Fossetts Farm Stadium

The Fossetts Farm Stadium was a proposed football stadium in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England for Southend United, replacing Roots Hall Stadium in urban Prittlewell. Initial proposals for the new stadium emerged in 1998; planning permission was applied for, and later confirmed by Southend Council, in 2008. At that time the scheme, championed by club chairman and property developer Ron Martin, depended entirely on financing from a proposed adjacent retail and leisure development, which failed to happen. In 2020, a new deal was agreed, based instead on delivery of 1,300 new homes, split between the Fossetts Farm site (c. 800) and Roots Hall (c. 500). However, council planning approval for revised plans including a 16,226-seat stadium had still not been given in August 2023. In September 2023, a consortium bidding to buy Southend United suggested the club might remain at Roots Hall due to the "non-viability" of the stadium project. After the sale of the club to the consortium was confirmed on 3 October 2023, the stadium plan was abandoned. Concerns about the viability of the housing-only development at Fossetts Farm continued, delaying completion of the club's sale until July 2024, by which time the number of homes had been reduced to no more than 850. In December 2024, construction of 805 family homes was expected to start in 2026.