Memory Lane How far have we come. All 6 Chapters written by Xàbia Shrimper.

[Cricko]

From January 2007 when Mike wrote these excellent articles on how far the club had come. I have put them all together in one thread now.

Southend United - How far have we come? Part 1

Cast your mind back almost ten years; could you honestly see us reaching this pivotal moment in the history of Southend United? Back in 1998 the football club was skint; it couldn't pay its players, it couldn't pay its creditors, it couldn't pay the Inland Revenue; the future was so bleak that...

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Cast your mind back almost ten years; could you honestly see us reaching this pivotal moment in the history of Southend United? Back in 1998 the football club was skint; it couldn't pay its players, it couldn't pay its creditors, it couldn't pay the Inland Revenue; the future was so bleak that there was serious concern that the club might not even make it to the 21st Century.

Even when Billericay property developers Martin Dawn plc mounted a successful takeover in November 1998, things didn't look good for the club, especially when the Roots Hall ground was sold less than six months later. We'd all seen Brighton & Hove Albion made homeless after the sale of the Goldstone Ground just a year earlier and then watched in dismay as they were forced to play their home games some 70 miles away in Gillingham. Was this to be the fate of Southend United?

Roots Hall opened in 1955, entirely funded by the supporters club; the total cost of buying and developing the ground had been just shy of £74,000. Supporters club secretary Jimmy Hummerston claimed that the ground was one of the finest in the lower divisions of the Football League: "We have a ground of which we can be justly proud for an eternity." A supporters club trust fund would rent the ground to the football club for the next 13 years and in 1968 the ground was handed over to the football club. Just over 30 years later, the ground was sold for £4m in an effort to refinance the club; it was to be leased back to the Shrimpers by Roots Hall Limited, a subsidiary of Martin Dawn, at an annual rent of £400,000. Chairman John Main moved quickly to dispel concerns about the future of the football club: "There is no question of Roots Hall being bulldozed to the ground before we have relocated to a new stadium - this club will not be homeless," he assured fans. "From day one we knew the frightening financial situation facing this club and we have had no choice but to take this action to ensure that Southend United survives. Over the last few years the situation has got worse and worse and the club has had to sell the family silver to keep its head above water. But this hasn't been enough and if we are to take this club forward and make it successful then we have to follow this path."

However fans remained concerned. And even government got involved. Sports Minister Tony Banks said that the future of Southend United in Southend had to be secured: "Whenever I hear the name Southend I think of the team. It has put the town on the map and the more successful it is, the better for the community," he said during a tour of South Essex. "The value of a team like Southend is absolutely crucial and we must make sure that these football clubs flourish.It would be calamitous if Brighton's situation would be repeated. A team that is forced to move out of its town loses its spirit."

Angry shareholders vented their anger at the board of directors during an emergency meeting called at the end of March 1999 to rubber-stamp the sale of the ground. "These board members should be made to resign after displaying their utter incompetence by allowing the company to trade in an insolvent situation," bellowed one disgruntled shareholder. Yet John Main was quick to point out that the owners had very little choice: "We have been accused of selling the club's silver by flogging the ground, but there was no silver here when we arrived," he revealed. "When you consider the club already owed the bank £1.3m and the Inland Revenue and VAT office a further £1m, people can see there was just no option left but to take the decision we had to make. We felt it was better to do this deal and settle up all the outstanding debts - let the club start from scratch with only one major creditor," he added. "If anyone can come up with any alternative solutions then I'll gladly listen, but I don't think there are any. We were left with the prospect of Southend United going under or throwing them this lifeline."

On the pitch Southend were awful. Alvin Martin finally resigned from his post after 20 truly dreadful months as manager; a 1-0 home defeat by Hull City left the Shrimpers just six points above bottom club Scarborough. He left the ground close to midnight: "I'm going to go home and have a good cry." Most fans did the same thing, only their tears were through joy. Former player Alan Little was handed the job a few weeks later. "The most important thing is that this club stays in the Football League, which is what we must all strive for," he said. "From what I've seen there are a few things that need changing to get us firing again and we can sort these problems out on the training pitch." The Shrimpers ended the season in 18th position, thanks to some great performances at Plymouth Argyle and Barnet. Player-of-the-Season Mark Beard promised that the Shrimpers would improve next season: "We've had a nightmare this season, but all the lads are determined to put things right next time round," he promised.
"When I signed for Southend from Sheffield United at the start of this season I thought I was joining a side who were going to be gunning for promotion. But we have underachieved badly and had a poor campaign, which mustn't be allowed to happen next year."

The 1999/2000 season - the Millennium Season - promised much as the Shrimpers played well and remained within touching distance of the play-offs. But a torrid spell during November and December saw the club slide in the bottom half of the table and lose touch with the race for promotion. After his side fail to win at home for the seventh game in succession, under-fire manager Little remained confident: "I don't feel under pressure and will continue to get on with my job until I'm told otherwise."

