The news has made the Derby Telegraph. Funnily enough, the comments tell you all you need to know about the myth of ‘the football family’, with Derby fans firmly in the ‘it’s Reading’s fault’ camp now they’re alright again.
Also, as my Derby supporting colleagues tell me, Reading fans were vocally in the ‘party when Derby die’ camp, waving £20 notes at them at their matches. Jars a bit with the holier than thou act of today.
We’ve gone years with a crumbling main stand and talk of expansion, yet I’ve yet to see any plan or design for any of it. We’ve given away another 15% of the club and £100k seemingly to mortgage ourselves for £25 MILLION to buy someone else’s training ground, the proceeds of which will be trousered by football’s current Mr bad guy.
It’s a PR disaster all to make a quick buck for a unknown oligarch who may or may not hold the controlling interest in our club.
Typing it out somehow makes it all seem even crazier.
Agreed this makes debating ownership seem quite quaint.
Buying a £50 million training ground to either kill or save Reading or fill the pockets of their dodgy owner with 25 million quid who the **** suspected we had?
He’s not an oligarch, his company Kaspi is in the same business as Visa and Mastercard but considerably more successful than them In Kazakhstan and making huge inroads in to the South Asian market.
Is it me, or is the who not even a big question? Other than the fact that it’s probably ML, In many respects the “who” is irrelevant because the next few questions will/should be asked of whoever it is.
Those would be much bigger questions in regards to what it means to Wycombe wanderers and are more important than knowing the actual face.
Even a local businessman with a nice face could want to asset strip.
I would be surprised if the selling figure is north of £10M.
In its current state it’s only of use to football clubs or associated sports clubs and they have already had planning permission for 25 dwellings turned down in 2016 when they proposed the existing facility.
Reading FC bought the previous Golf Course and Club House for £4M in 2015. They remodelled the club house, built new buildings, improved the car park and built all the pitches.
move to a facility that would allow for the necessary expansion and enhancements to meet their vision for the future.
So. A Premier League level training ground is needed because the future is......in the Premier League? Certainly doable if the Georgian throws enough money at the wall but it means we'll have to face a question we've never really had to face before. Are we a community centre with a football pitch attached or a professional club where winning things is all that matters?
League One strikes me as just about as high as you can go and still feel 'community centre'. But I assume that a Premier League training ground is going to need a Premier League ground and squad to go with it which makes yesterday the start of a brave new world.
I get angry every time I think back to this transaction. Someone needs to commit it to print and hand it out in a laminated format every time that person is lauded around the club. Steve Hayes rightly was vilified for his era but the group involved in the training ground deal looked us square in the eyes and f'd us. And then had the audacity to shout down those who dared questioned them.
I'd say it is a big question, as on the one hand we've clearly reduced our budget significantly, and none of the "big talk" aspirations are anywhere near starting - the mythical road, the Little Marlow training ground, the new stand, the roof etc.
Yet somehow we're supposedly able to smash multi millions buying some better set up club's training complex!
The biggest question of them all is who is behind this and what on earth the plan is.
I've no idea who even heads the Trust these days, but you'd assume they're none the wiser either.
Would it not be much more viable for Luton to purchase the training ground? Their training ground is extremely modest for Premier League, even the Championship. It’s only one hour from Luton, but has London catchment area. Odd they’re not interested.
Waiting to see what happens but really do not feel at all comfortable with this. Rightly or wrongly, this now puts WWFC supporters directly in the firing line of those who feel aggrieved at Reading. We could well be targeted and our safety will be at risk. We should also not want to be anywhere near asset stripping and I hope we pull out of this proposed deal.
Where is the money coming from? If we can spend £Ms on a training facility, then they can reduce the ticket prices at Adams Park.
Attendences dropping off, for me it's the cost of living and the cost of tickets combined. The level of football we are playing, the quality of the stadium etc no one should be paying more than £25 to sit in the premium seats. The terrace should be a max of £20. Main stand £22 a ticket. It's a rip off.
I've been seriously considering whether to continue to buy a season ticket this year. Three reasons:
I'm too embarassed to invite anyone to matches at these prices - £31 adult or £20 for my son to bring a friend.
Most of our group have now given their season tickets up, so quite often it's just the two of us, instead of 7 or 8
My son is getting close to going up to full whack and does not want to stand in the terrace (bloody kids!)
