Formed In: 1906
Based In: Southend-on-Sea
Play In: Coca-Cola Football League One
Nicknames: The Shrimpers, The Seasiders, The Blues
The Fulham players will make the short journey to the seaside when they play Southend United in a friendly match as part of their pre-season preparations.
Southend-on-Sea is located on the Thames Estuary in Essex, about 40 miles east of Craven Cottage. The estuary is the place where the River Thames (which flows through London) widens as it connects with the North Sea. The area is home to a large wind farm, where 30 giant turbines create electricity for the population.
Following relegation a few years back Southend United now play alongside our London neighbours Millwall and Leyton Orient in League One.
Although they haven’t yet won any of the major English trophies, Southend have enjoyed some famous victories over the years. In 2006 they provided a giant-killing shock by defeating Manchester United 1-0 in the League Cup. In fact it was a memorable year for ‘The Shrimpers’. They had already been crowned League 1 champions, a feat they will be hoping to repeat next May.
Lots of famous players have pulled on the blue of Southend over the years, including the former Liverpool striker turned pundit Stan Collymore. Shaun Goater - who also scored lots of goals in a slightly lighter shade of blue for Man City - also played with ‘The Shrimpers’ for a short spell.
Even Frank Lampard’s dad once played at Southend’s home stadium Roots Hall. He featured way back in the1980s, long before his son had even started out on his hugely successful career. The ground has a small capacity of just over 12,000, but ‘The Seasiders’ recently announced exciting plans to move into a brand new 22,000 seat stadium in 2010.
As a result there is a chance that this could be The Whites last ever visit to Roots Hall.
With its charming location on the estuary, the town of Southend-on-Sea has always been a popular seaside resort and many of the people who live there are employed in the local tourism industry.
There are lots of exciting attractions along the seafront, including an Adventure Park, a Sea Life Aquarium and the world's longest pleasure pier, which stretches out for well over a mile into the water. In fact it is so long that it even has its very own railway!
Southend-on-Sea also has another interesting train, a funicular, which is a type of cable car that is specially designed for moving up and down steep slopes and mountains.