Attendances were falling just as fast as the team down the table and fans wanted to know just what the owners were going to do to arrest the decline of their team. Ron Martin decided to break his silence: "I don't want our fans to think that Southend United's major shareholder is just sitting back and doing nothing while their club continues to slide down the league table," he told the Evening Echo's Bernie Friend. "And I felt now was the time to let the supporters know that our struggles haven't gone unnoticed and everything will be done to get us back on track, which I'm sure will be evident by the end of the season." Southend finished 16th; a small single-line track perhaps?

By July 2000 the football club was on the brink of financial disaster. It had been losing over £100,000 a month, had less than three years to re-locate before the lease on Roots Hall expired, and the Inland Revenue had decided to take legal action against the club to recover a debt of over £400,000. An eleventh-hour rescue package to clear the debt was offered by the club's principal benefactor Delancey Estates but it came at a price. John Main was to be removed from the board of directors at Southend United. Main refused to resign: "I'm not going anywhere and I will fight this to the bitter end" and he had the support of the fans, who saw him as a breath of fresh air after the often controversial rule of Vic Jobson. Fans invaded the directors box at Roots Hall during a friendly game against Gillingham at the end of July; they saw Main as the best thing that had happened to Southend for years. "He is the only chairman who has put in an effort to talk to the fans," said one protestor.

However Colin Wagman, deputy-chairman of Delancey, insisted that Main needed to step down before the rescue package was realised. "If John Main doesn't resign, the board will remove him," warned Wagman. "We cannot have someone who puts himself above the club and other people." But support for Main continued, even from unsuspected corners when former striker Frank Dudley chipped in. "I never heard one person who thinks getting rid of him is right. They were simply heart-broken. There were grown men and women in tears," he said. "John Main is the finest chairman I have known in the 50 years I have been linked with the club. I feel Ron Martin should take advice from ordinary people like the supporters. John Main is Mr Southend United as far as they are concerned."

Delancy cleared the debt and Southend survived the threat of the winding up order and Ron Martin, then chief executive and chairman of Martin Dawn plc, tried to ease worries by claiming that the club was safe and explained why John Main had to go. ""John has unquestionably alienated the club's principle banker by writing terse personal letters to both Delancey's chairman Jamie Ritblat and his deputy Colin Wagman," he said. "Delancey are serious business people and could have overlooked his personal comments, but not without results. During August of last year, John gave a very good presentation to the venture company's board. He gave an impressive talk about the good work being done at the club within the community and on our youth development scheme. However, there are no guarantees in football and we shouldn't lose sight that the players' wages totalled £1.5m. This is a huge amount for a Third Division club, especially when John had hoped the losses could have been contained to around £750,000, and the not the £1.6m. Delancey weren't prepared to keep spending money at the same rate."

On 30th August 2000 John Main was removed from the board of directors at an EGM at Boots & Laces, despite a huge show of support from the shareholders who voted 60-3 in favour of keeping him at Roots Hall. However, the club's joint owners, property developers Martin Dawn plc and Delancey Estates, weighed in with their 76% majority shareholding in the club and removed Main from the board.

"It looks like I've been sacked because the first-team didn't do well last year," said Main. What a load of rubbish! This is all down to Delancey. They don't want me here because I've got the best interests of the club at heart."

 

[Cricko]

• Part 2
  Jan 26, 2007

"This football club has lacked direction for a long time," Ron Martin told the Evening Echo's Bernie Friend in mid-September 2000. On the pitch Southend United were struggling at wrong end of the Third Division table, having notched up just one win from their opening seven games of the season. John Main had been ousted from his position as chairman as a condition of benefactors Delancey bailing the club out of financial disaster and Roots Hall had been sold off to clear debt totalling almost £4 million. Fans could be forgiven for thinking that there was little to cheer about.

Plans for a new £46 million leisure park at Fossetts Farm, which included a 15,000 capacity stadium for Southend United, had been finally submitted to Southend Council just a few months earlier and Martin hoped that planning permission would be granted by the end of the year. "These plans are a massive boost for the whole of Southend. They represent a major part of the town's regeneration and will cater for everyone, not necessarily just football fans," announced Martin, whose company Martin Dawn had stalled on submitted plans for its ambitious project for over six months after a series of unsuccessful attempts to purchase land on the site from Lansbury Developments Ltd. "The council has been very supportive," he said. "Hopefully we'll begin construction work by late 2001."

However opposition to leisure complex grew throughout the autumn and saw the emergence of the KARERS ('Keeping our Amenities, Recreational and Enviromental Resources Safe') residents group. Chairman Peter Bliss said that his group wanted to preserve a crucial piece of land in the borough and prevent traffic chaos every time the football club played at home. "We are trying to get across the point that we're not anti-Southend United - we want to see the club grow - so we will be putting our heads together to try to come up with positive alternatives to Fossetts Farm."

