The plans which were submitted in July 2000 for a £12.5 million 16,000 seater stadium on the Fossets Farm site but the proposal fell through almost immediately after a rival property development company revealed that it actually owned much of the site. All the waiting and anticipation could have been for nothing when Southend United came to the brink to extinction after a £400,000 demand from the Inland Revenue went unpaid. Boardroom turmoil saw chairman John Main removed in return for principal benefactor Delancey Estates settling the debt.