Southend will be back in court in seven days to face the taxman again over unpaid taxes.
HMRC have placed another winding up order on the club over £200,000 owing from April and May. They will meet on July 8th. The club, again, says it will meet the debt but fans are increasingly concerned at the regular appearances.
The Shrimpers not only don't have enough players to field a starting XI, and three of their signed players have indicated a desire to leave, but they also have a transfer embargo due to an unpaid £120,000 debt to the PFA. They are also due to repay their Supporters Trust £60,000 yesterday on an interest free loan gained at the end of 2009, but the ST have expressed their disappointment that the club have refused to meet them to discuss the matter.
Meanwhile, departed defender Alan McCormack told the Southend Echo why he quit the club: "The way we have been treated in the last six months can only be summed up in one word and that's disgraceful. When you work hard all week you expect to be paid at the end of it, and there was just no communication either. We tried to keep on battling but the problems made it harder. It's a sad way to have left the club because I did have some fantastic times at Southend and it really did become my second home."
Update: The Southend Echo says that Charterhouse Commercial Finance has also issued a winding up order against the club for an, as yet, unspecified sum. That hearing is scheduled for July 14th.