In response a group of Southend United fans set up the 'Save Our Southend' campaign in late November 2000, launching a counter-petition against the opposition groups such as KARERS. "We want all Southend fans to show the local council how much the football lovers of this town want their team to have a new stadium," said a supporters' spokesman. "Residents living near Fossetts Farm have gathered around 1,800 signatures against the stadium. But we should be able to beat that figure easily. If all the Southend fans club together, including the people who don't always attend games, we should be able to collect around 10,000 names. Southend as a town has been going down the pan for a long time and we need these new amenities. This development is not just for the benefit of football fans, but for everybody living in Southend."

Just before Christmas, Ron Martin told shareholders that he expected the proposal for a 16,000 capacity ground to be considered by Southend Council's planning committee in February 2001 and that he was confident that the football club and the council was on the same wavelength. However just a few weeks later, a council spokesman placed a huge spanner in the works by revealing that there were problems with the development proposal that would delay the consideration indefinitely. "The plans were never intended to go to committee in February. We do not consider there is adequate information to put to members." Martin remained confident: "We want the stadium plans to be part of the council's next planning agenda on February 7. But we won't know if our plans will be discussed until the Thursday prior to the meeting. The council has a detailed outline plan of our proposal and I can't see there being any problems as long as we both stick to the arrangement which means the football club and council have a deal relating to off-site matters, such as contributions to the improvement of the surrounding road infrastructure."

At the beginning of March, placard-waving protestors gathered at the Civic Centre in Victoria Avenue to counter a delegation from KARERS and support the club's plans for a new stadium as members of the council's Development Control Committee debated the controversial project. "We understand the concerns of local residents but the football club is very important to the local community and economy and we want to see the plans pushed through," said Shrimpers' Trust spokesman Martin Prenton. But there was to be disappointment for those gathered outside the committee room as the final decision was to be deferred for three months, pending more detailed information. Councillor Roger Weaver said that a decision needed to be made sooner rather than later. "This application has been with us for some time and we must not as a council allow this application to cast a further shadow," he told the committee. "To prevent this hanging over the council anymore, can we ask that officers come back within three months time with a yea or nay recommendation."

The SOS group was absorbed into the Shrimpers' Trust and spokesman Trevor Bashford told the media that they would work to save the football club from possible extinction. Even legendary boss David Webb voiced his concerns for the club: "I'm still very sceptical about what will happen to the club if the stadium doesn't come off." Howard Southwood, the bane of many Southend fans with his outspoken views on the Shrimpers, considered the SOS group to be "scaremongering in the extreme" in his column in the Evening Echo. "I have every sympathy with the SOS action group desperately worried about Southend United's future and fearful of the club becoming homeless or even extinct," he wrote. "But surely they must accept that the massive plan put forward by the club's bosses will have a huge impact on that area."

And it got worse. As the club's owners worked furiously to make the required revisions to the plans, their efforts were further excacerbated when local traders claimed that the proposed Fossetts Farm development would actually threaten the future of the town centre and seafront. "We have no objection to the football stadium development itself. When I was 11 I used to be a ball boy for Southend and I'm a supporter," said John Barber, chairman of Southend Seafront Illuminations and Business Association. "But as far as the objection to the development is concerned we have to object to it because it's not just about the stadium - it's about a total duplication of what we are all about on the seafront."

Just two weeks before revised plans were due to be re-considered by the council, Martin Dawn plc pulled out of the planning meeting set for June 27, claiming that it needed more time to assess the content of its project. As panic spread, Ron Martin moved to assure fans that there was nothing to be concerned about. "All we are trying to do is ensure our proposal is complete before we put it back into the public domain," he told the Evening Echo. "The last time we met the council three months ago we were asked to provide further information about the Fossetts Farm plan. And since then we have been trying to determine the mix of the development. There are other new facilities earmarked for this area as well as the football ground. But we need to find out if there is demand in Southend for a new multiplex cinema or bowling alley, for example."

A few days later SEL UK, the club's joint owner, declared that they wanted to sell the club: "The directors are currently seeking to sell the company's interest in Southend United" stated the auditors' report, causing further concern for fans of the club. Ron Martin moved to re-assure that the joint owners of Martin Dawn and Delancey were not about to cut and run: "The position is quite clear - Martin Dawn and Delancey are only interested in the longevity of Southend United."

With just 21 months left on the four-year lease on Roots Hall, Southend United were no closer to finding a financially-secure future. Time was quite literally running out ...

Part III to follow

 

[Cricko]

• Part 3

"There will be no stadium at Fossetts Farm and the future of the football club remains at Roots Hall." A year after being ousted from position of chairman at Southend United, John Main returned to warn fans that a new stadium was merely a pipe-dream.

