The following motion was moved by Councillor Ennis and seconded by Councillor Barnett-Ward and CARRIED:

Resolved –

            This Council is pleased that the ownership of Reading Football Club has been secured and we place on record our thanks and appreciation to the supporters, local MPs and organisations, such as the Sell Before We Dai campaign, led by Caroline Parker and Sarah Turner, Chair of STAR. It is their sheer commitment and energy that has saved our football club and it is right and fitting that we have a civic reception for the leaders of the campaign to save Reading Football Club as a thanks from the people of Reading.

We should also place on record our thanks to Sir John Madejski, a Freeman of the Borough, for his philanthropic work over the decades to make Reading a better place. Reading has benefitted from the work and generosity of Sir John Madejski with the building of the new football stadium in 1998, the establishment of the John Madejski gallery at the Reading museum in 1999 and the creation of the John Madejski Academy in 2006.

This Council notes with dismay the announcement by the Greenshaw Trust’s to remove Sir John’s name from the Academy that he funded and of which he is rightly proud. It strongly disapproves of this attempt to airbrush from history the contribution to Reading of Sir John Madejski and resolves to seek alternative means by which his legacy to our town can be preserved.