Southend

1906–1920: foundation and early years

Southend United F.C. was founded on 19 May 1906 in the Blue Boar Hotel after landlord Oliver Trigg invited a group of footballers and businessmen to discuss setting up a new professional club. The new Southend United would displace the more prominent Southend Athletic in the town, who later disbanded. A prospectus for shares in the club issued in August 1906 noted the club had been elected to complete in the Second Division of the Southern League and in the South Eastern League, and a seven-year lease had been agreed to play at Roots Hall Field in Prittlewell.

Robert Jack ("late of Plymouth Argyle Football Club") was appointed as manager, secretary and player, and 12 professional players were recruited, including two - outside left Alfred Ernest Watkins (formerly at Millwall) and back George Molyneux (formerly at Portsmouth) - listed as internationals (Watkins had played for Wales, Molyneux for England). Other signings included goalkeeper Charles Cotton from West Ham, outside right Arthur Holden from Portsmouth, and centre-forward Harold Halse from Wanstead, plus players from Southend Athletic, Grays United, South Weald and Leigh Ramblers. In the Southern League Second Division, Southend would primarily compete against reserve teams.

In their first season under Jack's management, Southend won the Southern League Second Division title for 1906–07, then repeated the feat the following season, gaining election to the Southern League First Division in 1908. The club first entered the FA Cup in 1907–08, where they met East Ham. When Jack left Southend in 1910, he was succeeded as player-manager by Molyneux. Southend were relegated back to the Second Division after the 1910–11 season, but returned to the First Division two seasons later as runners-up. However, World War I disrupted the club's progress. To aid the country's war effort, parts of the club's ground Roots Hall were dismantled and requisitioned to a nearby timber yard where buildings had been destroyed by bombs. After the war, Roots Hall was unusable so Southend moved to 'The Kursaal'.

1920s–1980s: establishment in the Football League

The club remained in the Southern League until the first post-World War I season of 1919–20. The club then joined the Football League's new Third Division and finished 17th in their first season. In 1921, the Third Division was regionalised with Southend United joining the Third Division South. In their second Football League season, Southend had to apply for re-election. However, from 1922, under new manager Ted Birnie, the club began to stabilise and began to challenge for promotion to the Second Division, finishing third in 1932. After a successful twelve years, Birnie left to be replaced in May 1934 by David Jack, son of the club's first manager, and the Shrimpers moved from the Kursaal to the Southend Stadium. A highlight of Jack's six-year tenure saw Southend draw 4–4 in the FA Cup third round at White Hart Lane against Tottenham Hotspur in January 1936 before losing the replay. Following the start of World War II, the 1939–40 season was abandoned. In the 1948–49 season, the Shrimpers narrowly avoided a re-election vote. Southend came close to promotion when they finished third in 1950 (the club's joint highest league position until 1991). Southend remained in the Third Division South until the re-structuring of the Football League in 1958.

Southend United joined the new national Third Division in 1958, where they remained until 1966 when they suffered their first relegation, into the Fourth Division. The club had to wait six seasons until 1972 to experience the club's first promotion, as runners-up behind Grimsby Town. In 1976 Southend suffered relegation again before taking another runners-up spot behind Watford in 1978. Another relegation in 1980 was directly followed by one of the most successful seasons in the club's history as they won the Fourth Division Championship in 1981, breaking a series of club records in the process. Despite success on the pitch and low admission prices, the club's gates were low and condemned as "a bad reflection on the town".

1984–2003

In 1984, the club was relegated to the Fourth Division (Bobby Moore was manager), and the following season finished 20th, narrowly avoiding having to seek re-election to the Football League. However, Southend gained promotion in 1987. Although relegated again in 1989 (albeit with the highest point total of any relegated team in League history), successive promotions in 1990 and the 1991–92 season saw Southend United reach the second tier of the Football League; in 1992, under manager David Webb, the club finished 12th in the old Second Division, having briefly topped the division on New Year's Day, 1992.

Southend United were then managed by Colin Murphy and Barry Fry. Fry moved to Southend United in 1993 with the club bottom of Division One. Fry kept Southend up, but later in the year moved to Birmingham City. He was succeeded by former Shrimpers player Peter Taylor in his first managerial role in the Football League. He spent two years between 1993 and 1995 as manager, but quit at the end of the 1994–95 season after failing to get them beyond the middle of the Division One table. In 1995, former Liverpool player Ronnie Whelan became player-manager. Southend finished 14th in Division One in his first season as a manager, but were relegated a year later and Whelan left the club, later winning a case for wrongful dismissal. He was replaced by Alvin Martin but Martin was unable to avoid a second consecutive relegation.

