I am writing to update you on the recent developments relating to Reading Football Club and Football Governance, and to keep you up to date with the actions that I have been taking in the last few weeks.

The news regarding Reading FC continues to be extremely worrying.  This is a fast-changing situation, and the continued uncertainty surrounding the club’s future is incredibly destabilising and disconcerting for fans, players, and all those who work at the club.

As you may be aware, in the middle of last week Reading FC’s owner, Mr Dai, announced that he was planning to sell the club’s Bearwood Park training ground to League One rivals the Wycombe Wanderers.  Bearwood Park is high-quality training facility, including three full size first team pitches, a floodlit all-weather surface, a goalkeeping practice area, a purpose-built first team building, and a separate Academy facility.  It is a significant asset to the club and this announcement was therefore extremely concerning for all those who are hoping that the current owner will sell his majority shareholding of Reading FC to appropriate new owners at the earliest possibility.

Following this news, I wrote to Wokingham Borough Council to ask them to clarify the planning conditions on this site.  I also arranged emergency meetings last Friday with both the Sports Minister, Stuart Andrew MP, and senior figures at the English Football League, including the CEO Trevor Birch.

The sale of the Bearwood Park has since been put ‘on hold’, but this brief interlude has once again put into sharp focus the need for a change of ownership of Reading FC, as well as the need for more scrutiny on the actions of some owners before clubs like ours are lost forever.

I was therefore very pleased to see the government publish the long-awaited Football Governance Bill at the beginning of this week.  I attended the first reading of the Bill in parliament, and I am now going to carefully scrutinise the content of the Bill as introduced.  I am committed to working to ensure the new independent regulator has powers to take on bad ownership and deliver for fans.

I will be discussing the provisions set out in this Bill with my colleagues in parliament as well as the fan-led groups campaigning for change at Reading FC and beyond.  I am also still very interested to learn what powers fans think a new regulator should have, so please continue to share my survey with your friends, family, and neighbours.  The consultation can be completed on the following link: https://mattroddamp.com/footballregulation

I have also been continuing to support the club and the fan-led groups in every way I can.  I was very glad to be able to attend the men’s team’s match last Saturday against Cambridge United FC to support the campaign highlighting football’s ownership problem with ‘Sell Before We Dai’, and to watch the Royals’ fantastic 4-0 victory.

I have also continued to highlight the plight of the club and to raise fans’ concerns in the local media; please see my recent interview on BBC South Today here and listen to my interview with BBC Radio Berkshire here.

I have been heartened to see renewed public statements of interest from potential buyers this week and I hope that Reading FC will soon be sold to a new owner, who will take the club forward. I will continue to monitor developments closely and to keep constituents and fans updated on this case.

Thank you once again for your engagement with this important local issue.

Yours sincerely,

Matt Rodda MP