Fans read to 'put pressure' on EFL amid fears for club's future after staging mass pitch invasion in protest against owner Dai Yongge
- Reading fans stormed the pitch in the 16th minute of their League One match
- The protest was over the 16 points deducted by the Royals under Dai
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Concerned Reading fans plan to focus future protests on the English Football League amid fears the club could go bankrupt under owner Dai Yongge.
Saturday's Sky Bet League One match between the Royals and Port Vale was abandoned after around 1,000 home fans invaded the Select Car Leasing Stadium pitch.
Sell Before We Dai, a fan-led group urging Chinese businessman Yongge – Reading's majority shareholder since May 2017 – to sell, said the incident was “just the beginning”.
Group member Eleanor Flood, a season ticket holder who has watched Reading since 1994, called for the EFL's support to help avoid the possibility of liquidation.
“I think the people who can apply pressure are the EFL, so I think that's where we'll turn our attention,” she told the PA news agency.
Reading's match against Port Vale was abandoned after an hour-long pitch invasion
“They have their head office in Preston and the office in London, so I think we'll try to do something that focuses more on them and their ability to really intervene in this.
“We don't want them to let us go down when they could actually stand up and help.”
'I think that's where the focus will be: PR stunts to keep it in everyone's mind, but ultimately the next stage will be to put pressure on people who can actually help us.
'We played in the Premier League (last in the 2012/2013 season) and now there is a real chance that we may no longer exist.
“For one of the oldest clubs in the football league, it is simply unthinkable that we would go bankrupt.”
As a membership organization and competition organiser, the EFL's role is to ensure compliance and work within the boundaries of the regulations of its member clubs.
The league, which supports the new independent regulator, recently proved unsuccessful in a proposal to have Yongge disqualified from all football activities for 12 months over allegations of financial misconduct.
Founded in 1871, Reading was hit by a series of points deductions and financial sanctions under his leadership.
The Berkshire club were relegated from the Championship last season due to a six-point penalty and find themselves in the League One relegation zone after being stripped of four points this season.
Saturday's pitch invasion took place in the 16th minute, matching the total number of points deducted during Yongge's reign.
Fans chanted anti-Yongge slogans and unveiled a banner in the center circle reading “Football has an ownership problem.”
The 55-year-old Yongge, whose takeover came just before the Royals' penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield in the 2017 Championship play-off final, was previously involved with Chinese club Beijing Renhe and Belgian side KSV Roeselare, both of which dissolved.
Flood said efforts to target the EFL could be done in conjunction with fans of other clubs affected by recent ownership issues, such as next weekend's opponents Wigan.
“It is important to mention that he also liquidated two other clubs, one in China and one in Belgium,” Flood said of Yongge.
'They don't exist anymore – and we don't want to be the third.
'You want there to be a club that is passed down from generation to generation and at the moment we are really worried that that club may no longer exist next season.'
The EFL will discuss the implications of the abandoned fixture with Reading and Port Vale.