A weekly newspaper published a blank front page in protest at a lack of communication from its patch’s top football club.

Reading Today showed its distaste at the “radio silence” from Reading FC amid a campaign by supporters for the owner Dai Yongge to sell the club.

Tim Dellor, who covers the club for the BBC, has also hit out at the “appalling” lack of communication from the club, who were relegated from the Championship, English football’s second tier, in May.

Reading Today’s splash yesterday was blank except for the club’s crest and the headline: “This page contains all the news from Reading FC’s hierarchy about their plans for the club.”

Editor Phil Creighton told HTFP: “As the club headed to relegation to League One, the radio silence from Reading FC’s hierarchy has been a major concern for fans, so much so they have set up a group campaigning for the owner Dai Yongge to sell the club.

“We’re always looking for interesting and eye-catching ways to tell a story, and this is no different. It has struck a chord with fans across the country, achieving more than 50,000 interactions on social media in under 24 hours, with praise for our efforts, and fans from other clubs calling on their local newspapers to produce similar.

“We are proud of our coverage week-in, week-out, not just of Reading FC, but also grassroots sports, which is why we proudly tell readers that no one chronicles the action better than us.

“However much I’d like to take credit for the design, it is a homage to a Sun front page from the early 1990s, proving there’s no such thing as an original idea, just very good ones.”