Southend United takeover completed
A consortium led by Australian Justin Rees has completed the takeover months after agreeing purchase
Last updated 19th Jul 2024
The long-awaited takeover of Southend United has been completed, with a consortium taking control from former owner Ron Martin.
Contracts had been exchanged between both parties back in December, though there were delays relating to a housing development, where Martin had hoped to move the team to.
The National League side have been struggling financially and in 2023 were deducted 10 points for failing to pay money owed to HMRC.
The Consortium is delighted to announce that the purchase of Southend United Football Club has been successfully completed.
The National league haven't said whether they'll still pursue a bond from the club before the start of the new season.
In a statement they said "We welcome this positive news following a turbulent time for the Football Club.
"We would like to thank all parties involved in the takeover which will enable the Club and its supporters to move forward."
The consortium, which includes lifelong Shrimpers fans, released a club statement:
All parties would like to take this opportunity to thank the SUFC staff, suppliers, and fans of the club for their unwavering support throughout this period.
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.
We also thank the Councillors and Officers of Southend-on-Sea City Council. The three parties have been united in finding a resolution.
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.
We hope to see you at Roots Hall for our season opener against York City as we begin this new journey together.