Reading - next Portsmouth?

[Postman Pat]

Apologies to those that don't do Daily Mail

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...money-troubles-persist-Championship-side.html

 

[Notters]

Reading are third in the Championship and have the Premier League in their sights, but as money troubles persist, they could be another Portsmouth
Reading are flying high in the Championship and are pushing for promotion

Jaap Stam has done a tremendous job in a bid to regain top-flight status

However, off the field, financial problems dog the club and they are on the brink of being sold for a second time in just two years

There is a worry the club has been asset-stripped by their current owner
s
A source has described the situation as being like 'Portsmouth all over again'

When Sir John Madejski sold Reading to a Thai consortium in 2014, he set two conditions.

The first was that club debts would be cleared, the second that significant investment would be made to take Reading forward.

No price was divulged but Madejski had been backed into a corner after the collapse of a deal with a Russian investor. With debts mounting after relegation from the Premier League in 2013, administration was a real threat.

Two years on and the Royals are on the brink of being sold again — this time to Chinese investors.
On the surface all seems well. Under manager Jaap Stam, the team have stunned even their own supporters by launching an unlikely bid for promotion back to the Premier League.

Reading, third in the Championship, have avoided administration while paying their bills. Now, should the sale go through, the promised land may be in reach.

A January transfer spree may get them over the line but have Madejski’s demands been met, or have Reading become the latest club to be asset-stripped by foreign owners as happened at Portsmouth less than a decade ago?

Below the surface there seems to be justification for that view and one source told Sportsmail: ‘This is like Portsmouth all over again.’
It has already been reported that any new takeover will see the Thais retain ownership of valuable land around the Madejski Stadium — land that has been largely and carefully separated from the club since their arrival.
The Thames Valley is an area on the rise and Reading is seen as its commercial capital. PepsiCo, Verizon and Yell are just three of the giants now based in the area. Housing is in short supply and demand is through the roof.

Last year, the club applied for planning permission for the Royal Elm Park project, a £500million initiative featuring a conference centre, hotel, ice rink and 630 homes.
As part of a charm offensive aimed at securing planning permission, the club’s chief executive Nigel Howe — a property developer — extolled the benefits of the development to the Royals. However, how significant are those benefits given that Reading retain a 25 per cent share in the land at best?

The other 75 per cent rests with a Singapore company in which the owners retain substantial stakes.

The land was recently valued at £70m with development planning consent and while Reading appear to have received a payment for 75 per cent of their share, it is nowhere near the above figure.

Sportsmail understands that a price of £30m was agreed — £15m up front and £15m when planning permission is granted. Club accounts for the year ending June 30, 2015 show a gain on the sale of the land of £11m, or 75 per cent of £15m. It is rumoured that no money actually changed hands and that this instalment was settled by writing off a loan.

Some Reading fans are grateful to the Thais for keeping the club out of administration. Some may see what appears to be effectively a land grab as a fair pay-off. However, how much of their own money did the Thais use?

There are concerns that parts of Reading’s Premier League parachute payments after relegation in 2013, worth tens of millions over four years, were sold at a discount in return for cash advances.
This ‘securitisation’ process sees an external company provide a smaller cash sum immediately in return for picking up the promised, higher payments when due.

In January, a secured loan of $22m (about £17.9m) was taken from Global Fixed Income Fund, who specialise in asset-backed lending. Reading have declined to comment and would not say where this cash has gone, nor what security was provided for the loan.

It may be that most of the cash was used to pay the club’s wage bill and this would reinforce suspicions that very little may have been invested by the Thai owners.

These are the same owners who pledged to build a new training ground and bought a site at Bearwood Park. However, when work ground to a halt the club blamed delays on the new takeover.
It has been widely reported that the prospective new owners — brother and sister Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li — were part of a consortium which failed the Premier League’s Fit and Proper Persons Test and, as a result, failed to take over at Hull City last summer.

Reading director Pairoj Piempongsant, appointed in November, has told friends there will be no such issues this time.
Why is he so bullish? Conspiracy theorists may point out that he is the chairman at Thai energy drink Carabao, Reading’s shirt sponsor.

