Southend United: Consortium hope to complete takeover next month
- Published
Justin Rees on his wife's reaction to his plan to buy a football club
The consortium poised to take over Southend United hope the deal can finally be completed next month.
Final ratification depends on the local council, but the group - headed by Australian businessman Justin Rees - have already put £1.5m into the club.
Current owner Ron Martin put Southend up for sale in March last year.
A deal with the consortium, who have been joined by chief executive Tom Lawrence, was agreed in October and contracts were exchanged last month.
Although the Rees group is effectively running the National League club day to day, an agreement with the council to build houses at Roots Hall - Martin's previous preferred option had been to move the club to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm - has to be unpicked.
"My understanding is it's a formality but the timing of it isn't as quick as we'd like. We were hoping the next couple of weeks but I think it will go beyond that," Rees told BBC Essex.
"We're operating as if things are done as much as we can - but of course we'd like it to be officially done.
"We're properly involved but we'd love it all to be done because we're spending a lot of money and putting a lot of effort into something that we don't technically own yet.
"It's an uncomfortable position in that sense but hopefully fans can see that things are operating almost as business as usual, we've had a good [transfer] window, players and staff [contracts] have been renewed, we've brought players in.
"From our perspective, it would be nice for the formalities to [be completed and] give us that support, and to truly have our feet under the table."
As well as Rees, who will replace Martin as chairman when the takeover is completed, the other consortium members are John Watson, Gary Lockett, Tom Arnold, David Kreyling, Paul Redbourn, Ian Redbourn, George Taylor - the son of former Southend East MP Sir Teddy Taylor, Jason Brown and Lawrence.
'Journey towards bright future'
Members of the Justin Rees consortium addressed fans at a Q&A meeting at the Cliffs Pavilion
More than 1,300 Shrimpers fans attended a meeting at the city's Cliffs Pavilion on Thursday evening to hear the consortium outline their plans.
"That's a really good sign of how big the club is," Rees said.
There is an initial £2m shortfall - which he believes they can "trim down" to £1.5m in the short term - and the consortium are looking to generate fresh revenue streams.
Consortium member Watson told the meeting: "That's a funding gap that will be met by the consortium.
"We need all the fanbase to invest in supporting us - when you come to the club, when you buy a pint - whatever it is you're going to buy, buy it from a revenue stream that's going to benefit the club. You don't want to rely on this consortium forever."
Lawrence, who has been CEO since May 2021, said: "It's been a journey over the last three years to get us to this point. It's been a big effort from everybody at the club and I'm delighted Justin has pulled the consortium together and there's a bright future ahead."
"We need to spend a lot of time and effort, and money, redeveloping the facilities at Roots Hall to make it a better fan experience and we need to turn the facilities from a 30-day a year business to a 365-days a year business.
"We are going to take advice from property professionals on how best to achieve that objective. It could be conference and banqueting facilities, we could have weddings there, offices, maybe some apartments, a gym."
Twin targets
Southend twice faced winding up petitions last year and the consortium have set twin targets for the next five years of achieving financial stability, as well as winning promotion back to the English Football League.
"When you see clubs in these sorts of predicaments, it was Southend for a while, it's Reading currently, Bury before that, I think we all have a bit of empathy for these clubs," Rees said.
"We all recognise how important they are and when they go by the wayside, for any reason, I think it hurts any true football fan.
"I didn't want to own a football club for the sake of owning a football club, I wanted something where my energy and drive could maybe make a difference.
"There's no illusions. I think most fans would understand that certainly the expectation when you own a football club is to lose money hand over fist.
"We don't share that expectation - we absolutely will lose a lot of money over the next four to five years because we have to do a bunch of things before we can change the trajectory of the club, but I think football should be more self-sustaining.
"I think most people, if they had the means to own a football club, would hopefully feel like we all do, that it's a huge privilege and an honour."
Southend takeover timeline
17 March 2023: Owner Ron Martin puts club up for sale two weeks after £1.4m HMRC debt is paid and winding-up petition dismissed
4 May: Southend served with another winding-up petition
26 May: Club say they are talking to "three interested parties" over possible sale
15 July: A group of fans stage a protest outside Ron Martin's home, calling on him to "sell up and get out"
21 July: A court hears club has debts of £2.5m but Southend are allowed to pay £300,000 so they can remain in the National League for the 2023-24 season
23 August: Club docked 10 points by the league after High Court issues a final 42-day deadline to find a buyer or face being wound up
3 October: Consortium headed by Justin Rees agrees deal to buy the club
4 October: Winding-up petition over £275,000 HMRC debt dismissed
20 October: Ron Martin says sale of club has been delayed because of 'legal formalities'
4 December: Supporters demands an update on the progress of the sale
6 December: Consortium say they are optimistic the takeover can be "brought to closure shortly"
23 December: Consortium and club exchange sale contracts
28 December: Year-long transfer embargo lifted by National League