Save our Southend Save Our Southend

[Rayleigh boy]

7. Regarding the comment about 5,000 shares at £200 - that'll buy 2 months survival, max. Not the shares.

A wider subscription offer would of course raise a lot more money ... and certainly administrators would be interested in any viable buyers. There is also some robust revenue streams attached to the club.

and don't 0% interest rates - plus lge 2 is full of tiny clubs ...

Anyway - its been done before and can be done again.

Whatever happens will have my full armchair support.

 

[TrueBlue]

Didn't realise you were behind this Scott. Any chance of a call to talk it over?

of course do you have my number still? If so go for it, free now all day

 

[onceknownasrab]

Actually, Sheffield FC are the oldest Association football club in the world, Notts County are the oldest "professional" club. But your point is absolutely valid, more so indeed as Notts County were one of the 12 founder members of the Football League, so dropping from the league must have been even more galling.

I stand corrected.

 

[Lord Football]

I think a few things need to be highlighted

1. This movement needs to bring together as many supporters and supporters groups as possible. We do that with a hearts and minds approach, we will talk to anyone and if people or groups do not want to be part of this, that is their right. But no one is excluded.

2. Nobody is diminishing the great work the Trust have done over the years - we just feel that right now and for this issue, different voices and a different approach is needed. We'd hope to work with The Trust, and if individuals from the Trust consider it a bit "too militant" we understand. We have open dialogue with the Trust. We are friends, we will remain friends.

3. What are our objectives is a really good question. To be honest, this has come together very quickly - we hadn't anticipated Ron's "we'll zoom on Thursday" announcement. So we find ourselves having to run to make sure we strike when the iron is hot. We are thinking about a worst case scenario that the whole thing goes belly up. So we have people on board who know how to handle the FA, ECFA, ESL and have the knowledge to start from the beginning. Hopefully, we never need to do that. We need the assurance that there will be a football club in this borough for the long term, with or without the current Chairman. The one thing I know about this supporter base is that we have a tremendous amount of knowledge and skills - that needs to be tapped into. That can't happen when we are fobbed off with stories from the Phil Brown era and given promises that don't materialise. We need transparency, openness and honesty from the top.

4. What we aren't about is toxic demonstrations, abuse, name calling and the like. The names working behind the scenes here (and I supposed I've just outed myself) in the main have been coming to games for over 30 years. I know we'll get described as a "protest group", but we aren't. I'd consider us more of a lobbying / action group. If we need to protest in the future, it is an option - but hopefully we never need to get there.

Hope that fills in some gaps.....

 

[Tommy2holes]

This is a really interesting thread and one that needs to be discussed.

Ultimately, I believe Ron has lost interest in moving the club forward and more importantly the money needed to keep it stable and effective.

Once Ron has planning and makes his money on the property etc, he will be far more amenable to selling or handing over the reigns.

The sad thing is, that he has gambled and robbed Peter to pay Paul for many years in the hope that the stadium would be green lighted before mass damage has been done. Unfortunately this season has been a season too many and we look set to drop at the exact moment that we finally get set to move.

This worries me. Not only because we could end up treading non league water for a good few seasons but also because I can see us being stuck in a fairly dull 3 sided stadium for many years.

The sad fact remains. Ron will not sell and he won't invest again until the stadium happens.

If and when the stadium is built, I'd love him to handover the stadium to the club and allow a fan based board to run the club.

As for the here and now, it would very much appear that things are on a knife edge, both financially and status wise.

The best outcome. Stadium green light and finish 22nd. Stabilise and make plans to move forward.

Worst case scenario. We lose our league status and the stadium gets turned down and Southend go bust.

We need answers, we need reassurance but I doubt that anyone can get Ron to remotely loosen any of the cards that he keep close to his chest.

But if we can then we should and I'm behind any initiative to benefit the club.

