BBC 4 - Sir John Madejski Programme

[alanmayes]

Came accross this programme all about the man himself, which was filmed over 3 yrs.
We're all well aware of his involvement with Reading FC,Auto Trader etc.

It's interesting to note how he's also involved with the regeneration of Reading
town centre.Could we learn from him? Possibly,but i also wanted to learn about
his background and what drives him on.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00mbtgy/sign/Rich_Man_Poor_Man_A_Knights_Tale/

[leefer]

All Sugar Daddys are good for any club..course the downside being if Reading go down this year and he decided enough is enough...........well big white elephant comes to mind.....In 1994 Spurs should have been relegated for 35 breaches similar to us...its well known that Alan Sugar and his money helped them in court and kept them in the division...as for the Town centre anyone contributing big bucks is going to get a big say...

[RobertT]

The fact he is a Reading man, and is spending so much effort on developing the entire town, suggests he's probably done whatever he can to make sure the club has a sound footing, even if he was not there.  You can fit all our executive facilities into one of their function rooms.

[Don Rogers Shop]

Don't mean fuckall though does it Rob if you can't win at home.

[Simon Pieman]

Reading have done a shit load better than us in recent history though.

[alanmayes]

Madejski had a huge spat with the Mirror sports journalist Oliver Holt a few years ago,
Holt reckoned Berkshire should be renamed Madejskishire,which seemd a bit of a cheap shot.

I'm sure that ego plays a large part,but you can't fault him for the investment that he's been
prepared to put into the football club and town as a whole.The US has a large ammount of
philanthropists,something we could do more of in this country,in my opinion.

[Ardiles]

Madejski is a Reading man through & through.  Didn't see the programme last night, but the comments above do not surprise me.

He's an immensely wealthy man and I think it's fair to say his prime goal is to create a legacy for himself in his home town.  Raising the local football club from the lower leagues to a higher level (and, yes, with a stadium that bears his name) is just one strand of that legacy.  He is also behind an initiative to redevelop the Station Hill area of Reading town centre and has also funded local schools etc.  I'm not sure whether we'll yet see Andrew Fitton breathing new life in to stalled town centre regeneration projects in Swindon...but you can always dream.

[JOHNNY REEVES]

the credit crunch has made him a desperate man.