Southend United’s FA Hearing Comes To A Conclusion

Southend United defender Kacper Lopata, is free to leave the club after The FA’s Contract Disputes Tribunal came to a conclusion on the appeal, as confirmed in a statement on the club’s official website

The news comes after the 21-year-old demanded to leave the Shrimpers at the beginning of the month.

According to Lopata, a ‘serious breach of contract’ was broken, after he had to wait an extra 28 days for his January wages.

An initial hearing with the National League went in favour of the former Sheffield United man, however, Southend appealed the decision, leading to the FA getting involved with the situation.

Lopata has won the appeal hearing, meaning the player is a free agent and available to sign for another team.

After spending half a year on loan with Southend in the 2021/22 season, the defender joined permanently in September and appeared for the Essex side 22 times this season, scoring one goal and keeping nine clean sheets in the process.

As for the club, Southend has been on the end of financial issues for some time under chairman Ron Martin. A £1.4m bill owed to HMRC was recently paid and prompted the National League club to be put up for sale.

The former Football League club currently sit 10th in the National League, but is on a run of five straight defeats and six defeats in their last seven league games. The poor run of form has caused them to slide down the league table and be eight points away from the playoff places.

In the club statement, Southend said: “We sought to appeal the earlier decision (made by the National League) in order to protect the Club’s interests, and whilst we are disappointed with today’s outcome, we respect the Tribunal’s decision and we will not be pursuing the matter further.

“We wish Kacper every success as he embarks on the next chapter of his career.”

 

Writer’s View

As the messes of Southend keep unravelling, it’s good to see a conclusion on the matter and the player get his redemption.

While fans may criticise the player for walking out of the club, it’s clear he had all right to do so. When the club is failing to pay its players amidst of finical issues, let’s hope with the recent news of Southend looking for a new owner, they can resolve these major issues and get the club back on track. 

 

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