Law firm makes bid to wind up Southend United

A law firm is set to ask a judge to wind up Southend United

A London law firm has lodged a bid to wind up non-league Southend United.

Stewarts Law's winding-up petition has been published on an official public record.

A judge in the Insolvency and Companies Court in London is due consider its claim on 17 April.

Detail of the petition had emerged earlier this week.

A winding-up petition is a legal action taken by a creditor against a company that owes it money.

Stewarts' petition has appeared on The Gazette website - an official public record.

A notice says the law firm has taken action under the 1986 Insolvency Act and is "claiming to be a creditor" of Southend United Football Club Ltd.

The notice gives the date of a scheduled court hearing but no detail about the amount of money Stewarts says it is owed.

Southend United and Walsall in action at Southend's Root Hall ground in 2021

Southend are mid-table and fighting to get out of the National League.

A consortium aiming to take control had warned earlier this week that the club could be embroiled in another court fight.

The buyers said a creditor was petitioning for the club to be wound up and a further court hearing was "likely".

In a statement, the group of investors also said the takeover had taken "longer than any party expected".

The club had debts which previously reached £2.5m, but the proposed sale to Australian businessman Justin Rees and other investors was announced in October.

Current owner Ron Martin has appeared repeatedly at the Insolvency and Companies Court in London because of winding-up petitions in recent years, including by HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax.

A sales contract for the takeover was signed in December.

Liam Ager, editor of Southend United fanzine All At Sea, told BBC Essex: "We just keep getting trapped in this endless cycle of existential threat, and dread, and conversations about what we shouldn't be talking about... it's tiring as much as anything."