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Latest Rumours SUFC up for sale

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I genuinely fear this announcement could be the end. What prospective buyer is going to come in and spend millions of dollars on a club deep in debt, with no assets, loses millions a year and with the lure of a stadium which doesn’t exist and has aspects not approved by council.
Who would buy derby county who was millons in debt Someone did .Who would buy scunthorpe united millons of pounds in debt someone did .So who is to say there is someone out there who would ibuy Southend united millons in debt .Iam sure someone will .
 
Genuinely this I think. From Medway’s post this stood out for me ..

How does he plan to fund the club if a sale doesn't happen before the Working capital from the bridging loan runs out?

This is something we need an answer to pretty quickly as if a buyer isn’t in place and ready to go in weeks not months (ha!) we’ve potentially got Groundhog Day going on for a while.I’m sure the football department are keen to operate without embargoes or restrictions placed on them. Players and coaching staff will want clarity.

The clear implication was that he doesn’t intend to fund a shortfall. We’re going to need to be self-sufficient until a buyer is found. We’ll have the season card money to try and keep us going until the summer but the fans have their wish. Ron has checked out.

Another question I have.

The paper debt to Ron Martin accrued through unpaid Roots Hall rent payments and management charges, etc. are owed to SEL, right?

So if, as yesterday morning's Companies House activity suggests, Ron Martin/Martin Dawn has already given up their stake in SEL, what happens to that debt?

Is it still owed to SEL and whoever takes Martin Dawn's stake will take it on?

Has it already been written off?

So. Many. Questions.

We don’t know the group entities that lent the money to SUFC. I thought Roots Hall Ltd was the landlord and therefore who the rent is due to but might be wrong. Any debt could also be assigned anyway (and likely was as part of any reorganisation that saw MD no longer a PSC of SEL).

Who would buy derby county who was millons in debt Someone did .Who would buy scunthorpe united millons of pounds in debt someone did .So who is to say there is someone out there who would ibuy Southend united millons in debt .Iam sure someone will .

Who would buy Bury, who would buy Macclesfield etc
 
Fans who have questioned protests or boycotts, saying they are a waste of time, Ron’s not going anyway need to be taking a long hard look at themselves today.

Ron looked a shadow of his former self in that press conference yesterday. He looked nervous reading out the statement and wasn’t his usual confident self.

The protests combined with fans refusing to renew season cards has definitely contributed to this decision to sell. He probably knew that there was no coming back from this now and that the only option was to sell.

I’ve said many times that given Ron’s age now, and his health, he would be open to sell now - some fans said, Ron won’t sell and I was wrong

I’ve said Ron will seriously struggle to build the stadium and development, given his reputation and financial troubles and that many construction firms won’t want to deal with him - again some fans said I was wrong and Ron will build the stadium and he won’t sell yet.

He’s clearly felt the pressure and has finally run out of people to turn to for money.

It’s very positive news that Ron has finally admitted defeat and is putting the club up for sale at long last, this is what everyone has wanted for a long time now.


However I would still strongly recommend all groups and supporters to hold off renewing season cards until we see some real action, not just words.

Let’s face it, given how complex the sale will be and also that Ron is an absolute nightmare to deal with, this could be dragged out for quite some time if he digs his heels in and refuses to budge, if the price is way over market value, which let’s face it, knowing Ron it probably will be way overpriced

The timing of Ron’s announcement yesterday, combined with fans announcing they will refuse to renew season cards for the moment is too much of a coincidence for me.

I personally think this stance should remain until we see some clear and positive action with regards to the sale. Whilst Ron remains in charge then the issues we have faced won’t be going away.

I just wished that some fans and certain groups had realised sooner that the only way to force Ron out is by applying the maximum pressure on him week in and week out instead of saying protests and no cotta are not the answer. If this was the case, then I personally think Ron would have been gone well before now!
I agree with quite a lot of what you have said there, but not all. The highlighted bits I agree with.

However, I think the pop at fans who didn't share your opinion in the opening and closing paragraphs is totally unnecessary. No-one has to take a long hard look at themselves at all. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you look at some of the posts on this thread there are some people who think the Press Conference was a complete waste of time and nothing is going to happen yet, so let's see how it pans out before we put the flags and bunting out, shall we? You may still be incorrect.