His words, posted on a Southend United online mailing list one afternoon, proved to be somewhat prophetic for the dream did indeed appear to be pipe-shaped. At the end of September, whilst the world was still recovering from the shock of 9/11, Ron Martin finally admitted that the proposed development had been put on hold indefinitely. He blamed Lansbury Development, the company that owned most of the land earmarked for the stadium complex, for not being prepared to sell the land. "We need to come to some form of agreement with Lansbury before we can make progress because it owns most of Fossetts Farm," he admitted. Ron Martin was far from the hero he is considered to be almost six years later. Fans questioned his motives. Why draw up a proposal for land that you didn't even own and, by the sounds of it, you had no hope of owning?

Those motives were questioned further when Lansbury responded by claiming that the plans had actually been shelved months prior to the announcement and accused Ron Martin of misleading the fans. "Until now we have remained publicly silent but Mr Martin's continual misrepresentation of what is happening must be commented upon," said a spokesman. He then went on to claim, much as John Main had warned, that the future of Southend United lay at Roots Hall, not Fossetts Farm "which has been the case since last May." Ron Martin counteracted with a short statement: "All I can say is that this simply isn't true."

Southend United was in turmoil. Popular manager David Webb resigned in October with the club in the bottom half of the Division Three table after recording just three wins in the last ten games. Webb claimed that he had lost the passion for management but some suggested that his resignation so close to the collapse of the Fossetts Farm proposal was more than just mere coincidence. Veteran defender Rob Newman took temporary charge of the team for the home clash against Swansea City, a 4-2 win for the Shrimpers, before signing a two-year contact with the club two weeks later.

With just 18 months left on the lease, the future was looking decidedly bleak for Southend United and fans and shareholders alike were growing increasingly concerned. Hugh Cumberland summed it up for many people: "Southend United are in limbo. We are £5m in debt. We do not own our own ground and the lease for Roots Hall runs out in 18 months time. What are we going to do then, especially now we are not moving to Fossetts Farm?" And very soon it seemed that even the owners of the football club were having serious doubts. Over 150 fans gathered at Roots Hall to listen to Colin Wagman of Delancey Estates threaten to quit the club."I have never said I will take football away, but if people don't want us, I will take my cue from that," he warned, flanked by two bodyguards. Wagman admitted that if Delancey was fully aware of the financial mess that the club was in, they might not have been involved. "Receivers were about to be appointed," he claimed. "But we have shared the risk and how hope to share in the reward."

Such a withdrawal would surely have meant financial ruin for Southend United. Wagman revealed that if the club was to break even on crowds alone, it would mean an average attendance of 6,000, each paying £15. It was clear that other sources of revenue were desperately needed and a new stadium complex might just provide those sources. But these were desperate times. Wagman assured fans that the future of the club was safe until the summer; beyond that, the outlook was uncertain. There were no amended plans for Fossetts Farm. The football club was firmly rooted in mid-table; there was no much to attract spectators to Roots Hall, to lift that average attendance figure towards that magical break-even mark. The gloom of Christmas 2001 was lifted briefly by the storming Boxing Day comeback by the Shrimpers from 2-0 down at half-time to a 4-2 final score over Rushden & Diamonds

They say that a new year can ring the changes and Ron Martin strode confidentally into 2002 with fresh plans for a new stadium for Southend United ... just days before he faced a petition for bankruptcy over alleged unpaid debts to a team of architects which designed South East Essex College's new town centre building, to be built by Martin Dawn plc. However, the football club insisted that the winding up order, brought by KSS Architects (who also designed the original Fossetts Farm stadium), would not affect the future of Southend United. A couple of weeks later the college got in on the act, claiming that Martin Dawn owed them a "considerable amount of money" and backed the High Court bid for the company to be wound up over alleged unpaid debts. The changes were certainly rung. The future of Southend United had gone from bleak to positively barren.

In the end, the hearing didn't happen and, whilst Southend United strode along in mid-table in the Third Division, Ron Martin turned his attention to marketing the football club for the future. "People will not come and visit Southend United if we cannot please them, both on and off the pitch," he declared. "This is a service industry and they are our customers." Despite the collapse of ITV Digital in March, Martin insisted that the club was on a fairly secure platform. "We do not spend money we do not have," he revealed. "We set budgets, we have day-to-day monitoring of them, and we don't go outside that box." However, with performances on the pitch hardly conducive to pulling in the punters, the club was falling well short of the 6,000 break-even figure. "Until we have a new stadium, Southend's existence is always in danger."

Yet the summer of 2002 was not to bring much relief to worried fans. The annual Deloitte & Touche review of football finances identified Southend United as one of the most heavily indebted club in the Football League with a total liability of £4m at the end of the 2000/01 season. Such figures placed the Shrimpers firmly alongside homeless Wimbledon, soon to move to Milton Keynes and lose their identity, and Brentford, who faced liquidation if they couldn't find a buyer for its Griffin Park ground. However Ron Martin was less concerned. "You should look beyond the surface and see the strength of the parent companies which support Southend United," he said. "We had made huge losses prior to 2001 - in the three years prior to that we had lost £6million. We are still making a loss, but the underlying trading loss is about £300,000 for last year - and this year's will be less again."

