Southend United plans new state-of-the-art 21,000-seater stadium

Southend United is set to get a new state-of-the-art stadium. Plans for the new Blues 21,000-seater stadium were lodged in April and registered last week, but have only recently been made available publicly on Southend Council’s website, owing to their vast size.

The plans confirm the 18,516 square metre stadium site at Fossetts Farm in Eastern Esplanade, Southend, will include a club shop and a restaurant. There will also be a 107-bedroom hotel on the north stand of the stadium, which Hilton Hotels have shown an interest in running.

A total of 376 homes will be built, with 182 apartments in the north stand and the remaining 194 apartments located in three separate blocks. Two “soccer domes” are in the designs, one for community use and the other for the Southend United Football Club academy.

The club has also applied for outline planning permission for 36,603 square metres of retail and restaurant space with room for a 12-screen cinema. The scheme will be delivered in phases, with the first phase being the building of the east, west and south stands of the stadium accessed from Fossetts Way. This will have a capacity of 13,893 seats.

It will be followed by the construction of the “Fan Plaza” residential area with shops on the ground floor. More shops, restaurants and the cinema will follow and once complete work will start on the north stand with a 7,107-seat capacity along with further apartments.

The first part of the development will allow the club to move from its current Roots Hall site where it is planned to build more than 600 homes. This will provide the finance for the second part of the stadium development. Weston Homes have already acquired the former Prospects College site at Roots Hall.

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