Not that Ron would ever admit it, but whilst it's possible that the fans groups have forced his hand, I very much suspect that he didn't actually give a toss what we felt and was always going to sell when he was ready. I put my take on why the press conference was all done very quickly earlier in the thread and if yesterday was genuinely only as a result of the season ticket decision forcing his hand, then we are in deep financial trouble in the immediate and short term. His demeanour, however, was not of a man who was presiding over a club just about to sink.

Therefore, if something has been brewing in the background for a while and suddenly things are ready to progress then the season ticket plan has made absolutely zero difference. It would have happened anyway.

As for him struggling to build the stadium, we have absolutely no evidence of that at all. In fact, he actually said he was going to spend more time developing the project at FF so he will actually be doing what you claim he couldn't because of his reputation.

Finally, we as fans will be actively starving the club of much needed cash in order to help pay the running costs if no-one renews their season tickets. I'm sure I'm in a minority, but I want to know that I've done my bit in keeping the club alive and am not willing to support withholding season ticket monies at the moment.
 
he can say what he wants. Doesn’t mean it’s reality.
The rent on the flats every month say at least 1000 units will happily accumulate to more than the investment plus building costs.
His family have a gigantic income every month for as long as they own the flats

That has absolutely nothing to do with anything I said.

I've seen about 50 posts from you today with the same tired trend.🥱

He's ****ing selling up. Be happy.
 
There was a takeover attempt at Macclesfield that failed to be completed in time and I think the same guy also tried to buy Bury.
Indeed. Alastair Campbell's son was a leading player in the last serious bid to Bury from Steve Dale.
 
Be careful what you wish for.
At our level of outgoings we need someone to buy who can afford to lose £1million a year.
Also. Who will own the new stadium?
 
That has absolutely nothing to do with anything I said.

I've seen about 50 posts from you today with the same tired trend.🥱


He's ****ing selling up. Be happy.
This seems to have been a common theme today!

@Kat_r what do you actually want?

I've no idea how much Ron will actually receive from the flats, but let's say it's £50m. A hell of a lot of money.

But he's funded the club with a hell of a lot of money for 25 years. He said that it has cost him £1m a year. If you calculate what that would be with a compound return of 5% over the period, he would, after 25 years, have £50m-odd. He has lost £25m instead, so he is £75m away from where he could have been today.

And has to wait a few more years to collect his money, which won't all be in one lump sum and there will be costs, debts and taxes to repay and pay.

Here's some figures as to what £1m a year looks like at that rate over 25 years, and then onto 40 years with putting nothing more in. This is just a crude calculation based on the interest being calculated annually as opposed to daily, and the same amount going into the pot every year and with no withdrawals, but you can see the point.

None of this takes account of inflation, which further devalues the early monies by over 50%.

So getting £50m eventually isn't a great return is it? Although it is a load of money.

I hope the columns line up - it looks ok on my screen. As a key, c/f is carried forward and the interest is just a straight annual calculation based on the c/f figure plus £1m until year 25, when the additional monies stop going in. I've taken it forward to 40 years, just for fun.

So unless you're of the opinion that it's completely wrong for RM to recover any of his monies and he also shouldn't make a profit, I really don't see what point you're driving at.


