“ Sell before we Dai (to someone fit and proper)“ supporters action group v2.3b sponsored by Sports Direct Tennis Balls

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Maybe the sell before we dai protesters could fly to Beijing and throw tennis balls around the city

wouldn't ping pong balls be better, culturally speaking?

Good point, maybe mix it up and use both.

[Brogue]

Maybe the sell before we dai protesters could fly to Beijing and throw tennis balls around the city

wouldn't ping pong balls be better, culturally speaking?

Good point, maybe mix it up and use both.

Might struggle to get a ping pong ball from row ff to the pitch tbf how about golf or snooker balls

[morganb]

Finding the cost of tennis balls too expensive?

Then why not try conkers (either with or without spiky case). Readily available at this time of year and totally free. Easy to hide (though perhaps not the spiky version) and enough weight to make it from Row Z to the pitch.

After collecting them from the pitch, the stewards can put strings through them during the game and then they can be handed out to the kids in the Dolan after the match to allow them to play conkers on the way home.

[windermereROYAL]

Reading is known for its music festival, which over four days a year, has music drift across the pleasant Thames Valley town.

This year, the Killers headlined the Saturday but at Reading football club, it is the fear of the death of their Saturday game which has Royals fans dull-eyed at the reign of Chinese owner Dai Yongge.

Reading fans have stood up to be counted before, notably against the proposed 1983 merger with Oxford United to create the “Thames Valley Royals”.

Yet their 1999 “Pants Day” protest showed a generally relaxed fanbase who’d prefer to use humour as a weapon, rather than the kind of disruptive direct action that went down on Saturday at the Select Car Leasing stadium.

“We advocate the WAVING of PANTS as an expression of good-natured criticism for the lack of effort, passion and style shown by our team” read the 1999 manifesto.

The fact that the Reading vs Burton Albion match was stopped by a hail of tennis balls shows just how far these perfectly reasonable fans have been pushed, in a move which might represent the bitter end for problem owners in the English game.

“Reading’s ‘desperate’ plight: £191m losses, 16 points docked and a silent owner” read an Athletic headline for a story released the day before the Burton match. Philip Buckingham’s forensic article drew attention to the club’s ongoing transfer embargo but also an overdue tax bill, an alleged short-term loan from a sponsors to pay the wage bill and the ill-fate of two other clubs owned by Mr Yongge.

While the Athletic piece threw light on the seemingly precarious nature of Reading’s running, Royals fans were warming up their pitching arms for the latest set of what is known in German as “Tennisballaktion” a form of protest where football matches are halted by a volley of tennis balls.

In August, fans of fellow beleaguered club Southend United temporarily stopped their match vs Eastleigh using the tennis ball method, which has a similar under-foot effect to football matches as baubles did to the burglers in Home Alone.

Southend fans added squeaky rodent toys in homage to their hated owner, who has been labelled Ron “The Rat” Martin and it seems large pet stores are in for a windfall, with fans buying reasonably priced projectiles to pelt the playing surface.

Indeed, it wasn’t Slazenger balls but Pets At Home specials that were being passed around before kick-off on Saturday as stewards gave every entrant a thorough but ineffectual patting down.

The match had been designated “Black Saturday” by the Sell Before We Dai” coalition, which is campaigning for a new dawn at Reading and the Club 1871 section, who create the noise behind the goal, dressed in black fatigues, was an ominous sign for the current administration at the club.

The match being played amongst black balloons floating onto the pitch was symbolic of a supposedly big money game existing with pockets of real dysfunction and a banner which read “Football has an ownership problem” spoke for itself.

Advocates of the 50+1 model in Germany, who are against private “investor” system in England must be feeling very smug indeed with the raft of supporter protests and crisis clubs on these shores.

In many ways, the barrage of tennis balls that carpeted the pitch at Reading and stopped play for a good ten minutes weren’t just for the Royals, they were for Southend, West Bromwich Albion, Scunthorpe United et al and supporters looking for a more progressive and community-centred approach to how their clubs operate.

Post-match, the Sell Before We Dai group were thinking of the bigger picture when digesting the action on a day where a young Reading side were held to a goalless draw by Burton, quite the fall from grace since the Premier League years of the early 2010’s.


