12th January 1991 Division 3
Train from Leicester
This game was part of David Webb's push for the old Division 2 and for me a game when you realised that it could happen. I was living in the Midlands at the time;
'Crewe is an ideal destination by train from London, not so from Leicester, train to Derby, and then you have to get a little cross country train that stops everywhere, takes forever but shows you the scenic beauty of Stoke?
However when you arrive at the station you are very close to the ground. We got there quite early and shortly afterwards the players arrived by train, and we saw them strolling towards the ground in small groups, (all accept Bretty Angell who was by himself and seemed to have no mates), my son got most of their autographs before they even reached the ground.
We had a good following, you could see the change in away crowds that success brings, and we had a comfortable 2-0 win which was a great relief to us all. Great day out, at the Station lots of Shrimpers but all getting express trains back to London, while we joined our cross country cattle truck. The trouble with being an exile is that often as soon as the match is over you're on your own, instead of enjoying everybody else's company and banter back to Southend.'
CREWE ALEXANDRA 1-3 SOUTHEND UNITED
15th April 2008 League 1
Shrimpers on Line coach from Rayleigh
This game last season in Stevie Tilson's march to the play offs, a game which highlighted to me the need for some organisation for Away Travel;
'Another coach trip and I couldn't wait, whereas coach trips had previously been only as a last resort, they were now my preferred mode of transport. I was the only one to board the coach at Rayleigh Weir and there were only the organisers on board as we headed back into Southend for some ten pickups. While it was lengthy they really put themselves out to accommodate peoples requirements, which I can only applaud them for. We headed northwards, making a stop at a service station, before arriving in Crewe at about 2.00.
My son had gone by train, and although the trains had been delayed, he was already in the pub. Crewe could not be better situated the station, the ground two or three pubs and chip shops all within a stone's throw of each other. One chip shop had a sign up saying, "Welcome Southend United". Our pub was full of Southend with the exception of one Crewe fan with a drum but apparently no mates as well. One thing which struck me was the lads that travelled by train had paid fares ranging from £20, to £30 or even £60 on the day, and then found they were booked on different trains. I thought how silly, away travel needs organising.
As we entered the ground they were about 800 Shrimpers who made plenty of noise, but then it wasn't difficult as we totally dominated the game, especially the first half when we played some of our best football of the season. We had one move which involved thirty or forty passes before a close effort on goal, Crewe just couldn't get near us. They were awarded two penalties both of which Darryl Flahaven saved, when they eventually did score, we went down the other end and scored again to put the game out of the reach of Crewe.
We were getting greedy this win really cemented us in the play off zone, but we were thinking is automatic promotion out of the question. We were 10 points behind second place Carlisle, but we still had to play them, and they were away at Leeds the following Saturday.
I like going to Crewe, always a good trip, easy, no problems and the coach journey home was lively and a pleasure, anyone who has ever been on one of the Watermill Wino's SOL trips would understand exactly what I mean.'