Martin Dawn PLC (run by Ron Martin) and Delancey Estates, together forming South Eastern Leisure (SEL), took control of Southend United in November 1998, buying the club and its centrally located Roots Hall ground for £4 million from then chairman Vic Jobson, who at the time owned 55% of the issued share capital of the club. (The transfer of Roots Hall's ownership to Roots Hall Limited - 50% owned by Martin Dawn - were to have ramifications almost 25 years later.) Jobson had previously sold part of the ground's South Bank for housing, and SEL's plan was to continue the redevelopment and move the club to a proposed 16,000-seat stadium in a leisure redevelopment in the northern part of Southend.

Alvin Martin left in April 1999, with Southend fifth from bottom in the Football League. Alan Little was manager for a brief spell, helping them to avoid the drop into the Football Conference and also helped them survive a serious financial crisis by slashing the wage bill and rebuilding a much cheaper side. The club's first flirtation with the High Court came in July 2000, when a debt to the Inland Revenue was paid off shortly before a scheduled winding-up petition hearing. Little's dismissal in September 2000 came as a surprise as, despite a poor start to the season, it followed a five-game unbeaten run that saw 'the Shrimpers' rise to 10th in the Third Division. He was replaced by David Webb on 2 October 2000,^[] soon after Ron Martin had taken over as chairman. The club then turned to Rob Newman, Steve Wignall and, in late 2003, former Southend United midfielder Steve Tilson.

2004–2010: the Tilson era

Under Tilson, Southend reached their first national cup final, meeting Blackpool in the 2004 final of the Football League Trophy at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Over 20,000 Southend fans travelled, but the team did not rise to the occasion and Blackpool won 2–0. Tilson then led Southend to promotion to League 1 in 2005, while making a second successive appearance in the Football League Trophy final, which the Shrimpers lost 2–0 to Wrexham, but the third appearance at the Millennium Stadium in the League Two play-off final against Lincoln City brought success giving the club its first promotion via the play-off system and their first major silverware since 1981.

In May 2006 Southend became League One champions after beating Bristol City 1–0 at Roots Hall in front of over 11,000 fans - the club's first title in 25 years. Tilson was named as the League Manager Association's Manager-of-the-Season for League One.

Southend started the 2006–07 season with wins over Stoke City and Sunderland, but then did not win a league game for 18 games until December 2006. In the meantime, however, Southend did beat trophy holders and Premier League Champions Manchester United 1–0 in a League Cup fourth round tie on 7 November 2006, with Freddy Eastwood scoring the winner. Southend briefly escaped the relegation zone in March 2007 but only 10 league wins in the season meant the Shrimpers were relegated back to League One. Southend finished sixth in League One at the end of 2007–08, qualifying for a play-off place. Against Doncaster Rovers, Southend drew the home leg 0–0, but lost the second leg 5–1. The following season, Southend finished 8th, missing out on a play-off place, but the 2009–10 season was tougher: a run of just one win in 2010 left Southend deep in trouble, and relegation to League Two was confirmed on 24 April 2010 following a 2–2 draw at Oldham. On 4 July 2010 manager Steve Tilson was put on gardening leave, ending his seven-year stint as manager.

2010–2019

2009–10 financial difficulties

During the 2009–10 season, Southend faced two winding-up orders from HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax bills. In February 2010 Southend players were not paid, the Professional Footballers Association had to pay the players, and the club were placed under a transfer embargo until they paid the money back. In March 2010 Southend were given a 35-day extension to pay the unpaid bill or face administration, and further seven day extension in April 2010. On 20 April 2010 the bill was paid, and in August 2010 all actions against Southend United were dropped and an agreement was reached with HMRC.

2011–2019

On 5 July 2010 former Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle manager, Paul Sturrock was announced as the new manager. Sturrock led Southend to a 13th place in his first season, but the club mounted a more serious challenge the following season, spending 11 weeks at the top of League Two before a decline in form meant the team had to enter the play-offs. Southend lost the play off semi-final against Crewe Alexandra 3–2 on aggregate.

