Bristol Rovers and Crawley Town relegated to League Two
The League One relegation race has been run, with Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers joining Shrewsbury Town and Cambridge United in League Two.
Reading beat Bristol Rovers 2-0 on Saturday to all-but condemn the Pirates to the drop, but this was mathematically confirmed on Tuesday as Burton Albion drew 1-1 with Wigan Athletic.
The Brewers’ draw, twinned with their win on Saturday, meant Rovers would have needed to win their final day match at Blackpool and hope Gary Boywer’s side lost all of theirs.
This was also the case for Crawley Town, who were in form and had given themselves a fighting chance after the return of Scott Lindsay, pulling together a three-game unbeaten run.
Credit must go to Burton, however, as they sat 11 points adrift of safety in January and failed to win until November.
Reading were beaten 3-2 at the Pirelli Stadium in January to help their rise and survive in the third tier.
A non-league club for most of it’s existence, it has now been 11 consecutive campaigns in the third and second tiers now for the East Midlands outfit.
Reading’s long-awaited takeover is ‘closer than ever before’ according to the popular Price of Football podcast.
Hosted by football finance expert Kieran Maguire, with sources up and down the football pyramid, and comedian Kevin Hunter-Day, the pair have covered Reading and other issues across football meticulously for years.
In Thursday’s news edition, the fact that the Royals had confirmed ‘agreed terms’ and that the English Football League had extended Dai Yongge’s deadline was discussed on the show.
The national media have heavily linked former Wycombe Wanderers chief Rob Couhig with a takeover, having come incredibly close to sealing a takeover in August before a late collapse.
However, Maguire believes Reading fans can now give out ‘two cheers’ that the three-year crisis could soon be over.
“I have been in contact with senior sources, and they say they are closer to a deal than ever before,” Maguire- a lecturer at Liverpool University- said. “Whilst the EFL and Reading have said ‘unnamed party’, the ‘unnamed party’ is fairly publicly known to be Rob Couhig, the former owner of Wycombe Wanderers.
“It looks as though we are making further progress. Some people have been critical of the EFL and saying ‘if you’re going to give them an extension, why give them a further extension? My understanding is that the EFL will have seen the degree of progress, and they don’t feel it’s a false claim being made by either of the parties and the alternative is probably worse.”