With the Shrimpers firmly embroiled in yet another mid-table battle, the months ticked on towards the expiry of the four-year lease on Roots Hall. Ron Martin had said with some confidence that Southend United would be playing in a new stadium well before the lease expired. "When Roots Hall was sold, we set the lease at four years as we genuinely believed it would be a long enough time frame to relocate the football club.

It was November 2002 and there were just four months until the end of the lease. "A lot of negativity has accompanied the length of the lease over the past three years, but as usual it has been unfounded. We are still actively working to move to a new ground and Southend United will never be homeless."

Part IV to follow ...

 

[Cricko]

Part 4

“It was only four years ago that this club was losing £2.3m a season,” Ron Martin enthused as he published the accounts for the financial year ending July 2002 which showed that Southend United has lost “just” £707,665, the fourth year in succession that the club had reduced its losses. It was a far cry from the financial turmoil of the late 90s; there was indeed light at the very distant end of the tunnel and it seemed that the club was moving in the right direction towards it. However there was still no sign of a new stadium, a development that, it was claimed, would breath new life into Southend United. Despite all the good news on the financial front, the Shrimpers were still a long way from a secure future.

Just before Christmas 2002, Southend United moved to allay growing fears that the club was about to be made homeless. With the lease on Roots Hall expiring in March 2003, less than four months time, an official statement announced that the owners had reached an agreement with Lansbury Development, the company that had owned much of the Fossetts Farm site, which would allow the club to remain at their spiritual home for another three years and also allow plans for relocation to a new stadium to be resurrected. Ron Martin hailed the agreement as a new start for Southend United and confirmed that the immediate future of the football club at Roots Hall has been safeguarded. “The deal will ensure that the club’s lease on the ground will be extended while we work towards a move to Fossetts Farm,” he assured fans. After all the disappointments, the news was greeted with caution, not least by the Shrimpers’ Trust. “We’re delighted that there is finally some positive movement on the stadium front,” said spokesman Paul Fitzgerald. “However we will be happier once we have seen detailed plans of the proposal. The move has to be good for Southend United as opposed to the property developer.”

On the pitch, the Shrimpers continued to frustrate their loyal fans, even prompting one independent website to claim that manager Rob Newman had “completely and utterly lost the plot”. The side began to slide slowly but with increasing acceleration towards the wrong end of the table and Newman was under fire from all sides. Ron Martin was clearly not happy with the progress of his team; he needed performances and he needed results to entice more fans into the ground to lift the average attendance towards that magical break-even figure of 6,000. “I have some tough decisions to make and have three options available,” he told the Evening Echo as the team crashed to another defeat. “I can change the squad and players who have underachieved, I can bring in a new manager or I can sit back and do nothing. One thing I certainly won’t do is the latter.”

By the end of March, Martin’s patience snapped. Six defeats in eight games ended any slim hope of reaching the play-offs and, despite a morale-boosting 1-0 home win over rivals Leyton Orient, Rob Newman was sacked. A club statement said: “Sadly success on the pitch, which has an inextricable linkage to the finances of the Club, has not been as the board would wish.” Coach Stewart Robson took over as caretaker manager. Plenty of hats were tossed liberally into the ring as Southend United searched for a new gaffer, including former manager Steve Thompson, Steve Wignall and Steve Whitton. Speculation also added Stan Collymore’s name to the list whilst former Portsmouth manager Graham Rix expressed an interest. But it was Wignall who was to win over the board and the former Colchester United man was installed as manager in mid-April. “This club has massive potential,” he told the media. “I feel we can go a long way.”

It looked as if the club was on the verge of a new era. Finances were gradually being brought under control – as much as they could – and the club had hired a manager with a decent pedigree. The summer of 2003 was dubbed the start of the ‘Wignall Revolution’ and excitement and expectation rose.

Plans to build a major retail warehouse at Fossetts Farm, a scheme that would have a distinct effect on the relocation of Southend United, had been proposed by Lansbury and was to be considered by government inspectors during the summer. But the developers chose to delay the planning decision until January 2004 as it felt it needed time to prepare its proposals properly. The project to move the Shrimpers would have to be put on hold.

The 2003/04 season kicked off with a team and a ground full of confidence of a bright new beginning and Cheltenham Town were seen off on a scorching August afternoon. However the Shrimpers would win just four more matches in the next twenty games as they slid towards the very bottom of the Football League. Just as it seemed to be getting better for everyone, the Wignall Revolution suddenly became the Wignall Devolution and by middle of September, Southend United had fallen into the relegation zone and in very serious danger of dropping out of the Football League altogether. Attendances fell and it seemed that even the club’s benefactor was indicating that they too had itchy feet when the Shrimpers’ Trust claimed that Delancey Estates would be willing to put the club up for sale at the right price, a revelation dismissed by Ron Martin. “Delancey have never been long-term players,” he insisted. “They are the financial muscle of the operation, brought in to help with our plans to relocate the club to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm.” However the stark truth was that it appeared that Delancey had run out of patience with the football club and a month later director Derek Wiltshire claimed that Ron Martin was looking to find a new partner to help run the club. “Delancey want out; there is no question of that,” he told those gathered for the Shrimpers’ Trust AGM. “And Ron is doing his damnedest to find another suitor.”

