Groups and Club update - The clubs dire situation, what can be done?

[Sherif H]

Redevelopment Root Hall is unrealistic as there house behind west stand & flat behind South stand, it's be a waste of money to improve RH.

On the contrary, there are a multitude of things that can be done to improve stadiums on constrained sites - in the past I have looked at plans at grounds on far worse sites than Roots Hall - Luton, Pompey, Exeter and Watford all spring to mind. Put the topography of the site to one side - you only need to look at the space created by removing the flats on Victoria Avenue, and the space provided via the East Stand car park, and this presents small opportunities...

 

[Blues Heaven]

On the contrary, there are a multitude of things that can be done to improve stadiums on constrained sites - in the past I have looked at plans at grounds on far worse sites than Roots Hall - Luton, Pompey, Exeter and Watford all spring to mind. Put the topography of the site to one side - you only need to look at the space created by removing the flats on Victoria Avenue, and the space provided via the East Stand car park, and this presents small opportunities...

Thanks for your continuing input. It is so good to have someone with experience and well informed on this topic.
At last this conversation has made it to the main forum as in my opinion it is the single most important subject concerning the future of the club, as unless it is resolved then we are without doubt looking at the worst case scenario of administration in the not too distant future. It's that important...

 

[Mick]

Thanks for your continuing input. It is so good to have someone with experience and well informed on this topic.
At last this conversation has made it to the main forum as in my opinion it is the single most important subject concerning the future of the club, as unless it is resolved then we are without doubt looking at the worst case scenario of administration in the not too distant future. It's that important...

Just eight and a half years ago Bournemouth went into administration, subsequently got relegated , next season only clinched Football League survival in the penultimate game and now look what's happened.

Plenty of clubs leave administration with new owners, much stronger than before they went into it.


PS Just read something similar on another thread

http://www.shrimperzone.com/vb/showthread.php?91334-Where-will-the-club-be-in-10-years/page3

 

[Tinks]

On the contrary, there are a multitude of things that can be done to improve stadiums on constrained sites - in the past I have looked at plans at grounds on far worse sites than Roots Hall - Luton, Pompey, Exeter and Watford all spring to mind. Put the topography of the site to one side - you only need to look at the space created by removing the flats on Victoria Avenue, and the space provided via the East Stand car park, and this presents small opportunities...

Totally agree. I would love Roots Hall to be re-developed and remain on the present site. It is on a good site for people to gain access, parking is available nearby , pubs are near and on hand and local train stations.
Let's not none us forget either that Roots Hall was originally purchased by the SUPPORTERS of SUFC

 

[Kevin Hogg]

My choice would be to develop the club at our present home.
However, I could see that ordinary people who have their home in the flats on Victoria Avenue may well feel that to drive them out for the sake of our pleasure around 25 times a year is selfish - to say the very, very least.
I love our club - but to drive people out of their homes??

 

[North Wales Shrimper]

Regarding the earlier post about the time taken to develop one stadium, since Uncle Vic (who would have fired Phil Brown weeks ago) unveiled the first new stadium plans, Scunthorpe moved to Glandford Park and are now building another new stadium to move in next season.

Serious questions need to be asked and don't feel the Trust necessarily have the balls to ask them. I should declare that I was a member of the Trust, however at some point my renewed membership reminder seems to have got lost in the post.

So far as people not going to Trust meetings, I'm sure there is an answer to this such as web streaming (Facebook live etc) which would allow people who live away from the area to interact.

 

[Shrimper]

There is plenty of room at RH for redevelopment.

 

[Gt Yarmouth Shrimper]

On the contrary, there are a multitude of things that can be done to improve stadiums on constrained sites - in the past I have looked at plans at grounds on far worse sites than Roots Hall - Luton, Pompey, Exeter and Watford all spring to mind. Put the topography of the site to one side - you only need to look at the space created by removing the flats on Victoria Avenue, and the space provided via the East Stand car park, and this presents small opportunities...

This is exactly what this thread should be about, rather than club bashing.
A few more original thoughts like this may lead to more productive plans but we still are a long way off without funds.
That is the big issue that needs addressing.

 

[Spenser]

Totally agree. I would love Roots Hall to be re-developed and remain on the present site. It is on a good site for people to gain access, parking is available nearby , pubs are near and on hand and local train stations.
Let's not none us forget either that Roots Hall was originally purchased by the SUPPORTERS of SUFC

Yes agreed.

Maybe someone who knows more about it than me can say whether it could be possible to continue playing at RH while re-developed ?

Otherwise we have the issue of where do we play while redevelopment going ahead.

Admittedly, that is less of a problem than the current scenario which appears to be the club going down the pan while Ronnie tries to turn round a 15 mill deficit on 6,000 crowds.

 

[GBJ]

That is the big issue that needs addressing.

I'd say the bigger issue is getting all Southend fans, into one United group. The amount of fans who still back Ron, and/or simply don't want change is staggering.

