On the 18th minute of every home game at Reading football club, supporters rise in unison to boo, no matter the scoreline.

The number 18 represents the total points the third-tier club has been docked for breaking football’s financial rules in recent years, and the jeers are directed at Dai Yongge, the Chinese businessman whose ownership has left one of football’s oldest clubs in crisis. Opposition fans often join the protest in solidarity with Reading’s sorry predicament. 

This week the British government tabled legislation for a new independent regulator for English football, which it hopes will help alleviate the kind of problems facing clubs like Reading. The new body has been promised “robust powers” to force out owners deemed “unsuitable” and given the task of improving English football’s financial sustainability.