‘Beyond the 11th hour’: Southend United avoid winding-up order

Southend were ordered to pay a £1m bond by the National League in order to compete next season. Photograph: David Levene/The Guardian

Southend’s winding up petition was dismissed at the high court on Wednesday after a late deal was struck “beyond the 11th hour” with the club’s last remaining creditor.

After a dramatic week when the National League told Southend to provide a £1m bond in order to compete in the coming season because of uncertainty over their financial situation, the club chairman, Ron Martin, was in London for the rescheduled hearing having been given an extra month to settle debts with the legal firm Stewarts and a former club sponsor.

On Tuesday, Stewarts confirmed it had reached a settlement with Southend and would be asking for its winding up petition to be dismissed. The hearing at the Rolls building went ahead, but it lasted less than two minutes after Martin was able to strike a deal with the former sponsor outside the courtroom.

“It was beyond the 11th hour,” said Martin, who has agreed a takeover deal with the Custodians of Southend United (Cosu) consortium, headed by an Australian businessman, Justin Rees. “It’s very good news for the club and paves the way for the future. I very much hope that we are nearing the end of this long journey and things will settle down. Hopefully, we can get back to playing football and take the club back to where it deserves to be.”

It is understood Martin is due to meet members of Cosu and the local council to discuss the takeover and how to resolve issues over a housing development at Fossetts Farm, where Martin had previously planned to relocate the Shrimpers. “I hope we will reach an agreement,” he said. “That’s what we all want to do, but it’s important that we reach the right agreement.”

Cosu said on Tuesday that it was hoping to complete its takeover immediately and “allow the housing negotiations and due diligence at Fossetts to continue subsequently”. They also criticised the National League’s decision to force Southend to provide a bond.

“At a time when the wider football world is voicing concerns surrounding the future of Southend United Football Club, it’s remarkable that our league is only making the situation more difficult to resolve,” it said.

Southend’s supporters’ group, the Shrimpers Trust, also called on the National League to “show compassion” and has urged Martin to “take this deal or lose everything”. The Trust said: “As the situation around Southend United becomes more complex, it gets harder to find the clarity needed to digest, process and reiterate that this wonderful football club stretches beyond lease agreements, debt and turmoil. We have to remind ourselves of its history and the memories we cherish, because the present is traumatic.”

Southend were deducted 10 points by the National League last August after failing to meet a deadline to pay a £275,000 tax bill but still finished ninth.