SUFC: The Future SUFC up for sale

[Benfleet A1]

Stan will no doubt be using his contacts to put people in touch with each other and am certain that's already happened.

That said, he's not doing the actual deal himself. More a facilitator. He's not gonna be commenting on behalf of anyone in relation to the sale and nor should he.

I think the sale will happen. I think we'll be surprised at the amount and calibre of interest in our club.

I'm hopeful this will be concluded positively the next few months.

Thank you.

 

[Mr Browns Ghost]

But if we have a new owner who is happy

I'm wondering if any say the purchaser has over the FF stadium will result in delayed planning permission again?. Will the buyer be under pressure by Ron to agree to no changes so that the stadium can be built quickly and Roots Hall turned into housing? It's not an appealing situation for a buyer.

to sustain the club in a proper and proffesional manner then I am in no rush to leave rootshall. It’s only that you have all been brainwashed into leaving rootshall as the key to the clubs success … where actually it’s a property developer advising you of his only chance of success … if we stay and the old girl is patched up I would be more to an happy

 

[GBJ]

But if we have a new owner who is happy

to sustain the club in a proper and proffesional manner then I am in no rush to leave rootshall. It’s only that you have all been brainwashed into leaving rootshall as the key to the clubs success … where actually it’s a property developer advising you of his only chance of success … if we stay and the old girl is patched up I would be more to an happy

Agreed.

I’m sure @Sherif H said (and apologies if I’m wrong) it was possible to flatten RH, dig out the car park, rotate the pitch 90 degrees and build 4 new stands around it.

Only trouble is, Ron ****ing Martin.

 

[Tinks]

Your first paragraph is, I think, wide of the mark. He hasn't put a penny into the club in over a month. He's not even upkeeping the new training ground - as @Smiffy said, he didn't pay for it and it just ticked a planning box.

He's done. He wants nothing to do with the club anymore. I genuinely think he's downed tools (if he ever really held any in the first place). Outstanding debts to HMRC, suppliers and staff will be left for new owners to sort out.

Question marks over how long it will take, so your third paragraph could end up being reality, although fears over whether the club will make it through the summer financially, or beyond the NL AGM, might speed things up.

But certainly for me, any question marks over whether he's serious about selling are disappearing. A deal will have to be done at some point.

I think that is spot on

 

[danbowen]

Maybe the rumoured announcement is that Charlie Boy is going to stand aside and Ronnie is going to be crowned King on Saturday

Think this may be the announcement

 

[Danshrimper]

Agreed.

I’m sure @Sherif H said (and apologies if I’m wrong) it was possible to flatten RH, dig out the car park, rotate the pitch 90 degrees and build 4 new stands around it.

Only trouble is, Ron ****ing Martin.

The other problem with that is how would it be funded? I have no idea how much that would cost but as a complete guess at least £10million to completely re-build Roots Hall (maybe more).

FF funds itself with all the money from the housing. A redevelopment would have to be funded entirely by a new owner. I’m not sure why someone would make such a significant investment when they’re unlikely to get a return, unless they were a Southend fan.

 

[londonblue]

But if we have a new owner who is happy

to sustain the club in a proper and proffesional manner then I am in no rush to leave rootshall. It’s only that you have all been brainwashed into leaving rootshall as the key to the clubs success … where actually it’s a property developer advising you of his only chance of success … if we stay and the old girl is patched up I would be more to an happy

Just because people disagree with you doesn't mean they're brainwashed. It just means they see things differently.

 

[Tommy2holes]

The other problem with that is how would it be funded? I have no idea how much that would cost but as a complete guess at least £10million to completely re-build Roots Hall (maybe more).

FF funds itself with all the money from the housing. A redevelopment would have to be funded entirely by a new owner. I’m not sure why someone would make such a significant investment when they’re unlikely to get a return, unless they were a Southend fan.

It would likely cost 40-50 million to bulldoze roots hall and rebuild

 

[Liam AAS]

The other problem with that is how would it be funded? I have no idea how much that would cost but as a complete guess at least £10million to completely re-build Roots Hall (maybe more).

FF funds itself with all the money from the housing. A redevelopment would have to be funded entirely by a new owner. I’m not sure why someone would make such a significant investment when they’re unlikely to get a return, unless they were a Southend fan.

Can confirm that it would cost at least £10m to flatten Roots Hall and rebuild from the ground up.

