In the week after the Government published their white paper on the regulation and governance of football as far as National League level Southend Utd survived to tell the tale for another day but while the fire might be out for now it’s certainly not without chance to ignite again.
The tax bill of almost £2 million was settled the day before the Essex club were due in court last week as the first of March dawned, some rumours floating around that the monies had been there for a while and not triggered to save on the interest payments starting on the huge £5 million loan the Shrimpers are now saddled with.
That money as far as I’m aware has paid off creditors including the players and most staff, although some are still waiting and it didn’t stop star defender Kacper Lopata serving a breach of notice and cancelling his contract hours before they took on Barnet last Friday evening.
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The remainder is part of the start on the new stadium at Fossett’s Farm, one of the keys to the club’s future, along with promotion back to the Football League. The former hasn’t yet seen a spade in the ground to get started, nor is planning permission complete due to updated plans not being submitted yet, the latter a lottery if they do indeed manage to make the play-offs in seven weeks’ time, a gamble if ever there was one.
Given the fact Ron Martin the owner failed to keep up with wages, payments to everyone else for months on end and now has payments for that massive loan, you have to ask how he is going to afford the lot plus the sticking plasters Roots Hall constantly needs to operate.
If you speak to any Southend fan they will pretty much admit RH is beyond economic repair hence the need for the new facilities, but one that is supposed to provide extra income alongside the football club to allow the club to compete further off the pitch, some are even surprised the old ground still gets a safety certificate every year, that must be close in some calls I’m sure.
On the pitch the team defy whats going on off it, having been in and around the play-offs all season and having not been paid for two months around Xmas time as well. That itself is credit to the staff around them who were in the same boat  and the players for not letting it affect their play when easy to do so.
This is a club with over 100 years of history and most within the Football League too, a club well supported with an average of almost 6,000 for home games so far this season, and just as important as any club within the football pyramid.
Plenty believe that all this has done is kick the can further down the road and there are more problems to come as the weeks go on, in seven weeks’ time there is no football income full stop except for maybe an extension if they do make the play-offs, what happens then?
Is it player sales that will carry them through the summer? Will they need to trim the squad numbers in order to stay alive? Still many questions that need answering and a huge lack of information coming out from the club suggests it’s not going to get any easier as time goes on.
The white paper itself I would hope in the future protects clubs from owners like these and ensures we don’t see repeats of this scenario, Bury or a Macclesfield either, the details of that for another blog though, for now I’m pleased for all at Southend to still have a club to follow and support, but there is still a long way to go to secure a future.
