Rees consortium completes Southend takeover

Southend United were founded in May 1906

A consortium led by Australian businessman Justin Rees has finally completed a takeover of Southend United.

Contracts between the group and former owner Ron Martin were exchanged in December, nine months after he put the National League club up for sale.

The sale had been drawn out over months because of issues surrounding housing development plans relating to Fossetts Farm, a site where Martin had previously hoped to relocate the Shrimpers.

The consortium, COSU (Custodians of Southend United), had previously confirmed the club will remain at Roots Hall, their home since 1955.

"The consortium is delighted to announce that the purchase of Southend United Football Club has been successfully completed," said a statement.

"The process, which began in July 2023, was complex and as a result has taken longer than any of us anticipated.

"Completing a complicated deal such as this requires hard work and compromise on all sides.

"With that in mind, we would like to extend our thanks to Ron and Jack Martin, who have acted with integrity and professionalism throughout our dealings, aiming to find solutions as quickly as possible to the many complex and challenging changes that arose along the way."

The statement added: "We now turn our attention to the start of the new season and hope that the Southend community will unite behind Kevin Maher and the Blues squad.

"There remains much work to be done but with the support of the city, we are confident of a bright future for the Shrimpers."

Consortium includes lifelong fans

The consortium led by Justin Rees (second from right) have bought Southend from former owner Ron Martin

Rees is expected to be the new chairman, though much of the day-to-day running of the club will continue to be done by chief executive Tom Lawrence.

He has been in post since May 2021 and said at the start of the 2023 that financial problems had left the club with an annual funding gap of about £2m.

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.

"The news we’ve all been waiting for. Proud to have played a small part in this," Southend-On-Sea Council leader Daniel Cowan said on X, formerly Twitter.

In a statement, the Shrimpers Trust supporters' group - who have in the past loaned money to pay staff wages - said: "There are still matters to resolve, but they can now be completed in a place where the existential threat towards Southend United has been removed."

The statement added: "Southend United Football Club has the chance to thrive and rise again on a sustainable and collaborative foundation, and we look forward to playing our part."

They also thanked fans of Blackpool, Crewe, Reading, Scarborough Athletic, Scunthorpe and Torquay - who have also experienced major financial problems - for the "amazing support" provided as the Trust "sought to safeguard the future of our club".

Southend were formed in May 1906 and in their 118-year history have been as high as the second tier of English football in the 1990s and again in 2006-07, a season which also saw them reach the League Cup quarter-finals.

They missed out on a play-off place last season because of a 10-point penalty imposed by the National League because of their financial issues.

COSU have been effectively running the club since the contracts were exchanged and Rees told BBC Essex in May that they had already spent £3.5m.

The following month, however, they were ordered to provide a £1m bond by the league who were concerned about Southend's "ability to fulfil its financial obligations" for the coming season.

But the latest in a series of winding-up petitions the club has faced was dismissed on 26 June leading to the lifting of a second transfer embargo imposed in May, just five months after the previous one ended, having been in place for over a year.

The Fossetts Farm development is now subject to a second due diligence exercise by Southend-On-Sea Council.

Who is Justin Rees?

Justin Rees has said his wife burst into tears when he told her he wanted to buy Southend

Although born in Australia, and a graduate of the University of Technology in Sydney, Justin Rees also has British citizenship through his father.

He was the co-founder of Eighty20 Solutions, and later sold a majority stake to the Singtel Group based in Singapore.

Rees has been a football fan since boyhood and still plays for Old Southendian FC's veterans side.

In January, he ruled out any prospect of Southend following the big-money model of Wrexham, who have climbed from the National League to League One under the ownership of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

"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," he said.

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

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

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

4 April 2024: London law firm lodges application to wind up Southend

6 April: Ron Martin says he expects the sale to be concluded by mid-May

15 May: Winding up petition adjourned for the final time with sale of club expected to be completed within six weeks

24 June: Southend told to post £1m bond by National League because of ongoing financial issues

26 June: Latest winding-up petition dismissed

19 July: Confirmation of takeover by COSU