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06 Sept 2025
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06 Sept 2025
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Former Wycombe owner Rob Couhig has agreed a deal to take over Reading in principle and end the tumultuous reign under Dai Yongge.
Reading announced that Redwood Holdings Limited, owned by Couhig and Todd Trosclair, are set to purchase Dai’s shares, plus the Select Car Leasing Stadium and Bearwood Park training ground.
In March, Dai was disqualified under the EFL’s owners’ and directors’ test and had been ordered to divest or risk the imposition of sanctions, including Reading being suspended from Sky Bet League One.
Reading Football Club is pleased to announce the sale in principle of the club to Redwood Holdings Limited.
Statement in full 👇
— Reading FC (@ReadingFC) May 3, 2025
Following a takeover agreement, the EFL has agreed to extend its deadline for Dai, who became the club’s majority shareholder in 2017, to divest his interests until its next board meeting on Thursday.
A club statement said: “Reading Football Club is pleased to announce the sale in principle of the club to Redwood Holdings Limited.
“The formal completion of the transaction is subject to final legal technicalities but is fully expected to be completed shortly.”
Couhig had been close to agreeing a deal with Chinese businessman Dai last year before the sale process collapsed late on.
The Royals have been placed under a number of transfer embargoes and been handed points deductions totalling 18 points under Dai’s ownership.
Reading manager Noel Hunt described the prospective takeover as “a 100 per cent step in the right direction”.
Speaking after his side missed out on the League One play-off places, losing 4-2 at home to Barnsley in their final game of the season, Hunt said: “We have to have conversations.
“Rob was here today and he said how happy he is and how proud he is of the job we’ve done.
“It’s great news, it really is. It’s really positive.”
We never wanted to exist and now we’re happy to go out of existence – but we don’t want Reading fans to forget what we all achieved together.
We threw tennis balls, we showed red cards, we got a game abandoned, we lobbied outside Parliament, we marched through the streets of… pic.twitter.com/f55POac6ji
— Sell Before We Dai (@SellBeforeWeDai) May 3, 2025
Reading fans’ protest group Sell Before We Dai also welcomed the news, saying in a statement: “It’s a day which we thought, at times, may never happen.
“We are incredibly relieved and happy that Reading Football Club are finally under new ownership. In the eight years of the Dai Yongge era, every single element of our club went backwards.
“Today is a day for celebration and that starts by welcoming Rob Couhig. Thank you for not giving up on us, thank you for saving our 153-year-old club from oblivion.”
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