In 2012 Reading were promoted to the Premier League, but within three years they came very close to going into administration. This very interesting account provides an in depth analysis of what went wrong.
In 2012 Reading were promoted to the Premier League, but within three years they came very close to going into administration. This very interesting account provides an in depth analysis of what went wrong.
It was evident that there was considerable over spending to achieve promotion, with wages reaching a staggering 180 per cent of turnover. All the additional revenue earned from promotion effectively went into the pockets of players who turned out to be not good enough. In the folllowing season, wages were cut by 30 per cent but revenue went down by 50 per cent.
With losses of around £20m last year, the club runs the risk of falling foul of Football League rules that allow maximum losses of £39m over three years.
What one has had is what the article describes as a ‘massive sink hole of money’ and the way forward for the Thai owners is far from clear.