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| Full name | Southend United Football Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | The Shrimpers, The Seasiders, The Blues |
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| Founded | 1906 | ||
| Ground | Roots Hall Victoria Avenue Southend-on-Sea (Capacity: 12,306) |
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| Chairman |  Ron Martin |
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| Manager | Steve Tilson |
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| League | League One | ||
| 2008–09 | League One, 8th | ||
| All-time top scorer | Roy Hollis (135) | ||
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Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who currently play in League One of the English Football League. The club plans to move into a new 22,000 seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm in the near future, but no substantial work has yet commenced.
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History
Rivalry
The club has a local rivalry with fellow Essex side Colchester United. The two clubs were promoted from League One at the end of the 2005–06 season after a long battle for top spot was eventually won by the Shrimpers. The rivalry extends back many years. At the end of the 1989–90 season Southend's promotion from the Fourth Division coincided with Colchester's fall from the Football League and the clubs had to wait almost 15 years before meeting once again in competition when they met in the Southern Final of the Football League Trophy; the Shrimpers triumphed 4–3 on aggregate to secure their first ever appearance in a national cup final. The two clubs met again in and Essex derby match in the same competition the following season, with Southend emerging as the victors once more after a penalty shootout.
The 2008/09 season saw the return of the Essex Derby to League One on November 1 2008 the sides drew 3-3 at Roots Hall in a non stop action packed encounter. Peter Clarke gave Southend the lead as early as the 7th minute, Francis Laurent then put Southend 2-0 up after just 13 minutes. Colchester mounted a comeback with Johnnie Jackson, Mark Yeates and Andy Woldsworth giving Colchester a 3-2 advantage, the points and the bragging rights looked to be heading to Colchester but Jean Francois Christophe equalised for Southend in the 95th minute with the last kick of the game to ensure both sides shared the points.
Southend hold the most recent victory in the Essex Derby on 21 February 2009 Franck Moussa scored his first professional goal which proved to be the difference between the two sides.
Southend hold 29 victories over their near neighbours in all competitions compared to Colchester's 23, there have been 17 draws. The two sides will meet again on Boxing Day 2009 at Roots Hall.
Stadium
The club has had three stadia: the Kursaal, the Greyhound Park, and the rented out Writtle Street, after many years of good service the club moved to a renovated amusement park on the Kursaal and played there until 1955 and their current stadium Roots Hall. Roots Hall was the club's first stadium and was built on a council landfill site in 1954/55 with simple fencing to hold back spectators. Roots Hall has been the home of Southend United since August 1955 after the site was purchased in 1952.
It took ten years to fully complete the building of Roots Hall, the first game being played here on 20 August 1955, a 3-1 Division Three (South) victory over Norwich City, but the ground was far from complete.
The main East Stand had barely been fitted and ran only 50 yards of the touchline, whilst only a few steps of terracing encircled the ground, with the North, West and the huge South Bank still largely unconcreted. The North Stand had a single-barrelled roof but this only ran the length of the penalty area whilst the West Bank was only covered at its rear by a similar structure. Although the ground was far from finished, during the inaugural season this was the least of the club's worries, for the pitch at Roots Hall showed the consequences of having been laid on top of thousands of tonnes of compacted rubbish. Drainage was somewhat of a problem, and the wet winter had turned the ground into a quagmire.
The pitch was completely re-laid in the summer of 1956 and a proper drainage system, which is still in place, was constructed whilst the West Bank roof was extended to reach the touchline, creating a unique double-barrelled structure.
The terracing was finally completed soon after, but the colossal task of completely terracing the South Bank, all of its 72 steps, was not completed until 1964. The North Bank roof was extended in the early 1960s, and the East Stand was extended to run the full length of the pitch in 1966. Floodlights were also installed during this period.
Roots Hall was designed to hold 35,000 spectators, with over 15,000 on the South Bank alone, but the highest recorded attendance at the ground is 31,090 for an FA Cup third round tie with Liverpool in January 1979.
Until 1988 Roots Hall was still the newest ground in the Football League, but it was then that the ground saw a significant change. United had hit bad times in the mid 1980s and new chairman Vic Jobson sold virtually all of the South Bank for development, leaving just a tiny block of 15 steps.
In 1994 Jobson self-designed a new stand at the South End[citation needed]. Seats were installed onto the original terracing whilst a second tier was added, with the upper level giving some of the best views in the country. The West Bank had already become seated in 1992 upon United's elevation to Division Two whilst the East Stand paddock also received a new seating deck, bolted and elevated from the terracing below. In 1995 the West Stand roof was extended to meet up with the North and South Stands, with seating installed into each corner, thus giving the Roots Hall we see today, with a capacity of just under 12,500.
Southend United currently play in the 12,392 all-seater Roots Hall stadium, which has been their home since 1955. The future of this location has been in doubt since it was sold to property developers in 1998. Planning permission has been granted for a new 22,000 seater stadium to be located near to the team's training ground at Fossetts Farm.
