Southend United Football Club, an Englishassociation football club based inSouthend,Essex, was founded in 1906. The club's first team won theSouthern League Second Division championship intheir first season. Southend had to apply for election alongside the two bottom First Division teams who were applying for re-election, and were unsuccessful.[1] Southend won the title again the following year, and this time, with more places available after two clubs had joinedthe Football League, they were elected.[2] By 1910–11, the Southern League had adopted automaticpromotion and relegation, and Southend were relegated. They returned to the top tier as runners-up in 1912–13, and remained at that level until 1920, when the Football League added aThird Division made up almost entirely of the Southern League First Division teams. That same season, Southend reached the third round (last 16) of theFA Cup; they have progressed to the last 16 four times since, but have gone no further.[3]
Southend remained in the Third Division for the next 39 seasons. The closest they came to a change were via two successful application for re-election, in 1921–22, their second season as a Football League club, and then in 1934–35,[4] and two third-place finishes, in 1931–32 and 1949–50, at a time when only the divisional champions were promoted. In 1965–66, they were relegated to theFourth Division, and spent the next 25 years oscillating between the two.[3] Southend's first trophy in the Football League came in 1980–81, courtesy of a strong defence and a particularly strong home record, as they won the Fourth Division title by a two-point margin.[5] Eight years later, they were again promoted from the fourth tier, this time in third place,[3] and the following season, a final-day defeat deprived Southend of the title but they were still sure of the runners-up spot that gained promotion to the second tier for the first time in the club's history.[6] Southend spent six seasons at the higher level, during which time they lost apenalty shoot-out toNotts County in the semi-final of the1993–94 Anglo-Italian Cup, before two consecutive relegations took them back whence they came.
In 2006–07, again after consecutive promotions, they played one more season in theChampionship – the Football League's divisions had been rebranded two years earlier[7] – and produced their bestLeague Cup performance, eliminatingManchester United in the fourth round before losing toTottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final via an arguablyoffside goal scored five minutes from the end ofextra time.[8] Southend reached the final of theFootball League Trophy, a cup competition open to teams in the lower divisions of the Football League, in both2004 and2005. Both finals were played at theMillennium Stadium while the newWembley Stadium was under construction, and both ended in defeat by two goals to nil, toBlackpool in 2004 andWrexham the following year.[9] They repeated the procedure in2013, albeit this time at the new Wembley, losing 2–0 toCrewe Alexandra and equallingBrentford's record of three final appearances without winning.[10] Financial issues mounted in the2019–20 season: against a background of non-payment of wages, unpaid taxes, winding-up orders and a transfer embargo meant Southend were unable to avoid relegation to League Two,[11][12] and even when the tax bill was paid after the sale of the stadium for housing, a 23rd-place finish in2020–21 meant that Southend United dropped out of the League after 101 years' continuous membership.[13][14] The financial and ownership issues continued: during the 2023–24 season, theNational League imposed a 10-point deduction for the club's failure to clear a tax debt,[15] without which they would have finished in the play-off positions, and the latest winding-up petition was withdrawn in June 2024.[16]
Since their admission to the Football League, and as of the end of the 2023–24 season, the team have spent 7 seasons in the second tier of theEnglish football league system, 61 in the third, 26 in the fourth and 3 innon-league football.[3] The table details the team's achievements and the top goalscorer in seniorfirst-team competitions from their debut season in the Southern League in 1906–07 to the end of the most recently completed season.
^The1939–40 Football League season was abandoned with three matches played when the Second World War began.[3]
^Although the Football League did not resume until the 1946–47 season, the FA Cup was contested in1945–46. From the first round proper to the sixth round (quarter-final), results were determined on aggregate scoreover two legs.[18][3]
^Southend's top-half finish meant they were placed in theFootball League Third Division when the regional sections were amalgamated into national Third and Fourth Divisions for the 1958–59 season.[20]
^The 2019–20 football season was disrupted by the effects of theCOVID-19 pandemic. The EFL was suspended in March 2020 and in June, the League One clubs voted to end the regular season programme early. Teams had not all played the same number of matches, so it was agreed to construct final league tables on a points-per-game basis. Southend United's 23.89 points per game placed them 22nd.[33][34]
^Relegated from the League after 101 years continuous membership.[14]
^Ten points deducted for failure to clear tax debt.[15]
^"Southern League Annual Meeting".Daily Mirror. London. 31 May 1907. p. 14.The retiring clubs, last on the tournament list—Crystal Palace and Northampton Town—both appealed for re-election, and Southend United (the head of the Second Division) and Croydon Town were also applicants for positions in the League. On a vote being taken, Crystal Palace (thirty-three votes) and Northampton (thirty) were re-elected, Croydon receiving two votes and Southend one.
^"'Spurs and Rangers left on the rocks".Daily Mirror. London. 30 May 1908. p. 14.
^"Southend United FC Squad".Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved5 July 2024. Select season and competition required via dropdown menu.
^abcRoss, James M. (25 June 2015)."English League Leading Goalscorers". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved29 May 2016. Covers up to 2006–07 season.