Madejski: Get up so I can sell up

[JimGRoyal]

No chance
Physical assets are fine, stadium etc
Brand a bit tarnished
His best hope is to sell to a future renewables sheik who wants a sports-hotel-mega-leisure-complex powered by a few wind turbines just off the M4
A way to go yet....

[IMAMATEOFJOVSKY]

Reading’s Madejski Wants to Sell Club After Premier Promotion
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By Farah Nayeri and Tariq Panja

Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) -- John Madejski, the millionaire owner of second-tier English soccer club Reading, plans to celebrate a return to the Premier League by selling the team.

Reading was one of three clubs relegated from the top flight last season and is second in the 24-team Championship. The two highest finishers are guaranteed promotion to the top division.

“The point is we’re second in the Championship, and to find a buyer we’d have to be in the Premiership,” Madejski, who has been chairman of the club since 1990, said in an interview yesterday. “I’d rather to go out with a promotion so I can go out on a high.”

Reading was on the brink of bankruptcy when Madejski acquired it after he made millions from a magazine business. Since then, he built a new stadium and steered the club from the lower divisions to the Premier League for the first time in its 135-year history in 2006.

“I’ve done it for 19 years,” he said. “I’m the longest- serving chairman in the league, and it’d be nice to move on. I’ve got so much luggage. I’ve got so many businesses, it’d be lovely to get rid of some, but I like to sell things when they’re on the up, and at the moment, it’s not a good time to talk about any sales.”

Madejski has talked about selling in the past, saying the cost of financing soccer teams means that he will listen to offers from “billionaires only. Millionaires need not apply.”

There are already several Premier League clubs for sale. Newcastle United, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Everton and Blackburn Rovers are struggling to find new owners during the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tariq Panja in London at tpanja@bloomberg.net; Farah Nayeri in Paris at farahn@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 20, 2009 05:43 EST

[bottom left hand corner]

how many times has he advertised that the club is up for sale

[tee peg]

The price has just got cheaper.......

[S09Royal]

how many times has he advertised that he has the club up for sale

I've lost count tbh,
seems like he'll continue to advertise the club until it's actually sold.

[Dirk Gently]

Not sure he's "advertising", though. Just doing an interview with a financial publication and stating the situation.

No change from all the other similar interviews over the past couple of years.

[rabidbee]

I also wonder who initiated the conversation.

[Dirk Gently]

More than likely Bloombergs. They keep a constant tab on JM and English football clubs.

And JM is one of those incorrigible media-whores who will never turn down an interview ....... oh

[rabidbee]

More than likely Bloombergs. They keep a constant tab on JM and English football clubs.

Yep, yep.

[Royal Lady]

"selling the team"???? Shouldn't he read he's "selling the CLUB"???

[Harry Carry]

If JM sold the club to some rich Russian or Arab who threw money at the club ala Chelsea or City, would you carry on supporting Reading or would you change to a different team as you'd be supporting club that goes against everything the Reading supporters stand for.

[boy1985]

If JM sold the club to some rich Russian or Arab who threw money at the club ala Chelsea or City, would you carry on supporting Reading or would you change to a different team as you'd be supporting club that goes against everything the Reading supporters stand for.

It depends which way we go about it, I honestly would hate to be the laughing stock that is Man City right now. Of course i'd love us to have that kind of financial backing but i'd like to think we would build the club rather than just buy 11 players. Like expanding the stadium, improving the acadamy and then bringing in a few quality players. Its not gonna happen anyway

[Gordons Cumming]

If John sold to an Arab I'd go and support Bracknell Town.

[who are ya?]

If John sold to an Arab I'd go and support Bracknell Town.

We are Bracknell,
super Bracknell,
we are Bracknell from the Lane!!!.........

[The whole year inn]

If John sold to an Arab I'd go and support Bracknell Town.

