Southend United: Shrimpers Trust does not expect club to repay loan on time
- Published
Southend, who currently play at Roots Hall, have said they hope to start construction of a new stadium this year
A Southend United supporters' group does not expect the club to meet a deadline for repaying a loan to pay non-playing staff members.
The Shrimpers Trust gave the club £40,000 in November to help meet wage costs, to be repaid in three months.
Southend are facing an HM Revenue & Customs winding-up petition, but the hearing has been adjourned to 1 March.
"Supporters are really concerned about the future of the football club," the Trust's Rob Craven told BBC Essex.
Club chairman Ron Martin said earlier this week that he was committed to obtaining bridging finance which will "fill the 'funding gap', caused by successive relegations and loss of income during the pandemic".
In a statement on the club website,, external he continued: "The money owed to HMRC is a legacy debt accrued during the period of the pandemic. Those bridging funds will, in part, be applied against the HMRC debt with a view to withdrawing the petition.
"Whilst I am not currently able to outline precise timings, I am conscious of the fans' concerns and will look to provide a further update as soon as is practical."
Despite the problems off the pitch, which the club believe can only be fully resolved by a move to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm, Kevin Maher's side are doing well on it and are eighth in National League before Saturday's home game against Eastleigh.
"I don't think you can underestimate the job Kevin, [assistant head coach] Darren [Currie], [first-team coach] Mark Bentley and all the players have been doing against this backdrop," Craven commented.
He said the statement from Martin was "long overdue", but the Trust had little confidence that the situation would improve "any time soon" and "the more anxious everyone gets" the closer the 1 March deadline comes.
On the Trust loan situation, he added: "That is due to be paid back at the start of February. Obviously, with the situation the club is in at the moment, we're not really expecting that to be paid back on time.
"Clearly, if the £5m bridging loan comes about then we would anticipate it would be paid back then. There was a loan from one of the club sponsors as well."
A meeting of various supporters' groups is scheduled for next week to discuss the club's situation.