“It was a powerful moment seeing so many Reading fans uniting with one shared purpose. Reading are just one of a number of clubs up and down the country facing an existential crisis, many have gone before and if things don't change, that list will keep growing.”

“That's why the 'Football has an ownership problem' banner is front and centre - the tagline hits hard with too many fans across the football pyramid - it includes Reading but is bigger than Reading.”


“We hope the attention from this campaign can be a driving force for real change, including determining whether the Independent Football Regulator will be fit for purpose by using Reading as a test case.”

Like a lob on the tennis court, there is talk of Reading fans joining with Southend and West Brom supporters to put their opponents on the back foot and draw collective attention to the way football clubs are run in England.

With an incoming Independent Regulator and supporters equally prepared to investigate poor ownership and prevent matches being played if needs be, time is running out for club owners who simply do not run clubs in a modern, sustainable way that lives up to the community remit of their positions.

Reading is a well placed town, at most a hour and half to central London, Bristol, Oxford and the South coast but the die-hard Royals wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else.

Their old rivals Aldershot, went to the wall in 1992, and have never really recovered, plying their trade now in non-League.

1992 was the year when Brian Lomax and co set up the first supporters’ trust at Northampton Town, funnily enough the same year the Premier League burst into life, drowning the message that fans should be on club boards and that community ownership of teams was a sensible counterweight to the free-market game.

Fan-ownership looks a big push at Reading, with the sums involved and a potentially problematic sale of the stadium to a company associated with Mr Yongge in 2019, on valuable land in the commuter town.

But that is the difficult place English football finds itself, in thrall to the next oligarch, sportswasher or “businessman” from an exotic location but operating in a global financial contraction and often ill-equipped to service the basic needs of clued up supporters.

Reading fans won’t take a step back now though, for they are at the advertising hoardings, with much within range.



https://www.terraceedition.com/

[Eaststandman]

Don't have the time or inclination to read 40 pages of historical info, but it appears that tennis ball protests are moderately successful, but their colour makes them easy for the stewards to spot and collect, does it not? Maybe if they were turf shade we'd get more bang, for our protest buck???

[Hendo]

Would rather not do that, possibly leading to a player standing on one and doing damage to their ankle or something.

It also isn't the stewards fault, not really fussed about making their job harder/easier.

Knowing our history record, someone like Vickers would stand on one and dislocate his knee.

[morganb]

Just wondering why the club don't just put netting up to stop the balls making it to the pitch - there must be some way to put up a see through barrier to prevent the disruption.

Otherwise they could provide the stewards (and Harvey Knibbs) with racquets so they can try to bat the balls back into the crowd - could help to raise the entertainment levels at the ground... Or stewards could bring their dogs to work as they like fetching tennis balls.

[blythspartan]

Just wondering why the club don't just put netting up to stop the balls making it to the pitch - there must be some way to put up a see through barrier to prevent the disruption.

Otherwise they could provide the stewards (and Harvey Knibbs) with racquets so they can try to bat the balls back into the crowd - could help to raise the entertainment levels at the ground... Or stewards could bring their dogs to work as they like fetching tennis balls.

I think some lightweight green frisbees would be fun.

[Orion1871]

Just wondering why the club don't just put netting up to stop the balls making it to the pitch - there must be some way to put up a see through barrier to prevent the disruption.

Otherwise they could provide the stewards (and Harvey Knibbs) with racquets so they can try to bat the balls back into the crowd - could help to raise the entertainment levels at the ground... Or stewards could bring their dogs to work as they like fetching tennis balls.

Obviously Dai can't afford the netting.

[Eaststandman]

Hendo's safety point taken and accepted, however l bet Zamboni or somebody makes a collection machine or device and the club would have to insure the pitch was fit to proceed, it would be astounding if a single ball, returned to the pitch could stop play again and would be more economical and effective as a protest!?

[Snowflake Royal]

Don't have the time or inclination to read 40 pages of historical info, but it appears that tennis ball protests are moderately successful, but their colour makes them easy for the stewards to spot and collect, does it not? Maybe if they were turf shade we'd get more bang, for our protest buck???

The point is to cause a tenporary pause to the game, not get it cancelled or cause injury.

Which is why throwing them on in waves is stupid too.

