Kevin Maher speaks amid fans’ fears that Southend United will play what could be their last ever home match at the weekend.
The Shrimpers manager is keeping optimistic that he will still be in charge in the near future even if Saturday’s fixture against Gateshead could be the club’s last at Roots Hall.
The club owes £1.4m to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, with HMRC lodging a winding-up petition asking the High Court to have it closed down.
There are fears Southend United will play their last ever home match this weekend but Kevin Maher is still planning for what he hopes can be a bright futurehttps://t.co/CShkhIZ9xj
— Chris Phillips (@CJPhillips1982) February 17, 2023
Shrimpers chairman Ron Martin said raising funds was his “primary focus”, but a winding-up hearing is expected to be heard on the 1st of March with Martin understood to be seeking bridging funding of about £5m to cover the club’s debt.
Southend’s future is the chairman’s long-standing ambition to develop Roots Hall – a project expected to yield a multimillion-pound return, with the current stadium expected to turn into 502 new homes for rent once the club moves to a new stadium at Fossetts Farm.
Southend have impressed so far this season despite the chaos going on off it. They are pushing for a playoff place in the National League, hoping to return to League Two. But they also face being wound up.
“The connection between the fans and players is brilliant at the minute.”
Kevin Maher ahead of #SOUvGAT 🎙️
— Southend United FC (@SUFCRootsHall) February 17, 2023
“The players and staff are together and the atmosphere around the place is still really good,” said Kevin Maher, as per Echo News.
“You saw what they produced against Halifax the other night and that’s our focus.
“The other stuff is hopefully on the way to being done and we’ll hopefully have a bright future from there.
“All we can control is the football side and producing good results to keep us in and around the play-offs.
“Fingers crossed we can do that because that makes for a better football club.”
After the game against Gateshead on Saturday, they face away trips to Notts County and Torquay United before the high court appearance.
Players and staff members continue not to be paid their January wages.
“When I was here as a player and we had success it was always very similar to what we have now in terms of the togetherness,” adds Maher.
“I always knew it was something that was massively important to build and create.
“It’s not the easiest thing to do, in fact it’s probably the hardest thing in the football club to create a culture like that.
“But it’s a work ethic which is important.
“They work their socks off every day and that’s players and staff.
“They want to be here, work together and achieve success together.
“The Shrimpers have won their last three league games to sit sixth in the National League standings.”
Fans will again be planning to protest against the ownership of Ron Martin before the game.
Meanwhile, on Friday (17h February), the day before the game, Chris Phillips (@CJPhillips1982) wrote via Twitter: “Ron Martin has just assured me, via email, that Saturday’s game will not be the last at Roots Hall.” Make of that what you will. The owner says a lot of things, Yet they’ve still ended up in this worrying situation with a reality they may not exist come March 2023.
This is what fans said as Kevin Maher speaks amid fans’ fears that Southend will play last ever home match at the weekend…
@JacckCFC: See that Would be helpful if he wasn’t a constant liar
@ScottWallace_: He also assured us, live on TalkSPORT, that we wouldn’t be relegated. The reality was we got relegated twice.
@JB_Allen: Ron Martin assured us multiple times over the past few years we wouldn’t still be having these issues now.
@KetchleyShane: He also assured us 3 years ago that we would not be relegated. 2 relegations in a row followed
@iwilksie: Correct – his going to let the local kids do their end of season cup finals
@jervetheswerve1: Can’t see that he would say it unless bridging loan is close, would just make his popularity even worse than it is. Positive please.
@hund85: The same man who said the finances would be in place in October, thus avoiding all of this uncertainty, stress, panic and quite frankly mayhem to peoples lives not knowing when they will next get paid or if they will have a football club to work for!
@JohnathonnGibbs: I’ll take his word on it, his very trust worthy 🙄😂
@Ryan17421962: Wouldn’t believe anything that man says. Many are going on Saturday because it’s more than likely going to be the last home game. But let’s pray that it’s not
@JamieGreen95: Completely meaningless words from a man that has lied to the fan base too many times. Actions are louder than words, everyone else at the club is pulling in the right direction, time for him to sort himself out
@MarkHudson291: Is he trying to get a home friendly between now and March in then?
@leog216: Can’t believe anything that guy says. It’s got to the point we are all just waiting for March 1st. Anything he says up until then is a load of bs
@Lord_Football: He also said we wouldn’t get relegated. We got relegated TWICE. He’s also not stipulated whether he means “Southend game”.
@WestHamViews09: Why would anyone believe that scummy little runt?! He’s quite literally killing a football club just in the hope his payday of a stadium may eventually happen. What a twat. Scum.
@NonLeagueGuys: Please no. Surely it can’t be their last ever home game. We put listed protection on old falling down buildings but we can’t preserve a football club that gives thousands of people joy. This needs to stop, losing a club can rip the heart from a community #NonLeague #BeSeen 🟠🔵⚫
You must be logged in to post a comment Login