A transfer embargo at the start of the 2012–13 season saw the club start its campaign with a depleted squad. However, a successful loan signing - Britt Assombalonga from Watford - helped Southend to a run of 14 games unbeaten which saw them reach 4th in the table. League form dipped in early 2013, but the club reached its first Wembley cup final in the Football League Trophy. Paul Sturrock was sacked two weeks before the cup final but was controversially asked to manage the team for the final. Sturrock refused and watched the game from the stand. The Blues took a record 33,000 fans to the match, but lost 2–0 to Crewe Alexandra.

Phil Brown was brought in as Sturrock's successor but picked up just one win in his eight games in charge as Southend finished the season in 11th position, with only six league wins at Roots Hall all season. In 2015 Brown led the team, via a play-off final against Wycombe Wanderers (decided 7–6 on penalties), into League One. At the end of the 2016–2017 season, the club missed the play-offs for the Championship by only one point. The following season, Southend finished 10th, but slipped to 19th at the end of the 2018–2019 season, avoiding relegation on goal difference having finished equal on 50 points with relegated Plymouth Argyle.

On 22 October 2019, Sol Campbell was appointed manager of Southend. Campbell took charge for his first game — a 3–1 home defeat to Ipswich Town — on 25 October.

2020–present

Financial difficulties

Financial difficulties, including a winding-up petition heard on 22 January 2020, resulted in non-payment of players' and other employees' wages in December 2019, after which players consulted with the PFA. Club chairman Ron Martin paid £140,000 to fund players' wages, and reassured them it would not happen again. The winding-up petition was dismissed after debts were cleared. However, financial constraints prevented the club signing any new players in the January 2020 transfer window. On 2 March, Martin confirmed Southend was under an EFL transfer embargo due to an unpaid tax bill, while February's wages were not paid on time, resulting in further PFA involvement. On 9 March, Southend was charged with misconduct by the EFL for failing to pay players on time, and for fielding an ineligible player against Lincoln City on 1 February (on 2 June, Southend received a suspended three-point penalty and were fined £7,500 for these offences). On 11 March, a further HMRC winding-up petition was adjourned - first to 29 April then three more times, eventually to 28 October 2020.

Double relegation

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Southend put "several staff and some players" on furlough under the UK Government's emergency job retention scheme - a move criticised by the PFA who said the club had "consistently" let players down over wages. On 9 June, Football League clubs in Leagues One and Two agreed to end the 2019–20 season; Southend were relegated to League Two. The following day, the club announced it was putting the whole playing squad on furlough, but players refused to accept the move. On 30 June 2020, manager Campbell and three assistants left the club by mutual consent.

On 13 August 2020, Southend United appointed Mark Molesley as their new manager on a three-year contract. In October 2020, the club finally settled tax debts of £493,931 with HMRC; as a result, a winding-up petition was dismissed by the High Court. On 9 April 2021, Molesley was sacked having only won eight games out of 45; the club were 23rd, five points from safety with six games remaining. Phil Brown returned as manager but could not rescue the situation; Southend suffered a second successive relegation on 1 May 2021, dropping out of the Football League after 101 years. Brown subsequently agreed a two-year contract to manage the club.

In April 2021, former Southend player Stan Collymore wrote to Martin offering to buy the club from him, and held talks concerning the potential appointment of a Collymore associate as the club's CEO. In May 2021, Tom Lawrence (formerly CEO at Gillingham) was appointed. In August 2021, Southend revealed their overall debt in July 2019 was £17.4M, having grown by £2.4M; Martin said the majority of the debt was owed to his companies, and that £6.8M of debt had already been written off. On 21 August 2021, Southend started their first season in the National League with a 1–0 victory at King's Lynn Town, but a six-match winless streak led Phil Brown to describe Southend as stuck in a massive "chasm". On 5 and 9 October 2021, Southend fans staged protests demanding the departure of chairman Ron Martin; following a 4–0 defeat by Chesterfield at Roots Hall on 9 October, Brown was sacked. Collymore offered further free support to the club, described by the BBC as "a mess" and "already on life support". Defender Jason Demetriou took temporary charge before, on 20 October 2021, Kevin Maher returned to the club as head coach. Collymore was appointed the club's senior football strategist in early November 2021. In December 2021, Southend was placed under a National League embargo because of HMRC debts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2022, Southend finished their first National League season in 13th position.

