Southend United: Justin Rees sets out way forward before consortium takeover

Justin Rees was the co-founder of Sydney-based company Eighty20 Solutions

After rumours of Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Ray Winstone being involved with Southend United going forwards, the reality is somewhat different.

The Essex club are close to being taken over following years of financial turmoil by Australian Justin Rees and a consortium of lifelong fans and businessmen he had not previously met before putting them together.

Rees insists this a very different script to that being acted out in Wrexham, who stormed back into the English Football League after being bought by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

"I do think that ownership should not be so front and centre in football," Rees told BBC Essex.

"It's my personal opinion that we're custodians, we're there to govern, set strategy, make decisions, of course, but I don't think we should be so prominent.

"The Wrexham story is different, right? They've got Hollywood actors and they bring such wonderful interest. I think it's such an exciting project for football in general, and I love what they're doing - but we're not that.

"We're a different story. We're a club that was rescued, if I can use that word, by its fans. But although we have more modest means than other owners, and nation states and private equity in Hollywood, we won't have modest ambitions."

Losses will continue - for now

Details of the deal have not been disclosed, but former owner Ron Martin said in July that he would sell his stake in the club for £1, providing he was paid £4.5m for Southend's Roots Hall ground.

Supporters of the Shrimpers hope the takeover will bring an end to several years of financial uncertainty, which prompted a series of protests against Martin.

Rees first made an inquiry about buying Southend in the summer and had "essentially wrapped it up" at the beginning of October - but he has made it clear that the consortium does not have a bottomless pit of money and moving forward will be a gradual process.

"It's well publicised that the club had some debts, a significant amount of debts. We've taken those on, but the club will lose money over the next few years - that's not an if, that's a guarantee," he said.

"We see our role as threefold. Number one is to ensure the survival of Southend well beyond ourselves and beyond our tenure. That means good governance, paying bills on time, and ensuring that we are not in a position where we owe money that we cannot pay and have a winding-up petition.

"Of course, below that, we want to bring joy through football. It brings a lot of joy, done right. So we're not going to lose sight of that.

"The third is that we operate within a community. We need to give back in different ways, not just in trying to win football games on a Saturday.

"So, you've got to survive first before you can thrive. That's probably how we see it."

Dons show way forward

Southend played in the Championship in the 2006-07 season when they also reached the League Cup quarter-finals

During their 117-year history, Southend have been as high as the second tier of English football but lost their place in the EFL in 2021 following back-to-back relegations.

Regaining that status is the top priority on the pitch, but manager Kevin Maher - a former Shrimpers player - was hampered by a year-long transfer embargo, which was finally lifted last month, and the deduction of 10 points because of their financial issues.

"We have plenty of potential to go a lot higher than where we are now, with hard work and the right decisions," Rees said.

He held talks with Ivor Heller, one of the founders of AFC Wimbledon, the club formed by fans in 2002 after the original Dons relocated to Milton Keynes, about how to get Southend on the right track.

"I really wanted to make sure I understood [what was involved] from a club that is incredibly well run," said Rees.

"I had a lot of chats with him and really appreciated his counsel on a bunch of things, about how you harness the voice of fans who have all these different opinions.

"In terms of actual football club owners, I met Robin [Stanton-Gleaves] at Bromley when I was there to visit and got some insights as to what they were doing with the stadium etc.

"But to be honest, there hasn't been enough time to really look elsewhere, I've been kind of focused on Southend."

No targets for Maher

Kevin Maher was appointed as Southend manager in October 2021

Southend are currently 12th in the National League, seven points outside the top seven, in which they need to finish to have a chance of promotion - but manager Maher has not been set any targets.

"I certainly don't want to say, 'Hey, we're going to stabilise the club for five years and then we'll have ambitions on the football pitch.' Absolutely not. We want to try and do both in parallel, but there's lots to be done," Rees said.

"We've got to renovate a stadium. We've got to bring our new training ground to life. It's more than just having the right players on the pitch. They need supporting services, sports analytics and data and gyms, all those things.

"We'll try to work towards a few different goals. Ultimately, all eyes are on success on the pitch, so that's where our focus will be, but we need to get there sustainably and not gamble next season on this season."

On the Shrimpers manager, Rees added: "He's done wonderfully well in very difficult circumstances.

"We've focused too long on the issues away from football, I think all of us just want to watch our team be competitive, cheer when we win and console ourselves when we lose.

"He said he's happiest on the training ground with his team and I'm looking forward to letting him focus on that and giving him the support he needs to lead the team as best he can."

How will the consortium operate?

Southend United will be run by a 10-member consortium led by Justin Rees (second from front)

Rees did not know any of the consortium members before launching his plans to take over the club.

"We are now a team unto ourselves - and there's lots of little micro teams in a football club or any organisation," he said.

"There'll be different views on different decisions from transfer policy to what to do with the renovation of Roots Hall etc.

"One of the things I like about our model is that no single person can make that decision. We purposely designed it so that there was no single majority owner."

There may be no Hollywood involvement in the consortium, but fans hope that new characters in the boardroom can turn the club's story in a positive direction.

"Working with others to get from A to B, doing that in a football context has a lot more appeal than doing it again in IT," Rees said.

"To be able to be in a privileged position to help a great club on the next chapter of its journey is an honour - I'm really looking forward to it."

Justin Rees was talking to BBC Essex sports editor Victoria Polley