QUITE POSSIBLY THE LARGEST FORMER PLAYERS GROUP IN THE UK ….
The Southend United Ex-Players Association (SUEPA) was formed by The Shrimpers Trust on 10 January 2018. From a standing start, it has now grown into what is quite possibly the largest and most dynamic former player group in the UK. We have also put out the claim on social media that we might even be the largest such group in the world – no one has yet to dispute that, so we are running with it!
Our inspiration was a tribute campaign run by the Trust in the Autumn of 2017 for our record appearances holder Alan Moody, when just over £11,500 was raised by the fans to help purchase a specially adapted campaign to meet Alan’s new needs. Alan came back to Roots Hall to receive the cheque. with several of his old team-mates and friends present. The day went so well that we simply thought ‘we must do more of that’, and so SUEPA was born.
To date, SUEPA has raised over £50,000 for various causes. But more than that, we look forward to seeking out opportunities to reunite old friends and create new memories. We simply love what we do.
The aims of SUEPA are:
- To help rekindle player relationships by putting ex-players in touch with each other
- On occasion and where possible, to help ex-players facing difficulties
- To celebrate past achievements
- To hold events from time to time
- Help promote a positive image for the club
- Allow fans to meet their former heroes when appropriate
As of January 2025, we have 515 ex-player/coaching staff members, spanning the decades right from the 1950’s to the present day. Members include all 12 of the players who took part on that famous night back in 1979 when Southend held European champions to a draw in the Roots Hall snow, and there are now 16 seasons where every squad member still alive has become part of SUEPA.
There are all the names you would hope and expect to be in SUEPA, and so many have actively been involved in what we do including Frankie Banks, Lee Barnard, David Crown, Peter Daley, Barry Fry, Garry Nelson, Glenn Pennyfather, Steve Phillips, Damien Scannell, Derek Spence, Steve Tilson, Dave Worthington, and many more.
We have five members who are in their 90’s, the oldest being 94-year-old Eric Marsden who played for our club in 1952 (so, before the club’s move to Roots Hall).
SUEPA President is none other than Adam Barrett, who is hugely supportive of what we do and he attends our functions when he can.
Membership is entirely free, with activities generally being self-funded or supported by the Trust or kind donations received. We work very closely with the club, who have been generous in providing hospitality facilities for a number of match day events when we’ve hosted former players returning to Roots Hall. Our largest match day event to date was back in March 2019 when 20 players from the Dave Smith managerial era returned on what proved to be a wonderful day.
That ex-player gathering was surpassed recently at our Match for Micky in October 2024 when over 35 former players, including Glenn Hoddle and others from Tottenham Hotspur (Micky’s first club), gathered at Bowers & Pitsea’s Len Salmon Stadium for a memorable afternoon in support of Micky Stead. It was our second benefit match – the previous year we learned a lot from our Match for James Walker in what proved to be a very emotional day, not least the sponsored 50 mile run Damien Scannell undertook on the day to arrive there mid-way through the second-half.
Fans are always given the opportunity to see former players returning to Roots Hall, with introductions on the pitch (Steve Phillips’s ‘arms aloft’ walk to the West Stand at the last game of the 2021/22 season was just a delight!) and many also being able to meet their former heroes either before or after a match. There have been numerous reunions after decades of absence.
SUEPA is supportive of many fund-raising activities to help either the club or local charities and is always willing to help former players where practical. It is with the latter in mind that a strong link has now been forged with the Professional Footballers Association, and we hope that at some point a key initiative we have proposed of setting up a national network of former player groups will be put in place. We want to encourage as many clubs as possible to have thriving former player groups and consider running something like our own regular Former Players Group meetings which we started back in March 2024.
We love to host our ‘Evening With’ events. Having had two fantastic sell-out evenings run as tributes to Dave Smith and then Peter Taylor in the last 18 months, we will shortly be holding our third when Roy McDonough will be the focus of what we are sure will be a very entertaining evening. These events act as good fundraisers to support the work we do.
SUEPA run very active Facebook, X, LinkedIn and Instagram pages on which we publicise future events plus notify when a new member joins. The social media outlets have a growing following, have proved invaluable in spreading the SUEPA word, received many plaudits for their content, and receive a steady stream of messages for us to respond to.
A recent innovation has been the creation of our ‘SUEPA Fund’. We have started to channel monies raised into a Shrimpers Trust account earmarked specifically for SUEPA projects. Outside of helping our former players and charitable causes, a key desire is to help preserve our club’s history and heritage and make it accessible to all. Our ultimate desire in this new COSU-driven Roots Hall era is to have within Roots Hall a museum facility which collects and displays items from our near 120-year club history. We accept that this at present could be some years away, but it will need significant resource, so we are starting to save early! Keep the look out for news as things develop, and if you want to get involved, please do contact us.
A final word must be reserved for our current (and first) sponsor, JLS Building Services Limited, who have been hugely supportive with their Director Justin Slowley getting fully involved in all of our the events since he came on board at the start of the 2024/25 season. Justin, your interest and involvement in all that we undertake is really appreciated.
All SUEPA and Shrimpers Trust members receive a quarterly newsletter via email.
Copies of our Newsletters can be accessed by clicking here.
SUEPA can be contacted via the Shrimpers Trust or directly by email to: suepa@shrimperstrust.co.uk