This season, the EFL Cup has no sponsor — a headache for the Football League, who will carry out the Fit and Proper Person’s test. However, last month Carabao signed a three-year deal worth £18m to back the EFL Cup from 2017.
And there could be another twist in the tale. The land’s value hinges on yet-to-be-granted planning permission by Reading council, who donated the acreage when Madejski agreed to build the stadium.

The issue was not on the agenda at November or December’s planning meeting so perhaps alarm bells have started ringing at the town hall.

This land was a gift to the club. Should it be sold for £70m, most of of that will go into the pockets of the Thais. While questions remain over the benefits to the club, the local authority will see zero return.

 

[Insel affe]

Reading are third in the Championship and have the Premier League in their sights, but as money troubles persist, they could be another Portsmouth
Reading are flying high in the Championship and are pushing for promotion

Jaap Stam has done a tremendous job in a bid to regain top-flight status

However, off the field, financial problems dog the club and they are on the brink of being sold for a second time in just two years

There is a worry the club has been asset-stripped by their current owner
s
A source has described the situation as being like 'Portsmouth all over again'

When Sir John Madejski sold Reading to a Thai consortium in 2014, he set two conditions.

The first was that club debts would be cleared, the second that significant investment would be made to take Reading forward.

No price was divulged but Madejski had been backed into a corner after the collapse of a deal with a Russian investor. With debts mounting after relegation from the Premier League in 2013, administration was a real threat.

Two years on and the Royals are on the brink of being sold again — this time to Chinese investors.
On the surface all seems well. Under manager Jaap Stam, the team have stunned even their own supporters by launching an unlikely bid for promotion back to the Premier League.

Reading, third in the Championship, have avoided administration while paying their bills. Now, should the sale go through, the promised land may be in reach.

A January transfer spree may get them over the line but have Madejski’s demands been met, or have Reading become the latest club to be asset-stripped by foreign owners as happened at Portsmouth less than a decade ago?

Below the surface there seems to be justification for that view and one source told Sportsmail: ‘This is like Portsmouth all over again.’
It has already been reported that any new takeover will see the Thais retain ownership of valuable land around the Madejski Stadium — land that has been largely and carefully separated from the club since their arrival.
The Thames Valley is an area on the rise and Reading is seen as its commercial capital. PepsiCo, Verizon and Yell are just three of the giants now based in the area. Housing is in short supply and demand is through the roof.

Last year, the club applied for planning permission for the Royal Elm Park project, a £500million initiative featuring a conference centre, hotel, ice rink and 630 homes.
As part of a charm offensive aimed at securing planning permission, the club’s chief executive Nigel Howe — a property developer — extolled the benefits of the development to the Royals. However, how significant are those benefits given that Reading retain a 25 per cent share in the land at best?

The other 75 per cent rests with a Singapore company in which the owners retain substantial stakes.

The land was recently valued at £70m with development planning consent and while Reading appear to have received a payment for 75 per cent of their share, it is nowhere near the above figure.

Sportsmail understands that a price of £30m was agreed — £15m up front and £15m when planning permission is granted. Club accounts for the year ending June 30, 2015 show a gain on the sale of the land of £11m, or 75 per cent of £15m. It is rumoured that no money actually changed hands and that this instalment was settled by writing off a loan.

Some Reading fans are grateful to the Thais for keeping the club out of administration. Some may see what appears to be effectively a land grab as a fair pay-off. However, how much of their own money did the Thais use?

There are concerns that parts of Reading’s Premier League parachute payments after relegation in 2013, worth tens of millions over four years, were sold at a discount in return for cash advances.
This ‘securitisation’ process sees an external company provide a smaller cash sum immediately in return for picking up the promised, higher payments when due.

In January, a secured loan of $22m (about £17.9m) was taken from Global Fixed Income Fund, who specialise in asset-backed lending. Reading have declined to comment and would not say where this cash has gone, nor what security was provided for the loan.

It may be that most of the cash was used to pay the club’s wage bill and this would reinforce suspicions that very little may have been invested by the Thai owners.

These are the same owners who pledged to build a new training ground and bought a site at Bearwood Park. However, when work ground to a halt the club blamed delays on the new takeover.
It has been widely reported that the prospective new owners — brother and sister Dai Yongge and Dai Xiu Li — were part of a consortium which failed the Premier League’s Fit and Proper Persons Test and, as a result, failed to take over at Hull City last summer.