Further financial difficulties

On 30 September 2022, the club was placed under a transfer embargo after a missed HMRC payment. In October 2022, HMRC issued a winding-up petition. A High Court hearing on 9 November was adjourned to 18 January 2023; the transfer embargo remained in place. After members of staff were late receiving their October 2022 salaries, the Shrimpers Trust and shirt sponsor PG Site Services each loaned the club £40,000. November and some December 2022 wages for players and non-playing staff were also paid late. CEO Lawrence said the club had a funding gap of about £2M a year; promotion to League Two would reduce current losses to more manageable levels; the club was then 6th in the National League.

On 18 January 2023, the HMRC winding-up hearing was adjourned again, to 1 March 2023. Martin was reported to be seeking a £5M loan to pay debts including £1.4M in unpaid tax owed to HMRC. With players and other staff unpaid for January, anxious fans started planning a 'phoenix club' and there were unsuccessful attempts to engage with Martin over a possible sale of the club.

On 10 February 2023, St John Ambulance stopped providing first aid staff at Southend home games because of outstanding fees, forcing the club to find alternative medical cover ahead of an FA Trophy tie with York City. Players' January wages remained unpaid ahead of Southend's 25 February game at Torquay United, and were eventually paid 28 days late; other staff had not been paid since November. Less than 24 hours before the winding-up hearing, the club said it had paid the £1.4M tax bill, adding that "funds as working capital" had also been injected into the club. The winding-up petition was dismissed after HMRC confirmed payment of the debt. However, the transfer embargo remained in place; sponsors talked of taking legal action against the club; and supporters groups, fearing "the next crisis could be just around the corner", highlighted the "owner's inadequacies" and said a new beginning would only be possible "when a new structure and ownership is in place at the club". On 30 April 2023, the club finished their second National League season in 8th position; non-playing staff at the club had not been paid for the past two months.

Club put up for sale

On 17 March 2023, the club commenced a formal process to explore the sale of the club or to bring in new investment partners.

Despite the February 2023 funds injection, the club's financial difficulties continued. On 6 April 2023, the club had paid all staff salaries up to March 2023, but some club office staff had yet to receive their March pay. Further doubt over Southend United's ongoing financial viability emerged on 4 May 2023 when the club was served another HMRC winding-up petition—their 18th—due to be heard in the High Court on 17 May. Three companies, including shirt sponsor PG Site Services and Engie Power, were also involved in the petition regarding a £275,000 debt, but the hearing was adjourned to 12 July 2023, giving Martin more time to sell the club.

On 31 May 2023, the club secured a court order unfreezing a bank account to enable it to pay players (keeping them at the club) and accountants, but some club staff were still awaiting March or April wages in early June. Players and backroom staff again went unpaid at the end of June, and players refused to resume pre-season training until they were paid. Backing the players' decision to suspend training, the Shrimpers Trust offered to support unpaid club staff. While players were eventually paid, manager Maher and other backroom staff remained unpaid three days before the winding-up hearing, while club sale discussions were reportedly being held up by the stadium side of the transaction. A lack of medical cover meant players could not resume training on club premises. On 10 July, Martin told protesting fans the sale would not be completed before the winding-up hearing. On 11 July, the water supply to the club's training facility was turned off due to unpaid bills.

On 12 July 2023, the winding-up hearing was adjourned for a second time, to 23 August 2023, to allow further time for a sale to be concluded, amid doubts about the club's ability to meet National League requirements. On 14 July 2023, a pre-season friendly against Billericay Town was cancelled 24 hours before its scheduled kick-off. Southend reportedly had just 14 contracted players and blamed "injuries to contracted players" for the postponement. Local MPs Anna Firth and Sir James Duddridge became involved, with Firth pressing Martin to provide the National League with a full list of football creditors, confirmation that all players and staff had been paid and a full safety certificate for Roots Hall. On 17 July 2023, Martin said he would sell his stake in the club for £1, but wanted £4.5M for Roots Hall. The club also needed £1M "in the short term" to settle its latest HMRC winding-up petition and lift a transfer embargo. In late July 2023, Martin told protesting fans—who he blamed for deterring potential bidders—that nobody had yet made him an offer on his terms.

On 21 July 2023, the club was given court permission to pay £300,000 in football-related debts to remain in the National League. Club staff were paid wages dating back up to three months on 26 July 2023, and were finally up to date with their wages. The National League licensed the club to participate in the 2023–24 season, but required it to pay its HMRC debt in full by 23 August 2023 (adjournment of the court hearing would not postpone this requirement) and to ensure all future football creditors or HMRC debts were cleared on time during the 2023–24 season. A breach of these conditions would result in an immediate and automatic 10 points deduction.