I love this club to bits and have done 20+ years home and away. I hope to continue to keep supporting but I'm not sure I like the direction we are heading.
If they "join" with Reading or build a stadium at Bearwood, then that's it for me. Maidenhead here I come!
For most of the ill considered abuse aimed at us from various directions the fact of the matter is that Wycombe Wanderers do NOT have £2m let alone £25m. Rob does not have £25m. So Wycombe Wanderers will not be buying this facility. This is a transaction between a person and a company associated with our club somehow (and that somehow is not even know to us) and another company that is not Reading FC. It comes down to one company saying 'hey, wanna buy something?' and another company saying 'sure, why not'.
Fans can shout at us as much as they like. They can throw tennis balls. They can boycott urinals and car hire. It is nothing to do with us, and sadly it is nothing to do with them in terms of the transaction. They are as much the owners of this facility as we may be in the future. The most likely outcome is that we both lose as that is what happens when rich people with no love or connection with football clubs jump in and start playing.
I certainly don’t see that at all. If that is the aim then why not just buy Reading and the ground. Adams Park would need to be replaced anyway and if you have your training pitch in Wokingham, then a ground 5 miles away with a 20,000+ capacity would be obvious.
Then you ask yourself, where does WWFC fit in all this?
We just don’t know what the intentions are yet, yes it’s good debating them as we are on the Gasroom but some people on those other sites seem to be gone mad and want to know the ins and outs of a ducks arse.
Comments
The news has made the Derby Telegraph. Funnily enough, the comments tell you all you need to know about the myth of ‘the football family’, with Derby fans firmly in the ‘it’s Reading’s fault’ camp now they’re alright again.
Also, as my Derby supporting colleagues tell me, Reading fans were vocally in the ‘party when Derby die’ camp, waving £20 notes at them at their matches. Jars a bit with the holier than thou act of today.
What all of them…or maybe in reality about 10 of them.
This is all absolutely bonkers.
£25 million quid!
We’ve gone years with a crumbling main stand and talk of expansion, yet I’ve yet to see any plan or design for any of it. We’ve given away another 15% of the club and £100k seemingly to mortgage ourselves for £25 MILLION to buy someone else’s training ground, the proceeds of which will be trousered by football’s current Mr bad guy.
It’s a PR disaster all to make a quick buck for a unknown oligarch who may or may not hold the controlling interest in our club.
Typing it out somehow makes it all seem even crazier.
Why would a middling League 1 side (at best) with non league history need a £25m training ground? It’s totally batshit.
Agreed this makes debating ownership seem quite quaint.
Buying a £50 million training ground to either kill or save Reading or fill the pockets of their dodgy owner with 25 million quid who the **** suspected we had?
It's the weirdest Gasroom day ever.
Maybe they don’t want to be a middling league 1 side anymore..
See Bournemouth, Luton etc
It won’t be £25m
Anything happen yesterday?
He’s not an oligarch, his company Kaspi is in the same business as Visa and Mastercard but considerably more successful than them In Kazakhstan and making huge inroads in to the South Asian market.
£25M is peanuts to this man.
So he's the Jimmy Carter of Kazakhstan!
Who is they? That's the huge question, as the accepted position is that the current owners are gently looking for an exit plan.
We've not even heard anything official about who the background guy is or what his intention is.
And the club only released a statement as the press had already got hold of things.
Is it me, or is the who not even a big question? Other than the fact that it’s probably ML, In many respects the “who” is irrelevant because the next few questions will/should be asked of whoever it is.
Those would be much bigger questions in regards to what it means to Wycombe wanderers and are more important than knowing the actual face.
Even a local businessman with a nice face could want to asset strip.
Totally agree.
I would be surprised if the selling figure is north of £10M.
In its current state it’s only of use to football clubs or associated sports clubs and they have already had planning permission for 25 dwellings turned down in 2016 when they proposed the existing facility.
Reading FC bought the previous Golf Course and Club House for £4M in 2015. They remodelled the club house, built new buildings, improved the car park and built all the pitches.
Here is the original planning application.
https://wokingham.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s2306/F.2014.2119%20-%20Former%20Bearwood%20Golf%20Club%20Bearwood%20Park%20Sindlesham.pdf
The press release made it clear.
move to a facility that would allow for the necessary expansion and enhancements to meet their vision for the future.