 

[JAL]

Honestly thought we were past this 'rebuild Roots Hall' obsession, it cannot be done, it's not a viable option.

 

[Danshrimper]

Can confirm that it would cost at least £10m to flatten Roots Hall and rebuild from the ground up.

Yes it probably was a massive underestimate. The question remains why on earth a new owner who doesn’t support the club would come in and make such an expensive investment.

 

[Blue Yonder]

Brighton were a basket case and had no ground but good management and investment means they are worth multiple times what the new owners have put in. Similar story at Brentford. We were at the same level as these clubs for many years. It would take money and supreme confidence in their ability to build a football club but its possible someone may take us on. The owner having his head in the sand isn't helping. I think he cared once but doesn't appear to give a monkeys now.

 

[Sherif H]

Can confirm that it would cost at least £10m to flatten Roots Hall and rebuild from the ground up.

Based on what?

Here is a very rough worked example for you to consider based on historical costs and application of construction cost indices:

Colchester Community Stadium - 10,000 seats - cost £15m as a new-build in 2007.
Simply applying indexes to get to a theoretical Q1 2024 cost updates that total cost to £24m. This equates to £2,400 / seat which is generally accepted to be extremely low for a new build. This is WITHOUT any demolition and only basic ground prep.

Ergo, to flatten RH and build something equally sized in its place, you'd be looking at closer to £30m.

The only way you could get close to your £10m figure is to work with the existing infrastructure as I have hinted at previously.

 

[Sherif H]

Agreed.

I’m sure @Sherif H said (and apologies if I’m wrong) it was possible to flatten RH, dig out the car park, rotate the pitch 90 degrees and build 4 new stands around it.

Only trouble is, Ron ****ing Martin.

Forget moving the pitch - I can tell you that it would be possible to complete a sympathetic and relatively soft touch redevelopment of Roots Hall by building over the existing stands. If you want to know more, have a look at what we just finished at Fratton Park on the North and South Stands...

Give me half an hour with a new owner, and I'll have an option in front of them to redevelop Roots Hall in its entirety for about a quarter of what it will take to build FF.

 

[Danshrimper]

Forget moving the pitch - I can tell you that it would be possible to complete a sympathetic and relatively soft touch redevelopment of Roots Hall by building over the existing stands. If you want to know more, have a look at what we just finished at Fratton Park on the North and South Stands...

Give me half an hour with a new owner, and I'll have an option in front of them to redevelop Roots Hall in its entirety for about a quarter of what it will take to build FF.

Does that include the cost of purchasing the land at Roots Hall from Ron? Can’t imagine he’ll give it away on the cheap.

 

[Sherif H]

Forget moving the pitch - I can tell you that it would be possible to complete a sympathetic and relatively soft touch redevelopment of Roots Hall by building over the existing stands. If you want to know more, have a look at what we just finished at Fratton Park on the North and South Stands...

Does that include the cost of purchasing the land at Roots Hall from Ron? Can’t imagine he’ll give it away on the cheap.

No - it won't include any acquisition or legal fees - that is almost uncalculatable.

 

[Maldon Blues]

I mean of course rotating the pitch is possible, but impractical really especially as it couldn't be done without the club moving out while its done.

Absolutely Roots Hall could be redeveloped and there's scope for a huge development on the east side, but that's not what we're looking at right now.

 

[Danshrimper]

No - it won't include any acquisition or legal fees - that is almost uncalculatable.

So as good as redeveloping Roots Hall sounds we’d be relying on Ron selling the land at a reasonable price for it to be a viable option for a new owner.

 

[Shrimper]

Based on what?

Here is a very rough worked example for you to consider based on historical costs and application of construction cost indices:

Colchester Community Stadium - 10,000 seats - cost £15m as a new-build in 2007.
Simply applying indexes to get to a theoretical Q1 2024 cost updates that total cost to £24m. This equates to £2,400 / seat which is generally accepted to be extremely low for a new build. This is WITHOUT any demolition and only basic ground prep.

Ergo, to flatten RH and build something equally sized in its place, you'd be looking at closer to £30m.

The only way you could get close to your £10m figure is to work with the existing infrastructure as I have hinted at previously.

"At least £10m"

But it won't happen anyway

 

[SeldomSeenShrimper]

Ron will sadly outlive Southend United at this rate.

You all laughed at me when I said he wouldn't sell. I truly believe it's in his best interests for the club to fold so he can use the land.

No one is going to spend millions on a National League South side