To ready Roots Hall for the new season, the club cancelled another pre-season friendly, against AFC Wimbledon on 29 July. On Sunday 30 July, over 160 fans volunteered to clean and paint the stadium to help it gain a new safety certificate. With a matchday squad of just 15 players due to the club's transfer embargo, Southend won their opening two games of the season, but lost the next two. The future of the club's academy was also in doubt as it was no longer eligible for EFL funding.

On 15 August 2023, former club chief executive Tara Brady confirmed he had tried to buy Southend United in July, only to be rebuffed by Ron Martin.

Points deduction

On 23 August 2023, the winding-up hearing was adjourned for a third and final time, to 4 October 2023, with Judge Sebastian Prentis telling Martin if he was in charge of any other business it would have been wound up. As part of the £275,000 HMRC debt remained outstanding, the club were deducted 10 points by the National League (it appealed unsuccessfully against the penalty). Martin told the court he was "confident" a sale to an Australian buyer—later named as Justin Rees—should be finalised by the end of September. The judge said the club would be wound up if the deadline was missed.

On 7 September 2023, Southend Council committed to considering investment in the club if it would aid its survival, potentially by buying Roots Hall for Martin's £4.5M asking price. It later emerged that the proposal might be financially supported by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities which had invited applications for grants of up to £2M from its community ownership fund.

On 16 September 2023, Southend lost 3–0 at York City and had two players sent off. The resulting suspensions, plus injuries to other players, left the club with just 10 available players ahead of a match against Maidenhead United on 19 September, with manager Kevin Maher appealing against the red cards and talking to the National League about bolstering his squad. The club signed former West Ham goalkeeper David Martin to make his immediate debut, with Portuguese midfielder Mauro Vilhete one of just two substitutes, as Southend won 2–0.

On 20 September 2023, the Justin Rees consortium said it had made two bids to Ron Martin, but neither had been accepted. Few details of the consortium's latest bid were released, but—due to "the non-viability of a new stadium at Fossetts Farm"—it involved retaining and upgrading Roots Hall as the club's stadium, taking ownership of the stadium and the club's training ground, and Martin contributing funds towards Roots Hall's redevelopment.

Meanwhile, fans staged an anti-Martin protest march to Roots Hall ahead of the club's National League tie against AFC Fylde on 23 September 2023. Southend fielded a 14-man squad, and lost the game 2–1. Two draws, at Aldershot Town and at Rochdale, left Southend in 23rd place, three points from safety, on 30 September 2023.

Sale to Justin Rees consortium

On 3 October 2023, the club confirmed that they had reached an agreement for the sale of the club to the Justin Rees consortium, with a formal takeover and completion date of 1 November, later revised to 17 November 2023 and then the end of the month. Details of the rescue deal were yet to be finalised, but reports suggested the club would remain at Roots Hall, with the 500 homes once planned for the site now transferred to Fossetts Farm (a move agreed by Southend's council in early November). The deal was announced the day before the High Court hearing of HMRC's winding-up petition, amid reports that the HMRC debt had now been paid, and the winding-up petition was duly dismissed.

On 4 December 2023, with the takeover still not completed, a Southend United supporters group said it would stage a protest unless an update on the club's sale was provided. On 5 December, the consortium said due diligence had raised important issues which had required further time to resolve, and some legal and procedural work remained. The exact completion date would be confirmed "once it is locked in", and the consortium would work with HMRC and the National League to arrange for the simultaneous lifting of the transfer embargo.

The delayed takeover and ongoing National League sanctions meant that Southend had just one substitute for their league game against Bromley on 16 December 2023; after an injury to goalkeeper David Martin, right-back Gus Scott-Morriss finished the game in goal. Local MP Anna Firth cited this incident in a letter to the National League about its sanctions' "disproportionate" impacts on the club. After 15 months, Southend's transfer embargo was lifted on 28 December 2023.

On 23 December 2023, Martin and the Rees consortium exchanged contracts for the sale of the club; the deal remained conditional upon Southend Council's approval of certain property transactions and the club ownership was expected to be formally transferred in February 2024. However, on 8 March 2024, Southend CEO Tom Lawrence said final completion of the club's takeover could still be a couple of months away, being dependent upon a council review of the housing shift to Fossets Farm, though it later emerged that obtaining the consent of Ron and son Jack Martins' finance partner was also delaying matters. As a result, one impatient creditor petitioned for the club to be wound up.