Reading group Sell Before We Dai believe now is 'the time for action' in a final call to arms before tomorrow's protest march.
A group of volunteers who have been behind sit-ins, tennis ball disruptions and council legislation, a mass march through the town is the latest demonstration to encourage Dai Yongge to sell the club.
Hoping for 1,000 supporters, the march begins at Blue Collar Corner in the town before aiming to reach the SCL Stadium by 2 pm before the meeting with league-leaders Portsmouth.
READ MORE: Reading FC legend to join supporters in protest march
Royals legend Dave Kitson has confirmed his attendance with supporters, giving a speech to the fans who used to chant his name from 2003 until 2008.
Speaking exclusively to the Reading Chronicle, Sell Before We Dai spokesperson Nick Houlton explained why the march is necessary.
"It is going from bad to worse. Even when there isn’t bad news, it still isn’t good news. Remember the club saying that we’re looking for a sale, but nothing is really happening? I still think there are people at the club who don’t really know what’s going on because they are not informed of anything. It is time to put more pressure on to encourage the owner to sell and get football to change its ways.
MARCH BEFORE WE DAI:
— Sell Before We Dai (@SellBeforeWeDai) October 9, 2023
🏟️ #ReadingFC fans, join us for our march to the Select Car Leasing Stadium
📅 Saturday 28th October
📍 @BlueCollarFood
⏰ Join us at 12pm
🚶March starts at 12:30pm
There will be different meeting points for those unable to walk the entire distance. pic.twitter.com/jAIrGlRmTF
"It might not [make a difference] but we can’t just sit on our hands and do nothing. Do we just wait for the club to die and go ‘oh no’ or do we fight to save the club and if it dies then we’ve given our best? We’ve got to do something. The march is the right next step. We’ve been doing this since the summer. It was hard at the start because it was pre-season, and we couldn’t do much. We tried to build up to it. We had to get to a level before we started doing what we’ve been doing. Ideally, we didn’t want it to get to this point. Teams do that when it’s getting serious, and I think that says it all. We are at the point where we are having to do a march.
"Now is the time for action. There was some denial early on but everyone has seen that he’s not paid tax, we keep getting points deductions, and we keep getting fines and embargoes. It can’t go on. It is so easy to sit there and think it’ll blow over, but we’ve been saying that for a couple of years. It is at the point where we can’t just do nothing. The more people that turn out, the bigger the difference. Now is the time to get involved and help make a difference."
This follows on from a similar march done by Reading supporters in 1983, with over 1,000 marching against Robert Maxwell and his Thames Valley Royals proposals.
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