Will relegation hurt you?

[Linden Jones' Tash]

I don't see how this isn't an existential threat and therefore I'm unhappy

[Snowflake Royal]

+1

The relegation itself isn’t the problem. The reaction of the owner is. IF Dai pulls the funding, we’re screwed. That is why many of us are very worried. There are more than enough examples of that happening…sometimes it is quick sale and stability (a la Derby) sometimes it is much, much worse…the most extreme example is Bury…but fans of Pompey, Bradford, Bolton, Stockport, Grimsby, AFC Wimbledon, Oldham, Yeovil and Scunthorpe (and from a lower starting point Chesterfield, York, Notts County, Aldershot…) all have a tale to tell. We are closer to League Two now than Championship stability.

If Dai pulls the plug, worst case scenario he puts us in administration and we'd start next season on -12, we'd get a new owner, no guarantee it would be a good one, but we'd get one. We aren't screwed.

And there's no point in him putting us in Admin because the debt is to him.

[Snowflake Royal]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

On top of that, the chances of getting permission to build housing on the stadium site is basically zero.

And office space isn't exactly massively in demand right now. Not going to be a great development choice.

[Hound]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

On top of that, the chances of getting permission to build housing on the stadium site is basically zero.

And office space isn't exactly massively in demand right now. Not going to be a great development choice.

Yep and Tons of office space round there already. It’s basically only of interest there due to the stadium. Otherwise it’s just a smelly bit of land near the A33/M4 junction.

No one is exactly falling over themselves to build on the current car park 6 site are they?

[Snowflake Royal]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

On top of that, the chances of getting permission to build housing on the stadium site is basically zero.

And office space isn't exactly massively in demand right now. Not going to be a great development choice.

Yep and Tons of office space round there already. It’s basically only of interest there due to the stadium. Otherwise it’s just a smelly bit of land near the A33/M4 junction.

No one is exactly falling over themselves to build on the current car park 6 site are they?

Which all comes back to three options.

Dai keeps throwing money at us.
Dai tries to make us sustainable on our own
Dai finds someone to buy.

Otherwise it's a net loss and spite only.

Clubs have been in far worse financial states and not ceased to exist. And Wimbledon have shown what you can do even if you fold.

About a decade to get back to the FL and done it entirely fan owned.

[tmesis]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

It's not as if there's any chance of him ever seeing any of that money back, other than selling the stadium and/or the training ground, or all of them as a job lot.

If he loses faith in the club getting to the premier league it could come down to which buyer would offer him the most - one wanting to buy a club, or a propery developer?

In reality, if I had to guess where we'll be in five years time, I'd say in League One, with a new owner, starting to turn the corner after some very grim years, but the potential for it to go horribly wrong is all too real.

[The Royal Forester]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

On top of that, the chances of getting permission to build housing on the stadium site is basically zero.

And office space isn't exactly massively in demand right now. Not going to be a great development choice.

The Rams (Rugby Club) may me looking for a new home if they get promoted to the Premiership, perhaps they could lease it from Dai.

[Snowflake Royal]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

On top of that, the chances of getting permission to build housing on the stadium site is basically zero.

And office space isn't exactly massively in demand right now. Not going to be a great development choice.

The Rams (Rugby Club) may me looking for a new home if they get promoted to the Premiership, perhaps they could lease it from dai.

Rugby club would pay peanuts

[tmesis]

Clubs have been in far worse financial states and not ceased to exist. And Wimbledon have shown what you can do even if you fold.

About a decade to get back to the FL and done it entirely fan owned.

The clubs that came back have all had a ground to use - either their original or a reasonable local alternative. There really isn't any alternative ground for Reading to use.

Combined Counties football at the Madejski would be kind of bizarre, but we'd need a rent negotiation, or we'd been needing about 7000 a week just to pay the rent.

[windermereROYAL]

God what a depressing read, i was unaware we had so many twitter users on here.
Some of you are just plucking doom laden scenarios out of the sky and convincing yourselves they will come true.
In other words guesswork.
We aren`t down yet, let`s wait till next Saturday evening or May 7th before we start throwing ourselves off high buildings.