Yearc/fInputInterestTotal
5%
1£ 1,000,000.00£ 50,000.00£ 1,050,000.00
2£ 1,050,000.00£ 1,000,000.00£ 102,500.00£ 2,152,500.00
3£ 2,152,500.00£ 1,000,000.00£ 157,625.00£ 3,310,125.00
4£ 3,310,125.00£ 1,000,000.00£ 215,506.25£ 4,525,631.25
5£ 4,525,631.25£ 1,000,000.00£ 276,281.56£ 5,801,912.81
6£ 5,801,912.81£ 1,000,000.00£ 340,095.64£ 7,142,008.45
7£ 7,142,008.45£ 1,000,000.00£ 407,100.42£ 8,549,108.88
8£ 8,549,108.88£ 1,000,000.00£ 477,455.44£ 10,026,564.32
9£ 10,026,564.32£ 1,000,000.00£ 551,328.22£ 11,577,892.54
10£ 11,577,892.54£ 1,000,000.00£ 628,894.63£ 13,206,787.16
11£ 13,206,787.16£ 1,000,000.00£ 710,339.36£ 14,917,126.52
12£ 14,917,126.52£ 1,000,000.00£ 795,856.33£ 16,712,982.85
13£ 16,712,982.85£ 1,000,000.00£ 885,649.14£ 18,598,631.99
14£ 18,598,631.99£ 1,000,000.00£ 979,931.60£ 20,578,563.59
15£ 20,578,563.59£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,078,928.18£ 22,657,491.77
16£ 22,657,491.77£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,182,874.59£ 24,840,366.36
17£ 24,840,366.36£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,292,018.32£ 27,132,384.67
18£ 27,132,384.67£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,406,619.23£ 29,539,003.91
19£ 29,539,003.91£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,526,950.20£ 32,065,954.10
20£ 32,065,954.10£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,653,297.71£ 34,719,251.81
21£ 34,719,251.81£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,785,962.59£ 37,505,214.40
22£ 37,505,214.40£ 1,000,000.00£ 1,925,260.72£ 40,430,475.12
23£ 40,430,475.12£ 1,000,000.00£ 2,071,523.76£ 43,501,998.87
24£ 43,501,998.87£ 1,000,000.00£ 2,225,099.94£ 46,727,098.82
25£ 46,727,098.82£ 2,336,354.94£ 49,063,453.76
26£ 49,063,453.76£ 2,453,172.69£ 51,516,626.45
27£ 51,516,626.45£ 2,575,831.32£ 54,092,457.77
28£ 54,092,457.77£ 2,704,622.89£ 56,797,080.66
29£ 56,797,080.66£ 2,839,854.03£ 59,636,934.69
30£ 59,636,934.69£ 2,981,846.73£ 62,618,781.43
31£ 62,618,781.43£ 3,130,939.07£ 65,749,720.50
32£ 65,749,720.50£ 3,287,486.02£ 69,037,206.52
33£ 69,037,206.52£ 3,451,860.33£ 72,489,066.85
34£ 72,489,066.85£ 3,624,453.34£ 76,113,520.19
35£ 76,113,520.19£ 3,805,676.01£ 79,919,196.20
36£ 79,919,196.20£ 3,995,959.81£ 83,915,156.01
37£ 83,915,156.01£ 4,195,757.80£ 88,110,913.81
38£ 88,110,913.81£ 4,405,545.69£ 92,516,459.50
39£ 92,516,459.50£ 4,625,822.97£ 97,142,282.47
40£ 97,142,282.47£ 4,857,114.12£ 101,999,396.60
 
CP has tweeted that Ron Martin also said at the presser that stadium plans were submitted 'last Tuesday week.' I missed that, though it may have been mentioned elsewhere on here. That's quite important.
 
I agree with quite a lot of what you have said there, but not all. The highlighted bits I agree with.

However, I think the pop at fans who didn't share your opinion in the opening and closing paragraphs is totally unnecessary. No-one has to take a long hard look at themselves at all. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if you look at some of the posts on this thread there are some people who think the Press Conference was a complete waste of time and nothing is going to happen yet, so let's see how it pans out before we put the flags and bunting out, shall we? You may still be incorrect.

Not that Ron would ever admit it, but whilst it's possible that the fans groups have forced his hand, I very much suspect that he didn't actually give a toss what we felt and was always going to sell when he was ready. I put my take on why the press conference was all done very quickly earlier in the thread and if yesterday was genuinely only as a result of the season ticket decision forcing his hand, then we are in deep financial trouble in the immediate and short term. His demeanour, however, was not of a man who was presiding over a club just about to sink.

Therefore, if something has been brewing in the background for a while and suddenly things are ready to progress then the season ticket plan has made absolutely zero difference. It would have happened anyway.

As for him struggling to build the stadium, we have absolutely no evidence of that at all. In fact, he actually said he was going to spend more time developing the project at FF so he will actually be doing what you claim he couldn't because of his reputation.

