It was on the 24th April 1934 that Southend United played their final game at the Kursaal, a goalless draw in front of 4,700 people against Norwich City, who would of course become the first opponents at Roots Hall in August 1955. Ironically, the Southend Stadium was purpose-built for greyhound racing, an activity outlawed by the Football League in 1927 when the Shrimpers attempted to encourage more punters to the old ground.
Planning had been underway for two years for the new ground at Grainger Road, space that had been used previously for brickworks. A share issue was launched to raise capital for the project, and had no difficulty in gathering the necessary funds. Work was completed for the opening of the stadium on 19th May 1933. The main stand housed 2,000 tip-up seats, with the rest of the accommodation comprising of extensive uncovered terracing.
Ten months later, Captain Tom McEwan was elected to the board of Southend United Football Club, an important move as he was also heavily involved in the Greycing Club, owners of the Stadium. Blues applied to the Football League for approval to switch venues in time for the 1934/5 campaign, and on 4th June 1934, permission was finally granted.
A seven-year lease was agreed with the Greycing Club, and this was extended to 21 in quick time; this was the period of time that the club was to spend at Grainger Road. The first fixture was a reserve team clash with Tottenham Hotspur, and a crowd of over 8,000 – in a time when second-string football was more popular – gathered to witness the Lilywhites triumph 6-2.
That match took place on 25th August, and four days later, on a Wednesday afternoon, United won the inaugural first-team encounter, 2-1 over Aldershot Town with Harry Johnson and Fred Cheesmur grabbing the goals in front of 7,456 spectators. Three days on, and in the first weekend game at Grainger Road, the Stadium saw the Seasiders lose 2-1 to Exeter City in front of 11,389 and with gate receipts of £680.
The 1934 Football Encyclopaedia described the newest League venue as “one of the best grounds in the south” and improvements were quickly made: the Sutton Road Terrace’s capacity was increased by 2,500 to 9,000 and there were entrances to the ground from both this side and Grainger Road, as well as Maldon Road.
The first signs that the pitch was to prove a problem arrived in October after a prolonged period of heavy rain in southeast Essex. The groundsman, Bill Fitch, temporarily remedied the situation with the instigation of a herring bone drainage system, but in the summer of 1935, when the first season’s use had been completed, the seeded turf was dug up and replaced with 28,000 meadow seeds. Even so, the clay base always caused trouble at the ground, and brick remnants from its industrial past caused a bumpy surface in dry conditions.
November 1934 had seen Southend’s record victory recorded when Golders Green, the amateur side from north London, were thrashed 10-1 in an FA Cup first round tie. Twice since then have United equalled this scoreline, but it has never been bettered. On 11th January 1936, a record attendance of 22,862 – reportedly 23,634 at the time in the Southend Standard – watched a third round replay against Spurs. £2,913 was raised through gate receipts, with 2,000 locked out of the ground. United lost 2-1, having drawn 4-4 at White Hart Lane.
Greyhound meets took place twice a week at the Stadium, and boxing could also prove to be an occasional crowd-puller. However, within just four years of its opening, crowds had begun to dwindle, with only 4,921 turning up for the final home match of the 1937/8 season, a 1-1 draw with Exeter City. Supporters pined for the Kursaal, which by now had been demolished, and were dissatisfied with the poor view and impersonal surroundings of the Stadium, which were not conducive to creating a raucous atmosphere.
By the end of the decade, both the Southend board and the ground’s owners were considering improvements, but the site was requisitioned by the army for it’s Training Corps in 1940 to aid the efforts of the forces for the Second World War. Blues relocated to Chelmsford City’s New Writtle Street, where they remained until 1945 to play all of their war-time fixtures.
Upon their return after a five-year exile, officials found that all pre-War records had been destroyed, and the pitch had been further damaged. Resurfacing was a key requirement, and incredibly the club successfully filed a £271 claim against the War Department for damage to both the playing surface and the perimeter fence.
The crowds returned to five figures after the War as sport boomed throughout the country, and 10,991 saw a Harry Lane brace and Frank Dudley strike seal a 3-1 August win over Walsall in the first Third Division (South) clash after hostilities. Crowds peaked during this season at 17,692 in a 3-1 defeat to Queens Park Rangers.
It was to prove a temporary truce. Constant chiding continued around the country at the state of the pitch, and when the Shrimpers travelled to a local electrical works side, Leicestershire club Brush Sports in 1946, they were waved away by the local newspaper declaring, “The mud was there so, of course, altho’ Southend were away, they were quite at home”.
In 1951/2, the mud was also deemed to have played a key role in Blues reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup. United had defeated Bournemouth & Boscombe 6-1, Oldham Athletic 5-0, Southampton 3-0 and Bristol Rovers 2-1 before facing Sheffield United in the last sixteen. A 2-1 loss, after Albert Wakefield had handed the hosts the lead, remains Southend’s best-ever run in the prestigious competition.
In that same season, local satirist Stan Harvey penned ‘Southend-on-Mud’, the first of a series of illustrations for the local press over a twenty-year period following a 5-1 win against Watford. Just months before this season, Southend officials had begun talks with the local council over a move back to Roots Hall.
This was the beginning of the end for Grainger Road. In 1953, the football club tried to start negotiations with the stadium owners over the installation of floodlights. The owners refused to get involved, and with money from the Supporters Trust, the Roots Hall site was purchased.
With the lease for Southend Stadium running out after the 1954/5 campaign, this term proved to be United’s last at the ground. Attendances crashed yet again to well below 9,000, and the matchday programme contained regular updates on the move. The Club Notes for the Easter Monday clash with local rivals Colchester United gave the following report:
“Now that the better weather is here, rapid progress is being made at our future home. Those of you who are in its neighbourhood this Eastertide may care to look in and get a pre-view of what the ground will look like in August 1955. Some concern has been expressed over the condition of the playing-pitch but we are assured on the best authority that those fears are unfounded, and that all will be well when the great opening day arrives. It is to be fervently hoped that this will be so.”
On 30th April 1955, the ground staged its final first team fixture, a 3-2 win over Brentford with Anderson, Roy Hollis and Barker netting in front of 8,000. Reserve and youth team matches continued at the old ground for the next twenty years, and indeed senior football returned in 1971/2 when Pegasus Athletic joined the Essex Senior League. They were booted out by stadium owners after just one season.
Attendances for greyhound racing fell drastically during the 1970s as punters turned their back on the sport after a series of dog doping scandals. The tables were turned on the stadium’s owners when the local council refused its advances to stage stock car racing and speedway at the venue. Less than 1000 witnessed the final few greyhound meetings, the last of which occurred on Boxing Day 1985.
Within the next couple of months, the ground was demolished, and in its stead is the car park for the Greyhound Retail Park. Of the old surroundings, only a curtailed Grainger Road, and Maldon Road remain, with Greyhound Way roughly running down the halfway line of the historic venue.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com
**This article was composed with the help of the Autumn 2004 issue of Groundtastic and Peter Miles’ and David Goody’s excellent Images of Sport book**