Southend Stadium Plan Features New Casino

Gambling venue to help fund Southend's new football academy.

A new casino has been planned for Southend as part of a development surrounding the Essex town's new football stadium.

The gambling venue will form part of the 22,000-seater Southend United stadium at Fossetts Farm and has been described as a vital part of the project by chairman Ron Martin, the Essex Echo reports.

He said that the building of Southend's planned football academy at the site will not be able to go ahead without the support of the casino, which will take the number of gaming venues in the seaside resort up to four.

"When we were approached by the Rank Group to include its planned casino for the town in the development, it was the obvious answer," Mr Martin told the newspaper.

"Without it, the football academy we are trying to provide would not be a feasible proposition."

Southend play their final game of the League One season against Cheltenham at their current base Roots Hall on Saturday (May 2nd).