Reading director Pairoj Piempongsant, appointed in November, has told friends there will be no such issues this time.
Why is he so bullish? Conspiracy theorists may point out that he is the chairman at Thai energy drink Carabao, Reading’s shirt sponsor.

This season, the EFL Cup has no sponsor — a headache for the Football League, who will carry out the Fit and Proper Person’s test. However, last month Carabao signed a three-year deal worth £18m to back the EFL Cup from 2017.
And there could be another twist in the tale. The land’s value hinges on yet-to-be-granted planning permission by Reading council, who donated the acreage when Madejski agreed to build the stadium.

The issue was not on the agenda at November or December’s planning meeting so perhaps alarm bells have started ringing at the town hall.

This land was a gift to the club. Should it be sold for £70m, most of of that will go into the pockets of the Thais. While questions remain over the benefits to the club, the local authority will see zero return.

I think we have heard this story so many times now, it makes a mockery of the fit and proper stipulation to own a club.

As much as Reading wind me up, I do not wish the worst for them although the future is far from secure.

 

[Rugrat]

As much as Reading wind me up, I do not wish the worst for them although the future is far from secure.

You could apply that statement to pretty well every FL club

Not sure this is much of a story, other than the Thai's might have had the land on their agenda from the off

 

[Gwylan]

I think we have heard this story so many times now, it makes a mockery of the fit and proper stipulation to own a club.

I hadn't heard all of it before, I've taken it bits of the Reading story but that's a much fuller account. I certainly hadn't realised that the land was originally owned by the council: I'd imagine that if that were developed for private use, there'd be a hell of a stink (and not sure that it would be legal).

Reading is Labour-run so it would be a good opportunity for the Conservatives to make hay over Labour's give-away.

 

[Braggfan]

I don't like Reading but in rivals sense. I don't wish asset stripping or a Portsmouth type scenario on them or anyone. I hope it's not as bleak as the story sounds. At the end of the day their fans pay to support their team like we do and deserve better than money grabbing scumbags running the club.

 

[Papa Lazarou]

I don't like Reading but in rivals sense. I don't wish asset stripping or a Portsmouth type scenario on them or anyone. I hope it's not as bleak as the story sounds. At the end of the day their fans pay to support their team like we do and deserve better than money grabbing scumbags running the club.

It's nowhere near as bleak as Pompey. Remember they spent massively to stay in the Prem when the income levels were only massive, not the mind-blowingly-ridiculous levels they are now, and got relegated with some eye watering contracts to pay (without relegation clauses, seemingly). That was the trigger for it all, and they got into a massive hole, which then eroded everything else. They also had some very unscrupulous owners, and administrators who seemed more interested in making a profit for themselves than sorting the shit out.

Reading may be suffering from some bad ownership, but they don't have a costly relegation to look forward to at the moment... in fact, the situation they're in, with the land deal and dodgy owners reminds me more of the Albion in the 90s that Portsmouth. Let's hope they retain ownership of the stadium, or they might be ground-sharing with Oxford!

 

[clarkey]

It's nowhere near as bleak as Pompey. Remember they spent massively to stay in the Prem when the income levels were only massive, not the mind-blowingly-ridiculous levels they are now, and got relegated with some eye watering contracts to pay (without relegation clauses, seemingly). That was the trigger for it all, and they got into a massive hole, which then eroded everything else. They also had some very unscrupulous owners, and administrators who seemed more interested in making a profit for themselves than sorting the shit out.

Reading may be suffering from some bad ownership, but they don't have a costly relegation to look forward to at the moment... in fact, the situation they're in, with the land deal and dodgy owners reminds me more of the Albion in the 90s that Portsmouth. Let's hope they retain ownership of the stadium, or they might be ground-sharing with Oxford!

Guess they need to spend that £9m on Hogan to ensure they get the Prem money next year! There's counter-intuitive football logic for you.

 

[knocky1]

Good report by The Mail, I say through gritted teeth. Reading fans don't deserve to have their club asset stripped. A ray of light might be that one of the two brother sister prospective owners, Dai Yung, might not be around too long.

