THERE was plenty to digest from the consortium close to taking charge at Southend United last night.

Here are 10 things we learnt from an entertaining evening at the Cliffs Pavilion.

1.TOM LAWRENCE JOINS CONSORTIUM

Southend United chief executive Tom Lawrence has been added to the consortium.

Lawrence has been with the Shrimpers since the summer of 2021 and will now be working closely with Justin Rees.

2.GOVERNANCE

The custodians of Southend United (COSU) sit at the top of the pile with the fan advisory board under that. From there comes a junior fan advisory board, liaison meetings, working groups, surveys, focus groups and supporter groups. It was confirmed a fan advisory board will be established to ensure a formal voice into the main board.

3.THE MAIN BOARD

The board is made up of Justin Rees, Tom Lawrence, John Watson, Gary Lockett, Jason Brown and David Kreyling.

4.STRUCTURE

Custodians of Southend United are again at the top but there is no single majority shareholder.

Below COSU comes Southend United and the properties of Southend United.

The properties and football club are now back within the same group structure.

5. STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS

A new scoreboard will be installed and number of ideas are being looked into for Roots Hall including safe standing and home fans watching from the North Bank again.

6. CLUB SHOP

Blues are currently in the final year of their agreement with Macron who run the club shop. The club are still reviewing what the best way forward from here will be.

7. WOMEN’S TEAM

Justin mentioned several times during the evening how he’s a fan of women’s football and is keen to help Southend United’s ladies side progress.

He said: “Women's football is a huge passion of mine. We will put proper plans in place. I'm really excited it. Let’s give the girls as much support as possible. There's a big focus on this being one club."

8. FOCUS AREAS

The consortium have outlined their five focus areas - sustainability, football, fans, facilities and community.

9. ACADEMY

Justin is a fan of having an academy and there being a pathway of talent. Blues currently operate just an under 19 team but the consortium are aware of the proud history the club has of producing players and want that to continue.

10. HIGH PRAISE

The night finished with Kevin Maher and John Still on stage. John has not spoken publicly too much since being brought in by Blues but given his long career in football his praise for Kevin Maher is worth noting.

He said: “Kevin has done an unbelievable job. He spoke to me about coming in and I wasn't sure to be honest. But he's very enthusiastic and I wanted to help in his first job.

"It's far beyond anything I've ever come across. 99.9 per cent of clubs wouldn't have kept their players but they stuck together and it's made the team stronger. That's down to Kevin, Darren and Mark."