The history of Southend United FC

Southend United will start the 2010/11 season in League Two for the first time since 2005. The club have a proud history and have one of the longest spells in football history before getting relegated, but it's been far from a smooth ride on occasions for the Shrimps.

Southend United formed in 1906 and played in the Southern League until 1920. They became one of the founding members of the new Third Division and finished 17^th in the first year. A year later the division restructured into the regionalisation and Southend spent the next 37 years in the Southern Section, although they did almost win promotion in 1932 and 1950.

The third division ceased being regionalised in 1958 and Southend last eight years before being relegated to the Fourth Division. It would be six years until Southend returned to the third division, finishing runners up to Grimsby Town, their spell in the third tier lasted just four years before they were again relegated, although they were promotion in 1978 before again being relegated in 1980.

1980/1 proved to be a highly successful season for Southend. They won the division and only failed to pick up maximum points at home four times. However, financial difficulties meant that most of Southend's players had to be sold and they were quickly relegated back.

Promotion in 1987 sparked a good era for the club as it was one of their three promotions (accompanied by a relegation) that secured them Division 2 (now the Championship) football for the first time in their history. 1991/2 saw the club finish 12^th in the second tier, their highest ever position that also included going top at one point. Just six wins in the 1992 section of the season saw their downfall and they missed out on becoming one of the founder members of the Premier League.

Four more lower midtable finishes were followed by successive relegations, finishing bottom in both seasons and they found themselves back in the fourth tier. At the time of their first relegation during this spell, manager Ronnie Whelan even admitted that he had no idea how to be a manager, making him a very strange appointment indeed.

Southend became a struggling midtable side in League Two for several years and they were fighting relegation in 2003/4 when Steve Tilson was appointed. The Shrimps' transformation under Tilson could easily be pointed out by results at home to Lincoln that season. City won 2-0 in September in what was a relatively comfortable performance for the Imps, three months later and the clubs met in the FA Cup and Southend easily won 3-0.

With the help of the newly discovered Leon Constantine, Southend easily avoided relegation and even reached the final of the LDV Vans Trophy, losing out 2-0 to Blackpool. The following season started slowly and Tilson's solution was to bring Freddy Eastwood in on loan from Grays Athletic, he scored eight seconds into his debut and would go on to secure a hatrick in his first game.

Eastwood's goals propelled Southend into the LDV Vans Final for a second year running, and eventually the Playoffs. They beat Northampton 1-0 over two legs to reach the final. They would face Lincoln, whom had faced a relatively easier trip to the final by beating Macclesfield. Lincoln dominated the final but failed to find the net before Eastwood scored an open goal just before half time in extra time and Duncan Jupp completed what was a relatively undeserved victory. It promoted them to the newly named League One.

After being fortunate to win promotion via the Playoffs, Southend breezed past League One after winning the title. Their run to the top started with an 8 game winning streak in the first two months of the season. A 1-0 win over Bristol City on the final day of the season secured the title from county rivals Colchester.

Championship life was tough on Southend though and they were quickly relegated back, although they did beat Manchester United in the Carling Cup. The following season saw them make the Playoffs but they were dismantled at Doncaster Rovers, losing the second leg 5-1. Midtable followed before last season's relegation back to League Two.

RECORDS

• Biggest Victory: 10-1 v Golders Green (1934-35); 10-1 v Brentwood (1968-69); 10-1 v Aldershot, 1990-91
• Heaviest Defeat: 1-9 v Brighton & Hove Albion, 1965-66
• Highest Attendance (All Comps): 31,033 v Liverpool
• Highest Attendance (League): 21,020 v Leyton Orient
• Lowest Attendance (All Comps): 945 v Cambridge United,
• Highest Average Attendance: 12,089 1949-50
• Lowest Average Attendance: 2,103 1984-85
• 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)

Internationals

• Jimmy McAlinden (Ireland (IFA) + (FAI) 7 app 1948)
• Tom Scannell (Ireland 1 app 1954)
• Sammy McCrory (Northern Ireland 1 app 1957)
• Derek Spence (Northern Ireland 29 apps 1980-1982)
• Ronnie Whelan (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 (DR Congo 1 app 2008)
• Adam Federici (Australia 1 app 2008 + 3 for 2008 Olympics)

RANDOM FACT

Kevin Maher is the only players during the last ten seasons to have won Southend's Player of the Year twice.