At the beginning of November, Steve Wignall was sacked with Southend United sitting in 22nd place in Division Three but only out of the relegation zone on a very slim goal difference from Darlington. Fans were thrilled to find out that David Webb would be taking over in a caretaker capacity. “When I left the club two years ago, I told Ron Martin to ask me if he ever needed anything and he has called in the favour,” said Webb. But he reiterated that he didn't want the job full-time. "I'm not about to change my mind about coming back. I'm only helping out," he told disappointed fans.

It soon became clear that Southend wanted Oxford United gaffer Ian Atkins as their new boss but within weeks a familiar name cropped up once again. “We are in discussion with Stan, but it’s very early days,” said deputy chairman Geoffrey King as the Evening Echo reported on a sensational return to Roots Hall of Stan Collymore as player-manager. Collymore himself claimed that he was the man to breath new life into the club. “I have one purpose and one alone — to get Southend United moving in the right direction as quickly as possible,” declared the former Liverpool and England player. “I want to give something back to the club that have me my biggest push along the road and that would be as bid an achievement as I have had in the game.” A few days later, a confident Evening Echo excitedly reported that Collymore was set to be named as the new gaffer — with former Manchester United star Lee Sharpe on the coaching team. However the club would later announce that Ian Atkins was their first choice and that taking on Collymore would be a “risk” and that the club needed someone with considerable experience in man management and tactical awareness.

As more names were linked with the job, including former Shrimper Martin Ling and ex-Swansea City gaffer John Hollins as well as Steve Cotterill and Nicky Law, caretaker-manager Steve Tilson was quietly carving out an amazing turnaround in fortune for the club. Five wins in six games, including success in the early rounds of the LDV Vans Trophy, had returned some confidence into the playing staff and, although the Shrimpers were still far too close to the relegation zone for comfort, many fans felt that maybe the board of directors were overlooking an obvious choice for the role of manager. By January 2004 Ron Martin admitted that he had no plans to change what seemed to be a winning formula of Steve Tilson and Paul Brush.

“They’re doing well and will be in charge for a little while longer.”

But for how long?

Part V to follow ..

 

[Cricko]

Part 5

“Southend United Football Club needs new energy and direction. With careful financial planning and professional management there is no doubt in our minds that the club is geared for greater things.” So read a statement released by Martin Dawn plc in November 1998 just after they had secured a majority shareholding in the football club. When you look back almost a decade – and with the added benefit of hindsight - you can’t help but sense an overwhelming confidence in those words. However, with the club on its knees awaiting the final killer blow, few people would have shared such composure and faith.

On March 21 2004 manager Steve Tilson and his assistant Paul Brush, now installed permanently in their positions at the helm of the first team, led their team out on the lush turf at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff the final of the much-ridiculed LDV Vans Trophy. Over 20,000 fans packed into the South Stand and turned it into a wall of noise and blue-and-white as they cheered on their heroes against League One side Blackpool. Defender Mark Warren called it “without doubt the greatest day of my life”. There were very few who didn’t share his sentiment. Tears flowed as 35,000 people roared out the National Anthem; at the end of the day the result really didn’t matter; just a few short years ago very few would have predicted this moment. But back then there was confidence when the club needed it most. There was Ron Martin.

One could be in danger of slipping into a sycophantic tale of recovery and success – and there are some who may well consider this as such a story – but it would be very difficult to ignore Ron Martin’s desire for success for the football club, both on and off the pitch. Back in February 2000, the majority shareholder first stepped into the public domain by declaring that “we want to get this club back into the First Division and playing in a new stadium – which is the key to a successful and financially secure future for Southend United.” Of course, when he became involved in the club back in 1998, his ultimate aim may have been to profit from the development of a leisure complex on Fossetts Farm; he is a successful property developer after all, a profession that sends shivers down the spines of football fans everywhere. Yet something was stirring in the former Olympic bobsleigh team-member, something which he acknowledged was rising very quickly to the surface within a few months of taking control of the club. “I was never a massive football fan before we got involved with the Blues,” he admitted in an exclusive interview with the Evening Echo’s Bernie Friend. “But I’ve been bitten by the soccer bug; I love it and attend as many matches as I can home and away.” As he wandered across the pitch in Cardiff over four years later to console his crest-fallen players, you could sense that he was feeling defeat as much as any other fan.

