The more likely scenario is that skeletons have been found and / or creditors won’t take pennies in the pound for the existing debt.
With the debt burden and ongoing losses there is no way the club is sustainable and you are looking for a benefactor not a business investor.
Players on long contracts, debt on a wonderful training facilities, assets outside of the football club etc it really is a question of selling it for a £1 and wishing the next sucker good luck. And that’s not the deal most parties want.
I will always wish you well but I fear the entitlement that I still see in relation to the horrible loss of the ladies teams is something that runs deep.
Why should Reading fans care about the women’s football team? It’s just woke nonsense. It’s a bit like saying fans should care about the U9s - it’s irrelevant and not of interest. They support the first team- that’s who they go and watch, and always have done.
The intent and tone is horrible, but in reality it's largely true.
I hope Wycombe Women are successful and think the club as a whole should help in terms of facilities/ coaching etc
Would I really care if they folded? Not really, the same way the I wasn't fussed when we no longer entered a reserve team league. Would I want a women's team to be funded from the men's side as they want to pay players but only get 100 paying fans a week? No as well.
Is it realistic for Reading who can't afford to pay their bills to subsidise a tier 2 women's team? No
But also is it realistic for them to beat league 1 sides to top end league 1 players when they can't afford to pay their wages? Should be a no, but it happens.
It must be a crushing feeling to be stuck with an owner like Dai. Reading fans have not endeared themselves to us, but I always try to bear in mind that the bedsheet brigade are more likely the "social media fans", of which every club has a number. There are plenty of regular supporters who may have gone to Reading matches for generations - and may have indeed have been uncomfortable with the overspending - who will suffer greatly if they go under. Football is not life or death, but it is community and a feeling of belonging for many whose mental health might suffer in the absence of it.
95% (at least) of Reading fans couldn’t care less if their women’s team never played again.
It’s a terrible shame for the players and coaches, and hopefully they’ll all find a place to further their careers but not very significant in the grand scheme of things.
The shift from clubs being community focused and interested in growing support and playing standards across ages and sexes to merely being vehicles where overseas owners waste millions on bang average players desperately chasing promotions and go bust after a couple of years should be a concern.
I doubt the Women's team got huge funding, probably spending far more on lawyers at the moment, not a good sign if this is the choice of prospective new owners.
Those overseas owners are only doing what the majority of fans demand.
Imagine club X get relegated but their fans are happy because the U16s and the women’s team both had a good year. Outside of maybe three gasroomers those fans just don’t exist.
Nobody's saying huge or comparable funding or anything like that, it simply won't come back, but a good setup with various teams at youth levels is good for our profile in the town and will produce players. Womens football will only increase worldwide and it's worth investing in at some level to get ahead of that and maximise the use of facilities.
Having said that Reading need to lose the clown in charge and restructure asap. Suggestion was that Readings women were happy to continue in a different format independently but that is currently being blocked.
I completely agree with your first para, but most people don’t.
I wish we’d be aggressively engaged in our local community. We ought to go to a different primary school each week with 1000 tickets to hand out. We ought to have the ladies team play at AP and do a much better job of promoting our partnership with Henley College. We ought to run Saturday mornings kids leagues in more economically deprived parts of town.
But even if we were doing all that and doing it well, it wouldn’t do much to console me if we’re struggling at the wrong end of L1 next season.
Saying the majority of Reading fans don't care if the Women's team folds might be true to an extent (though I imagine a lot more do care than some might imagine) but it misses the point slightly. The majority of Man Utd fans wouldn't care if Wycombe went bust but you know who would: Wycombe fans. And decent fans of every other medium or small sized club. In part because they would see in us what might become of them. Same is true for Reading Women. If they are treated as mere ballast when things start to go wrong, how many other women's teams might go the same way.
Plus every team starts with a low number of fans, it's for the team on the pitch and the wider business to give them the light and exposure to thrive and build up a fanbase.
The thing is if all clubs were made to do it as a condition of shared funding you wouldn't lose any competitive advantage and wage inflation would take the hit. You'd also have healthier clubs and less defaulting.
Arguably the larger clubs would probably end up having to spend more to take advantage of their catchment areas.
Absolutely agree with all above about strength of the pyramid, it can't just be us vs them all the time and one extra player is the only priority - not facilities, safety, transport , fan experience, community and all the things that ensure clubs survive and make them worthwhile that go out of the window.
