ANNA Firth, the Member of Parliament for Southend West has today held crunch talks with the National League to discuss the current troubles facing Southend United.

The Southend West MP was joined at the meeting by representatives from the Shrimpers Trust, who were seeking answers to crucial questions with regards to the future of Blues.

And Anna is keen to do all she can to help the club.

She said: “As a Southend United fan and a member of the Shrimpers Trust, the current situation at Southend United is obviously hugely disappointing.

"My main focus is, like every other fan, to ensure the survival of Southend United Football Club.

"These meetings have been hugely beneficial for both myself and the Shrimpers Trust to establish key facts, dates and deadlines that the club must meet for it to continue in its current form.

"I share the frustrations of all Blues fans that this situation is still ongoing and there is so much uncertainty at a time where anticipation for the new season should be at its absolute highest.

"Like all of you, I hope to hear positive news as soon as possible about the takeover and cannot wait to be back at Roots Hall.”

The Shrimpers Trust were keen to gain a deeper understanding of the National League’s stance on various matters in the lead up to the club’s latest High Court appearance on Wednesday.

And the Trust's chairman Paul Fitzgerald believes the league are doing all they can to help Blues.

He said: "The Shrimpers Trust would like to thank Mark Ives, General Manager of The National League, for his time this afternoon and for providing clarity regarding the league’s handling of Southend United’s ongoing issues

"It is clear that the National League will continue doing all that it can to work with the club to get it into a better position, but we respect the fact that it has regulations and competitive integrity to uphold.

"We’d also like to thank the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for engaging with us about the upcoming independent regulator and for assuring us that Southend United is their top ‘red flag’.

"We will continue our work to spread awareness, and we would be happy to feed into the development of legislation by presenting our own experiences of supporting a football club at risk.

"Finally, thanks to Anna Firth MP for helping to facilitate these meetings and her involvement generally in supporting our football club at this difficult time for all Southend United fans."
 
This is the latest meeting that the Southend West MP has been involved with to discuss the current situation at Roots Hall and followed on from another critical meeting with senior officials from the Department of Media, Culture and Sport.
 

For this meeting, Anna was also joined by the Trust, as well as the Football Policy Lead and the Football Regulation Policy Lead at DCMS.

During this meeting, the DCMS officials unfortunately confirmed that Blues were at the top of their ‘worry list’.

Anna advocated for more help to be given to the struggling National League club which included asking about the possibility of emergency relief payment, if necessary.

The officials at DCMS also pledged to continue to engage with the MP and the Trust moving forwards and for the Trust to feed into the Department as they further develop the legislation for football reform.