 

[Reefs]

Easier said than done, but my favoured approach would be, initially at least, to extend an olive branch to Ron and discuss the feasibility of bringing outside investment on board, and what that financial model could look like.
I'm by no definition an expert on this topic, but, going public, floating the Club on the stock market would make the possibility of inward investment far more likely and would make the Club a far more attractive proposition, but there are also a myriad of complexities involved in getting to that stage - not least the maze of companies involved in the make-up of Southend, many of which appear to be merely paper companies.

 

[sufc4life21]

People shouldn't underestimate what fan power can actually achieve. If it gets the publicity and the numbers behind it, can go long way.

Blackpool/orient/charlton fans took action and got what they wanted.

If the vast majority of fans put sustained pressure for change then surely at some point the owner of a football club has to consider his position.

You can argue the power is very much in the fans hands.

 

[ItsMichaelBlack]

If Southend folded would there be a Southend afc ?

 

[Smiffy]

Well I personally welcome a new "group"...any pressure that can be applied on the Chairman no matter how big or small, is a huge positive in my book. I fail to see how anyone could suggest otherwise right now. The club is a complete disaster from top to bottom and has been for many years. Something needs to change. Surely we can all agree on that.

It's what needs to change and how can it be achieved are the questions and answers we as a fanbase need to work out. I'm sure SOS will only help to facilitate this.

For too long the Chairman has played russian roulette with our club, with the end goal being a retirement pot and legacy for him and the family (no issue with that) the stadium merely a sideshow and I suspect an inconvenience to him to be quite honest. If I were in charge and not a lifelong fan I'd likely have the same view I guess.

But, as there always is.....If you are entrusted to operate our club to achieve your end goal, it must be looked after and operated in a manner the fans expect and deserve. If not, then rightly the person in charge should be held accountable and questioned by the fans. For whatever reason this has not really happened as yet in terms of proper concerted pressure and acceptable answers day after day after day. Despite some superb efforts from various groups and individuals.

Has our club been looked after and operated in a manner we deem acceptable and deserve?...that's for the rest of you to answer, but if it's anything less than a resounding NO I really would be gobsmacked. I don't need to go over all the reasons why I believe it hasn't, the facts and figures and the cold hard truth of where we are right now, speak for themselves. It's irrefutable.

I think having read numerous posts on here, twitter, facebook etc, there is a very large (dare I say it big majority now) of fans that are very angry and want answers, but feel like they don't have a voice or feel like they have had the life sucked out of them. With zero chance of influencing or getting any clarity of where our club is headed. Which is very sad. Every football fan should at the very least feel wanted by their club, feel like they have a voice and can do their bit to shape its future. But as I've said above, I believe a lot of our fans no longer feel this way, myself included....This MUST change.

Speaking personally, I couldn't give a toss if we have Fossetts Farm, Roots Hall or wherever as our home. Or what division we are in. All I want is a home and for my club to be looked after carefully by its owner and operated in a professional manner. Not teetering on the edge of death season after season, not being dragged through the mud time and time again because the person in charge refuses to change his ways and is so focused on his end goal and not that of the fans. Take a cut on the retirement pot if needed, get a CEO in that can run the club properly and get the club back on an even keel. Get your bloody legacy built and then hand the club, stadium and training facilities over debt free and rent free to the fans, or a consortium that has been carefully vetted first by the fan groups. Do what you like then with the housing, go and live in the Cayman's......couldn't care less. Just leave our club in a healthy state, once you have earned an eye watering retirement pot off the back of it. That is the least we deserve.

Dreamland?...Yeah maybe, but this is what I would like to see and that is the point I would like to see SOS put across on my behalf. I suggest those of you with similar or indeed completely different "dreams" make contact with and support the group and give yourself a voice. That is the very least you deserve as a fan of your club. I believe SOS hopefully with the support of other fans and groups, have the ability to get the clarity we all need for the short and long term future of our club. If that is not forthcoming from the Chairman, then I would hope SOS along with the support of all others, will be in a position to arrange and lead appropriate demonstrative action on a scale this club has never seen...certainly not since the Vic days... "Don't bite the hand that feeds you"...

