Southend United Football Club - The Shrimpers

Southend United History

2006-07 Season

22nd, relegated from the Championship
League Cup: 5th round: Tottenham Hotspur a. 0-1 aet.
FA Cup: 4th round: Tottenham Hotspur a. 1-3

Highlight:
1-0 win over Manchester United in the League Cup 4th round, 7/11/06

Low Spot:
3-1 home defeat by Luton Town, 28/4/07

Good:
Mark Gower
Continued to cause problems down the flanks and chipped in with ten goals which was a fine return in a struggling side.
Kevin Maher
A glutton for hard work his commitment was a real example to his teammates during a difficult season.

Bad:
Simon Francis
Signed from Sheffield United to strengthen the defence but never looked up to the task and ended up on loan lower down the league.
Richie Foran
Was an ambitious transfer window signing from Motherwell but palpably failed to deliver the goods, scoring only once. Just goes to show you shouldn't pay too much attention to goals scored in the Scottish League Cup.

In Brief:
Surely a team can't beat a virtually full strength Manchester United side and get relegated from the Championship in the same season? Oh yes it can, just ask Southend.
By winning their first two home games Southend looked capable of ensuring safety by their performances at Roots Hall but victories became almost impossible to find and by the time the club sensationally dumped United out of the League Cup in November they had only managed one more league success.
Despite then pushing Spurs all the way in the quarter finals they could only manage one more league win in ten games to be mired firmly in the relegation zone.
Seven points in three games at the end of January, including a fine win at Birmingham and a 5-0 drubbing of QPR, raised hopes but this was a false dawn.
Then a remarkable 3-2 victory at Preston over Easter offered another chance of redemption but the club then managed to lose at home to Luton, one of the four successive defeats at the end of the season which confirmed an immediate return to League One.
Bouncing back again will be no easy task.

Southend United Football Club was formed in 1906 and they joined the Southern League under the management of Bob Jack. Jack was the father of the famous future Bolton and Arsenal star David Jack who would go on to manage the Shrimpers in the 1930's.

Southend became original members of Division Three in 1920 but were unable to move out of the division as it became Division Three South, managing a highest position of 3rd in both 1932 and 1950.

When the north and south sections merged in 1958 Southend entered the third division and remained at that level until 1966 when they suffered relegation.

The Shrimpers were promoted from Division Four as runners up behind Grimsby in 1972 but suffered another relegation in 1976.

This fluctuating existence continued with promotion in 1978, relegation in 1980, promotion as Division Four champions in 1981 and yet another relegation in 1984.

Southend moved out of the fourth division again in 1987 but were again unable to adapt to life in Division Three, being relegated in 1989. This time promotion was gained at the first attempt.

Despite seeing the prolific David Crown leave for Gillingham the signing of Brett Angell from Stockport County proved an inspired move and his goals saw Southend win promotion again in 1991 as runers up in Division Three behind Cambridge United.

The club then looked on course for a shock place in the first ever Premier League as they sat in 2nd place in the table in early February. The team collapsed, however, amid supporter unrest as the chairman announced he was moving the club to Basildon after being refused planning permission for a new stadium in Southend.

The club enjoyed the services of a string of fine full backs at this time. Both Justin Edinburgh and Dean Austin moved on to Spurs after impressing at Roots Hall while Chris Powell would eventually win England caps.

The Shrimpers excelled in maintaining a position in the second tier for five seasons but suffered a comprehensive relegation at the end of their sixth in 1997. The following season Southend found themselves also propping up Division Two.

Surprisingly the club then struggled to make an impression in the fourth tier of the league before finishing 4th last season and gaining promotion through the play offs.

The goals of Freddy Eastwood were fundamental to the sides' success. He initially joined on loan from Grays Athletic and hit a hat trick on his debut in a 4-2 win over Swansea City. Having signed permanently he ended the season with 19 league goals from just 33 games.

Eastwood was also on target in the play offs as Southend edged past Northampton Town and Lincoln City. He provided the vital opening goal of the final in extra time as the Imps were eventually beaten 2-0.

Southend's best effort in the FA Cup has been to reach the 5th round, something they managed in 1926, 1952, 1976 and 1993.

On the first three of these occasions Southend went down to single goal defeats to Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United and Derby County respectively. In 1993 they suffered a 2-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday.

The club have never made it beyond the 3rd round of the League Cup, an astonishingly inept record.

Southend were runners up in the LDV Vans Trophy in both 2004 and 2005.

In 2004 the Shrimpers suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Blackpool and then went down by the same scoreline to Wrexham the following year, albeit only after the game had gone to extra time.

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