Southend United

[SuperNickyWroe]

Sad news again about Southend.....
Hate to see this happening to any club - in court again on May 17th.
But could it be our saviour re an NL place for 2023/4....???

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65479942

[Brewers boy]

There will be an appeal again and by the time anything happens we will be half way through next season. It's time the EFL stepped in to stop things like this happening. It's just blatant cheating.

[Willowgull]

Southend have only recently settled a debt exceeding 1 million. To be faced with another winding up order so soon might be too much for them. Perhaps a glimmer of hope for us! But we weren't good enough and deserved to go down.

[Yellow6]

…. Or would the EFL just relegate only one team?

[SuperNickyWroe]

Southend have only recently settled a debt exceeding 1 million. To be faced with another winding up order so soon might be too much for them. Perhaps a glimmer of hope for us! But we weren't good enough and deserved to go down.

Agree, but we haven't used money we certainly couldn't afford.
The HMRC will have called in £2.45m from them in the last three months.

[SuperNickyWroe]

…. Or would the EFL just relegate only one team?

It would go down the pyramid from the league in which the club is in.
So if they were to go under, it would be every league including and below the NL in the area that the team is based in.
So three down from NL, three down from NLS etc.

[Gull1899]

I think as others have said by time any of this would go through we will already have planned & be put into NLS.

They may run with odd number of teams or do something else if worst happened to Southend but we won’t be saved.

We need to be focused on recruitment now to really have a dominant season in NLS.

[TerryTorq]

According to GOV.UK/Companies House, Southend United last submitted accounts up to July 2019.

[gullintwoplaces]

…. Or would the EFL just relegate only one team?

It would be legally & morally wrong to only relegate one team from the EFL. The league Southend have played in during 2022/23 is the National League, if their potential insolvency happens it should surely only have implications for teams who played in that league during 2022/23. I don’t want us being saved like this, we don’t deserve it, but nor do I want Hartlepool, who were totally unaffected by Southend’s performance on field or financial shenanigans off it, saved!!!

[TUFCfan]

Hope for Southend fans sake that their club doesn't go under, not a nice prospect to have to face. By the time it's resolved and in the event of a worse case scenario for Southend I imagine it would likely just result in only 23 teams in the NL for a season, like after Bury folded, with only 3 going down next season.

[SuperNickyWroe]

I think as others have said by time any of this would go through we will already have planned & be put into NLS.

They may run with odd number of teams or do something else if worst happened to Southend but we won’t be saved.

We need to be focused on recruitment now to really have a dominant season in NLS.

The club could be wound up on May 17th.....

[Gull1899]

They’ve had lots of adjournments, I’m sure on 17th May that would be case again if they don’t have the money. If they did go under or relegated by NL , then I think they’d just run with 23 teams next season. I really don’t see us being reprieved

[Samtq4t]

If unable to pay more debts in next 12 days club have all its points taken off them. We would stay up, I’m not sure what would happen to them, may be a Macclesfield situation of starting again further down.

[happytorq]

there's no way this is going to save us. Think about it - the club has already started the squad building process for the coming season in NLS. If we were granted a last minute reprieve, where does that leave us? With a bunch of players who we thought would be playing part-timers now forced to play other full-time pros. Take Hall and Moxey - maybe they feel they can do a really good job in NLS, but in NL it's probably that they'd be found out.

One of two things will happen to Southend - either they fold entirely and next season will be a 23-team division, or they'll somehow start the season but will have an instant points reduction (probably 12) for going into administration. Either way, it won't help Torquay United.

[yeovilgull]

…. Or would the EFL just relegate only one team?

That couldn’t work. Two sides are going up from the National League so if only one came down L2 would have 25 teams next year.

I can’t really see us benefitting this season and wouldn’t really want us to that way. If Southend do go then next season they may have only three teams go down but with four up from NLS and NLN to bring it back to 24 teams.