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Southend United F.C.

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Southend United
Full nameSouthend United Football Club
Nickname(s)The Shrimpers,
The Seasiders,
The Blues
Founded1906
GroundRoots Hall
Victoria Avenue
Capacity12,392
ChairmanRon Martin
ManagerPaul Sturrock
LeagueLeague Two
2011–12League Two, 4th
Current season

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm. They are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference to the area's maritime industry.

History

Stadium

The club has had three stadia: the Kursaal, the Greyhound Park, and the rented 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 purchased in 1952. It took ten years to fully complete the building of Roots Hall. The first game was played 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 along 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 which ran only the breadth of the penalty area, whilst the West Bank was covered at its rear only 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 a problem, and the wet winter 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 then 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, 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 in each corner, thus giving the Roots Hall we see today, with a capacity of just under 12,500.[1]

The future of Roots Hall has been in doubt since it was sold to property developers in 1998. On 24 January 2007, Southend Borough Council unanimously agreed to give planning permission for a 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 Southend's local government headquarters. On 6 March 2008, Fossetts Farm was given the green light by the Government. The club hopes to move in at the start of the 2015–16 season.

Rivalries

Southend players.

The club has a fierce 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 Southend. The rivalry extends back many years. At the end of the 1989–90 season Southend's promotion from the Football League 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 won 4–3 on aggregate to secure their first ever appearance in a national cup final. The two clubs met again in an Essex derby match in the same competition the following season, with Southend emerging as the victors once more after a penalty shootout. The overall competitive head to head record for the rivalry stands at 29 wins to Southend, 25 wins for Colchester with 17 draws.[2]

There is also a rivalry between Southend and Leyton Orient. This is due to a period of time when the Essex club were Orient's geographically closest league rivals between 1998 and 2005.[3] Although the games between the two teams are eagerly anticipated by both sets of fans and Southend are considered as Orient's main rivals, the Shrimpers would see the London club as secondary rivals behind Colchester United due to geographical and historical reasons.[4]

The Shrimpers beat the O's in the 2012/13 Johnstone's Paint Southern Area Final to book a place at Wembley in the final against Crewe Alexandra. Southend won 1–0 at Brisbane Road in the first leg of the area final and drew 2–2 at Roots Hall in the second leg, winning 3–2 on aggregate, despite having five first team players ineligible for the game and being in a lower division than Orient.

Players

Current squad

As of 12 February 2013

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK England ENG Paul Smith
2 DF England ENG Sean Clohessy
3 DF Grenada GRN Anthony Straker
4 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Michael Spillane
5 DF Republic of Ireland IRL Graham Coughlan
6 DF England ENG Ryan Cresswell
7 FW Wales WAL Freddy Eastwood
8 MF Republic of Ireland IRL Michael Timlin
9 FW England ENG Neil Harris
10 FW Republic of Ireland IRL Barry Corr
11 MF England ENG Danny Mayor (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)
12 MF Northern Ireland NIR Matthew Lund (on loan from Stoke City)
13 FW Northern Ireland NIR Caolan Lavery (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)
14 MF England ENG Kevan Hurst
15 DF England ENG Mark Phillips
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 DF England ENG Luke Prosser
17 GK England ENG Daniel Bentley
18 DF England ENG Ryan Leonard
19 MF England ENG John Spicer
20 FW Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Britt Assombalonga (on loan from Watford)
21 FW England ENG Gavin Tomlin
22 MF England ENG Jack Paxman
23 DF England ENG Chris Barker (captain)
25 MF England ENG Josh Banton
26 MF Scotland SCO Marc Laird
27 MF England ENG Ben Reeves (on loan from Southampton)
28 DF Tunisia TUN Bilel Mohsni
30 MF England ENG Alex Woodyard
31 GK England ENG Ted Smith

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
24 FW England ENG Elliot Benyon (at Torquay United until 12 March 2013)
32 FW England ENG Seedy Njie (at Bishop's Stortford F.C.)
GK Wales WAL Luke Chambers (at Bishop's Stortford F.C. until the end of the season)

Player of the Year

Year Winner
2000–01 Republic of Ireland Kevin Maher
2001–02 England Darryl Flahavan
2002–03 Guyana Leon Cort
2003–04 England Mark Gower
2004–05 England Adam Barrett
2005–06 Wales Freddy Eastwood
2006–07 Republic of Ireland Kevin Maher
2007–08 England Nicky Bailey
2008–09 England Peter Clarke
2009–10 England Simon Francis
2010–11 England Chris Barker
2011–12 England Mark Phillips

Management

[5]

Position Person
Manager Scotland Paul Sturrock
Player/Assistant Manager Republic of Ireland Graham Coughlan
Head of Youth England Ricky Duncan
Evan Guest
Development Coach England Dale Brooks

Club honours

Club records

Kit

Years Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
1975–1978 Admiral Motor Plan
1978–1981 Bukta Charterhouse
1983–1984 Motor Plan
1985–1986 Laing
1986–1988 Firholm
1988–1990 Spall
1990–1991 Hi-Tec
1991–1992 Bukta
1992–1994 Beaver Elonex
1994–1995 Crevette
1995–1996 United Artists
1996–1998 Olympic Sportswear Telewest Communications
1998–1999 Progressive Printing
1999–2000 Rossco
2000–2001 Pier Sport Rebus (Home)
Wyndham Plastics (Away)
2001–2002 Hi-Tec Rebus
2002–2003 Sport House Martin Dawn
2003–2004 Nike GKC Communications (Home)
Wyndham Plastics (Away)
2004–2006 Betterview Windows and Conservatories
2006– InsureandGo

[7]

References

  1. ^ "http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/RootsHall/0,,10444,00.html". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  2. ^ "All time results between Colchester United and Southend United".
  3. ^ "Leyton Orient F.C.'s rivals".
  4. ^ "Football Rivalry Survey 2012-13".
  5. ^ http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/WhosWho/0,,10444,00.html
  6. ^ "http://www.southendunited.co.uk/page/HistoryDetail/0,,10444~1028525,00.html". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  7. ^ "Southend United: Historical Kits".