Southend United F.C.

Southend United

Full name	Southend United Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Shrimpers/The Blues
Founded	19 May 1906; 117 years ago (1906-05-19)
Ground	Roots Hall[1]
Capacity	12,392
Chairman	Ron Martin
Head Coach	Kevin Maher
League	National League
2023–24	National League, 9th of 24
Website	Club website
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Current season

Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference to the area's maritime industry that is included as one of the quarters on the club badge.

Founded on 19 May 1906 in the Blue Boar pub, Southend won the Southern League Second Division in both of its two initial seasons and was admitted into the Football League in 1920. It spent the next 44 years in the third tier of English football, before dropping into the Fourth Division in 1966. They spent the next 24 years moving between the third and fourth tiers, winning promotions in 1971–72, 1977–78, 1980–81 (as champions), 1986–87 and 1989–90. They were promoted into the Second Division for the first time at the end of the 1990–91 season. After six seasons in the second tier they suffered a double relegation in 1997 and 1998. Under manager Steve Tilson, Southend again secured a double promotion in 2004–05 and 2005–06 to win a place in the Championship as League One champions. However, they only lasted one season in the second tier and then, after two top half League One finishes, were relegated back to League Two in 2010. They secured promotion as play-off winners in 2015, but suffered another double relegation in 2020 and 2021, amidst financial problems, to drop—after 101 years in the Football League—into the National League, where they remain.

The club is based at Roots Hall Stadium in Prittlewell, but since 1998—when property developer Ron Martin, later chairman, took ownership—had been planning to move to a proposed new stadium at Fossetts Farm. In March 2023, Martin put Southend United up for sale; a deal was provisionally agreed in October 2023 but involved the club staying at Roots Hall. The club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby Colchester United, with which it contests the Essex derby.