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Southend have secured an urgent court order allowing the payment of players and accountants before deadlines that threaten the club’s survival. A lawyer for the National League side told a specialist judge they would “simply cease to exist” if payments to playing staff and for the filing of overdue accounts were not made on Wednesday. Judge Sebastian Prentis heard at an online hearing that players could “walk away” if they did not receive their salaries due at the end of this month, while the National League had said it would withdraw the club’s membership if accounts were not filed “by close of business”. The insolvency and companies court hearing comes after HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) issued a winding-up petition against the non-league club over a £275,000 tax debt. Earlier this month, Southend – who dropped out of the English Football League at the end of the 2020/21 season – were given more time to clear the debt as the owners look into the sale of the club. Barrister Hilary Stonefrost, representing the loss-making side, told Wednesday’s hearing it needed a “validation order” to unfreeze a bank account and make payments. She said this was “to ensure the business of the company can survive under its present ownership long enough for a sale of the company’s shares to new owners”. “The salaries of the footballers and the footballing staff need to be paid today… and if they are not paid they can walk away,” she said. “The National League has said that if they did not file accounts before close of business today then they will withdraw their membership of the league.” Ms Stonefrost apologised for the lateness of the club’s court application, saying management was “very occupied with putting the sale together”, including it being “marketed in America”. In March, it was reported that the club’s parent company had appointed General Sports Worldwide, an American agency, to explore the market for potential buyers or fresh investment. The salaries of the footballers and the footballing staff need to be paid today... and if they are not paid they can walk away Barrister Hilary Stonefrost, for Southend Ms Stonefrost told the hearing that agents were instructed to produce an “investment prospectus”, saying negotiations were being conducted with prospective buyers who had passed “the financial requirement test”. She said club chairman Ron Martin, who observed the online hearing, had given an “undertaking” that sale proceeds would be used to pay HMRC and creditors. Southend’s parent companies, South Eastern Leisure UK Limited and Martin Dawn Plc – both Mr Martin’s family companies – have “always funded this club”, Ms Stonefrost said. She said it was “not necessarily in a timely manner” but money has been raised to pay debts. The club came close to going out of business earlier this year before settling an outstanding bill of £1.4million with HMRC, which has issued a number of winding-up petitions against Southend in recent years. Ms Stonefrost told the court there was a “short-term liquidity” problem with the parent companies in relation to a “huge development in Southend”. Judge Prentis said £25,000 of the club’s current HMRC debt had been paid – with the petition due to be reconsidered on July 12. He said the “manifestly insolvent” club had to provide to the National League accounts for 2020 and 2021, having not filed any to Companies House since July 31 2019. The judge said that unless players were paid they had the right to leave within 14 days “without providing any value to the company through transfer fees”. He granted part of the requested order to cover payments to accountants, footballing staff and lawyers, but said he was “concerned” over “weak” evidence that the club could meet a second National League deadline of June 2 to pay HMRC in full as well as all football creditors. The case will return to court on Monday, when Ms Stonefrost said the judge will receive a National League letter saying it has changed the June deadline. She also committed to providing confidential information on the sale process and detail on how money from a sale would be handled.

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Rob Page accepts that Wales’ Euro 2024 destiny might lie in the play-offs following their damaging draw with Armenia. Wales needed a Nair Tiknizyan own goal on the stroke of half-time to give them a 1-1 draw in Yerevan, when Armenia were the most dangerous side for large parts of a low-quality contest. Croatia are now favourites to take the second automatic qualifying spot behind Turkey, who travel to Cardiff for Wales’ last group fixture on Tuesday safe in the knowledge they will be playing in the finals in Germany next summer. Having dropped points to remove automatic qualification from their own hands, manager Page said: “There’s a disappointed group in there, but we’ve got to pick ourselves up and finish on a high on Tuesday. “Unfortunately it’s now out of our control. With a win, we’d all have been buzzing and looking forward to the game on Tuesday, and a win would have seen us qualify. “It’s not materialised as we’d like, but that’s life and we have to get on with it. “It’s about building momentum and, if it’s a play-off in March, it’s a play-off in March. “If results go for us, we’ve still got an opportunity to qualify (automatically). “We can only control what we can do, get the players in the right frame of mind, mentally and physically ready for Tuesday.” Wales were beaten 4-2 by Armenia – ranked 95 in the world and 67 places below them – at the Cardiff City Stadium in June, and Page’s side were shaken again within five minutes of the Yerevan return. Lucas Zelarayan, who scored twice in Cardiff, worked space on the edge of the area after Wales failed to clear a corner and slotted the ball into the corner of Danny Ward’s net. Page said: “We got off to the worst possible start, we knew they were going to come out the traps fast. I’m disappointed with that. “I thought we grew in the first half and scored at the perfect time. “But the break came at a bad time for us because I thought we were growing in momentum. “We got into some OK positions. Whether it was the final pass or the final ball, that final detail wasn’t quite right for whatever reason. “We threw everything at it and both teams were going for the win. “You could see by the changes we made. We took a wing back-off and put a winger on to try and get as many forward players on the pitch as we could.” Wales had beaten World Cup semi-finalists Croatia last month to put them in control of the race for a top-two place. But on a poor pitch that neither team were able to master, Wales did not remotely come close hitting the heights of that performance. Reflecting on the contrasting two displays, Page said: “It’s not to say there were a lot of players who had off-days, but you do have that in transitions, you have inconsistencies. “I’m not going to fault the players for their effort. Their effort, to a man, was commendable. They gave everything, like they always do. “The pitch was heavy, like nothing we’ve seen back home, but it was the same for both sides. “We’ll get them recovered, have a recovery session on Sunday and go through with the medical team who we’ve got available for Tuesday. “We need to finish the campaign on a high. It’s important to have some momentum if there is a play-off in March.” Read More James McAtee scores twice as England Under-21s win comfortably in Serbia A look at the data behind Virat Kohli’s record 50 ODI centuries Steve Clarke wants return to winning ways – Scotland v Norway talking points Steve Clarke not concerned over which pot Scotland are in for Euro 2024 draw Liam Broady replaces injured Andy Murray in Great Britain’s Davis Cup team Matt Wallace produces stunning back nine display to shoot 60 and lead in Dubai

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