Furious fans protest outside the home of AWOL owners

The campaign group urging Reading owner Dai Yongge to sell the club have put a celebratory twist on their latest high-profile stunt.

Visiting those on their “naughty list”, Sell Before We Dai sent a promotional van around London on Friday, stopping at the homes of both Dai and CEO Dayong Pang, as well as one of the EFL’s head offices in Paddington.

One sign read: “All I want for Christmas… (Reading the FC edition): An independent regulator, a governing body that can remove harmful ownership, no more transfer embargoes.”

Pictured outside Dayong’s home with another sign reading “Liars or incompetent? Or both?”, campaigners on X wrote: “We met him back in December last year. Since then people have rarely seen him so we thought that we’d pay him a visit! He’s currently overseeing the demise of the club we love.”

The van also stopped near the Houses of Parliament, where Reading fans highlighted Morecambe and Swindon Town’s “ownership problems”.

The group previously used a van to raise awareness of the wider problems with football ownership in March, where i paper followed the protest outside Wembley Stadium in the build-up to England’s match against Belgium.

Reading have been deducted 18 points under Dai’s watch, with fans persistently calling for the Chinese businessman to sell up – to throw tennis balls onto the pitch in 2023 and then invade the pitch himself in January, leading to their game against Port Vale being abandoned. .

Reading’s owners claim they are actively seeking a sale, but a bid from former striker Roger Smee was rejected earlier this month.

It was the latest blow for Reading supporters desperate to save their club and in a plea to ensure this is not their “last Christmas”, the campaigner took to the streets again.

“All Reading fans want for Christmas is for our football club to survive via a sale,” said Sell Before We Dai spokesperson Becky Trotman.

“This requires an owner to act in good faith and a CEO to act with competence and transparency. With reports suggesting that Dai Yongge and Dayong Pang have not been seen at Reading FC for several months, we decided to take this message to their homes.

“Although Reading FC’s decline under Dai is better suited to Halloween, Christmas is a time for those who have done wrong to see the error of their ways. If Dai and Pang can sell the club without removing more of its soul, they can still get off the naughty list.

“Unfortunately, more than 400 days of no sales, dishonest communication and discount player sales mean our wish list is probably wishful thinking.

“As a result, we are taking our message to the Houses of Parliament and wider authorities, pleading with them to help us force an exit. Football clubs are for life – we cannot allow this to be Reading’s last Christmas.”

Former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig also had a deal with the club fall through earlier this season.

Couhig had even met with fans with talks apparently going well, only for the attempt to collapse in September.

“Despite lengthy and complex negotiations, the parties have not been able to find an agreement. This exclusivity period has now expired and the club will pursue alternative options,” Reading said at the time.

Since Dai took over in 2017, Reading have occasionally failed to pay staff and players their dues on time, but they welcomed a financial boost in the summer when Crystal Palace sold Michael Olise to Bayern Munich.

Olise joined the German club for around £50m, with Reading pocketing around £5m after reportedly introducing a 10 per cent resale clause when Palace bought the winger in 2021.

Reading were last deducted points in February after they failed to meet HMRC payment obligations and are currently sixth in League One.

New Reading boss Noel Hunt did not speak to Dai or Dayong when he was appointed earlier this month after Ruben Selles left for Hull City, with head of recruitment Brian Carey calling him instead.