• Set in four acres of pastoral land in West Street
• House last owned by Daniel Gossett sold in 1898 and demolished. Land turned over for recreational use.
• Used briefly by Prittlewell Cricket Club and Southend Atheltic.
• United take over lease in June 1906, Ducat’s build grandstand for 200 and embankments laid.
• 1909 stand re-roofed and covered terrace built on west side of the ground
• Sept 1909 record attendance for the ground was set: 7,200 v Northampton Town
• July 1910 first manned flight in the borough at the ground, George Barnes’ Hunter plane crashes in an adjacent field.
• Sept 1912 facilities improved sufficiently to host Southend Rugby Club v London Welsh.
• More improvements new entrances and a press box.
• Board try unsuccessfully to purchase ground from owner George Radford.
• Club fall into rent arrears and Radford sells up when War sees the end to footballing activities.
• Grandstand suffered damage in a 1916 gale and timber was sold to Flaxman’s timber merchant to repair his buildings damaged by a Zeppelin raid.
• Everything was sold by auctioneers Provost & Sons:

  1,100 feet of fencing (sold for £15 10s)

  1 well used tea hut (fetched £2 10s)

  Also sold: Shirts, footballs and corner flags.

• Marine Park first opening in the 1890’s and contained a trotting track.
• Football first played in 1897 by Southend-on-Sea Football Club.
• Southend Athletic disbanded and track was dug up in 1910.
• Venue was called Luna Park when American Clifton Jay Morehouse bought the site in 1912. Renaming it The Kursaal.
• North East corner of the venue was enclosed off for use as a football ground.
• Roots Hall was no longer useable so Morehouse and Southend United agreed a lease in April 1919.
• Entrances built at the North and South ends (Woodgrange Drive and Beresford Road).
• Pitch laid with Cumberland turf and embankments created around the ground.
• On the Arnold Avenue side of the ground Humphrey’s of Knightsbridge constructed a 1,500 capacity grandstand, costing £5,000.
• £3,000 spent on terracing and a small cover on the west side of the ground.
• Ground had a palatial pavilion containing boardroom, clubhouse, gym, dressing rooms and a thermal geyser.
• First big game v Spurs in Feb 1921 saw only 11,661 turn up despite a capacity given as 23,000.
• Record Gate: 18,153 v Nottingham Forest in February 1926.
• In 1926 greyhound racing introduced with the stadium lit by 50 floodlight pylons with a 1,000 candle power each.
• March 1928 greyhound company asked to leave due to problems with the FA and religious groups (races were being held on Sundays)
• December 1928 Flaxmans build a new covered stand for 3,000 on the west side of the ground.
• In 1933 Southend cancel their lease with The Kursaal at a cost of £200.
• Ownership of Kursaal passes to a trust as David De Forest Morehouse dies.
• Six year old west stand is demolished in 1934 and replaced with the Cyclone Roller coaster purchased from the Brussels Exhibition.
• East stand was the only part of the ground left when it too was demolished in 1936.

• Built on a former brickworks in Grainger Road during 1932 primarily for greyhound racing.
• Opened May 19th 1933.
• Southend United signed 7 year lease in 1934 although this was soon extended to 21 years.
• Football League sanction ground move in June 1934.
• 1934’s Football Encyclopaedia says “The Stadium is one of the best grounds in the south”
• October 1934 saw very heavy rain and the pitch was a quagmire. Returfed the following summer. Record Gate January 1936 v Spurs 22,862 although other records quote 23,634.
• Stadium held races twice a week and also prestigious boxing matches.
• August 1940 Stadium requisitioned by the Army Officer Training Corps as club relocates to Chelmsford for war time matches.
• Club paid £271 from the War Department to repair damage caused by the Army.
• The Army had also destroyed all club records.
• Despite huge crowds, owners refused to discuss the provision of floodlighting.
• General unpopularity of the venue saw the board look to return to Roots Hall throughout the early 1950’s.
• Last game v Brentford April 30th 1955.
• United staged reserve and “A” team games in the 1970’s and was used by short lived senior club Pegasus Atheltic in 1971/72 for new Essex Senior League.
• Greyhound racing fell from grace due to repeated dog doping scandals.
• Stadium demolished in 1985 for a retail outlet estate.

