After a great run three seasons ago that took the Shrimpers Trust sponsored Southend youth team to the verge of the sixth round and a tie away to Manchester United, the last two competitions have seen them exit in the First Round proper.
2008/09 saw them lose to Brentford on penalties, while last season they were unlucky to be drawn away to eventual Youth Alliance Champions Millwall, where they lost 3-1.
Better luck this time around, as long as Ricky Duncan hasn't lost too many of his under-18's to the first team squad!
The FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.ON
Qualifying Competition - ties must be played by w/c:
Preliminary Round Qualifying:
Monday, September 6th, 2010
First Round Qualifying:
Monday, September 20th, 2010
Second Round Qualifying:
Monday, October 4th, 2010
Third Round Qualifying:
Monday, October 18th, 2010
Competition Proper - ties to be played by the closing date:
Round Date
First Round Proper:
Saturday, November 6th, 2010
Second Round Proper:
Saturday, November 20th, 2010
Third Round Proper:
Saturday, December 11th, 2010
Fourth Round Proper:
Saturday, January 29th, 2011
Sixth Round Proper:
Saturday, February 12th, 2011
Semi-Final (Leg 1):
Saturday, March 5th, 2011
Semi-Final (Leg 2):
Saturday, March 19th, 2011
The Final (Leg 1):
TBC
The Final (Leg 2):
TBC
Southend United will enter the competition at the First Round proper stage.
Chelsea won the 2010 Youth Cup by beating Aston Villa 3-2 on aggregate.
(Dates supplied by www.thefa.com; for a full history of the FA's under-18 competition, go here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Youth_Cup)