Good news has finally come out from Southend United with the Essex based outfit confirming today on their official website that a new buyer has been found for the club.
A consortium led by Justin Rees have purchased The Shrimpers, a deal now officially confirmed to end the continual worry that the club could go under.
This means the days of out-going Shrimpers chairman Ron Martin are now over and too the chances that Southend will go bust in the near future.
Now, there seems to be a hopeful future for Southend on the horizon with Rees and other local businessmen agreeing to buy the club.
https://twitter.com/SUFCRootsHall/status/1709231842207953258
Bleak Times At Roots Hall Recently
The anxiety that Southend United could go under had been a possibility for some time now, point deductions, transfer embargoes and failures to pay off HMRC becoming the norm at Roots Hall.
Two relegations on the bounce also saw the Shrimpers drop down to non-league as a result of all the mismanagement from above, Southend knocking on the door of the League One playoffs and the chance of promotion to the Championship not too long ago during the 2016-17 season.
Even with all the off-field turmoil, the Shrimpers have performed admirably this season – players giving their all despite everything going on, a threadbare squad running themselves into the ground.
The Shrimpers have won five matches this season, boss Kevin Maher applauded for his efforts in the dug-out alongside his group of players.
Southend fans will just hope that now they can concentrate solely with things on the field and the task of climbing up the league, a 10 point deduction sees their beloved club in the National League relegation zone.
What’s Been Said?
Confirming the news of the Rees led consortium on social media, the Southend United official club statement read via the Shrimpers website:
“We can confirm that an agreement for the sale of the Club has been reached with a consortium led by Justin Rees. Everyone is working towards a completion date of 1 November 2023, that is when the consortium will formally take control of the Club.
The collaborative approach to agreeing this deal would not have been possible without the support of creditors and the assistance from the Leader of Southend City Council.
We recognise that this has been a stressful time for all associated with the Club. We would like to thank our staff for their incredible loyalty and also thank all our stakeholders for their patience.”
Rees further commented on the situation, expressing the joy that him and the rest of the consortium share at being the new ‘custodians’ of the football club (comments taken from the Southend Echo and Chris Phillips).
He said: “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement to become the new custodians of Southend United FC.
Whilst our advisors conduct due diligence, we will be working with Tom Lawrence, John Still and Kevin Maher to ensure we hit the ground running once the transition has formally completed.
We would like to thank Ron Martin, Tom Lawrence, Southend’s creditors and the Southend City Council for helping us reach an agreement in time to avoid administration.”
Writer’s View
It’s a far too common occurrence in the beautiful game nowadays to see long established clubs fall to the wayside courtesy of neglectful club ownership, Southend United a glaring example.
Scunthorpe United and Reading are also clubs suffering at the hands of careless owners, with worries that many clubs could be the next Bury and go out of business.
The Shrimpers will just be relieved that the Ron Martin saga can be put firmly behind them with news of Justin Rees and other businessmen close to Rees buying the club, a new and hopeful period for the club after so much off-field drama.
No doubt Roots Hall will absolutely be bouncing tonight as Southend entertain Oxford City, Southend supporters ecstatic and emotional surrounding this pivotal news.
