Southend United Football Club, an English association football club based in Southend, Essex, was founded in 1906. The club's first team won the Southern League Second Division championship in their first season. Southend had to apply for election alongside the two bottom First Division teams who were applying for re-election, and were unsuccessful. Southend won the title again the following year, and this time, with more places available after two clubs had joined the Football League, they were elected. By 1910–11, the Southern League had adopted automatic promotion 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 a Third Division made up almost entirely of the Southern League First Division teams. That same season, Southend reached the third round (last 16) of the FA Cup; they have progressed to the last 16 four times since, but have gone no further.

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, 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 the Fourth Division, and spent the next 25 years oscillating between the two. 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. Eight years later, they were again promoted from the fourth tier, this time in third place, 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. Southend spent six seasons at the higher level, during which time they lost a penalty shoot-out to Notts County in the semi-final of the 1993–94 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 the Championshipthe Football League's divisions had been rebranded two years earlierand produced their best League Cup performance, eliminating Manchester United in the fourth round before losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the quarter-final via an not so arguably offside goal scored five minutes from the end of extra time. Southend reached the final of the Football League Trophy, a cup competition open to teams in the lower divisions of the Football League, in both 2004 and 2005. Both finals were played at the Millennium Stadium while the new Wembley Stadium was under construction, and both ended in defeat by two goals to nil, to Blackpool in 2004 and Wrexham the following year. They repeated the procedure in 2013, albeit this time at the new Wembley, losing 2–0 to Crewe Alexandra and equalling Brentford's record of three final appearances without winning. Financial issues mounted in the 2019–20 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, and even when the tax bill was paid after the sale of the stadium for housing, a 23rd-place finish in 2020–21 meant that Southend United dropped out of the League after 101 years' continuous membership. The financial and ownership issues continued: during the 2023–24 season, the National League imposed a 10-point deduction for the club's failure to clear a tax debt, without which they would have finished in the play-off positions, and the latest winding-up petition was withdrawn in June 2024.

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 the English football league system, 61 in the third, 26 in the fourth and 3 in non-league football. The table details the team's achievements and the top goalscorer in senior first-team competitions from their debut season in the Southern League in 1906–07 to the end of the most recently completed season.

Key

Key to league record: P – Played W – Games won D – Games drawn L – Games lost F – Goals for A – Goals against Pts – Points Pos – Final position Key to colours and symbols: Winners 2nd or F Runners-up Promoted Relegated ♦ Top league scorer in Southend's division

Key to divisions: South 1 – Southern Football League First Division South 2 – Southern Football League Second Division Div 1 – Football League First Division Div 2 – Football League Second Division Div 3 – Football League Third Division Div 4 – Football League Fourth Division Champ – Football League Championship League 1 – Football League One, EFL League One League 2 – Football League Two, EFL League Two National – National League

Key to stages of competitions: Group – Group stage Prelim – Preliminary round QR1 – First qualifying round QR2 – Second qualifying round, etc. R1 – First round R2 – Second round, etc. QF – Quarter-final SF – Semi-final F – Runners-up W – Winners (S) – Southern section of regionalised stage

Details of the abandoned 1939–40 season are shown in italics and appropriately footnoted.