You can't cure a problem, unless you first admit there is a problem

 

[Pak Power]

Read this on Chesterfields forum, careful what you wish for eh?
Sorry about the rant but, honestly I would rather be back at Saltergate watching decent football under a chairman who didn't have much money than suffer the dross I witnessed at Roots hall today. There was one guy shouting he'd spend £200 quid to watch this sh*t. Let's hope we don't draw a non league club on Monday because we won't be doing a Braintree and I don't want to be on the telly

 

[Maidstone Shrimper]

I'd say the bigger issue is getting all Southend fans, into one United group. The amount of fans who still back Ron, and/or simply don't want change is staggering.

You can't cure a problem, unless you first admit there is a problem

It is staggering. It must be nearly in double figures!

 

[colonelnutter]

Read this on Chesterfields forum, careful what you wish for eh?
Sorry about the rant but, honestly I would rather be back at Saltergate watching decent football under a chairman who didn't have much money than suffer the dross I witnessed at Roots hall today. There was one guy shouting he'd spend £200 quid to watch this sh*t. Let's hope we don't draw a non league club on Monday because we won't be doing a Braintree and I don't want to be on the telly

Er translation please?

 

[Mick]

They won 6-0 at Braintree in the Cup, year before last !

 

[OldBlueLady]

I'd say the bigger issue is getting all Southend fans, into one United group. The amount of fans who still back Ron, and/or simply don't want change is staggering.

You can't cure a problem, unless you first admit there is a problem

And therein lies the problem. Would you like an owner like Charlton's Roland Duchatelet? Or maybe Orient's Francesco Becchetti? Be careful what you wish for, better the devil you know - and that opinion, is what those anti types amongst you are trying to fight.

 

[Sherif H]

And therein lies the problem. Would you like an owner like Charlton's Roland Duchatelet? Or maybe Orient's Francesco Becchetti? Be careful what you wish for, better the devil you know - and that opinion, is what those anti types amongst you are trying to fight.

Ron is just as bad in a different way - the intrinsic links between his personal longevity and the need to keep flogging the FF pipedream is ultimately going to lead to our liquidation. He needs to swallow his pride and work with local business people to deliver our future.

 

[GBJ]

And therein lies the problem. Would you like an owner like Charlton's Roland Duchatelet? Or maybe Orient's Francesco Becchetti? Be careful what you wish for, better the devil you know - and that opinion, is what those anti types amongst you are trying to fight.

Exactly as Sherif said above.

Granted, there's a possibility that we'd be worse off with a new owner. Or we may possibly be better off. Who knows? But One things for sure, the current regime can't/won't deliver anything, and is seemingly gambling with our very existence. For that sole reason, I'd back some form of challenge. Even if it was to encourage Martin to accept outside investment

 

[ms brush]

I would love something to change, but realistically, there are a lot of fans who do care deeply but have neither the time or the significant amount of money to take this forward. :stunned: The other missing piece is not just the time and money, but also the expertise - people with all three attributes who just happen to be Southend fans are in very short supply!

Given that the ownership of the club is deeply intertwined with RMs companies that seem to owe significant sums to one another with RM ultimately being the beneficiary of that "debt", his secrecy around his financial affairs and his reluctance to let any of it go say to me that before you ever start looking at new grounds and infrastructure, a forensic accountant would need to unravel the mess. Without access to this information, this is nigh on impossible. It is also highly unlikely that investors with serious cash would take the risks that come with working with an organisation whose finances are not transparent and the level of true and paper debt is unknown. No surprises that earlier investment partnerships have not gone so well and have collapsed for various reasons.

the same web of ownership was in place at Chelmsford City racecourse, which was in a massive mess before the original owner was ousted by the banks pulling the plug and the place was closed down for a few years. Not sure of the whole story, but that all got sorted eventually, and it is now under new ownership and seemingly doing pretty well now.

i very much suspect that RM will not let the club go willingly, as he is in too deep to walk away without cashing in his chips, and the pay day that he is expecting is growing year on year in terms of the club's debts to his companies. I suspect that most of the debt is on paper rather than in terms of hard cash, and meanwhile the club is kept going on a relative shoestring. There really is no incentive for Ron to give the club up, because no one will pay him the £15-20m he would want as a sale price - because there are no tangible assets or capital. And you would still need to buy back Roots Hall or redevelop a ground for the club to play in, which would cost at least the same again. Unless there is proof of money laundering or fraud, there is no easy answer, unless someone knows of someone who has at least £30m to spare to buy a football club...

the other point here, is despite all the issues, the fact remains that the club is still owned locally by someone who lives locally in the same community as the rest of us. How would you feel if the club belonged to overseas investors who really couldn't give a monkeys about the fans and the local community - two examples off the top of my head are the Glaziers at Man U and the debacle that went on at Notts County?

So to answer the question about what could / should be done - I am not convinced that there is much that can be done as a smallish group of ranting fans with not enough in the way of resources!

 

[WickfordShrimper]

Just be careful what you wish for fellow Southend United Supporters :sad:

 

[Jai]

Death by a thousand cuts under Ron though, is that really a great situation to be in? The current situation cannot go on forever. We lose money every month, Ron keeps the lie about the new stadium going, Roots Hall continues to crumble (seriously will it really last another 10 years? Must be close to losing its safety certificate), Ron shifts the debt around his companies while trying to hoodwink big players into investment knowing there's nothing at the end.

Sounds great.