Southend Phoenix

[Exiled Shrimper]

Oh goodie! Phoenix talk again.

For what it's worth (which is **** all) zero interest.

I understand the planning of this was pretty advanced last time. As a fan base, how in the loop with this were we all?

I know there were discussions with the FA about which potential level the new club would be placed in. I imagine there have been discussions about new names, who would be on the board and other key details. All on the fans' behalf no less. But i'll reiterate, as fans, how much did we know about the plans?

Appreciate the potential good faith in exploring avenues, but by whom and why?

Worse than the lack of transparency is the thought of even more AI-generated imagery on social media and may I remind you of this monstrosity:
https://world-retro.com/product/southend-united-takeover-celebration-shirt/

Are proper football clubs putting their badge on things like this?

No from me.

What I think we do need, is the new consortium to provide a deadline. They are well within their rights to do so, I don't think they actively want to write off their current investment, but these are professional business people and I cant imagine they have the time for all this mucking about.

A working group was set up by the supporters' groups to explore the setting up of a phoenix club in March 2023. This was to familiarise the groups with the necessary regulations and work out what the timescales were should it have been needed for the 2023/24 season.

The working group utilised existing and new contacts to speak with supporters from other clubs, with the Football Supporters' Association and with local clubs. Preserving Southend United FC was always the priority, but it was felt it would be negligent not to put those foundations in place.

A phoenix club could never completely replace Southend United, but a sense of community, of local identity, and the opportunity for a fresh start with a modern ownership structure might be attractive and helped lay claim to the some of the heritage of the original incarnation.

Supporters would need to buy into the idea of a phoenix in the same manner as they have at the likes of AFC Wimbledon or Macclesfield or Newport County to make it a feasible organisation and I’ve no doubt - with a fanbase as loyal and passionate as ours - that would happen eventually, even though it's hard for that to happen whilst Southend United remains in existence.

However, in order for supporters to feel they are a part of that, they would need to have a say in those crucial club heritage aspects: club name, club colours, club badge, etc. There would also need to be an election process to determine the officers of the club. The first steps for a new phoenix club would be to arrange a meeting in order for this consultation to take place.

The work that was done previously has not been discarded; it's just hoped it will never be required.

 

[E for B and Billy Best]

It's a no from me. 63yrs a supporter of SUFC...No SUFC and it's bollocks to football.

 

[irenbird]

68 years for me and without my beloved team I have no interest in football any more. No point.

 

[Tommy2holes]

Ask AFC if they still feel connected to their club.

They are probably more connected to it now than ever.

 

[thenobster]

I, like many, will not feel a close bond with a Phoenix club, however, there would be a morbid fascination and I'd 'follow' what happens, much the same as i look to see how other clubs are doing, but it wouldn't be the same for me.

AFC Southend United
United Southend FC
Southend City United

None would have the same attraction.

It would also depend on who took the club on. If the heart of the club carried on, it would soon grow and of course, we look to the future and new and loyal supporters would soon be on board.

 

[Linda Loan Shark]

I, like many, will not feel a close bond with a Phoenix club, however, there would be a morbid fascination and I'd 'follow' what happens, much the same as i look to see how other clubs are doing, but it wouldn't be the same for me.

AFC Southend United
United Southend FC
Southend City United

None would have the same attraction.

It would also depend on who took the club on. If the heart of the club carried on, it would soon grow and of course, we look to the future and new and loyal supporters would soon be on board.

United Southend City?

 

[sufc4life21]

If you asked me the question 5 years ago about possibility of supporting phoenix club and no southend united i wouldn't considered it but as time moved forward where I continue to witnessed the rat destroy the club i love where i now no longer attend games due to the hate I have for him, I'm not now against starting again (it's looking very likely will have to start again anyway). Will I feel gutted if southend united doesn't exist? Of course but part of me would feel relieved that the bad days are over with the rat no longer as owner and move on from this constant off field mess we continue to find ourselves in. Being football fan is about fun and laughter with friends and family debating whether we could get into the promotion race not constantly feeling drained and worrying if we would have club to support next week.

 

[thenobster]

United Southend City?

Will never be a city in my eyes tbh

 

[Linda Loan Shark]

I wonder if Demi or Tilly would be interested in managing the phoenix club at that sort of level? I cant imagine Maher and co wanting to drop down that many divisions

 

[Barling Magna]

I, like many, will not feel a close bond with a Phoenix club, however, there would be a morbid fascination and I'd 'follow' what happens, much the same as i look to see how other clubs are doing, but it wouldn't be the same for me.