We have put up with this crap for far too long and buried our heads hoping tomorrow will be different. Time for that to change, for the sake of our club.

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Too much stuff getting lost. Can I just see a billet point agenda of what you hope to achieve please

Agendas arrived at the (Crooked) Billet (while doubtless providing a lot of fun) are probably not too conclusive.

 

[Napster]

OK I'm in.

 

[FarmdogSUFC]

of course do you have my number still? If so go for it, free now all day

I'll give you a bell after this work call mate

 

[TrueBlue]

Sure

I'll give you a bell after this work call mate

 

[TrueBlue]

If Southend folded would there be a Southend afc ?

I would do everything in my power to make that happen

but ONLY if SUFC itself can’t be saved.

I’m not a fan of going rogue starting a new club and splitting our fan base as nobody wins

 

[Westcliff DGS]

Can i ask, what if Ron says he is happy with the structure of the board etc as is, what do you do then?

If we stay up, the stadium gets approved and finances are there due to that, what would your goals be then?

Just trying to understand etc

 

[TrueBlue]

Can i ask, what if Ron says he is happy with the structure of the board etc as is, what do you do then?

If we stay up, the stadium gets approved and finances are there due to that, what would your goals be then?

Just trying to understand etc

I would love for that to happen personally but that’s why the future security of the club after Ron has gone is just as important, questions need to be asked about who will own the stadium things like that, what future ownership would look like and how we can stop this mess from happening again

 

[Westcliff DGS]

I would love for that to happen personally but that’s why the future security of the club after Ron has gone is just as important, questions need to be asked about who will own the stadium things like that, what future ownership would look like and how we can stop this mess from happening again

Hasnt Ron already said the stadium would be owned by the club? I thought he said that when things were coming about about planning approval.

Say he leaves it to his son And things continue in his vein but they are happy with the structure, what would your aims be then?

As for the mess, it has happened to a few clubs, look at the national league there are old league clubs littered around the division and below, how to stop it is a big question it may not all be structure could be a lot of things. I just wish to understand thats all just so i get a grip.

The problem I have with these things, and I have worked in football, is that fans disagree all the time on whats right and wrong for the club, signings, style of play etc, a fans representative ultimately can have an impact but only if they truly represent a clear majority if opinions not split opinions or their own opinion. So to get an understanding would be great for me

 

[basilrobbie]

Hi there, I've read this thread with interest. I'm the Secretary of the Blackpool Supporters Trust.

I won't waste time with sympathy, you have probably had a bellyful of that. But I noted what was said at post 1 about reaching out to fans of other clubs, including us. So:

1. We would be delighted to help, if we can. We have a lot of experience of football politics (much of it difficult), and will gladly pass it on.

2. We'll also advise, WHEN we understand what your aims are and IF you want us to.

3. I'll say this up front - if you want to build up a coalition of support and interest beyond your own fan base, then the Football Supporters Association are probably your best friend. And they will probably want to see the Supporters Trust playing a prominent role in whatever you have planned.

4. Dealing with the football authorities will be one of the most challenging things you have to face. The prevailing climate is changing, but painfully slowly. You will need to be imaginative in this area, and again, we have a lot of experience of this that might be relevant.

I can be contacted by e-mail at bst-secretary@blackpoolsupporterstrust.com

Robbie

 

[leeblue]

Ron walks the day after planning permission is granted...writes off debt owed to all the various BS companies he has created. Then hands it over to his son......what then?

 

[leeblue]

Also I see this #notapennymore
Is the proposal that denying our cash strapped club....cash is going to help in any way. This will surely deepen the crisis and prolong the issues.
Or Ron says Okie dokie you can have the club...that's 15 million in 'loans the club owes me.