So. A Premier League level training ground is needed because the future is......in the Premier League? Certainly doable if the Georgian throws enough money at the wall but it means we'll have to face a question we've never really had to face before. Are we a community centre with a football pitch attached or a professional club where winning things is all that matters?
League One strikes me as just about as high as you can go and still feel 'community centre'. But I assume that a Premier League training ground is going to need a Premier League ground and squad to go with it which makes yesterday the start of a brave new world.
Or not. We'll find out soon enough!
I get angry every time I think back to this transaction. Someone needs to commit it to print and hand it out in a laminated format every time that person is lauded around the club. Steve Hayes rightly was vilified for his era but the group involved in the training ground deal looked us square in the eyes and f'd us. And then had the audacity to shout down those who dared questioned them.
To be honest it's quite cute.
I would genuinely buy merch with that on it.
I suspect some Reading fans will sport them with Wanderers misspelt.
Genius!
I'd say it is a big question, as on the one hand we've clearly reduced our budget significantly, and none of the "big talk" aspirations are anywhere near starting - the mythical road, the Little Marlow training ground, the new stand, the roof etc.
Yet somehow we're supposedly able to smash multi millions buying some better set up club's training complex!
The biggest question of them all is who is behind this and what on earth the plan is.
I've no idea who even heads the Trust these days, but you'd assume they're none the wiser either.
Would it not be much more viable for Luton to purchase the training ground? Their training ground is extremely modest for Premier League, even the Championship. It’s only one hour from Luton, but has London catchment area. Odd they’re not interested.
Perhaps the new Power Court includes training facilities already?
Waiting to see what happens but really do not feel at all comfortable with this. Rightly or wrongly, this now puts WWFC supporters directly in the firing line of those who feel aggrieved at Reading. We could well be targeted and our safety will be at risk. We should also not want to be anywhere near asset stripping and I hope we pull out of this proposed deal.
Where is the money coming from? If we can spend £Ms on a training facility, then they can reduce the ticket prices at Adams Park.
Attendences dropping off, for me it's the cost of living and the cost of tickets combined. The level of football we are playing, the quality of the stadium etc no one should be paying more than £25 to sit in the premium seats. The terrace should be a max of £20. Main stand £22 a ticket. It's a rip off.
I've been seriously considering whether to continue to buy a season ticket this year. Three reasons:
I love this club to bits and have done 20+ years home and away. I hope to continue to keep supporting but I'm not sure I like the direction we are heading.
If they "join" with Reading or build a stadium at Bearwood, then that's it for me. Maidenhead here I come!
Reading journalist claiming that a delegation from Wycombe were sent to look around Bearwood back in November
For most of the ill considered abuse aimed at us from various directions the fact of the matter is that Wycombe Wanderers do NOT have £2m let alone £25m. Rob does not have £25m. So Wycombe Wanderers will not be buying this facility. This is a transaction between a person and a company associated with our club somehow (and that somehow is not even know to us) and another company that is not Reading FC. It comes down to one company saying 'hey, wanna buy something?' and another company saying 'sure, why not'.
Fans can shout at us as much as they like. They can throw tennis balls. They can boycott urinals and car hire. It is nothing to do with us, and sadly it is nothing to do with them in terms of the transaction. They are as much the owners of this facility as we may be in the future. The most likely outcome is that we both lose as that is what happens when rich people with no love or connection with football clubs jump in and start playing.
Seems likely. You don’t agree eight figure property deals in two days. Incidentally the bank mortgage over Bearwood was cleared in November.
Is that around the time we first saw Lombtazde’s loan enter company’s house?
Boycott of Dreams cancelled due to need for more bedsheets
That was September 2023
I certainly don’t see that at all. If that is the aim then why not just buy Reading and the ground. Adams Park would need to be replaced anyway and if you have your training pitch in Wokingham, then a ground 5 miles away with a 20,000+ capacity would be obvious.
Then you ask yourself, where does WWFC fit in all this?
We just don’t know what the intentions are yet, yes it’s good debating them as we are on the Gasroom but some people on those other sites seem to be gone mad and want to know the ins and outs of a ducks arse.