Reading FC fans split on planned protest but united by shared passion to rescue their club

As with everything in football, the only thing to move faster than the news was the follow-up opinions. Many seemed to immediately get on board, while others felt uneasy. Of course, some were vehemently against it.

The Chronicle sat down with a wide range of fans across the Royals community to hear a diverse collection of views on the planned action.

It's important to acknowledge that this is just a collection of viewpoints from around the Reading community - it isn't every single viewpoint.

We want our Reading back 🎵
We want to see a commitment from the club to change the direction in which it is run and for this to be shared with fans

Protest details:

📅 12th Feb, 1pm
📍Outside main stadium entrance
✅ Bring noise, bring banners, bring yourselves#ReadingFC pic.twitter.com/vUoaBEeeXQ

— Club 1871 (@Club1871) February 2, 2022

Note from the writer: No fan is better or more ‘real’ than any other. Everyone is just trying their best to deal with the tough situation around the club and naturally that takes different forms. Please do not use this article to personally attack anyone, it’s merely designed to open up and address an important conversation.

Jamie Hodder - Club 1871 Member

“How much worse does it really need to get?”

“We knew some people aren’t going to be as up for it as we are but before we even spoke about it, we were having people slide into our DMs saying ‘something needs to change’.

"We were going to do it just as Club 1871 but we thought ‘you know, this isn’t about us in the South Stand, it’s about people in the North Stand, West Stand, East Stand, people who can’t come to games anymore.

“We started talking to the other social media groups like Elm Park Royals, said ‘look this is what we’re planning on doing, are you interested?’ and it just kind of snowballed from there really. We still want to celebrate the 150th anniversary, this is still a massive massive weekend for the football club. 

“But having said that, it’s also going to be our biggest attendance of the season. And we need people to know that we’re not happy with what’s going on, but it’s not too late to change. It can get better if everyone - the fans, the players, the club - if everyone’s pulling in the right way we can kick on from this. 

“We don’t want to put the players off, that’s the last thing we want to do. We’ve said since 1871 started, we want to back the team for 90 minutes and give everything. And we stand by that and we will do that. 

“But the club needs to know we’re serious about what needs to be changed, about what we want to happen. 

“How much worse does it really need to get? We’re lucky at the moment that Derby are in the mess they’re in but what’s to say we won’t be like that next year?

Reading fans in the Club 1871 section. Image by: JasonPIX

“For me personally, you’ve got short-term, medium, and long-term solutions. If Pauno went after the Coventry game, that’s one solution, that might save our season. But that’s not going to save us next year. 

“You then need to start looking at the people who are making decisions, that’s the medium-term. Get some community people back who love the club to do certain roles. 

“And then long-term we want Dai to understand our frustrations. We appreciate the money he’s put in, honestly, it’s a fantastic new training ground. But what’s the point in having a training ground that we don’t own which could be irrelevant in a year or two?

"Of course we want him to be ambitious, every football club wants an ambitious owner, but just to do it in the right way, a sensible way…that’s the right solution. We want him to stay for the next 20 years, if he's doing it in the right way.”

Clare D

“I want to get involved, I’m just not entirely sure there’s a focus to what we’re protesting about.”

“I totally agree that we need to do something. I feel the problems are from the top and basically it’s filtered down onto the pitch. It’s so hard though. Lots of people are saying ‘let’s walk out’ but I think no matter how crap they’ve been playing lately, walking out...how’s that going to help the players? We still want them to stay up, we still want them to win.

The Reading players celebrate against Derby County. Image by: JasonPIX

“Pauno…I’ve never really been Pauno out until Kidderminster, that did it for me. And then you go creeping up towards the top and you’ve got people in the background who haven’t got a clue how to run a football club. 

“I feel like it’s crumbling from the top down. There are so many problems, it’s systemic, it’s not just one thing. So I desperately understand the protesting and I want to get involved, I’m just not entirely sure there’s a focus to what we’re protesting about. We’ve got someone shouting ‘Pauno out’ and then there’s someone shouting ‘Dai Out’...collectively it's not a cohesive unit and we’re not protesting against the same thing.

“I feel really torn because I want to do something - because something has to be done. But it just needs to be more organised, it needs to be a more collective message. 

“We need to be taken seriously. I feel great about the people who arranged it, they feel passionate about it and I do too. But I don’t know what I’m protesting about? Ultimately I don’t know what the end goal is for the day or long-term.”

Paul Mann - Elm Park Royals

“It’s the feeling that we’re slowly sinking.”

“I think a protest is necessary because the situation at the club is progressively getting worse.

"Nothing seems to be changing, we’ve obviously had a horrendous month but that’s not really the underlying issue - it’s the complete lack of direction at the club. There seems to be no long-term plan, no short-term plan. One win is not going to change anything. It’s the feeling that we’re slowly sinking. 

“We’re in a situation where we’ve got an owner who owns the training ground, owns the stadium, the club have virtually nothing. I understand we're reliant on the owner staying but that’s not a sustainable project. You can’t have a situation where one man completely rules the destiny of the club. It’s so frustrating. 

“The amount of money he’s spent, you can’t doubt that. But he could move away at any second and that’s not a good position to be in. You don’t want to go too far against the owner but what do you do? You can’t just sit there and go ‘yeah, this is okay.’ 

Reading owner Dai Yongge alongside Kia Joorabchian at the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest. Image by: JasonPIX

“It’s really hard to know (what to do). The Derby situation is really unique because they’ve done remarkable things, the team. So it’s much clearer for their fans to protest. They don’t have an issue with their manager, because he appears to be brilliant, their team appears to be doing absolutely everything and more. But at Reading there are so many different targets and I don’t know which one to hit! 

