Southend United have been granted an extra week to settle an unpaid tax bill with Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs.

The League One outfit faced a winding- up order in the High Court on Wednesday over a debt of about £400,000.

In March they were given 35 days to settle the debt, having already paid a tax bill of £2.1m last November.

However, they have been given a further stay of execution after the court was told they are planning to transfer the money owed within the next few days.

They have been consistently late paying wages this season, with February's only paid last week, and March's still due.

Southend are five points adrift of safety in the League One relegation zone, and manager Steve Tilson believes off-field problems are not helping their form.

"Long-term, I keep saying, it looks rosy," said Tilson. "But long-term is no good for us at the moment. We want to stay in this division and build from that."

Chairman Ron Martin says he is keen for the club to move to a new stadium and grow, telling fans on his blog that "we are not a club [and I could name many] who are content to stay in the lower echelons of League One or Two.

"To simply be satisfied at playing League football will never be a 'turn on' for me as chairman."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version