Left-back Teddy Nesbitt: Another from the under-18's to get picked for the first team
Influential teenage midfielder Kane Ferdinand started it, and Under-18 supremo Ricky Duncan is hoping others will follow in becoming first team regulars of the future.
Duncan told www.echo-news.co.uk: "Kane has been brilliant and it's great to see. You can win leagues and cups but it means nothing if you don't produce players for the first team and thankfully that's what we've done as well. Kane is still only 18 but he's become a real key member of the first team and now other members of the youth team need to also push on. Teddy Nesbitt, Alex Woodyard and James Stevens all had a taste of it last season and they know what they need to do now to get back in to the manager's plans."
Once again the Shrimpers youths have done the club proud, doing well in the Alliance League as ever, up until Luggy started to nick all of Ricky's players, but also reached the final of the southern Alliance Cup Final for the first time, losing to Wycombe 1-0, as well as an exciting run to the FA Youth Cup fifth round where they had the honour to step out on to the legendary Anfield pitch.
Duncan said: "It's been another good year for us and I'm really pleased with how things went. There were a number of high points and getting to play at Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup was fantastic. We would liked to have done better when we got there and not have lost 9-0 but we were up against some of the best young players in Europe and it was fantastic for us to get that kind of opportunity. It showed how far we've progressed and a lot of good work has been done over the past 12 months."
And so say all of us, great work Ricky.
Still working on the last three youth team match reports missing from the Shrimpers Trust website, apologies, will be posted soon to complete the season.
The kids are all right:
www.southendunited-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/
the_kids_are_all_right_teddy_nesbitt_needs_to_work_on_a_few_things_
but_good_hes_involved_662559/index.shtml
For the Shrimpers Trust's own youth section, go here:
www.shrimperstrust.co.uk/home.asp?page_id=10