Make your statement, get on with the game. Anything more and you start alienating the players and staff, who are currently fairly on board.

[Elm Park Kid]

Tbh - i'm on the side of the view that we need to accept short-term pain for long-term benefit. If the club gets in trouble/fined etc then that to me is just more bad publicity for Dai and more pressure on him to sell. Ultimately it's in the interest of the players and staff that Dai goes and if they have to put up with temporary 'discomfort' then so be it.

[Eaststandman]

I understand snowflake's response, but l imagine that at some stage a protest will have to "hurt to work" or what use would it be? The pants day protest had a good natured, humorous approach, but perhaps the current situation is too serious or desperate for such genteel, polite protest, is it really having the desired effect?

[tidus_mi2]

Don't have the time or inclination to read 40 pages of historical info, but it appears that tennis ball protests are moderately successful, but their colour makes them easy for the stewards to spot and collect, does it not? Maybe if they were turf shade we'd get more bang, for our protest buck???

The point is to cause a tenporary pause to the game, not get it cancelled or cause injury.

Which is why throwing them on in waves is stupid too.

Make your statement, get on with the game. Anything more and you start alienating the players and staff, who are currently fairly on board.

Find myself agreeing, going back to the Burton game, thought it was funny the first few times some extra balls got thrown on after they had finished collecting them all, but it eventually overstayed it's welcome.

[Sebastian the Red]

I understand snowflake's response, but l imagine that at some stage a protest will have to "hurt to work" or what use would it be? The pants day protest had a good natured, humorous approach, but perhaps the current situation is too serious or desperate for such genteel, polite protest, is it really having the desired effect?

This is an utterly bizarre post.

As Ian and others will know, I often come on here to wind people up a little bit for my own entertainment, but the truth is I love the club and want it not just to survive, but to thrive.

I agree that sometimes protests have to “hurt to work” as you put it, but the target of that hurt is important.

None of this is the players’ fault. None of this is the fans’ fault. None of this is the stewards’ fault. None of this is the grounds team’s fault.

The tennis ball protest seems effective - it disrupts the game, makes a pre-stated point, and brings awareness.

You seem to be calling for something which would have a minimal increase in effectiveness, but a potentially significant increase in danger to the players. Yes, perhaps it needs to “hurt to work” but it’s not the players that should be hurt. Ian and Hendo have explained this already, but your response was remarkably dismissive of the safety issues that they rightly raise.

In terms of continuing or escalating any protest the organisers of the protest group need to think about what pressure points and triggers they can actually activate. What can have an impact on the owner?

At the moment, he seems willing to sell from all reports but only if his inflated view of the worth of the club is met. Likewise, his reason for the original investment in the club seems to have been part financial (betting on a quick return to the prem and then stripping profits or assets - although clearly I can’t see inside the man’s mind), but part vanity - lots of his mates have shiny foreign investments and he appears to have wanted to be in that club.

So where are the triggers? Money and pride. Money is complicated by the fact that it the club goes at a cheap price, it will be a prime target for asset strippers, and that could spell the end even quicker. Also, the Chinese government’s monetary and investment policy does seem to be causing issues on getting cash out of the country to the west. This is compounded by the current success in Saudi Arabia in attracting football *into* their country instead of buying influence elsewhere, and China will have a clear eye on that.

So shame and vanity are the main triggers. Awareness, media comment, that sort of thing. And that is building. Now, every single statement I have seen from the pressure group has been pretty poor. They clearly need media training or else they’re coming off as just simply what they are - very angry football fans trying their best. But the spokespeople of such groups can start controlling the narrative with message discipline. Targeted interviews, hit the same talking points. Get one or two other talkers who are unafraid to look a bit silly to go after the cheaper soundbites. It needs to be coordinated.

What other protests could be organised? Where else does Dai have interests in the UK? What could be done without harming or inconveniencing honest local workers, but still having an impact financially? Or causing shame?

The biggest shame in all of this is Dai’s utter refusal to engage, either directly or via some kind of statement. Communication could go a very long way, but he seems to be very badly advised behind the scenes (I do not mean Bowen when I say this - I mean external advisors, whose names we don’t or can’t even know). But I doubt we’ll see any changes there.

