Owner Rob Couhig Speaks on The Future of Reading FC’s Academy

New Reading Football Club owner Rob Couhig has outlined his plans for the club’s academy.

Couhig completed his takeover of Reading FC from Dai Yongge after a long and complicated process.

The American spoke on the UTCIAD podcast (full video link at the bottom of the page) as he outlined his plans for the club.

The American spoke extensively about his aspirations for the club, including the future of the academy.

Reading’s academy has long been regarded as one of the most successful in the country thanks to the exceptional work of many, including the late Eamonn Dolan.

The Royals have produced several talents who have gone on to fantastic careers, with the most recent example being Michael Olise who left Reading in 2021 and has went on to be sold by Crystal Palace to Bayern Munich for more than £50 million last summer.

Couhig admitted how important the academy is to the club, but said that he plans to review the situation over the next month.

He said: “The academy is an asset. Could it be run better? I suspect – almost anything could be.

“I want to take a look at it over the next month to see if it’s properly staffed and if we’re bringing in the right people.

“If you look at Brentford and Wycombe, you don’t need the full academy apparatus to have good young players. There are a tremendous amount of young talented players who get out of an academy and don’t have anywhere to go. If you have a good eye and good judgement you can find players out there.

“My goal will be to join the best aspects of the academy and keep it as category one. If we can develop young players that we can sell, it makes the team better and it’s exciting for us.”

Couhig also spoke about the club’s finances since taking over.

He continued: “There was a sizable amount of vendor debt that we will be cleaning out. The club will have pristine books that show no debts of a recent nature. We should be able to operate from that day forward on a sustainable basis. That doesn’t mean that we won’t have to dip into our pocket occasionally, or more frequently that perhaps Todd or I want to, but we won’t be fighting these things.”