Southend United F.C.
Southend United ( officially: Southend United Football Club ) - also known as The Shrimpers or The Blues - is an English football club from Prittlewell / Southend -on-Sea and since the 2010/11 season in Football League Two, the fourth English top flight, active.
History
Start-up phase
The club was during a togetherness in the restaurant Blue Boars in Prittlewell, whose southern part once Southend was founded in 1906 to establish another club next to the existing club Southend Athletic.
In order to differ significantly from the red team colors of Athletic, Southend United chose blue jerseys and moved the venue Roots Hall, located not far from the Blue Boar. Even in the founding year of the association of the second division of the Southern League joined, which left the club after two consecutive championships in 1908 and then played in the first class of the Southern League. In the first season Harold Halse had thereby obtained 91 hits and then moved up to Manchester United.
Southend United to commute between the first and second division of the Southern League and joined in 1920 the Football League in order to operate there as a founding member of the new Third Division South. The same was found with the Kursaal Amusement Park is a new place where the home games of the association should be discharged.
Stay in the third and fourth League
After a 17th place in the table in the first season the club played many years from now in the third division, the third places in 1932 and 1950 were the best results for the time being of the Association. In 1938 Southend United moved to the Grainger Road Greyhound Stadium before the game operation was shortly interrupted because of World War II. A result, the career of the club's most capped national team George McKenzie was interrupted, for the Southend United was active in the 30s and came to nine inserts for the Irish national team.
After the resumption of gaming operations began in 1953, construction work on a new stadium in Roots Hall, where the financing was acquired solely by the supporters of the club, before they finished it then surrendered in the 60's to the club. As the third division in 1958 to a single-track Third Division was to Southend United qualified for it by a seventh place in the season before, but then rose in 1966 for the first time in their history from and played until 1972 in the Fourth Division. On January 10, 1979, was in the FA Cup game against Liverpool with 31,090 visitors, the highest attendances.
During the stay in the lowest English league the club will first be taken in 1968 two exceptional victories in the FA Cup, as in the first two rounds of the King's Lynn FC 9-0 and then Brentwood Town were beaten with 10:1. In the year of resurgence, the Scotsman Billy Best and the later players of Chelsea FC Bill Garner made a successful strike partnership.
After another descent into Viertklassigkeit in 1976, the association succeeded in 1978 as runner behind the Watford FC re- return to the Third Division. The decline in 1980 was followed by a good season as champions of the Fourth Division, where especially the new coach Dave Smith raised expectations for a better future. However, this received a setback when the nightclub owner Anton Johnson took over the majority of shares in the club and then almost ruined him. After his arrest, Vic Jobson succeeded him as president.
Recent developments since 1990
Under the reign of Jobson, who was to win the affection of the supporters never complete, the association succeeded with David Webb as manager in 1990 and 1991, the direct walkthrough of the fourth division in the Second Division, which the club on New Year's Day 1992 even once led briefly. The twelfth place at the end of the first season signified the highest ever championship placement of the association. Webb, however, had fallen out with Jobson in May and was replaced by Colin Murphy, who pledged in his one-year commitment Stan Collymore from Crystal Palace.
The other coach Barry Fry, Peter Taylor and Ronnie Whelan was in from then First Division said second league the steady downward trend can not be avoided, so that Southend United in 1997 not only as a Table in the third division, but in the following year, even again as Table in the had to descend fourth league.
This was followed by turbulent times when the club sold the stadium to pay off the accumulated debt. At the same time promised the club's management to provide the club with the construction of a new stadium by 2003 new positive Elan. Sporty but no improvement took place in. long. This changed when, in 2003, Steve Tilson, a former player of the club, the coach took office.
The first positive signs in 2004 was seen as Southend United for the first time in its history was in a cup final and after a 0-2 defeat against FC Blackpool LDV Vans Trophy just missed, with 20,000 supporters of Southend United the team to Millennium Stadium Cardiff accompanied. After Tilson was initially only been interim coach, he was in charge now the team permanently and led her in 2005 to a further final participation in the competition of the LDV Vans Trophy, one after another 0-2 defeat, now against the AFC Wrexham, again not could win. However, promotion to the third division, you could ensure against Northampton Town and Lincoln City to the play-off victories. The following season, then succeeded as master of the instant walkover in the second highest English league, the Football League Championship, in which the club played from 2006. However, the club did not manage to establish themselves in the Championship and to prevent the descent into League One in the longer term.
Famous former players
- England Nicky Bailey
- Scotland Billy Best
- England Stan Collymore
- Justin Edinburgh England
- England Bill Garner
- Shaun Goater Bermuda
- England Harold Halse
- England 's Frank Lampard Sr.
- England Mike Marsh
- Ireland George McKenzie
- England Garry Nelson
- England Chris Powell
- Wales Neville Southall
- England Peter Taylor
- Ireland Ronnie Whelan