To be fair I think to an extent the Reading virgin provides as interesting insight.
Reading had huge investment and went on a "journey" to the top flight whilst we went on our own "journey" under Kassam to the depths of the conference.
I did feel very connected to OUFC in the conference days though. We were down the hard-core. The ultras brought colour and noise and we all pulled together, meanwhile they had new "fans" filling up their stadium. It's partially why they feel so sterile and soulless.
Reading fans became hooked on wanting the Premier League. Spending beyond their means to try and get back there. But they're deep down a small club and don't have the fanbase there to justify it. It's built on sand.
Now whilst I understand we are doing our best to be "sustainable" (I sense an awful lot of waffle whenever TW and to an extent GF speaks) we are probably getting closer to the model of spending far beyond our means.
For me the Premier League would be pretty toxic. Maybe fun for a season. But with the way that League is with footballers on £100k + a week living in a different stratosphere to the fans who watch them, high ticket prices, more politics and the stain on the game that is VAR, we don't want to become like Reading chasing that.
If we managed to sustain football in the Championship, in a decent stadium, with safe standing, reflecting the club well, playing decent enough football and bringing players through the academy, that's probably enough. The Premier league could turn us into a soulless shell just like Reading. I think it was Essex who brought up our club losing its soul slowly rather than Reading who lost it in a flash. We do need to protect that and not fall into the trap of becoming another Reading FC.
Whether they get new billionaire owners or not, f*ck them. Tinpot club and the games against them were meh. Swindon Town, I hate them but they're more of a real rival than Reading. It means more.