Plans for new Southend stadium at Fossetts Farm scrapped

Until 2024, when Southend scrapped their plans to move to a new ground at Fossetts Farm, the saga about a new venue had dragged on for years. The U-turn has, however, saved the club financially. The Shrimpers will now remain at Roots Hall.

According to the Southend Echo, the club will now focus on building homes at Fossetts Farm to raise funds towards further upgrades at Roots Hall. An agreement with Thames Plaza through Southend-on-Sea City Council will also see a phased payment of £12 million channelled towards the redevelopment of Southend stadium.

Why have Southend scrapped new stadium plans?

The saga has been ongoing since 2017, when the club agreed with Southend-on-Sea Borough Council to build 500 residential homes on Roots Hall and extra housing on the site of the proposed new stadium. The income from these developments was planned to provide the necessary finance to build the new stadium, which was initially planned to hold 21,000 fans.

The club's takeover by the COSU consortium was completed in July 2024. Sadly, while this is good news for Southend United as a club, plans to continue the Fossetts Farm development will not be continued as a stadium project. The plans for the project will continue, though it will be a purely residential project. However, the original plans for the homes have been cut down to around 800 to 850. The project won't start till 2026, despite plans being approved in late 2024.

How the new stadium may have looked

Southend United's financial problems linked to stadium U-turn

Those ambitious ideas were then downgraded to a 16,226-seater stadium, with plans for a hotel also dropped, but the new report recently approved by the Council will see 1,300 homes built on the Fossetts Farm site instead.

This emergency ruling is thought to have saved the club from financial ruin, as Southend United's new stadium plans were blocking Australian IT millionaire Justin Rees's proposed takeover of the club.

While full details have not yet been agreed upon, the Council decision may allow room for Roots Hall to be redeveloped instead.

What will happen to Roots Hall now?

In March 2025, Southend-on-Sea City Council agreed a deal with Thames Plaza to enable the construction of new homes at Fossetts Farm. The deal is not only significant for the local area but also for Southend United as the deal has unlocked £12m of funding to go towards the development of Roots Hall. Roots Hall has been the home ground for Southend since 1955.

With that, the club can now put the Fossett's Farm development behind them and focus on upgrading what they currently have.

Notable upgrades expected at Roots Hall under the new ownership include:

• Replacement of floodlights with LEDs.
• Installation of a new video scoreboard, increased bar capacity and new external signage.
• Introduction of a new Fan Zone outside Roots Hall.
• Opening up Northern Bank to accommodate more home fans.

Leader of the council, Daniel Cowan, said:

“I am delighted to confirm that the changes we agreed between the Council and Thames Plaza have passed due diligence and that the deal has been signed.

“Securing investment of this magnitude into the delivery of housing for our communities and in turn, big improvements for Roots Hall, is a huge vote of confidence in the city and demonstrates our commitment to driving change and delivering much-needed, high-quality market and affordable homes to rent.”