Southend preview

[Sweden Stag]

For the first time in five seasons, the Stags will face Southend United in a league fixture. Last time out, it was in the 2014-15 League Two campaign in which the Shrimpers won both games, eventually to be promoted via the playoffs after a dramatic final against Wycombe Wanderers.

In the 2013-14 campaign, the Stags faced Southend for the first time in nine seasons. Both sides won at home, the Stags on February 8, 2014, and the 2-1 victory ended a run of nine winless home fixtures (three draws and six defeats). Then, Will Atkinson and Kevan Hurst played against the Stags. Nine home games without a three-pointer is the worst outcome from the start of a season since 1971-72 and the worst since 2013-14. The record of eleven games was spread over two seasons (three draws and two defeats at the end of the 1958-59 and the first six games, four draws and two defeats) in 1959-60. The away game at Southend in 2013 was reffed by Darren Drysdale (enough printed).

Last season, Southend endured severe problems both on and off the field. On the field, the relegation from League One was clear-cut already around last Christmas, and when last season was curtailed, Southend had managed just 19 points from 35 games and had 85 goals put past them and might have conceded a ton if last season had been finished. Yet the relegation was inevitable as the Shrimpers the previous campaign only just escaped the trapdoor on goal difference. And only two seasons earlier, 2016-17, Southend finished just one point below the playoffs.

Following relegation from League One, Southend have not unexpectedly struggled in League Two and face grave danger of being relegated from this tier as well. But the Shrimpers have improved recently with seven points from their last three fixtures, a goal-less draw at Stevenage followed up with two home victories against Scunthorpe and Grimsby respectively.

Southend faced the Stags in their first league season way back in 1931-32 and the Shrimpers, founder members of the old division 3 (S) in the early 20’s, were also along with the Stags inaugural members of the old 3rd division in 1958-59. And the total stats of the league encounters between the Stags and the Shrimpers are quite evenly balanced. And the teams have yet to play a goal-less draw at Southend, but have registered two at Field Mill, among them the first home fixture of the 2001-02 season on August 18, 2001, watched by only 2774 who saw the only goal-less home game that season.

The very first league encounter on November 7, 1931, was the up to this day highest-scoring one as the teams shared eight goals. 8833 watched the following Stags scorers that day: Readman, Johnson (2) and Browne.

Memorable Stags v Southend league fixtures:

* The Stags v Southend home fixture in the nearly-promotion to the old 2nd division season in 1964-65 on April 5, 1965 saw the Stags’ second-highest home win as the Shrimpers were completely peeled to the tune of 6-1 and four strikes from Bill Curry, his best haul that season. Was the goal taste too strong? Anderson and a Morris penalty completed the rout in front of 11850. And the away fixture at Roots Hall just about two months earlier, on January 30, 1965, saw the Stags record their second-highest away victory that season as well to a 4-1 scoreline. 5360 saw Hall, Middleton, Tyrer and Scanlon all hit the target once.

* A 2-0 home win on May 9, 1966 (scorers: Gregson and Morris, attendance 6544) proved to be very crucial for both teams a few weeks later in the England World Cup Championship year. The consequence: Stags stayed up, and the Shrimpers were relegated to the old fourth for the first time ever which meant that the old third division had lost their last founder member.

* Also the mid-eighties Shrimpers trips to Stagsland proved fruitless as the Stags won four consecutive home fixtures without conceding a goal. Among then was a 3-0 (Vinter, Kearney pen and an own-goal, attendance 3705) on September 28, 1985, which smashed Southend’s then unbeaten league record to pieces. That game proved to be a pointer to the fortunes of both clubs later on, as the Stags were to mount a successful promotion challenge, which the previewer honestly thought could be doable after that game, and the Shrimpers slipping away into mid-table tedium. Another one was the first one in charge for George Foster a couple of seasons later. On Februay 11, 1989, 2562 watched a 4-0 mauling courtesy of two goals from Cassells, one apiece from Charles and Kent.

Notable is also that the highest Stags home and away defeat against Southend was recorded in the same season as well. This happened in 1958-59 when the home game was lost 1-4 and the away one 1-5. All other Southend triumphs at Field Mill aka One Call Stadium before this season have been recorded by the only goal of the game, the latest of those on September 29, 1990, when 2121 saw a Benjamin strike that gained Southend top position early on. Notable from that season is that Martin Ling (later manager at i.e. Leyton Orient and Torquay) played for both sides that campaign, Ling for the Stags on loan from Southend for three games early on in 1991. Later that term, Ling played three games for the Shrimpers, two of those as sub.

More recently, Adam Barrett has appeared for both sides. Coming from Plymouth, he appeared for the Stags at Southend on January 12, 2002 in one of 37 Stags games, three as sub. After a spell at Bristol Rovers, Barrett played six seasons for Southend, among them in both fixtures against the Stags in 2004-05, then played in the second tier two seasons later for the Shrimpers. By the time of the Stags’ home fixture against the Shrimpers, Barrett was loaned out to AFC Wimbledon and figured in the memorable Stags 1-0 victory at their place just before Christmas 2014 playing with 10 men for an hour. Will Atkinson, playing a dozen games for the Stags on loan from Port Vale in 2007-08, far figured in several Southend league fixtures before another spell at the Stags. Much-travelled Barry Conlon, scoring six times for the Stags in 2006-07, figured in 34 Southend games during the 1998-99 campaign. The previous Stags manager, Graham Coughlan, played for Southend a decade ago and played against the Stags while representing Rotherham in 2007-08 and Plymouth Argyle in 2001-02 and 2002-03 respectively.