The question for the group organisers, the ones they should be asking themselves is: how do we step this up, get more attention, shame the owner further, increase pressure, without actively harming the only useful assets the club actually has: the players and staff?

[blythspartan]

I understand snowflake's response, but l imagine that at some stage a protest will have to "hurt to work" or what use would it be? The pants day protest had a good natured, humorous approach, but perhaps the current situation is too serious or desperate for such genteel, polite protest, is it really having the desired effect?

This is an utterly bizarre post.

As Ian and others will know, I often come on here to wind people up a little bit for my own entertainment, but the truth is I love the club and want it not just to survive, but to thrive.

I agree that sometimes protests have to “hurt to work” as you put it, but the target of that hurt is important.

None of this is the players’ fault. None of this is the fans’ fault. None of this is the stewards’ fault. None of this is the grounds team’s fault.

The tennis ball protest seems effective - it disrupts the game, makes a pre-stated point, and brings awareness.

You seem to be calling for something which would have a minimal increase in effectiveness, but a potentially significant increase in danger to the players. Yes, perhaps it needs to “hurt to work” but it’s not the players that should be hurt. Ian and Hendo have explained this already, but your response was remarkably dismissive of the safety issues that they rightly raise.

In terms of continuing or escalating any protest the organisers of the protest group need to think about what pressure points and triggers they can actually activate. What can have an impact on the owner?

At the moment, he seems willing to sell from all reports but only if his inflated view of the worth of the club is met. Likewise, his reason for the original investment in the club seems to have been part financial (betting on a quick return to the prem and then stripping profits or assets - although clearly I can’t see inside the man’s mind), but part vanity - lots of his mates have shiny foreign investments and he appears to have wanted to be in that club.

So where are the triggers? Money and pride. Money is complicated by the fact that it the club goes at a cheap price, it will be a prime target for asset strippers, and that could spell the end even quicker. Also, the Chinese government’s monetary and investment policy does seem to be causing issues on getting cash out of the country to the west. This is compounded by the current success in Saudi Arabia in attracting football *into* their country instead of buying influence elsewhere, and China will have a clear eye on that.

So shame and vanity are the main triggers. Awareness, media comment, that sort of thing. And that is building. Now, every single statement I have seen from the pressure group has been pretty poor. They clearly need media training or else they’re coming off as just simply what they are - very angry football fans trying their best. But the spokespeople of such groups can start controlling the narrative with message discipline. Targeted interviews, hit the same talking points. Get one or two other talkers who are unafraid to look a bit silly to go after the cheaper soundbites. It needs to be coordinated.

What other protests could be organised? Where else does Dai have interests in the UK? What could be done without harming or inconveniencing honest local workers, but still having an impact financially? Or causing shame?

The biggest shame in all of this is Dai’s utter refusal to engage, either directly or via some kind of statement. Communication could go a very long way, but he seems to be very badly advised behind the scenes (I do not mean Bowen when I say this - I mean external advisors, whose names we don’t or can’t even know). But I doubt we’ll see any changes there.

The question for the group organisers, the ones they should be asking themselves is: how do we step this up, get more attention, shame the owner further, increase pressure, without actively harming the only useful assets the club actually has: the players and staff?

I don’t normally bother reading the really long posts on here, but that was really well thought out and makes sense to me.

[Winston Biscuit]

Personally I am doing all I can to cause chaos and havoc when involved in any Chinese whispers, and am also refusing to even acknowledge pain when given a Chinese burn.

[YorkshireRoyal99]

Anyone got Kia Joorabchian's address? Throw tennis balls in his garden and then Dai will likely get an earful off him.

[Mr Angry]

Have the local MP's got involved? If not, it might be a good idea to get them to do so, likewise the town and county councils.

External representations - all the way up to the Chinese Government - to apply pressure on the owner to sell up will work more effectively than tennis balls on the pitch IMHO, because what Dai will want to avoid is losing face, and being called into some dingy Beijing office to be hauled over the coals by some CPC minion will be excruciating for him.

[Millsy]

I understand snowflake's response, but l imagine that at some stage a protest will have to "hurt to work" or what use would it be? The pants day protest had a good natured, humorous approach, but perhaps the current situation is too serious or desperate for such genteel, polite protest, is it really having the desired effect?

TLDR: you're wrong.