• Since 1915 the ground had been a sand pit owned by the Southend Gas Company, then a waste tip for the Gas Light & Coke Company.
• In 1946 was used by cycle speedway team the Prittlewell Pirates.
• Site bought by Town Council in 1948.
• After grandiose schemes were considered a 35,000 capacity stadium was agreed.
• Work commenced in March 1953 led by Sid Broomfield and a small band of workers.
• Players and supporters assisted by casting the blocks that would support the East Stand. Steelwork constructed by Boulton & Paul of Carrow Road, Norwich.
• Total cost £73,997, all but a £5,000 FA grant was provided by the Southend United Supporters’ Club Trust.
• Contained a 72 step “Spion Kop” terrace at the South End of the ground, holding 13,500 spectators.
• Ground opened in August 1955 v Norwich in front of a 17,700 crowd.
• 1959 saw the provision of floodlights.
• 1967 saw the main East Stand and North Bank extended to current sizes, and a second barrel put on West Stand terrace.
• Record gate set in January 1979 when 31,033 crammed in to watch a 0-0 FA Cup draw with European Cup holders Liverpool.
• Crowd disasters at Ibrox, Hillsborough and Valley Parade saw new legislation cut South Bank capacity to 1,500.
• Chairman Vic Jobson sold the redundant area for a development of flats.
• Early 1990’s ground becomes all seater with East Stand fitted with seats bought from Old Trafford.
• In 1994 the remaining South Bank terrace was replaced by a two tier stand built by Ballast-Nedam.

• The side under Harry Warren challenge consistently for promotion to Div 2 throughout the late 1940’s and early 1950’s.
• Big Cup Win v Liverpool Jan 1957 (2-1).
• Promoted to Div 3 under Arthur Rowley in 1972.
• Hold European Cup holders Liverpool to a goalless draw in the FA Cup at Roots Hall, January 1979.
• Defeat Bolton of Div 1 in League Cup 2-1 at Burnden Park in August 1979.
• Division Four Champions under Dave Smith in 1981. Unbeaten at home all season.
• Promoted to Div 3 under Dave Webb in 1987.
• Defeat Div 1 Derby County with Peter Shilton in goal, 1-0 in the League Cup at Roots Hall, September 1987.
• Oct 1989 Southend 3 Spurs 2 at Roots Hall in the League Cup. First Division side go through on the away goals rule.
• Blues promoted from Fourth to Second Division in successive years under Dave Webb.
• Aug 1991, 1-1 draw with Bristol City, first ever game in the second level of the Football League.
• November 1992, Colin Murphy signs Stanley Victor Collymore from Crystal Palace.
• March 2004, qualify for first ever Cup Final. Although suffer defeat to Blackpool in the LDV Vans Trophy Final at the Millennium Stadium.
• Return to Cardiff in April 2005 to have another crack at the LDV Trophy. Another 2-0 defeat this time after extra time to Wrexham.
• Automatic promotion blown although Steve Tilson guides club to a play-off win against Lincoln City.
• The clubs’ 3rd visit to Cardiff in 15 months sees Freddy Eastwood and Duncan Jupp earn a 2-0 win.

Stan Collymore

Appearances: 33

Goals: 18

Sold to Nottingham Forest for a fee of £3.57 million.

Played for Liverpool, Aston Villa, Leicester City Fulham, Bradford City, Real Oviedo.

Three full England caps.

Ronnie Pountney

Appearances: 401

Goals: 35

Tiny winger signed for £3,000 from Bilston in January 1975.

Three times Player of the Year- the only player to do so.

Belated testimonial match staged in 2000.

Jimmy McAlinden

Appearances: 231

Goals: 13

Signed for a club record £6,500 in October 1948 from Stoke City.

Started with Belfast Celtic and also played for Portsmouth.

Four full caps for Northern Ireland.

Billy Best

Appearances: 247

Goals: 123

Scottish striker signed from Northampton Town in January 1968.

Phenomenal goalscorer and two time Player of the Year.

Second highest goalscorer in the clubs’ history. Scored 9 hat-tricks for the club.

Alan Moody

Appearances: 507

Goals: 44

Centre back signed for £15,000 from Middlesbrough in October 1972.

Captain of 1981 Div Four championship winning side.

No player has played more matches for Southend United.

Tony Bentley

Appearances: 419

Goals: 17

Signed from Stoke City in May 1961.

Inspirational captain and tremendous servant to the club.

Now living in Canada.

Mike Marsh

Appearances: 97

Goals: 13

Signed for a club record £500,000 from Galatasaray.

Tremendously skilful midfielder who also played for Liverpool, West Ham & Coventry.

Pro career ended by knee injury.

Roy Hollis

Appearances: 260

Goals: 135

Signed from Tottenham Hotspur in February 1954

Supreme goal poacher, no player has scored more goals for Southend United.

David Crown

Appearances: 132

Goals:  69

Started career with Grays and was a winger for many years.

Joined Blues in Nov 1987 from Cambridge United.

Top scorer for three consecutive seasons in the late 1980’s.

Steve Tilson

Appearances: 275

Goals: 31

Signed from Witham Town in February 1989.

Also captained Canvey to FA Trophy success in 2001.

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 For Part One of The First 100 Years of Southend United Click Here

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