Seasons +List of seasons, including league division and statistics, cup results, and top scorer(s)SeasonLeague Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.FA Cup Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.League CupOtherFor Football League Group Cup: For Third Division South Cup: Top scorer(s)DivisionPWDLFAPtsPosCompetitionResultNameGoals1906–07South 22214535823331st——1907–08South 2 1813324716291stQR4——1908–09South 14014101652543812thQR5——1909–10South 1421292151903320thR2——1910–11South 1 381091947642919thR1——1911–12South 22616197324334thQR5——1912–13South 2 2414644323342ndR1——1913–14South 13810121641663216thR1——1914–15South 1381082044642818thR2——1915–19The Southern League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.1919–20South 14213171246484311thR1——1920–21Div 3421482044613617thR3—151921–22Div 3S428112334742722ndR2—101922–23Div 3S4212131749543715thQR5—221923–24Div 3S4212102053843419thQR6—111924–25Div 3S421951851614310thQR5—211925–26Div 3S421941978734211thR5—211926–27Div 3S421462264773419thR2—291927–28Div 3S42206168064467thR2—261928–29Div 3S4215111680754112thR1—351929–30Div 3S4215131469594311thR2—221930–31Div 3S42225157660495thR1—281931–32Div 3S422111107753533rdR2—201932–33Div 3S4215111665824113thR4—211933–34Div 3S4212102051743416thR3Third Division South CupR2211934–35Div 3S421192265783121stR3Third Division South CupR1221935–36Div 3S4213101961623618thR3Third Division South Cup171936–37Div 3S4217111478674510thR2Third Division South CupR2191937–38Div 3S4215101770684012thR3Third Division South CupR1181938–39Div 3S421691761644112thR4Third Division South CupR1181939–40Div 3S3111333—11939–45The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.1945–46————————R1—11946–47Div 3S421710157160448thR3—271947–48Div 3S421513145158439thR1—141948–49Div 3S429161741463418thR1—121949–50Div 3S421913106648513rdR3—281950–51Div 3S462110159269527thR1—191951–52Div 3S461910177566489thR5—211952–53Div 3S461813156974498thR1—131953–54Div 3S461872169714316thR2—121954–55Div 3S4617121783804610thR3—321955–56Div 3S462111148880534thR4—261956–57Div 3S461812167365487thR4—201957–58Div 3S462112139058547thR3—33 ♦1958–59Div 346218178580508thR1—201959–60Div 3461981976744612thR2—291960–61Div 34614112160763920thR2R2—161961–62Div 34613161757694216thR1R1—131962–63Div 3461912157577508thR2R2—191963–64Div 34615151677784514thR1R3—131964–65Div 3461981978714612thR1R3—231965–66Div 3 461642654833621stR3R2—201966–67Div 446229157049536thR1R1—191967–68Div 4462014127758546thR1R2—171968–69Div 4461913147861517thR4R2—311969–70Div 44615102159854017thR1R3—241970–71Div 44614151753664318thR3R1—221971–72Div 4 462412108155602ndR2R1—261972–73Div 34617101961544414thR1R2—151973–74Div 34616141662624612thR3R1—201974–75Div 34613161746514218thR3R2—171975–76Div 3 4612132165753723rdR5R1—231976–77Div 44615191252454910thR3R1—161977–78Div 4 462510116639602ndR3R1—231978–79Div 34615151651494513thR3R1—121979–80Div 3 4614102247583822ndR2R3—101980–81Div 4 4630797931671stR1R1—211981–82Div 3461815136351697thR1R1Football League Group CupGroup131982–83Div 34615141766655915thR3R1Football League Group CupGroup201983–84Div 3 4610142255764422ndR1R1Associate Members' Cup171984–85Div 44613112258835020thR1R1Associate Members' Cup231985–86Div 4461810186967649thR1R1Associate Members' CupGroup25 ♦1986–87Div 4 46255166855803rdR2R2Associate Members' Cup301987–88Div 34614131965835517thR1R3Associate Members' Cup171988–89Div 3 4613151856755421st R1R2Associate Members' Cup29 ♦1989–90Div 4 46229156148753rdR1R2Associate Members' Cup231990–91Div 3 46267136751852ndR1R2Associate Members' Cup261991–92Div 24617111863636212thR3R1Full Members' Cup231992–934613132054645218thR5R1Anglo-Italian CupPrelim181993–94461782163675915thR3R2Anglo-Italian CupSF151994–95461882054736213thR3R1—111995–964615141752615914thR3R2Anglo-Italian CupGroup91996–97 468152342863924thR3R1—101997–98 4611102547794324thR2R2141998–994614122052585418thR1R281999–20004615112053615616thR1R1192000–014615181355536311thR3R1102001–024615131851545812thR3R1132002–03461732647595417thR2R1122003–044614122051635417thR3R1252004–05 462212126546784thR1R1242005–06 462313107243821stR2R1252006–07 4610122447804222ndR4—162007–08462210147055766thR4R3122008–0946218175861718thR3R1112009–10 4610132351724323rdR1R2172010–114616131762566113thR1R2212011–1246258137748834thR2R1142012–134616131761556111thR3R1162013–14461915125639725thR4R1132014–15 462412105438845thR1R1162015–164616111958645914thR1R192016–17462012147053727thR1R1162017–184617121758626310thR1R1102018–19461482455685019thR2R1152019–20 35472439851922ndR1R272020–21 4610152129584523rdR1R132021–224416101845615813thR1FA TrophyR4102022–2346209175745698thQR4FA TrophyR5132023–24462112137045659thQR4FA TrophyR3182024–25National461717125948687thR1FA TrophyR5Gus Scott-Morriss17

Notes

References

External links Southend United F.C. official website