General Questions I have wanted to know

B1992 · Aug 1, 2023

Hi All

Supported Southend a while now, but certainly not as much everyone else. I have some questions that I have always wanted to know the answers to. Not sure if you guys will know them as im sure they are buried underneath many of Ron's lies.

1 - Who owns Roots Hall? I am assuming (hoping) that Southend United own it and if the money is paid, it will be included as part of the sale? Or has Ron buried it underneath one of his many other companies? I do remember hearing that we sold RH and neither SUFC or Ron owns it..... I could be wrong!

2 - If the new owner buys SUFC and Roots Hall, then can RH be redeveloped and this whole "new stadium" dream of Martins be ruined? Or do we HAVE to leave RH for some reason I dont know of?

3 - Who owns Fossett’s, I assume RM does but if he sells the club and RH and we or the council decides to block the new stadium plans, what happens to Fossett’s? Are his dreams of becoming rich over as it HAS to have a stadium on? Or will he simply use the land for even more property development?

If anyone knows the answers then that would be good, as wanted to know now for a little while!!

Thank you

Spaceman Spiff · Aug 1, 2023

B1992 said:
Hi All

Supported Southend a while now, but certainly not as much everyone else. I have some questions that I have always wanted to know the answers to. Not sure if you guys will know them as im sure they are buried underneath many of Ron's lies.

1 - Who owns Roots Hall? I am assuming (hoping) that Southend United own it and if the money is paid, it will be included as part of the sale? Or has Ron buried it underneath one of his many other companies? I do remember hearing that we sold RH and neither SUFC or Ron owns it..... I could be wrong!

2 - If the new owner buys SUFC and Roots Hall, then can RH be redeveloped and this whole "new stadium" dream of Martins be ruined? Or do we HAVE to leave RH for some reason I dont know of?

3 - Who owns Fossett’s, I assume RM does but if he sells the club and RH and we or the council decides to block the new stadium plans, what happens to Fossett’s? Are his dreams of becoming rich over as it HAS to have a stadium on? Or will he simply use the land for even more property development?

If anyone knows the answers then that would be good, as wanted to know now for a little while!!

Thank you

I’ll have a go - others could give more precise answers!

1) Essentially Ron owns Roots Hall. It is owned by one of his dizzying array of group companies - but not the same company as the club.

2) Yes Roots Hall could theoretically be developed if a new owner could buy the club and the stadium. However, to be sustainable at a higher level we would need a comprehensive range of income streams aside from match days. Hospitality and events, especially. The Roots Hall site has some constraints (not least the proximity to residential housing) which would limit the amount of noise, size of attendance at events and nature of events that would be able to be licensed and hosted. For those reasons, relocation remains attractive at least from a commercial perspective. Roots Hall also has some asbestos and other factors which will increase development costs.

3) Ron owns the Fossetts land and associated plans etc. If SUFC were removed from the picture he could try to develop the whole site for housing, subject to planning permission.

B1992 · Aug 1, 2023

Spaceman Spiff said:
I’ll have a go - others could give more precise answers!

1) Essentially Ron owns Roots Hall. It is owned by one of his dizzying array of group companies - but not the same company as the club.

2) Yes Roots Hall could theoretically be developed if a new owner could buy the club and the stadium. However, to be sustainable at a higher level we would need a comprehensive range of income streams aside from match days. Hospitality and events, especially. The Roots Hall site has some constraints (not least the proximity to residential housing) which would limit the amount of noise, size of attendance at events and nature of events that would be able to be licensed and hosted. For those reasons, relocation remains attractive at least from a commercial perspective. Roots Hall also has some asbestos and other factors which will increase development costs.

3) Ron owns the Fossetts land and associated plans etc. If SUFC were removed from the picture he could try to develop the whole site for housing, subject to planning permission.

Thank you mate, I appreciate your time replying.

Do SUFC have any hold on Fossetts? Couldnt Ron simply sell SUFC and RH then do what he wants with Fossetts, as he would make a lot more money developing the area as residential rather than a football stadium.... Wouldnt put this past him if it was possible.

Spaceman Spiff · Aug 1, 2023

SUFC doesn’t have a hold on anything - it’s only got a very feint grip on continued existence.

Ron owns Fossetts so if SUFC and Roots Hall are sold to new owners, the only way any new stadium will appear will be through an agreement with the new owners.