That's why people shout f*** the EFL whenever there is an issue but the clubs have the vote. There was also a suggestion a few years that lower end Prem clubs would far rather commit funds to help lower league clubs like our with facilities than to ensure that top end championship teams who will likely be there competition soon can buy players.
On a personal level it’s of course very sad but the reality is that…
First team - unsustainable
Training ground - unsustainable
Academy - unsustainable
Ladies team - unsustainable
How did they think this was going to continue? The ladies team must have known they were living off the credit card that is football finance in that area of Berks.
Only one of those seem to have been given up on though, the local councillors seemed to think selling assets you can't afford to run was unacceptable, the fans are all still discussing transfer targets as they know the rules won't stop a new owner jumping into the market, but yeah, no problems shutting the women's team is easy and fine.
That’s a good point. But of course the pyramid that Manchester United sit near the top of depends on the continued existence of teams like Wycombe, whether they admit it or not.
That isn’t the case for the relationship between men’s and women’s teams. It’s not yet obvious that a professional women’s pyramid is sustainable.
Reading haven't been in the Prem for ages, they have been spending silly money chasing it as is the norm in the championship.
They will say it didn't matter as the owner was loaded but it does and it has. One or two clubs gambling is expected, when 20 are and only 3 can go up (with those likely to be teams that came down) this is all utterly predictable.
They should be a good option for someone but must be in a right pickle.
Local NI news just reporting on Reading Women’s team dropping to level 5 due to financial reasons (as we all know). Means 3 NI International players without a club, so impacting their livelihoods and training.
Hope all find a suitable club soon (all being the entire team not just the NI players)
Comments
The more likely scenario is that skeletons have been found and / or creditors won’t take pennies in the pound for the existing debt.
With the debt burden and ongoing losses there is no way the club is sustainable and you are looking for a benefactor not a business investor.
Players on long contracts, debt on a wonderful training facilities, assets outside of the football club etc it really is a question of selling it for a £1 and wishing the next sucker good luck. And that’s not the deal most parties want.
I will always wish you well but I fear the entitlement that I still see in relation to the horrible loss of the ladies teams is something that runs deep.
Why should Reading fans care about the women’s football team? It’s just woke nonsense. It’s a bit like saying fans should care about the U9s - it’s irrelevant and not of interest. They support the first team- that’s who they go and watch, and always have done.
Again, who really cares about the Women’s team? Probably less than 1% of the fan base.
Let the women enjoy the football by all means, but let’s not go overboard here.
I've got the popcorn ready 🤣
The intent and tone is horrible, but in reality it's largely true.
I hope Wycombe Women are successful and think the club as a whole should help in terms of facilities/ coaching etc
Would I really care if they folded? Not really, the same way the I wasn't fussed when we no longer entered a reserve team league. Would I want a women's team to be funded from the men's side as they want to pay players but only get 100 paying fans a week? No as well.
Is it realistic for Reading who can't afford to pay their bills to subsidise a tier 2 women's team? No
But also is it realistic for them to beat league 1 sides to top end league 1 players when they can't afford to pay their wages? Should be a no, but it happens.
There’s something in the water.
Last month my mother-in-law told my daughter that women should never have been given the vote.
I bet it doesn’t stop her voting for Nige on Thursday.
Your mother-in-law, I hope!
It must be a crushing feeling to be stuck with an owner like Dai. Reading fans have not endeared themselves to us, but I always try to bear in mind that the bedsheet brigade are more likely the "social media fans", of which every club has a number. There are plenty of regular supporters who may have gone to Reading matches for generations - and may have indeed have been uncomfortable with the overspending - who will suffer greatly if they go under. Football is not life or death, but it is community and a feeling of belonging for many whose mental health might suffer in the absence of it.
95% (at least) of Reading fans couldn’t care less if their women’s team never played again.
It’s a terrible shame for the players and coaches, and hopefully they’ll all find a place to further their careers but not very significant in the grand scheme of things.
The shift from clubs being community focused and interested in growing support and playing standards across ages and sexes to merely being vehicles where overseas owners waste millions on bang average players desperately chasing promotions and go bust after a couple of years should be a concern.
I doubt the Women's team got huge funding, probably spending far more on lawyers at the moment, not a good sign if this is the choice of prospective new owners.
Those overseas owners are only doing what the majority of fans demand.