 

[Mackenzie]

Tinpot.

 

[studio150]

Any report like this just makes me even more grateful that we have Tony Bloom at the helm who has the clubs best interests at heart.

 

[Whitechapel]

I'd very happy to see Reading sink back to their natural level.

Probably the club I dislike the most after Palace. F*cking bellends

 

[Deleted member 2719]

I don't like Reading but in rivals sense. I don't wish asset stripping or a Portsmouth type scenario on them or anyone. I hope it's not as bleak as the story sounds. At the end of the day their fans pay to support their team like we do and deserve better than money grabbing scumbags running the club.

Come on, Pompey scrambling about in the bottom division must give you some satisfaction.

 

[Braggfan]

I know we're rivals and yes I want to beat them, but I don't enjoy seeing someone else's team going through what we went through. I remember Pompey and Palace fans supporting us when we had fans united. It was a thoroughly miserable time seeing the club you love being torn apart, and I don't wish that on any fan. Games against Palace, Pompey, Reading, Orient, Southampton will have always have some extra spice to them, and I think it would be a duller experience if one them went out of business and we lost that.

 

[SAC]

I'm struggling to see any comparison with Portsmouth other than overspending, which can be said of every (?) non PL club.

 

[Barry Izbak]

I can't stand Reading, but would hate to see them get ripped off.

However, every time a club's fans get all excited and start celebrating how they are suddenly rich and "on their way back" I despair and think about Blackburn, Bolton, Birmingham, Forest, Sheffield W, Leeds, QPR, Cardiff, Croydon, Wolves, Villa, Pompeyscum, and on and on and on

Of course there are one or two clubs who have bought success and have yet to crash and burn - Manchester City and Chelsea have built a fanbase and infrastructure. AFC Bournemouth haven't.

And then I Thank God we are so lucky to have The Man

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I know we're rivals and yes I want to beat them, but I don't enjoy seeing someone else's team going through what we went through. I remember Pompey and Palace fans supporting us when we had fans united. It was a thoroughly miserable time seeing the club you love being torn apart, and I don't wish that on any fan. Games against Palace, Pompey, Reading, Orient, Southampton will have always have some extra spice to them, and I think it would be a duller experience if one them went out of business and we lost that.

I've got friends and colleagues who support all those clubs, so I agree up to a point. But Reading and all those fans who suddenly discovered football when someone built them a ground where they could sit down to watch it ... no, I agree I don't want them to follow the Portsmouth route (which was mainly funny for the sense of entitlement some of their fans developed while they were cheating their way to an FA Cup win). All I require from them is to finish around ten points behind us this season (although one would do) along with 21 other clubs.

 

[SAC]

I've got friends and colleagues who support all those clubs, so I agree up to a point. But Reading and all those fans who suddenly discovered football when someone built them a ground where they could sit down to watch it ... no, I agree I don't want them to follow the Portsmouth route (which was mainly funny for the sense of entitlement some of their fans developed while they were cheating their way to an FA Cup win). All I require from them is to finish around ten points behind us this season (although one would do) along with 21 other clubs.

I know, can you imagine it!

 

[Braggfan]

I've got friends and colleagues who support all those clubs, so I agree up to a point. But Reading and all those fans who suddenly discovered football when someone built them a ground where they could sit down to watch it ... no, I agree I don't want them to follow the Portsmouth route (which was mainly funny for the sense of entitlement some of their fans developed while they were cheating their way to an FA Cup win). All I require from them is to finish around ten points behind us this season (although one would do) along with 21 other clubs.

I know what you're saying. All of those teams wind me up when we're playing each other, because that's part of being a football fan. We're tribal and we dislike other fans for plenty of reasons both reasonable and petty. But ultimately when it comes down to it, they're just fans like us and follow their clubs for the same reasons we follow ours. We all have our moments when we want other teams to get turned over or relegated etc etc, but that's football, that's rivalries. Getting asset stripped by some scum bag owners is something else, that exists outside football and it's a sh1tty thing to happen to any club.

 

[WonderingSoton]

But Reading and all those fans who suddenly discovered football when someone built them a ground where they could sit down to watch it

Made me LOL