AFC Southend United
United Southend FC
Southend City United

None would have the same attraction.

It would also depend on who took the club on. If the heart of the club carried on, it would soon grow and of course, we look to the future and new and loyal supporters would soon be on board.

Southend United (2025) sounds better to me.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

A working group was set up by the supporters' groups to explore the setting up of a phoenix club in March 2023. This was to familiarise the groups with the necessary regulations and work out what the timescales were should it have been needed for the 2023/24 season.

The working group utilised existing and new contacts to speak with supporters from other clubs, with the Football Supporters' Association and with local clubs. Preserving Southend United FC was always the priority, but it was felt it would be negligent not to put those foundations in place.

A phoenix club could never completely replace Southend United, but a sense of community, of local identity, and the opportunity for a fresh start with a modern ownership structure might be attractive and helped lay claim to the some of the heritage of the original incarnation.

Supporters would need to buy into the idea of a phoenix in the same manner as they have at the likes of AFC Wimbledon or Macclesfield or Newport County to make it a feasible organisation and I’ve no doubt - with a fanbase as loyal and passionate as ours - that would happen eventually, even though it's hard for that to happen whilst Southend United remains in existence.

However, in order for supporters to feel they are a part of that, they would need to have a say in those crucial club heritage aspects: club name, club colours, club badge, etc. There would also need to be an election process to determine the officers of the club. The first steps for a new phoenix club would be to arrange a meeting in order for this consultation to take place.

The work that was done previously has not been discarded; it's just hoped it will never be required.

thanks. I'd be interested in helping out if it came to it. I don't want to need another club, but if there's no Southend United I still want to watch football and have the community

 

[CC51DAS]

Whilst respecting everyone's views, I'm genuinely surprised at the number of people saying they wouldn't support a Phoenix club. I can understand their disappointment at losing the club they have been so passionate about for so long and the perhaps resultant apathy but would hope that in the fullness of time they would return to suporting a local club from Southend.

TBH, it seems to me the biggest obstacle that would get in the way of a Phoenix club succeeding, is division amongst supporters. We might no longer be called United but united we will need to be !

 

[Linda Loan Shark]

Whilst respecting everyone's views, I'm genuinely surprised at the number of people saying they wouldn't support a Phoenix club. I can understand their disappointment at losing the club they have been so passionate about for so long and the perhaps resultant apathy but would hope that in the fullness of time they would return to suporting a local club from Southend.

TBH, it seems to me the biggest obstacle that would get in the way of a Phoenix club succeeding, is division amongst supporters. We might no longer be called United but united we will need to be !

I bet once the phoenix club got pomoted into the football league a few heads would turn

 

[SeaSideDoughnut]

I bet once the phoenix club got pomoted into the football league a few heads would turn

Even just a few promotions, not even to the FL.

I wonder how many Wimbledon fans said they could never support a phoenix club, it would never be the same and eventually come around with time. I get it. It's blasphemy to talk about a new club before this one has gone. I would support a phoenix club. I believe the fans are what makes a club and that there being no club is a complete victory to Ron.

I've only just come to fully appreciate this since the FF move has been scrapped under this consortium. But not having Roots Hall would be maybe the hardest part. But I'm sure a lot of fans at the time felt the same about The Kuursal and a lot of fans were sceptical of with FF.

 

[OldWilliam]

I can’t get my head around how a Phoenix club can retain the heritage of the former club. It wasn’t AFC Wimbledon that won the FA cup in the late 80’s. In the same way I can’t see how an AFC Southend or similar would retain our history, past success and many memories. A Phoenix club is surely a completely different entity?
I am happy to be educated on this but it’s something I am struggling with. Right now I am very much in the no Southend Utd then no football for me.
I don’t want this to be the case but a 3 hour round trip to every home game would mean I would need to be emotionally invested right from the off in a Phoenix club. I guess this is where complete fan engagement and involvement right from the off needs to be a non negotiable.

