Southend United can start season as staff get delayed wages

Southend United's 117-year history is currently under threat

Troubled football club Southend United has paid the wages of staff for the first time in three months and the National League has issued the team a licence to start the season.

The club confirmed to BBC Essex that it had paid money owed to office workers.

The club has debts of £2.5m, about £300,000 of which is owed to football creditors.

Fan group The Shrimpers Trust said the club remained under "existential threat" until owner Ron Martin sold it.

The club also has to pay off a £275,000 tax bill.

In a statement, the supporters trust said: "Our initial thoughts are with those staff. They are the heartbeat of our football club and we will be forever grateful for their loyalty and dedication through what has been an immeasurably tough time.

"While Ron Martin is in charge, Southend United will remain under an existential threat, with the owner doing the bare minimum to support its functionality."

Earlier this month, fans of the 117-year-old club protested outside Mr Martin's home and the trust announced plans for a further "responsible and lawful" protest on 29 July.

A large group of Southend United fans protested outside the city home of Ron Martin earlier this month

Southend United - which dropped out of the dropped out of the Football League at the end of the 2020-21 season - has been before the courts a number of times in recent months, with an order being made in May to ensure the club's survival by allowing the payment of players and accountants.

In a hearing last week, Mr Martin - Southend's owner for 25 years - gave an undertaking to Judge Mark Mullen that he would notify the remaining creditors - which also included the energy supplier Npower - of the payment in order to secure the court's approval.

He told the court the club was ready to pay £250,000 to its football creditors and that a further £52,000 had been obtained from the Premier League for academy players.

The judge approved the payments and the National League has confirmed it has issued a licence for the club to participate in the 2023-24 season as a result of football creditors being paid off.

The league said the issuing of the licence was conditional on the club paying its tax debt by 23 August, regardless of whether the court hearing on that date was adjourned.

Any new debts to football creditors or His Majesty's Revenue and Customs must be cleared during the season, or a 10-point deduction would be imposed, it added.

Southend opening league fixture is at home to Oldham on Saturday, 5 August.