Do the people of Reading care?

[Jackson Corner]

With the new season approaching no manager, a thread bear squad, staff not being paid, nothing from the owners. Heading towards administration and bankruptcy. Most people I meet don’t give a toss. Admittedly they are plastic Liverpool ManUtd and Chelsea fans. But it just seems the majority of people in this town are not bothered if we have a professional football club or not. 150 years of history just wiped out by a faceless Chinese clown who has already run two clubs into the ground.

[Stranded]

Of course the majority don't care as the majority don't like football, and if they do a large amount aren't from Reading or picked up supporting a London club from their parents or grandparents.

Probably a not insignificant number of people who live in Reading who aren't even aware there even is a club.

[NathStPaul]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

[Lower West]

Well run clubs are an integral part of the community. Far more than just a few hours on entertainment on Saturday afternoons. RFC is in the wilderness. Having lost it's soul and identity. Will be a long road back.............

[Royal_jimmy]

With a growing number of people who live in Reading who aren't even from the area then probably not

[Royal_jimmy]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

Maybe because he's not the first Chinese owner to screw over a football club and unlikely to be the last.

[NathStPaul]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

Maybe because he's not the first Chinese owner to screw over a football club and unlikely to be the last.

"All Chinese people are the same" - Royal Jimmy

[Green]

Well run clubs are an integral part of the community.

I think that's a stretch - certainly for towns as large as Reading.

Sure, some clubs do some decent outreach stuff and the players might visit a primary school and the children's ward of the local hospital a couple of times a season - but football at this level is first and foremost a business not a community asset.

[Millsy]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

Rarely do I ever disagree with you, but I reluctantly have to here, sort of.

Yes of course race per se has nothing to do with it and shouldn't be mentioned unless you're a racist twat. Speaking of which, at the risk of sounding like KKKarboot, we can't get away from the fact that in certain places like corrupt regimes like China or Russia, getting to immense wealth is a totally different thing than we're used to here, as it's much more likely to be through corruption and dodgy dealings. Everyone's equal, but some are more equal than others. Not to mention an owner who lives and 'works' abroad is in this case more likely to be faceless than a British owner who lives and works here. So I don't believe it's always meant in a pure racist way.

I'm obviously giving JC the benefit of doubt here.

Back to JC's Q though - and this is where I know we will definitely agree as you argued this a while back - RFC fans are quite possibly some of the most apathetic in the country let alone average randomers in Reading who are likely not fans anyway.

[elrey]

With the new season approaching no manager, a thread bear squad, staff not being paid, nothing from the owners. Heading towards administration and bankruptcy. Most people I meet don’t give a toss. Admittedly they are plastic Liverpool ManUtd and Chelsea fans. But it just seems the majority of people in this town are not bothered if we have a professional football club or not. 150 years of history just wiped out by a faceless Chinese clown who has already run two clubs into the ground.

To be honest, Reading has always had the reputation as a club with fans that don't care too much. You think "passionate fans", Reading is not the place for you.

My German team is Augsburg (because I lived there for a while and watched them five or six times) and they're the same, essentially everyone's a Bayern fan (it's not that far from Munich, even though it's in a different linguistic region) and they only went to watch Augsburg play because they couldn't get tickets for Bayern. Even the chanting was super boring. One side of the stadium (the old stadium) would drone out "Augsboooooooooooorg" and then the opposite site would do the same, as if they were druids or something.

[The Royal Forester]

The people of Reading do not care about Reading FC, never have, never will. Going back 60-70 years ago it was the same. When I first started to go Elm Park back then, most fans that i spoke to then came from outside the Borough and that appears to be the same today. I would suggest that most posters on here come from well outside the Reading Boundary. Quite a few seem to even come from outside the UK.

[tmesis]

The people of Reading do not care about Reading FC, never have, never will. Going back 60-70 years ago it was the same. When I first started to go Elm Park back then, most fans that i spoke to then came from outside the Borough and that appears to be the same today. I would suggest that most posters on here come from well outside the Reading Boundary. Quite a few seem to even come from outside the UK.

I remember going to away games in the 80s/90s, and you got chatting to other fans on the train etc, and it was weird how rare it was to meet a fan who was actually from Reading.


A large part of the lack of care about the club's current state could simply be because people aren't aware of it. They might know the club went down, but little more. It's not like there's been a single word of media coverage anywhere that they are likely to have seen. Even those who look at GetReading for some reason won't have seen a single article raising concerns.

[katweslowski]

I said the same on here about a week ago - that all this outrage is a small selection of us on here and twitter. The majority - even avid fans - are oblivious and just not following it at all.

I was chatting yesterday to a Reading fan - admittedly one and a single example. But I mentioned:

- Issues over ownership
- Possiblity at points deduction due to the EFL issues
- Lack of first team players
- Possible protests

He had no idea about any of it. He was also a season ticket holder.

This happens all the time - the Twitterati work themselves into a big tizz where they think that all the noise they're creating is heard bay the general masses. Just look at the pathetic protest last time - was it last season or the season before? Barely anyone showed up, half the fans at the ground were confused about it all.

[Elm Park Kid]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

It does help to distinguish between all the different clowns that are responsible for our current state.

[Jackson Corner]

Why is it those angry with the owner have to mention his nationality when making an insult? Why is it relevant? Says a lot about a person when they do that.

Take a look at West Brom they in the same boat. It’s not racist but I am struggling to think of Chinese owners that have bought any success to any club.

[The Cap]

Looks like Scours Lane then, to watch Reading City?

[Forbury Lion]

Probably a not insignificant number of people who live in Reading who aren't even aware there even is a club.

Amazingly one or two who seem to think this town is a suburb of London, at least I assume so when they argued with the bus driver about using their Oyster cards.

[SCIAG]

Population: 350,000

Average attendance: 14,000 (including away fans, exiles, etc.)

No.

[ozzygull]

I hope you don't mind me posting as a Brighton fan who lives in Reading.

Where I worked I knew two genuine Reading fans and one that jumped on the band wagon when you got promoted to the Premier League. But there was more Manchester Untited, Arsenal, Spurs and me who got the most stick because I supported Brighton despite being the at the wrong end of league 2 at the time. I do think Reading a has a community of people who have connections to other areas, maybe more so then other towns.

My next door neighbour is a Reading fan and we chat about football and I have been to a couple of Reading games with him, when Brighton are away, but I was still not awear of what is happening to your club. I obviuosly knew you were religated, by a mixture of points deduction and employing Paul Ince as manager, but it was not until I saw an article on the BBC yesterday about another possible point deduction that I looked on this board to see what is really happening. It looks grim.

As you may know as Brighton fans we went through a really sh!tty time with owners who were there just to assit strip the club.
If you feel the owners are damaging your club, you need to do something about it. I don't suggest doing what we did, breaking the cross bar so the match was abandond, but it did make national news and alerted the wider football community to what was happening.

You need to unite as a fanbase and plan what you are going to do. Try and bring it to the attention to other football fans.

As much as you probably don't like Brighton fans, if you really needed our help and your club is in serious trouble we would join in a fans united day and protest beside you. No true footbal fan likes to see another club in real danger. We would even do it for Palarse.

look at the things we did to see if you can draw some inspiration. Do not let apathy allow poor owners take your club a way from you.

Good luck.

[RoyalBlue]

A General Election isn't that far away now. You'd have thought the local MPs would have been bright and cynical enough to spot that they're some potential votes in this, even if they don't actually care about the club in reality.