The 2003/04 season finished with Southend in 17th position in League Two, the LDV experience seriously affecting the late showing, and Ron Martin announcing that it was “all systems go” after the B&Q Fossetts Farm enquiry ended in a positive result. Revised plans, he suggested, would be submitted to the council for approval in the summer and he revealed that the original development had to be changed. “Things have moved on from 2000 both in the market and in the lay-out of Fossetts Farm and we recognise that,” he explained. “It will be a similar size stadium but the architecture will be different.” Almost six years had passed since Martin Dawn plc took control promising a new home for the football club. Many obstacles had been flung in the way of progress but now that light at the end of the tunnel was growing a little bigger.

Aside from a few days of chest-thumping over increased admission prices for the new season, things appeared to be coming together both on and off the pitch and fans felt that they could relax and enjoy the long, hot summer of 2004. Betterview Windows were confirmed as the new sponsors of Southend United, agreeing an undisclosed six-figure sum that would no doubt help Steve Tilson begin to build his squad for the new season. A few weeks later the club announced the launch of their own television channel and exiled fans around the world briefly caught their breath at the excitement of seeing their heroes in action on a satellite platform only to learn that the channel would only be broadcast on television screens in and around the ground on match-days. Still, it was a major leap forward in providing a better experience for the fan and a far cry from the dark days when supporters were told to like it or lump it: “go and follow one of the Football League’s 91 other teams.”

“If someone doesn’t perform in their job, why should they be paid in full?!” Ron Martin was adamant that Southend United should not have to pay Steve Wignall a penny more after the former manager decided to sue the football club for non-payment of money owed. The club opted to counter-sue Wignall, claiming that he was not diligent enough with his signings and could not motivate the team, which had slipped towards the relegation zone. Ron Martin was not a man to be trifled with. His calm, relaxed manner hid a vicious business streak that would serve the football club well in the next few years. A couple of weeks of intense negotiation appeared to produce a settlement: “Southend United and Steve Wignall are pleased to confirm that settlement of their dispute has now been concluded on satisfactory and amicable terms,” Martin explained. “The details of the settlement will remain confidential and no further statement will be made by either party.” Six months later and the issue was back in the news. “I am growing more and more frustrated with club chairmen who abuse their managers,” complained John Barnwell, chief executive of the League Managers Association. The LMA had just confirmed that Southend United had failed to pay the last instalment of the agreed settlement plan, thought to be around £4,000, and that they would start legal proceedings against the club. Late payment of money due; a familiar story in 2004 after the club was fined by the Football League for late payment of gate receipts to Colchester United after their epic LDV Vans Trophy Area Final that saw the Shrimpers through to Cardiff. Did that suggest that finances were still a major problem?

Despite the arrival of several new faces such as Wimbledon’s Wayne Gray, local lad Adam Barrett from Bristol Rovers, Dutch keeper Bart Griemink and former player Andy Edwards, the 2004/05 season started badly and by the end of August Southend United were rock-bottom, 24th in League Two and 92nd in the Football League. And there was still no sign of the elusive stadium plans. The feel-good factor generated over the summer was slipping away as quickly as the IT equipment that was disappearing through broken windows as Roots Hall was targeted by thieves for fifth time in a month.

Yet skipper Kevin Maher refused to be drawn into any thoughts of relegation so early in the season. “Of course we are all disappointed at the way things have gone so far but we need to stick together keep working and believe things will get better,” he urged. “We’re not a bad team and I’m sure things will turn around quite soon."

“We started the season with hopes of making the play-offs and we still have them.”

Part VI to follow …

 

[Cricko]

Part 6

“We’ve always said from the start that we’re not long-term football club owners.” In the middle of December 2004, Colin Wagman of Delancey Estates revealed that he had been approached by Ron Martin with the view to sell the company’s 50% stake in Southend United. Delancey had invested heavily in the football club and their capital had helped shape its immediate future. Just a few weeks earlier some 20 acres of land north of the Boots & Laces training ground had been acquired by the club’s owners, a purchase that Ron Martin had already described as “a giant leap” towards a new stadium for Southend United. But the club was still treading water furiously, trying to stay afloat long enough for salvation in the form of this new home.

However the club was positively buoyant on the pitch. Consecutive wins over Bury, Chester City and Wycombe Wanderers had lifted the side into 4th spot and the Shrimpers would lose just two more games between Christmas and the beginning of April. As the club prepared for a second appearance at the Millennium Stadium in the LDV Vans Trophy Final, Southend United sat at the very top of League Two, courtesy of a club record 17-game unbeaten run that also saw striker Freddy Eastwood equal a club record by scoring in seven successive games. The Shrimpers would lose the final against Wrexham, a half-hearted performance that contradicted their domination in the League and a 1-0 reverse against Leyton Orient in front of over 9,000 fans began a four-match sequence in which Southend would gather just four points from a possible 15 to finish 4th and enter the play-offs for the first time in their history. A two-leg victory over Northampton Town, courtesy of a penalty from Eastwood, saw the Shrimpers back in Cardiff for the third time in less than 18 months. Less than 20,000 turned out for the crucial game against Lincoln City with barely a quarter coming from Essex. But goals from Eastwood and Duncan Jupp, his first in a decade, sealed victory for Southend in extra-time and the Shrimpers were promoted for the first time in almost 15 years.

