What Dai Yongge Did To Reading: A Forensic Analysis Of A Sign

A picture, they say, is worth a thousands words.

I do quite enjoy writing for The Tilehurst End. It gives me an opportunity to creatively vent my thoughts and feelings about the team that I support, without causing my friends’ ears to bleed. While I don’t know how many people actually read what I write, I know at least Sim as the editor is tolerating my nonsensical musings. Sorry, Sim!

[Editor’s note: Apology accepted. And to anyone else who’d like to creatively vent their thoughts and feelings about Reading FC, with or without causing their friends’ ears to bleed, drop us an email at thetilehurstend@gmail.com]

I have a real particular and specific bugbear with Reading FC and have done for some time. Many things haven’t gone as planned at the club this season and in seasons previous. These are the things that really should be making me angry. Alas, no. The one thing that really grates my cheese, bakes my noodles, gets my goat and irresponsibly removes the jam from my donut is a sign. This sign:

You’ll probably recognise it. I always walk past it on my walk to the stadium, and it just gets me every time. Why does this sign upset me so? Well, to me, it’s the visible metaphor for the state that the club has been allowed to degrade to under the stewardship of Dai Yongge.

And in retaliation to this eyesore, this 20-metre insult to all things good and great about our football club, I have completed a forensic analysis of all the things that are wrong with it. Yep, I probably need a new hobby.

1. This sign is directly outside of the Select Car Leasing Stadium. It’s right on the corner. This should be an advertisement for the team, a welcome to those coming to spend their Saturday or Tuesday watching Reading. Instead, it just advertises decay and damage.
2. It’s so unloved that it doesn’t even have the correct name of the stadium printed on there. It stopped being the Madejski Stadium in July 2021, so nearly three years ago. If this is a small protest at the renaming of the stadium from loyal fans then it is at least understandable. Though, it would explain why there seem to be no planned events. Ever.
3. The London Irish rugby team no longer play at either the Madejski Stadium or Select Car Leasing Stadium. They haven’t done so since March 2020, I believe. In fact, I’m not entirely sure they even exist at all to play in any stadium. They seem to have disappeared into purgatory since May 6 2023. But they live on in the sign. The sign remembers.
4. At the bottom of the sign, you’ll see a logo in the middle for the grand “Millennium Madejski Hotel”. Except, erm… it’s not called that anymore. It’s been the Voco Hotel since, as far as I can tell, the end of 2019. Nice hotel though. Definitely better signage there.
5. I’m pretty sure that the Courage brewery are no longer the official beer supplier for the Madejski Stadium. If they are, they must be recording awful sales. I also don’t believe they are the official beer supplier for the SCL Stadium either. That’s possibly because the nearby Courage brewery closed in 2010 and has been a Tesco warehouse since 2013. It feels like it would take a lot of courage to remind someone to correct this oversight.
6. The phone number for the ticket office is, or should be, 0118 968 1313. But I’m not actually sure they even operate a phone line now. Isn’t it all done online now?
7. The housekeeping. For the love of God, can someone get a weed trimmer out and give that sign a lick of paint?

And that’s why I feel like it’s a perfect metaphor for the state of our club. It’s unloved by its owner, held together on a whim and a prayer and desperately needs someone to come in and perform some basic maintenance on it, and give it an updated investment behind the scenes to get things ticking over properly, and clear out the weeds.

However, just like Reading FC, it stands resolute in the face of all that can be thrown at it and continues to stand, defying its age and social standing in the world of road signs. It’s a resilient sign. It’s our sign.

But… can someone get it fixed when the new owners arrive please? Thanks.