[RFCMod]

As with most of us been there before so it'll be gutting but will be back as always next season
Its my 11 yr old lad who im not looking forward to seeing us go down, I reckon there will be tears
Even my 13 yr old daughter may take it badly, but then she'll find another TikTok routine to copy and she'll forget all about it

[PATRIQT]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

That he would bother to finally allow the semblance of a structure to form at the club then run for the hills at the first set-back?

With relegation we are probably, realistically as close to the PL as we would be if we stayed up, as promotion ain't happening to there for a few seasons. If we do go and bounce back we could be where say Luton and Sunderland are now, clubs who both have had it much worse than us at the moment.

He may own the ground but that is worth nothing, if there is no sport there, as is the hotel etc. He could sell it but it is hardly a prime site for housing. Office space maybe - and anything he makes from the sales would still be less than what he is owed.

As for investment, we are an ex PL club 25mins from Heathrow. I'd be amazed if we aren't on the radar of some very rich Americans.

Finally, with all due respect to the clubs he did fold, the potential returns on a successful Belgian or Chinese club are dwarfed by us getting successful be that via income or a sale at a premium price.

So, whilst things may well get tougher with the likely relegation, I just can't buy into the we are doomed narrative that is currently at play.

The worry of course is that Dai has killed two clubs already, and we're on a very worrying path under his ownership.

[From Despair To Where?]

Wouldn't read to much into Beijing Renhe going tits up. It was a club created in 1995 to take advantage of expansion of the Chinese football league, had 8 owners, 7 different names and 3 franchise relocations to different cities in the 26 years it existed.

It's a club that would have gone tits up regardless of who owned it.

[Millsy]

Ok what about the Belgian one. What were the circs there?

The wikipedia bit on ksv seems to be the output of a random word generator.

[Hound]

Ok what about the Belgian one. What were the circs there?

The wikipedia bit on ksv seems to be the output of a random word generator.

Yeah not much info on it. Did Dai even own it or was it his sister? Even that is unclear

[From Despair To Where?]

I couldn't really find too much on Roeselare other than vague rumours that they'd been in financial trouble prior to Rehne buying them, but as you say, the reports seem to have gone through 10 different languages on Google Translate. I vaguely remember talk when they bought us that they'd implemented sweeping cost cutting measures at Roeselare to keep them afloat but again, there's oxf*rd all on the Internet and only my vague recollections to go on so I could be wrong.

They did undergo a merger in the late 90s but that happens quite a bit at a lower level so maybe indicative of nothing.

[Stranded]

Ok what about the Belgian one. What were the circs there?

The wikipedia bit on ksv seems to be the output of a random word generator.

Yeah not much info on it. Did Dai even own it or was it his sister? Even that is unclear

Only thing I can find is it was his sister who was owner there.

Looks like the club was declared bankrupt over a catering bill as outgoing management didn't tell new management that the bill was outstanding. It was paid in full but club was unable to function properly as a result of bankruptcy which eventually caused it to cease trading.

[Millsy]

Thx guys.

I see their stadium capacity was 8,340 - a tiny club in trouble anyway so a very different situation. No grounds for major worry then possibly but then again doesn't exactly do much to inspire anyone with too much confidence either as you could also argue a smaller outfit would be easier to keep going.

More info would be useful though, so keep up the digging.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

There was a YouTube video called what on earth is going on at Reading (decent content actually despite not much of it being new to us as fans) and there is a little piece of Roeselare in there.

The video compares us to them, narrowly missing out on top division promotion and then the Dai's throwing 12 million euros in the summer after that. It doesn't say to what level of debt they were in or anything, but I doubt it's anything as close to what we have.

[Orion1871]

Do people really think Dai is likely to walk away and fold a Company that owes him 140m?

Agree on that being unlikely, although his decisions since taking over don't exactly show him to be a business genius.

Other factor to consider, which is beyond the control of Dai or the club, is if everyone's favourite Winnie the Pooh lookalike Chinese President decided he didn't like his people investing in things like a football club.