Soon to be at a Roots Hall near you, well a touch longer yet
Hurrah, Sainsbury's have finally bought the site of land in Fairfax Drive that belongs to Prospects College and maybe save chiarman Ron Martin's bacon, as the funds will help towards the building of the new 22,000-seater stadium at Fossetts Farm.
Sainsbury's will then move to turn Roots Hall into a supermarket and hundreds of new home where the land at the college site will be used to create access to the planned car park for the supermarket.
This deal has fallen through at the last minute on many occasions, but last Friday Prospects chief executive Neil Bates confirmed lawyers acting on their behalf exchanged contracts for the purchase of its site by the retail giant.
Sainsbury's now has until June 2011 to complete the purchase having paid a "substantial" non-returnable deposit.
Mr. Bates told www.echo-news.co.uk: "We are delighted to have finally exchanged contracts with Sainsbury's. We have been following the difficulties at the football club with interest and more than a touch of sadness. We appreciate how important the club is to the fans. The non-payment of wages to players, the failure to meet legal obligations to pay HM Revenue and Customs and other creditors on time, and the frequent visits to the High Court bring the good name of the club into disrepute."
Well, chairman Ron has a lot to do with that Neil, but he went on to say how he hoped this agreement would help the Blues faithful to see light at the end of a very long tunnel.
Mr. Bates concluded: "We sincerely hope the agreement on the sale of our site, which brings with it a significant increase in the probability of a food store at Roots Hall, and therefore a new stadium at Fossetts Farm, signals the start of better times for the club."
And so say S24 and a few thousand Shrimpers fans!
Both Sainsbury's and Southend United declined to comment.