Southend urge clubs to follow governance lead

Chief executive Tom Lawrence is a member of the consortium running Southend United

Southend United believe other clubs should follow their lead after joining forces with an independent governance specialist to ensure future sustainability.

The partnership with Indigo is believed to be the first in UK football and follows a takeover by a consortium headed by Australian businessman Justin Rees in July.

They bought the club from long-time owner Ron Martin following years of financial issues, which saw Southend facing several winding-up orders, placed under transfer embargos and deducted points by National League.

"It's a model other clubs should certainly look at. We think that by uplifting transparency, communications and governance, our supporters will feel comfortable about how the business is being run," chief executive Tom Lawrence told BBC Essex.

"There have been some difficulties over the last few years but we are thankfully through that now and can draw a line under it and move forward."

The partnership, announced last week, follows the reintroduction of the Football Governance Bill in the King's Speech by the Labour government.

It could lead to the introduction of an independent football regulator to oversee the top five divisions of the English game.

The regulator would have powers surrounding three main objectives: improving financial sustainability of clubs, ensuring financial resilience across the leagues and safeguarding English football's heritage.

Indigo director David Gracie, a Southend supporter, said: "It's important for clubs to get on the front foot with this.

"With Tom and the new owners coming in it's an ideal opportunity to really look at how the club's going to be run, work out where the strengths are and what can be improved and ultimately this is going to lead to better outcomes for fans and a much more sustainable club.

"It's not going to be a magic wand that's suddenly going to transform results on and off the pitch, but it will give much greater clarity about what's going on at the club."

Southend have only taken one point from their last three league games and are currently 16th in the National League table.

"We want to be a sustainable club, we need to find value. We're not going to buy our way out of this league in the manner others have, Wrexham and so on," added Lawrence.

"We're going through a difficult period (on the pitch) but we'll all stick together and we will get through it. There are plenty of games left."

The club's past financial problems were highlighted by a reported loss of £2.7m in the 2021-22 financial year and speaking in early 2023, Lawrence said they had an annual funding gap of £2m.

Gracie believes Indigo's work off the pitch, assessing how the club is being run, will complement efforts to bring success on it.

"We'd all love to have short-term success and to see us flying up the leagues as quickly as we possibly can. But we have to recognise that with that comes greater risk," he said.

"We are absolutely trying to avoid (the situations) the Burys, the Macclesfields (found themselves in) and that is the reason this has become such a big issue and why the football governance code is coming into play.

"These are clubs - the Burys, Macclesfields and Southends - that really are at the heart of the community and this is all about trying to ensure that community has a club for the long-term future."