Two successive Southend managers had previously managed the Stags. Dave Smith left the Stags for Southend in April 1976, but were unable to save the Shrimpers from relegation, but later achieved two promotions, among them in 1980-81 as division 4 Champions after the clubs had been relegated together in 1979-80. When Smith left in 1983, Peter Morris took over but with yet another relegation from the old third in 1983-84 to show.
Other notable Shrimpers hot-seaters have been Arthur Rowley, Bobby Moore and Peter Taylor.

The teams have only faced each other once in the FA Cup, and that was in the memorable 1968-69 season when a 4th round tie at Field Mill on January 25, 1969 ended up with the Stags as lucky 2-1 winners (details of that game in the Vintage Stags section).

Both sides figured in unbelievable away fixtures way back in the 2003-04 season. Why? The answer is winning with more than ONE player sent-off. While the Stags got two players ordered off at Cambridge on September 27, 2003, yet winning 2-1, Southend got THREE red cards at Swansea (where else that term??) on December 13. After the third Shrimpers sending-off, they still managed to SCORE in the final minute. That proved to be decisive, as Southend won 3-2 with Swansea’s second goal coming in the dying seconds.

In the 2004-05 campaign, the Stags beat all the sides promoted to League One, three of those to a 1-0 scoreline. Southend became the first victim, and within the space of two months, Scunthorpe and Swansea were both beaten by the same scoreline, but at home. After the Southend promotion secured in 2005, the Shrimpers, not for the first time, gained further promotion to the Championship, in which they only lasted one season, compared to six following Southend's first-ever elevation to the FL second tier in 1991 together with Cambridge and Grimsby, this being the so far only time in FL history with three teams being promoted together from the FL fourth level to the second one in successive seasons.

Played for both sides: Will Atkinson, Adam Barrett, Leonard Bayliss, Stuart Brace, Adrian Burrows, Leslie Butler, Les Clenshaw, Simon Coleman, Barry Conlon, George Cooke, Shaquille Coulthirst, Harry Daykin, A E Donoven, George Hogg, Alf Horne, Kevan Hurst, Harold Kay, Mickey Laverick, Martin Ling, Charlie Lloyd, Ian Mackenzie, Paul Matthews, Stephen McLaughlin, Jack Morfitt, Luke O'Neill, Eric Steele, Blair Sturrock, Frank Watson.

Managed both sides: Dave Smith, Peter Morris.

Home stats: P 26, W 13, D 8, L 5, GF 48, GA 26
Away stats: P 26, W 7, D 5, L 14, GF 30, GA 43
FA Cup: P 1, W 1, D 0, L 0, GF 2, GA 1

Season Home Date Away Date

1931-32 4-4 1931-11-07 2-5 1932-03-19 Div 3 (S)
1937-38 2-2 1937-10-02 1-0 1938-02-12 Div 3 (S)
1938-39 3-1 1938-10-08 0-2 1939-02-11 Div 3 (S)
1946-47 0-1 1947-02-01 1-1 1946-09-28 Div 3 (S)
1958-59 1-4 1959-04-11 1-5 1958-11-22 Div 3 (old)
1959-60 1-1 1959-09-14 2-0 1959-09-07 Div 3 (old)
1963-64 4-1 1963-11-09 1-2 1964-04-20 Div 3 (old)
1964-65 6-1 1965-04-05 4-1 1965-01-30 Div 3 (old)
1965-66 2-0 1966-05-09 0-1 1966-01-08 Div 3 (old)
1975-76 3-1 1976-03-15 2-2 1975-10-17 Div 3 (old)
1978-79 1-1 1978-08-26 1-1 1978-11-17 Div 3 (old)
1979-80 3-1 1980-04-12 1-1 1980-03-17 Div 3 (old)
1980-81 0-1 1981-03-07 0-2 1980-10-03 Div 4 (old)
1984-85 1-0 1985-05-06 3-1 1984-12-29 Div 4 (old)
1985-86 3-0 1985-09-28 1-3 1986-04-15 Div 4 (old)
1987-88 1-0 1987-09-19 1-2 1988-01-15 Div 3 (old)
1988-89 4-0 1989-02-11 1-1 1988-10-04 Div 3 (old)
1990-91 0-1 1990-09-29 1-2 1991-03-15 Div 3 (old)
1998-99 0-0 1999-04-10 2-1 1998-10-20 Div 3
1999-00 3-1 2000-01-22 0-1 1999-08-21 Div 3
2000-01 1-1 2000-10-28 1-3 2001-05-08 Div 3
2001-02 0-0 2001-08-18 0-1 2002-01-12 Div 3
2003-04 1-0 2004-01-24 3-0 2003-08-23 Div 3
2004-05 1-1 2005-01-22 1-0 2004-12-28 League Two
2013-14 2-1 2014-02-08 0-3 2013-11-01 League Two
2014-15 1-2 2014-11-01 0-2 2015-04-03 League Two

FA Cup:

1968-69 2-1 1969-01-25 4th round at Field Mill

Come on Mansfield!

[Number63]

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