Get the lowdown on our next opponents: Southend United.

The Opposition

The 2024/25 campaign saw Southend United secure their first play-off place since being relegated to the National League back in 2021, after long-serving manager Kevin Maher guided them to a seventh place finish.

Former Shrimpers’ midfielder and skipper has taken the reins at Roots Hall since their maiden campaign in the fifth tier, having made over 400 appearances for the club as a player, and if not before, has certainly cemented himself as a Southend legend after navigating their off the pitch difficulties to maintain impressive form, and after winning two Manager of the Month awards during the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, agreed a new long-term deal with the club in December 2023.

However, halfway through the current campaign, they remain in the National League and currently sit seventh in the division once more, having suffered play-off heartbreak last term when Oldham Athletic struck twice in as many minutes in Extra Time to steal the win at Wembley.

Looking forward, Southend will have been looking to rectify their first real shot at a return to League Two, with a host of recruits adding to their already stacked squad as Maher navigates a fourth successive campaign in the fifth tier, though they have so far kept tabs with the top seven spots in the hope of maintaining their chances of promotion.

Key to their success last term was their consistency, ranking seventh and eighth for their home and away form throughout the season, while the goals of Gus Scott-Morriss played a crucial role in their rise up the table, with his performances from right wing-back up there with some of the best in the league, while the mid-season signings of Leon Pavillon, Nick Hayes, Tom Hopper, Ben Goodliffe and Charley Kendall also proved to be game-changing, propelling the Shrimpers to a strong end to last season and a strong start to this one.

Harry Taylor, Noor Husin, Jack Bridge, Nathan Ralph, Macauley Bonne and Kwesi Appiah-Forson were some of the most impactful players in Southend’s ranks last season, along with those previous mentioned, with each player making over 40 appearances as Maher found a settled and consistent side, and has continued to be the case this season, with new recruits Sam Austin, Harry Boyes and Andy Dallas joining Taylor, Hopper, Goodliffe, Scott-Morriss and Cav Miley as the most frequent members of the starting XI so far.

Dallas in particular has proved to be a crucial addition to their frontline, with his seven goals this season more than any other Southend player, while Slavi Spasov has begun life in Essex with five goals in 15 games following his move from Slough Town in the summer. The most important part of their relative success come the end of 2025 though has without a doubt been their backline, with the duo of Taylor and Goodliffe among the best in the division, and has contributed to the second best defensive record (18) behind only league leaders Rochdale AFC (14).

The Manager

Kevin Maher

Former midfielder Kevin Maher is in his fourth season in charge of Southend, with the Shrimpers remaining the only club he has managed at a senior level.

A product of the Tottenham Hotspur academy, Maher departed White Hart Lane in search of first team opportunities in 1998 and linked up with Southend for the first time, going on spend ten years of his career at Roots Hall and was a virtual ever-present, rising to be club captain and making more than 400 appearances for the club, as well as captaining Southend to promotion twice, from League Two to the Championship, in successive seasons.

A brief loan spell at Gillingham preceded his permanent departure from the Shrimpers, and the Republic of Ireland youth international subsequently went on to represent Oldham Athletic, Gillingham again, Dagenham & Redbridge, Bray Wanderers and Whitehawk, before hanging up his boots in 2015 following a brief stint as Head Coach of Chelmsford City in which he also made an appearance as an unused substitute.

Maher later returned to Southend in a coaching capacity, assisting the youth teams at the club before being appointed as Under-21 manager. This preceded a return to Chelmsford, being named as caretaker manager after previous manager Mark Hawkes left the club and soon became their permanent boss until the end of the season, before being replaced by Rod Stringer during the summer break.

After a spell out the game, Maher joined Bristol Rovers as a first team coach, but following the departures of manager Graham Coughlan and caretaker manager Joe Dunne, was placed in temporary charge of the Gas and oversaw a 0–0 draw with Peterborough United, before taking on the role again at the start of 2020.

This was followed by a third return to Southend, now in the National League, where he took on the role of Head Coach in place of Phil Brown. Despite ongoing troubles off the pitch, Maher has kept the club competitive and established in the fifth tier, slowly guiding them up the division and closer to the play-off places year after year.

Photo Credit: Southend United Football Club

One to Watch

Harry Taylor

Experienced defender Harry Taylor has been one of, if not Southend’s most consistent performer this season, playing a key role in the Shrimpers maintaining the joint-second best defensive record this season.

Initially beginning his career in Chelsea’s youth setup, Taylor spent seven years at Stamford Bridge before joining Barnet at Under-15 level, along with his younger brother Jack, now at Ipswich, and he went on to rise through the ranks at The Hive after making his senior debut in a 3-0 Herts Senior Cup defeat to Bishop’s Stortford.

Capable of playing in midfield or in defence, he went on to appear over 200 times for the club across a ten-year spell – eight in the first team – and won their Youth Player of the Year award in his maiden campaign within the first team.

Loans at Hampton & Richmond Borough and Staines Town saw him gain experience away in 2015 and 2016, either side of him making his Football League debut as a late substitute against Newport County.

After failing to appear at all during the first half of the 2018/19 campaign, he reunited with former Hampton manager Alan Dowson at Woking, moving on a one-month loan to the Cards, before going on to appear 16 times for the Bees during the second half of the season, though this preceded a permanent departure at the expiry of his contract.

He subsequently made the switch to Essex ahead of their second successive campaign in the National League, and has become a central figure at the heart of Southend’s defence across the last three years, racking up more than 100 games for the club.

After joining on an initial two-year deal, Taylor was named as the Shrimpers’ Player of the Month for April 2023, before becoming one of the first names on the teamsheet in the 2023/24 season and Impressing hugely in the centre of defence across the campaign, going on to be voted Players’ Player of the Season.

Photo Credit: Southend United Football Club

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Last Time Out

Gus Scott-Morriss returned from injury to score the match-winner as ten-man Southend United beat Braintree Town 1-0.

In a largely uneventful first half, the biggest talking point came just before the break when the Shrimpers’ defender Ben Goodliffe was sent off following a tangle with Sahid Kamara that left the Braintree player on the deck.

Despite this setback, the Shrimpers pushed on and won the three points thanks to Scott-Morriss’ header from a corner 15 minutes from time.

Photo Credit: Southend United Football Club