Finally, we as fans will be actively starving the club of much needed cash in order to help pay the running costs if no-one renews their season tickets. I'm sure I'm in a minority, but I want to know that I've done my bit in keeping the club alive and am not willing to support withholding season ticket monies at the moment.
He said the same thing 2 years ago when he finally employed a CEO (again after fan pressure I might add) that Tom was there to take care of the running of the club so he can concentrate on building the stadium. Nearly 2 years on have we had any spades in the ground at the stadium? No.

The guy is potless and thought he could borrow more money to get his housing dream through, but no he’s realised that’s not going to happen and that he’ll have a massive shortfall in revenue this summer now through lack of season card renewals so he’s finally had to admit defeat

He said himself that the agency, tasked with finding the new buyer was only taken on yesterday, and why was a press conference only called at last minute with hardly any press there? Like **** has he been considering this since the pandemic. If that was the case why did he have a go at that fan on the zoom a couple of years ago and say “You can give me £40 million and I still wouldn’t sell”

Like it or not too many happy clappers amongst the fan base have given Ron far too much of easy ride overt the past few years and just sat back and done nothing and moaned that any real action won’t work, so I completely stand by comments that some fans and certain groups need to take a good look at themselves for letting the club get in this much of a mess.

If you want to renew your season card, that’s your choice, but until the club is sold to new owners then we’ll still find ourselves in real trouble.
 
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Right.

SUFC ? is losing money. Guess who is to blame for this through utter and complete incompetence. A new owner will/may not have the same costs as IT has managed to get the club involved in. Possibly/hopefully they will run the club in a financially stable manner. Not all clubs run at such a loss.

I have no issues with IT having the development, housing and ground initially, providing he agrees to sell the Stadium to the club and finally have no contact, influence or attachment to SUFC.

Has the sale been forced as his empire 😉 is about to come crashing down. I find it interesting that the statement read out states 'Southend United’s parent company has undergone a strategic review' With Martin Dawn gone is SEL in dire straights and does not or cannot survive with the club around it's neck? Does IT no longer have any option if IT wants to survive financially? I don't care. I hope IT gets as much **** as possible from everywhere.

I am happy, very happy, that IT is going and will be cautiously optimistic that the future of SUFC should look so much brighter. Unfortunately now I am in my 66th year I wont be able to enjoy for as long as I should have. All due to one C**t.

Good riddance
 
Sadly….. that is true. I feel as though a tiny fleck of light has appeared in a totally black landscape, but given Ron’s known character and history, I still think extreme caution is required. There’s quite a bit of celebration out there right now. Let’s hope it’s not in vain
 
Putting aside the what’s, why’s and where’s of how we are in this (dire) situation- isn’t this the best realistic outcome (if it becomes an outcome) we could hope for?

So Ron is putting the club (and, if wanted by the purchaser, the new stadium) up for sale. That he has engaged a seemingly credible agency to do so, and his general demeanour yesterday, indicates a degree of seriousness about selling. So any buyer will carry out their due diligence and know what they are getting (nothing really other than a football club name and fan base - plus stadium if they want to buy it).

As LeeBlue rightly asks-why would anyone buy us? Whether they buy it for vanity, because they have more money than sense or a (perhaps misguided) belief that they can make us into some profitable attractive entity- what they will not be doing is buying us to strip us of assets or to close us down as an inconvenience - because we have no assets and will require a lot of money shoring up the monthly losses.

Now there may not be a buyer for such an unattractive entity, but at least we will find out.

If the alternative was buyers that wanted to buy the development from Ron, as that is where the money would be, then we would simply be an inconvenience and necessary evil to them and it would be a toss of the coin as to whether we would be treated better or worse than we are by Ron.

I think it should be abundantly clear to all that we are in a dire place, but at least this announcement move matters on from the slow painful, information-less death - it will hopefully establish if someone does want to buy us - or if not that we really do need to look at life after SUFC.
 
By the way, I don’t think we are comparable to Bury.

They had a lot of attached baggage, for example parking spaces were owned by Hong Kong bankers at £10k each. To sell the club to a new owner, that owner had to buy out the car parking spaces. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Remind me, who was EFL CEO at the time, overlooking financial fair play and fit and proper ownership? Ah yes. Shaun Harvey. Up the Wrexham ay?
 
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