On 24 January 2007, Southend Borough Council unanimously agreed to give planning permission for the new stadium at the proposed Fossetts Farm site with Rochford District Council following suit 24 hours later. The application was subsequently submitted to Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, for government approval. However, the application was unexpectedly "called in" at the beginning of April 2007, a move which at best delays the development by some considerable time and at worst might jeopardise the whole project entirely. The inquiry began in September 2007. In October 2007 a "final" inquiry began where chairman Ron Martin called for supporters to show in numbers at Southends local governing headquarters. As of last time hundreds flocked to the streets. On 6 March 2008, Fossets Farm was given the green light by the Government. The club hope to move in at the start of the 2010–11 season.
Club honours
- League One Champions: 2005/2006
- League Two Play-off Winners: 2004/2005
- Third Division Runners-up: 1989/1990
- Fourth Division Champions: 1980/1981
- Fourth Division Runners-up: 1971/1972, 1977/1978
- Football League Trophy Runners-up: 2003/2004, 2004/2005
- Southern League Second Division Winners: 1906/1907, 1907/1908
- Southern League Second Division Runners-up: 1912/1913
- Essex Professional Cup Winners: 1950, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1962, 1965, 1967, 1972, 1973
- Essex Senior Cup Winners: 1983, 1991, 1997, 2008
- Essex Thameside Trophy Winners: 1990
Club records
- Biggest Victory: 10–1 v Golders Green, FA Cup, 1934–35; 10–1 v Brentwood, FA Cup, 1968–69; 10–1 v Aldershot, Football League Trophy, 1990–91
- Heaviest Defeat: 1–9 v Brighton & Hove Albion, 1965–66
- Highest Attendance (All Comps): 31,033 v Liverpool, FA Cup, 10 January 1979
- Highest Attendance (League): 21,020 v Leyton Orient, Football League Third Division South, 9 September 1955
- Lowest Attendance (All Comps): 945 v Cambridge United, Associate Members Cup, 16 December 1986
- Highest Average Attendance: 12,089 1949–50 Football League Third Division South - Southend Stadium
- Lowest Average Attendance: 2,103 1984–85 Football League Fourth Division - Roots Hall
- Most Appearances (All Comps): Alan Moody (506 - 1972-1984)
- Most Appearances (League): Sandy Anderson (452 - 1950-1962)
- Most Appearances (FA Cup): Alan Moody (32 - 1972-1984)
- Most Appearances (League Cup): David Martin (25 - 1986-1993)
- Most Appearances (Other Cup): Kevin Maher (26 - 1998 to 2008)
- Most Goals (All Comps): Roy Hollis (135 - 1954-1960)
- Most Goals (League): Roy Hollis (120 - 1954-1960)
- Most Goals (FA Cup): Roy Hollis (15 - 1954-1960) and Billy Best (15 - 1968-1973)
- Most Goals (League Cup): Sammy McMillan (15 - 1967-69) and David Martin (15 - 1986-1993)
- Most Goals (Other Cup): Brett Angell (10 - 1990-1994)
Player of the Year
| Year | Winner |
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| 2000–01 |  Kevin Maher |
| 2001–02 | Darryl Flahavan |
| 2002–03 | Leon Cort |
| 2003–04 | Mark Gower |
| 2004–05 | Adam Barrett |
| 2005–06 |  Freddy Eastwood |
| 2006–07 | Kevin Maher |
| 2007–08 | Nicky Bailey |
| 2008–09 | Peter Clarke |
Current squad
- As of 10 November 2009
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Out on loan
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Youth squad
- As of 10 November 2009
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International representatives
- Jimmy McAlinden (Ireland (IFA) + (FAI) 7 app 1948)
- Tom Scannell (Republic of Ireland 1 app 1954)
- Sammy McCrory (Northern Ireland 1 app 1957)
- Derek Spence (Northern Ireland 29 apps 1980-1982)
- Ronnie Whelan (Republic of Ireland 53 apps 1995)
- Tesfaye Bramble (Montserrat 1 app 2004)
- Jamal Campbell-Ryce (Jamaica 20 app 2006)
- Freddy Eastwood (Wales 10 app 2007)
- Peggy Lokando (Democratic Republic of Congo 1 app 2008)
- Adam Federici (Australia 1 app 2008 + 3 for 2008 Olympics)
Rivalries
Southend have a rivalry with another Essex side, Colchester United with whom they contest the Essex derby. The overall competitive head to head record for the rivalry stands at 28 wins to Southend, 23 wins for Colchester with 16 draws.[1] Southend also hold by far the superior collection of honours (Colchester possessing none above non-league level) and have so far spent 7 seasons playing in the second tier of English football, whereas Colchester only completed their first in May 2007, as well as Southend United never having played non league football since their election from the Southern League, unlike Colchester United.
Southend are also rivals with Leyton Orient.
The closest geographical club to Southend is actually Gillingham, across the Thames in Kent, but they are not considered rivals despite sharing divisions several times.
Additionally, due to his action of jumping ship to join Birmingham City in 1993 (and taking most of the coaching staff and some of the club's more talented players), a fair majority of Southend United fans have hated any club managed by former manager Barry Fry. At the time of the defection the Shrimpers were in the unlikely position of a play-off spot for promotion to the Premier League. Some see Fry's departure as the start of a demise of the football club that resulted in two successive relegations and a close call with relegation from the Football League itself.
References
External links
- Southend United FC Official Site
- The Shrimpers Trust
- SUFC DataBase - Shrimper's statistics
- The Blue Voice Supporters Group
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