“An issue has been raised that there’s no clear message of a target. And I get that. But the problem is at Reading, where do you start? There are so many.

“My aims would be to make our frustrations clear with the owner, that’s the number one objective, he's the person who controls the destiny of the club.

"If I could choose one change to make right now it would be to remove Kia. He seems to be the person who’s controlling everything that’s affecting us short-term, medium and long-term. That would be my target but I understand why people have different ones.

“Ideally it would be one clear message, but I don’t feel at the moment it’s realistic. It’s about showing that the fans do care. I don’t think at the moment doing nothing is the solution because if you wait and wait until the situation is so dire…that’s too late. At the moment the situation is just about salvageable.”

Olly Allen - The Tilehurst End

“Whilst I’m massively in support of the protest, my feeling is that it needs to be more focused.”

“First and foremost I feel a protest is a good idea. We all know the issues at the club are very worrying and very deep-rooted.

"But they're also multi-faceted, there isn’t one single issue. And to be fair, I think that’s what the protest is trying to encapsulate - that there are so many issues at the club. 

“Obviously on-pitch results have been very poor, the manager’s seemingly out of his depth somewhat, there’s trouble behind the scenes, there’s not very much football expertise at boardroom level and Dai Yongge has his own issues. 

“So there are lots of issues and obviously people see clubs like Derby and over the last few years clubs like Bury and Macclesfield and certainly do fear that Reading could be heading the same way. So ultimately, something needs to be done from the fans and protests have often proven successful in the past. We all know how strong fan power can be. 

The traveling Reading fans at Kidderminster. Image by: JasonPIX

“But whilst I’m massively in support of the protest, my feeling is that it needs to be more focused on one issue. Because there is a risk that if you try and go for too much at once, you risk the impact whereas if you focus on one issue you’ll be more likely to get a response from the club. 

“There are so many different issues at the club at the moment. The message of ‘We Want Our Reading back’ is a nice sentiment and I titled my piece in the Tilehurst End a couple of weeks ago that, but I think as a protest message you need something more direct, more focused. 

“Different people are going to have different interpretations about what ‘our’ Reading is. 

"You look at successful protests, like the one at Birmingham a couple of weeks ago, their message was very clear and direct: trying to get their owners out. And it’s obviously different here. 

“I’m not sure anyone wants Dai Yongge out because the club would be in deep trouble if that was the case but whether it needs to be something more focused like ‘Pauno Out’ or ‘Kia Out’...it’s not for me to decide what the message should be.

"But when you’re protesting I think you need to demand action, you need to demand something rather than ‘We Want Our Reading Back’ which is a nice sentiment but it is quite generalised.

“I’m not in any way trying to have a go at the people organising the protest because I completely agree that something needs to change and I appreciate the feeling from all fans that there are so many issues and in an ideal world, we all want them fixed at once. 

“I want nothing more than the protest to make an impact and make Reading change, so my comments are more coming from a wanting to help point of view rather than a wanting to critique.”

Tim Adcock

“What is it really about and what is it going to achieve?”

“Clearly things need to change because it looks like we’re only going in one direction at the moment. But I suppose it’s just more what is it really about and what is it going to achieve?

“In terms of the owner, you see a lot that it’s the owner’s fault and that. And I get that, but he has put a lot of money in, you can’t deny that. He built the training ground, he has tried to get this squad up and running to get us into the Premier League. 

Reading fans at QPR. Image by: JasonPIX

“It’s true in the fact that obviously the club has been mismanaged but it’s not mismanagement through not trying or not caring. He wants us in the Premier League and he’s invested. If we had gone up the whole gamble would have been worth it. Most clubs did the same thing and some got lucky and others didn’t.

“Emotions are high but I just think it’s something not thought out.

“The only thing I can fully back as being wrong is the structure in between the manager and the owner. I see that as one of the main things that is wrong - and that’s including the likes of Kia.

"These people don’t really know what they’re doing. So structurally, that’s the main thing I think they should go for but certainly not get rid of the owner. I can only see bad things if that happens.

“I fully respect it but there doesn’t seem to be a clear message and if it’s down that road (against the owner) I don’t think that’s the right message.”

Ben Thomas

“My overriding concern and fear at the moment is just staying in this league.”

“I respect the job that Elm Park Royals and Club 1871 do in terms of content and bringing fans together at a time when the club desperately needed it. But I just felt from a personal point of view it (the decision to protest) was a little bit knee-jerk. 

“My overriding concern and fear at the moment is just staying in this league - that’s all I care about at the moment. I understand the fan sentiment, I really do.

"We share a lot of the same concerns and I respect the fact that they’ve got off their backsides and done something about it. So I would never criticise them for doing that. 

Reading fans in the sold-out away section at QPR. Image by: JasonPIX

“There are things that need to change but I don’t feel that the owner is the one that needs to change. There are elements around him, people and influences that do need to change. 

“I would say best of luck to those protestors, and they’re not really protestors, they’re fans who want to see change. I’m using the word ‘protest’ because that’s what people are calling it but they’re not protesting, they’re voicing the concern they have about how the club is run and I don’t see a problem with that. My only concern is that people take it too far.

“Attendances have gone down and that’s for a number of reasons. But there are going to be a lot of people who are going to be there who haven’t been in a long time and it might put them off coming back which we need at the minute. So it is tough, it’s really difficult. 

“I don’t agree with people coming out criticising that the time is wrong or the game is wrong, I’m not sure a demonstration like that can ever be wrong? That's my viewpoint at least. 

“It’s about trying to work towards a common goal. We want to see the club winning, we don’t want to get relegated, we want to see long-term change but at the moment I feel like all the effort has to be making sure this club stays in the league. And then we can start to look at what’s the medium-term plan and the long-term plan.”