Southend United: Court dismisses winding-up petition against National League club

Southend United want to move from their Roots Hall home to a new ground at Fossetts Farm, which is yet to be built

A winding-up petition against Southend United has been dismissed by a judge after the club paid £1.4m owed to HM Revenue & Customs.

Southend said on Tuesday that the debt had been cleared and the club also had new "funds as working capital".

The Shrimpers have faced a series of winding-up petitions in recent years, and the previous one was dismissed in January 2020.

Southend are in seventh place in the National League table.

The club were founded in 1906 and have been based at Roots Hall for 68 years.

In a brief hearing at the Insolvency and Companies Court, a lawyer representing HMRC confirmed the outstanding money had been paid.

Judge Sally Barber then dismissed the petition.

Southend chairman Ron Martin vowed earlier this month that he would not let the club be wound-up and insisted the future will be "bright" when they move from Roots Hall to a new site at Fossetts Farm.

However, supporters' groups began exploratory work about setting up a 'phoenix club' in case the HMRC payment was not made in time for Wednesday's hearing.

Martin bought the club for £4m almost 25 years ago but has been the target of several protest by fans in recent years.

Southend fans have staged a series of protests in recent seasons

Last autumn, the club revised its plans, reducing the capacity at the new stadium from 21,000 to 16,226.

Chief executive Tom Lawrence said in January that the club hoped building work could commence "before the second quarter" of 2023.

They do, however, have an annual funding gap of £2m and had been seeking bridging finance, thought to be £5m, to clear the HMRC debt and move the club forwards.