£30m West Brom deal threatening Robert Platek’s Reading takeover from Dai Yongge
West Brom and Reading have been through it financially in recent years. The Baggies have turned a corner under new ownership, and the same will hopefully soon be true of their peers in League One.
The gulf between the Premier League and Championship as well the cliff edge between the second tier and the rest of the pyramid mean English Football League’s finances have long been a basket case.
After promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history in 2006-07, Reading – who finished 8th that season – spent two years in the Premier League before falling back into the Championship.
Promoted again as champions in 2011-12, they spent one more campaign in the top tier before being relegated again. Since their last year of parachute payments in 2016-17, things have gone downhill.
The Royals are currently 8th in League One, having finished 17th the third tier the previous season.
The malaise started under the ownership of Dai Yongge, the Chinese businessman who took over from the previous Thai regime after a lengthy review process at EFL HQ.
The EFL were said to be cautious about Yongge’s suitability at the time. Some have suggested that recent revisions to the rulebook would have barred the takeover had it taken place today.
Reading have lost almost £160m since then and, with clubs across the country currently releasing their accounts for 2023-24, are now the only club in the country to have not even filed their 2022-23 figures.
That has landed them in hot water with the EFL’s financial fair play enforcers, who hit them with points deductions in both 2022-23 and 2023-24.
