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Cricko

Zone Owner⭐⭐
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The leader of Southend Council fears for the future of Southend United following fresh revelations about the state of the club's finances.

Tory Nigel Holdcroft warned if Fossetts farm doesn't go ahead soon the club could find itself homeless.And he said the Council was powerless to intervene during the club's economic woes.

He said " I don't think there is anything we can do to assist. Certainly with the financial problems it would be inappropriate to use public funds to shore up a private company.We will have to see what happens and if they survive the latest challenge.If they don't it's a question of whether the club continues to exist.Until we know what's happening it's difficult to come up with anything to help".

The Council appears to have done all it can to oil the wheels of the planning process, which finally came to fruition in 2008 with approval from the secretary of state.

The Echo revealed last month the council had even bypassed the usual financial checks on Ron Martin's companies before councillors agreed to sell land to one of them and help obtain land for the Fossetts Farm development.

All along the council has said the new stadium along with 127 homes, 114 bed hotel and 20.000sq metres of retail space would be a huge boost to the economy of Southend, but that support is waning.

Mr Holdcroft added "Supporters are now losing faith and confidence that anything can be done. We have worked very closely with the club in respect of the redevelopment of Roots Hall and the proposed new stadium. We have responded quickly and positively to approaches made to us, but we can't respond to something we are not directly in control of. If Fossetts Farm doesn't go ahead it would be disastrous.I would be concerned what security the football club has so far as Roots Hall is concerned. It's always been my major concern that if they don't get the new stadium they would be unable to continue to occupy their current site".
 
Well that's cheered me up no end.

This is looking more worrying each day.
 
Tory Nigel Holdcroft warned if Fossetts farm doesn't go ahead soon the club could find itself homeless.

If Fossetts Farm doesn't go ahead it would be disastrous.I would be concerned what security the football club has so far as Roots Hall is concerned. It's always been my major concern that if they don't get the new stadium they would be unable to continue to occupy their current site".

This needs further explanation
 
This needs further explanation

the financing for a new stadium is not in place, and is unlikely to be for some time due to current economic conditions

Sainsbury's have as much interest in the football club as a property developer - they want their new store up and running

in not so many words . . . . we are dead and buried
 
Whats becoming clear to me is we need answers from Sainsbury's as much as we do Ron.

We need them on the fans side.

Time for some action...
 
The Echo revealed last month the council had even bypassed the usual financial checks on Ron Martin's companies before councillors agreed to sell land to one of them and help obtain land for the Fossetts Farm development.

Oh dear. :stunned:
 
Hang on - there isn't one solid bit of evidence in there apart from the point that the Council wouldn't step in to save us - and whoever thought they would? The rest of it is all speculation from a Councillors personal view point. Yes, it does sound worrying, but it also seems that they know no more than the average Zoner:

.Until we know what's happening it's difficult to come up with anything to help

And:

we can't respond to something we are not directly in control of

There is nothing new there.
 
I think the council are in a difficult position here. Of course, supporting the club with the public purse isn't an option, but if SUFC ceases to exist then a large part of the community living in the borough would suffer. To not have a league club in the town would also hit a portion (albeit small) of tourism as those away fans who "make a weekend of it" would have no reason to visit Southend.

SUFC has also been very active in the community since the Championship days and are constantly visiting schools and providing programmes of education for children in and around the borough. If SUFC dies, then so do these initiatives.
 
I always maintain having a professional football club in the town is very important for the council. 1. Its free marketing, the name of Southend appears in the papers and TV weekly and if your promoting your town for commerce and business it always helps when your market is aware of who you are but the current situation is all negative press for them. Plus the council knows for all the other attractions the town has the biggest entertainment draw for the local public is the football club, how many other entertainment venues attract 8,000 people every couple of weeks
 
the financing for a new stadium is not in place, and is unlikely to be for some time due to current economic conditions

Sainsbury's have as much interest in the football club as a property developer - they want their new store up and running

in not so many words . . . . we are dead and buried

What i meant was, why is this guy so sure/concerned that we will be homeless? If we don't move/can't secure funds to move, then why would we become homeless? We still have Roots Hall..... or so we were lead to believe

Unless of course there has been some 'deal' done, where SUFC have to vacate the site by a certain date, regardless of our situation, (and if that's the case, so much for the covenant)

In fact, I remember back to a few months ago, when someone said RM was looking/enquiring about groundsharing, and this claim got rubbished.

Now I could well be adding 2+2 and getting 5, but......
 
