haven't just unaligned; they’ve basically fallen out of the sky.
The Dai Yongge Era: A Masterclass in How Not to Run a Club
Let’s get into the messy stuff. Reading Football Club has become the poster child for the "fit and proper persons test" debate in the EFL. Since Dai Yongge took over in 2017, the club has been a revolving door of points deductions, transfer embargoes, and late wage payments. It’s grim.
You’ve got a situation where the fans are literally throwing tennis balls onto the pitch to get games abandoned just so the world will look at them. That happened against Port Vale. It wasn't just a tantrum; it was a desperate plea for help. The EFL has been breathing down their necks for years. They’ve been docked 18 points in total over the last few seasons for various financial breaches. Imagine trying to stay up when you start with a massive handicap every year. It’s like trying to run a marathon with your shoelaces tied together.
The irony is that Dai Yongge isn't a "poor" owner in the literal sense. He has money. He just seemingly stopped putting it where it needed to go. HMRC winding-up petitions became a monthly occurrence. It’s been a legal minefield. Fans have formed groups like "Sell Before We Dai" to pressure the ownership. They’ve marched. They’ve protested. They’ve done everything short of buying the club themselves.
Why the Academy is the Only Thing Keeping Them Alive
If there is a silver lining—and it’s a thin one—it’s the youth setup. Reading's academy is elite. Seriously.
Think about the players who have come through those gates. Michael Olise is out there tearing it up for Bayern Munich and the French national team. Eberechi Eze was in the system for a bit. Gylfi Sigurdsson, Shane Long, Michail Antonio. The list goes on. Even now, with no money to buy anyone, Ruben Selles (the manager who honestly deserves a medal for patience) has to rely on kids.
📖 Related: How to watch vikings game online free without the usual headache
Basically, the club survives because it grows its own talent.
When you can't register new players because of an embargo, you look at the U21s. That’s been the Reading strategy for three years. It’s risky. You’re playing teenagers against seasoned League One veterans who know all the dark arts of the game. Sometimes it works. Sometimes they get bullied. But without that academy, Reading Football Club would probably be sitting in the National League right now, or worse, out of existence like Bury or Macclesfield.
The Geography Problem: London's Shadow
Reading is a weird place for a football club. It’s a massive town—one of the biggest in the UK not to be a city—but it’s only 25 minutes from London by train.
That’s a blessing and a curse.
It’s a blessing because you can attract decent staff who live in the capital. It’s a curse because half the town supports Chelsea, Arsenal, or Spurs. You’re constantly fighting for the "casual" fan. The die-hards are great, don't get me wrong. They’re loyal as anything. But growing the footprint is hard when you’re competing with the global giants just down the M4.
The stadium location doesn't help much either. It’s on the edge of town, surrounded by retail parks and car dealerships. It lacks that gritty, inner-city feel that clubs like Portsmouth or Luton have. It feels... corporate. Sir John Madejski built it to be a Premier League facility, and it still is. It’s too good for the third tier. Walking into that stadium for a League One clash feels like wearing a tuxedo to a backyard BBQ. It’s nice, but it feels slightly out of place.
👉 See also: Liechtenstein National Football Team: Why Their Struggles are Different Than You Think
The Tactical Chaos of Ruben Selles
Managing Reading Football Club right now is probably the hardest job in English football. Ruben Selles took it on after Southampton went down, and he’s had to deal with things no manager should touch.
- Unpaid bills? Check.
- Training ground food being cut back? Check.
- Players being sold behind his back to balance the books? Check.
Selles plays a high-pressing, energetic style. It’s fun to watch when it clicks. But it requires high fitness and high morale. When the players don't know if they’re getting paid on Friday, morale tends to dip. Surprisingly, the team has shown incredible grit. They’ve won games they had no business winning. They play for the badge because, frankly, the badge is the only thing that hasn't been sold off yet.
The tactics are often secondary to the psychology. Selles has become a father figure, a spokesperson, and a tactician all rolled into one. He’s often the only person from the club actually speaking to the media because the owners are silent. That’s a lot of weight for one man.
What Needs to Happen Next
The future of Reading is entirely dependent on a takeover. We’ve heard names. We’ve heard about North American consortia. We’ve heard about former Wycombe owners. Every week there’s a new "exclusive" about a deal being close.
Until the ink is dry, Reading is in a holding pattern.
The fans want stability. They don't even need Premier League dreams right now; they just want to know the light bill is paid. If a new owner comes in, they inherit a top-tier stadium and a goldmine of an academy. The potential is massive. Reading is a sleeping giant that has been drugged and tied to a chair for seven years.
✨ Don't miss: Cómo entender la tabla de Copa Oro y por qué los puntos no siempre cuentan la historia completa
Actionable Steps for the "Relapsed" Reading Fan or Local Neutral
If you’re looking to support the club or just stay informed during this volatile period, here is what actually matters:
Follow the Supporters Trust (STAR). They are the most reliable source for what’s actually happening behind the scenes. They have direct lines to the EFL and the administrators (if it ever comes to that). Ignore the random "ITK" (In The Know) accounts on X; they usually just stir the pot for clicks.
Show up to the home games. This sounds cliché, but for Reading, matchday revenue is the lifeblood right now. With the owner's funding being "unreliable" to put it lightly, the gate receipts are what pay the staff. If the fans stop going in protest, they might accidentally starve the club they’re trying to save.
Keep an eye on the academy fixtures. If you want to see the future of English football, watch the Reading U18s or U21s. It’s a lower-pressure way to enjoy the sport, and you’ll see the next Michael Olise before he costs £50 million.
Understand the "Regulated" landscape. Keep tabs on the Football Governance Bill in Parliament. Reading is one of the primary examples used by politicians to argue for an independent regulator in English football. What happens in the House of Commons might actually have more impact on Reading's survival than what happens on the pitch.
The reality is that Reading Football Club is too big to fail, but English football history is littered with "too big to fail" clubs that did exactly that. The next six months will determine if they are the next big comeback story or a cautionary tale for the next century.