Can't help but agree

Pass the club on John, keep it in the family

[Rex]

Hasn't JM always stated he'd only sell to a multi millionaire who will have made his money in this country. I think he's now likely to change his scope here as everyone knows that the investment markets have crashed. The Club would therefore possibly be sold to a consortium or to a multi billionaire from outside this country. Either that or JM is going to be saddled with this Club for a good while yet until the ecomomy / financial markets have picked up.

[NR_Royal]

Did anyone watch his interview with Jeff Randall on Sky News last night? It was only short, but all he was saying is that if the club gets promoted, he will 100% sell the club to anyone willing to buy. He doesn't want to spend "premier league" money to improve the squad. He said that the current squad could well stay in the Premier League, but he would need to spend a LOT of money to build on the squad to move up the league. This isn't new news, I know, but he made it clear to all watching that his wallet is pretty much closed. Just wondering what are your thoughts on this, and whether you would be happy if he sold the club to some random Arab/Russian businessman in the summer. In my opinion, I would prefer that he sold the club to someone who had a passion for football, with a large open wallet, (not on the Man City scale), but someone who wants us to grow as a club and establish ourselves in the Premier League. The last thing I want is to come straight back down next year (if we are promoted this year ).

[UpNorth]

Don't like the sound of this:

The Sky report raises the spectre of the RFC loan being called in. Suspect JM has been really hit by the downturn. Are we quite as secure as we thought? This model of a well run club might be in trouble.


Reading owner Sir John Madejski admits The Royals are in desperate need of fresh investment.

Madejski, who has been in control of Reading since 1990, believes the economic downturn is putting the club in a precarious financial position.

The 67-year-old has conceded that if the bank called in the club's overdraft then the Championship high-flyers could be left on the brink.

"I am happy to stand aside if someone comes in with what it needs to take the club forward," he told the Daily Star Sunday.

"We have never seen the like of this economic downturn before.

"If the bank called in our overdraft we would be in severe difficulties.

"We are in the most ghastly downturn in my lifetime - and you haven't seen the worst yet."

[Victor Meldrew]

Today's Express carries a story (plus a photo so it just has to be news!!) that if we go up he would like to sell.
Nothing new there but...he will stand aside for somebody else to take the club forward,nothing new there....he goes on about wages...nothing new there....agents etc,nothing new there.
What Is new is "We've never seen the like of this economic downturn before and several clubs could go under...I don't want to sell one or two of my best players,but I might have to"

First of all I would dispute that" we have never seen the like of his economic downturn"-of course we have.
Has he forgotten the 3-day week,miners' strikes,the bursting of the hi-tech bubble,17% interest rates and more,much more?
His timing alao seems strange in a week when the TV deals have been re-negotiated (to the surprise of many)UPWARDS.
In the Premier League the days are long gone when gate receipts were that important and in a recession you might expect gate receipts to fall but the massive Premier League TV revenue makes up overall revenue very nicely thank you.

As far as our club is concerned which we are told is well run I would have thought promotion with £30 million revenue from TV alone for the first year plus any parachute payments for relegated sides plus the money that has been stashed away over the past 2 years plus sell-out crowds plus sales of ancilliaries surely means that we could aford to buy a player or two?
I would agree that we might have a problem in a year's time if we don't get promoted as the second parachute payment would disappear but our chairman has been speaking specifically about if we get promoted.

Amazingly football is one of the few businesses that is affected by a recession because daddy SKY is still there-the big worry is more about the medium and long term future to ensure financial stability if TV falls out with the game and wage-capping will no doubt eventualy come in.

Presumably by inference in this article it was Mr Mad not sanctioning buys in this last window rather than the manager .
If he hadn't been so greedy last season he might have sold the club for a fair amount but hey hasn't he had loans repaid and on a personal basis made a tidy profit on that statue? So John the recession may just be hitting some of us harder than you.

[RFCBoy]

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528, ... 83,00.html

Can this really be that bad?