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What i meant was, why is this guy so sure/concerned that we will be homeless? If we don't move/can't secure funds to move, then why would we become homeless? We still have Roots Hall..... or so we were lead to believe

Unless of course there has been some 'deal' done, where SUFC have to vacate the site by a certain date, regardless of our situation, (and if that's the case, so much for the covenant)

In fact, I remember back to a few months ago, when someone said RM was looking/enquiring about groundsharing, and this claim got rubbished.

Now I could well be adding 2+2 and getting 5, but......

There isn't a suitable stadium close enough for us to move to so that's a non-starter

Sainsbury's, a major corporate company, have purchased the land on which Roots Hall stands, in
good faith for the development of a new store. The football club was, is, and will always be, secondary
in their plans and they have no vested interest, apart from moneys loaned to Ron / the club to assist
with current financial restraints

I would be very surprised if we started next season as a football league club
 
You can interperet that comment in two ways.

1. Fossetts Farm isnt completed and Roots Hall is sold and wont exist.

or

2. We have told the council we cant survive at Roots Hall as its too small so if FF doesnt go ahead per what we said we cant survive.

The rest is just personal speculation, but clarification from the club would be nice right now as that could paint a fardifferent picture.
 
There isn't a suitable stadium close enough for us to move to so that's a non-starter

Sainsbury's, a major corporate company, have purchased the land on which Roots Hall stands, in
good faith for the development of a new store. The football club was, is, and will always be, secondary
in their plans and they have no vested interest, apart from moneys loaned to Ron / the club to assist
with current financial restraints

I would be very surprised if we started next season as a football league club

If you read/follow my previous posts, you'll see i'm agreeing with you 100%. Everything what you've said, is what i've been saying for a while now.

My point;

The councillor in this piece has raised some new, quite worrying points. I was under the impression that whilst the club were still in business, we'd still have Roots Hall, as there is/was a covenant on it. I believed the covenant only became void, if the club folded. However, in this article, the guy is hinting that if we don't relocate soon, then the club will become homeless. That's what needs more explanation. What does he know, that we don't?
 
We have told the council we cant survive at Roots Hall as its too small so if FF doesnt go ahead per what we said we cant survive.

I don't believe it is this for 2 reasons;

1) Ron has already said that the club can survive at Roots Hall, but we'd be confined to league 1/2 level

2) The councillor is this piece is saying we'd be homeless. Not folded or liquidised, but homeless. Which seems to me, that the 'covenant' that is ment to be in place, has been scrubbed out
 
I don't believe it is this for 2 reasons;

1) Ron has already said that the club can survive at Roots Hall, but we'd be confined to league 1/2 level

2) The councillor is this piece is saying we'd be homeless. Not folded or liquidised, but homeless. Which seems to me, that the 'covenant' that is ment to be in place, has been scrubbed out

Yes Martin did say we could survive at Roots Hall, but that was during the planning application process and before he had flogged the site to Sainsburys. The Council Leaders remarks are the clearest indication that the Covenant is not worth the paper it may or may not be written on. For me, this is probably the final nail in our coffin. In medical terms, we are like a brain dead patient waiting for someone to switch off the life support machine.
 
Yes Martin did say we could survive at Roots Hall, but that was during the planning application process and before he had flogged the site to Sainsburys. The Council Leaders remarks are the clearest indication that the Covenant is not worth the paper it may or may not be written on. For me, this is probably the final nail in our coffin. In medical terms, we are like a brain dead patient waiting for someone to switch off the life support machine.

If this is the case, does anyone know where or how we can find out this information?
 
Yes Martin did say we could survive at Roots Hall, but that was during the planning application process and before he had flogged the site to Sainsburys. The Council Leaders remarks are the clearest indication that the Covenant is not worth the paper it may or may not be written on. For me, this is probably the final nail in our coffin. In medical terms, we are like a brain dead patient waiting for someone to switch off the life support machine.

Why? The guy is not speaking as a legal expert. I suspect he knows diddly-squat about the covenant, and I very much doubt that he has taken expert advice on it (perhaps the Trust should...). That is pure speculation.

In fact, Devonexile, if you are so convinced we are going down the pan would you like a little wager? I pay £20 to Little Havens if we fold before the end of the season, you pay £20 if we don't...? :)
 
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Why? The guy is not speaking as a legal expert. I suspect he knows diddly-squat about the covenant, and I very much doubt that he has taken expert advice on it (perhaps the Trust should...). That is pure speculation.

True, but if it is coming from someone who has dealt with the club on this matter, i.e. the relocation and the redevelopment of The Hall etc, then i'd assume he's in a good position to comment. He's certainly in a better position to know/find out more than we do.
 
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