Imagine club X get relegated but their fans are happy because the U16s and the women’s team both had a good year. Outside of maybe three gasroomers those fans just don’t exist.
Nobody's saying huge or comparable funding or anything like that, it simply won't come back, but a good setup with various teams at youth levels is good for our profile in the town and will produce players. Womens football will only increase worldwide and it's worth investing in at some level to get ahead of that and maximise the use of facilities.
Having said that Reading need to lose the clown in charge and restructure asap. Suggestion was that Readings women were happy to continue in a different format independently but that is currently being blocked.
@theRoyalBiscuit if you can’t afford to fund the ladies, you can’t afford a more professional protest outfit.
I completely agree with your first para, but most people don’t.
I wish we’d be aggressively engaged in our local community. We ought to go to a different primary school each week with 1000 tickets to hand out. We ought to have the ladies team play at AP and do a much better job of promoting our partnership with Henley College. We ought to run Saturday mornings kids leagues in more economically deprived parts of town.
But even if we were doing all that and doing it well, it wouldn’t do much to console me if we’re struggling at the wrong end of L1 next season.
Saying the majority of Reading fans don't care if the Women's team folds might be true to an extent (though I imagine a lot more do care than some might imagine) but it misses the point slightly. The majority of Man Utd fans wouldn't care if Wycombe went bust but you know who would: Wycombe fans. And decent fans of every other medium or small sized club. In part because they would see in us what might become of them. Same is true for Reading Women. If they are treated as mere ballast when things start to go wrong, how many other women's teams might go the same way.
This.
Plus every team starts with a low number of fans, it's for the team on the pitch and the wider business to give them the light and exposure to thrive and build up a fanbase.
The thing is if all clubs were made to do it as a condition of shared funding you wouldn't lose any competitive advantage and wage inflation would take the hit. You'd also have healthier clubs and less defaulting.
Arguably the larger clubs would probably end up having to spend more to take advantage of their catchment areas.
Absolutely agree with all above about strength of the pyramid, it can't just be us vs them all the time and one extra player is the only priority - not facilities, safety, transport , fan experience, community and all the things that ensure clubs survive and make them worthwhile that go out of the window.
That's why people shout f*** the EFL whenever there is an issue but the clubs have the vote. There was also a suggestion a few years that lower end Prem clubs would far rather commit funds to help lower league clubs like our with facilities than to ensure that top end championship teams who will likely be there competition soon can buy players.
On a personal level it’s of course very sad but the reality is that…
First team - unsustainable
Training ground - unsustainable
Academy - unsustainable
Ladies team - unsustainable
How did they think this was going to continue? The ladies team must have known they were living off the credit card that is football finance in that area of Berks.
Only one of those seem to have been given up on though, the local councillors seemed to think selling assets you can't afford to run was unacceptable, the fans are all still discussing transfer targets as they know the rules won't stop a new owner jumping into the market, but yeah, no problems shutting the women's team is easy and fine.
That’s a good point. But of course the pyramid that Manchester United sit near the top of depends on the continued existence of teams like Wycombe, whether they admit it or not.
That isn’t the case for the relationship between men’s and women’s teams. It’s not yet obvious that a professional women’s pyramid is sustainable.
Looks like an B-series similar to this
Dont hold me to it but I’d say the car is a Wolesley 16-60
From BBC Sport:
Reading withdraw women's team from Championship
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/czk0m4l87l9o
Wycombe would have been in that situation if we had been relegated to Non-League
Reading heavily invested in assets when they were up the rungs without the foundation to sustain it.
Reading haven't been in the Prem for ages, they have been spending silly money chasing it as is the norm in the championship.
They will say it didn't matter as the owner was loaded but it does and it has. One or two clubs gambling is expected, when 20 are and only 3 can go up (with those likely to be teams that came down) this is all utterly predictable.
They should be a good option for someone but must be in a right pickle.
Close, it's a Wokesly 16-60
That was sustainable in the same way it is for many a club.
Someone keeps putting in more money to cover the losses.
Sadly that's the way it is.
ouch, I gave it an upvote but I’m probably on an adrenaline high from the England game.
Local NI news just reporting on Reading Women’s team dropping to level 5 due to financial reasons (as we all know). Means 3 NI International players without a club, so impacting their livelihoods and training.
Hope all find a suitable club soon (all being the entire team not just the NI players)
Without comment