 

[Chris Powell's mate]

I think we're a closer comparison to Bury than Wimbledon.
At Bury another nefarious owner watched the former FA Cup winners go to the wall.
BUT, and it is a big but, Gigg Lane was and is available for purpose: that isn't going to be allowed by Ron.
If there was a phoenix club it would have to be akin to Darlington and AFC in their early days, playing at another ground not necessarily in Southend and in the Isthmian League South?
That looks a long and winding road...

 

[Barling Magna]

In the end a phoenix club is down to the personal perception of each individual.

If you think the club you supported, Southend United, has gone forever then to you it has gone forever. End of story.

If on the other hand you see Southend United (2025) as the same club as that you have supported (albeit emerging battered and bruised and belittled from the collapse) then to you it is the same club - you can point to the same team colours, the same nickname, the many fans and the handful of staff who have transferred, perhaps the former players who return to the phoenix club in their sunset years or as coaches. You might even enjoy the rise from football's basement back to the EFL.

Me? Well, sixty plus years of supporting the Shrimpers gives me no choice. If it has to be a phoenix club then a phoenix club it is. Come on you Shrimpers (2025)!

 

[M_Simps]

I moved away from the area when I was 8, nearly 35 years ago. I have no real connections to Southend anymore; I don't have any family/friends in the area, the hospital I was born in has been demolished and the house in Hawkwell I grew up in has been redeveloped to the point where I don't even recognise it anymore. My one remaining connection to my place of birth is Southend United. If we go to the wall, I lose that.

And that's why I'd be for a phoenix club. A phoenix rises out of the ashes of what came before. Maybe a slightly new entity, but rooted in the old one. I assume a new SUFC would carry loads of the marks of the current SUFC. I assume we'd play in blue. I assume the badge would be a quartered shield resembling the current one, and, most importantly, I assume a huge amount of the supporters would be the same perfect strangers I've stood with on the terraces over the years and interacted with on SZ.

Losing RH would be devastating, but if enough of the SUFC I've supported for 40-odd years rises as a phoenix, then this exile's connection with home would remain intact.

P.S. That said, obviously, I'd prefer Ratty turned on his fax machine and sent the council whatever documents they need before it's too late.

 

[Firestorm]

I can’t get my head around how a Phoenix club can retain the heritage of the former club. It wasn’t AFC Wimbledon that won the FA cup in the late 80’s. In the same way I can’t see how an AFC Southend or similar would retain our history, past success and many memories. A Phoenix club is surely a completely different entity?
I am happy to be educated on this but it’s something I am struggling with. Right now I am very much in the no Southend Utd then no football for me.
I don’t want this to be the case but a 3 hour round trip to every home game would mean I would need to be emotionally invested right from the off in a Phoenix club. I guess this is where complete fan engagement and involvement right from the off needs to be a non negotiable.

I see exactly what you are getting at

Glasgow Rangers fans would disagree with this , And their club literally went into liquidation and legally ceased to be , yet has allowed to adopt all the achievements of the previous regime and jump past the pyramid to get straight into the league.

I dont think of AFC Wimbledon as a Pheonix club , they were not born out of the demise of a previous club, they were formed when a club decided to move away and change its name and a number or people decided that they didnt like it so chose to start up a new club . I personally cant see that the FA Cup win has anything to do with AFC Wimbledon , but I do think that the new "identity" of MK should be looking to now distance themselves from the move (and at least drop the "dons " bit.

Personally I cant see me picking up on a Pheonix team playing god know where , after 57 years of watching SUFC at RH

 

[Danshrimper]

I can’t get my head around how a Phoenix club can retain the heritage of the former club. It wasn’t AFC Wimbledon that won the FA cup in the late 80’s. In the same way I can’t see how an AFC Southend or similar would retain our history, past success and many memories. A Phoenix club is surely a completely different entity?
I am happy to be educated on this but it’s something I am struggling with. Right now I am very much in the no Southend Utd then no football for me.
I don’t want this to be the case but a 3 hour round trip to every home game would mean I would need to be emotionally invested right from the off in a Phoenix club. I guess this is where complete fan engagement and involvement right from the off needs to be a non negotiable.

Do you support the football club or the limited company?

Each to their own, but personally I don’t see how the football club operating under a different limited company would make any difference to whether I still support it or not.

The fans would still be the same, which is the core of the club. The only things that would change would be the players and management (which happens anyway), the owner (thank god), and the league (we can work our way back up).

The stadium would be an issue, but hopefully over time a satisfactory resolution to that could be achieved, similar to AFC Wimbledon.