The club recorded a profit of £84,000 for the year ending July 2004 and Ron Martin was understandably delighted. “It was a very successful season on and off the pitch,” he revealed, noting that gate receipts had doubled whilst TV revenue and merchandising were up over 50% on the previous figures. And he was quick to point out that this made him even more determined to secure a new stadium for the Shrimpers. “This success only serves to reinforce the need for a new ground,” he said. “Facilities there would be incorporated to provide not only significantly greater use of the building but also rental income in order to underpin fluctuations in gate receipts.” A few weeks later it was reported that Southend United had spent over £40,000 on agents in the first six months of year; only Swansea City had spent more in League Two. “It’s a necessary evil,” claimed deputy chairman Geoffrey King.

After an opening day defeat to Port Vale, the 2005/06 season started well and by the end of September the Shrimpers were sitting proudly in second place having routed Yeovil Town at Roots Hall. But there was not much to sing about off the pitch when it was revealed that the dream move to a new stadium might be wrecked because of a dispute between the club’s major shareholders. Colin Wagman emerged once again to light the fuse and then bound away giggling into the darkness, claiming that a move to Fossetts Farm was not the most likely scenario for the future of the club. “I think it’s very difficult to commercially achieve,” he revealed. “But it doesn’t stop them playing football at Roots Hall.” Ron Martin’s normally upbeat persona took a knock and he confirmed that hopes of moving to Fossetts Farm had stagnated. Yet just two months later, news emerged that Southend would be pushing ahead with the project after all after Ron Martin announced that he was still in negotiations with Delancey to become the sole major shareholder in the football club. Fans welcomed the news cautiously. How many times had they seen Martin make such claims only to see the dream quashed time and again?

However the performances on the pitch diverted attention away from such thoughts for a few weeks and by the time Ron Martin finally announced that he had indeed become sole owner of Southend United at the beginning of March 2006, having bought out Delancey for an undisclosed figure, the Shrimpers had thrashed rivals Colchester United 3-0 at Layer Road to cement their place at the very top of Football League One. The Ewes had prepared for the crunch match with a short break in Portugal; for much of the game they played as if they were still there. After the match the local Colchester press described the performance on their team as “a complete shambles”; a shambolic team for a shambolic ground. Thus Southend recorded a 6-1 aggregate win over their Essex rivals in the League and the Shrimpers’ Trust produced commemorative t-shirts to celebrate the occasion; they were a popular item. With Martin now able to pursue yet again the task to move the club, plans were revealed for a 17,000 capacity stadium with associated “retail and leisure” components that would be providing financial benefits for the football club.

CHAMPIONS! A full quarter-of-a-century after securing their last and only piece of major silverware, Southend United were crowned champions of the Football League One on an emotional day at Roots Hall after Wayne Gray had slotted home the only goal of the game. The Shrimpers finally beat fierce rivals Colchester United in the race for the title; few people could have been unhappy with an Essex 1-2 in the league table. Legendary striker Shaun Goater was afforded a rousing standing ovation from all sides, one that reduced him to tears, when he left the pitch for the last time; the popular Bermudan had decided that his legs could no longer support his enthusiasm. Thousands lined the streets the following day to watch the team proudly parade the trophy through Southend. Two years earlier the club looked doomed, struggling to cope in the basement league. Now they were on the verge of playing in the Championship, one tier below the ultimate prize: the FA Premiership and its deep pot of gold.

Now a proud owner of a Championship side, Ron Martin revealed that the new stadium capacity would be increased to 22,000 and that the plans would be submitted to Southend Borough Council in September with the detailed design going before the Development Control Committee in January 2007. “We cannot compete in the Championship if we stay at Roots Hall as there is an insufficient capacity,” said Martin. “We also cannot provide the level of service that modern football demands.” Fearing a carbon-copy design of other soulless modern stadia, the proposal for Fossetts Farm raised the excitement another few notches; a sweeping driveway lined with retail outlets led one to a superbly-designed stadium. Was that really a shrimp curving around the southern and western edges?

On the pitch Southend were proving their chairman right: they couldn’t compete in the Championship. Harsh but the sad truth. By November they had hit rock-bottom having won just twice in 15 games. “It’s a horrible thing to be a part of at the moment,” admitted striker Matt Harrold. “I know I’m sounding like a broken record but our luck has to change sooner or later.” Yet the average attendance figure had gone through the roof despite the lacklustre display on the pitch, bouyed by record season ticket sales during the summer; a resurgence in interest saw the average gate at its highest level for 34 years. However, with relegation staring the club square in the face, some fans feared that a 22,000 capacity stadium would become Southend's very own 'white elephant' in which 4,000 people might rattle around watching League One football. Or even worse.

But Roots Hall's biggest test for some years was about to come - and the club would take advantage of the clamour of tickets to their benefit; Southend United needed a new stadium and it needed it sooner rather than later ...