Southend United will mark the more than 120th anniversary of the club’s founding with a special event titled Pioneers Day during their upcoming home match against Barrow. The commemoration, scheduled for Saturday, will celebrate the origins of the club, which was established at a meeting in the Blue Boar Public House and played its first recorded fixture against Swindon Town in the Southern League Division Two on September 1, 1906.
Organised by the Southend United Ex-Players Association (SUEPA), affiliated with the Shrimpers Trust, the event will bring together around 40 relatives representing 14 of the 20 original “Pioneer Families” connected to Southend’s earliest team members and staff. Among those attending are six individuals traveling from Canada to participate in the celebrations. A highlight of the day will see 20 relatives enter the pitch before kickoff, each holding a card with the name of one of the original players. Leading them will be the great-great-grandson of William Thomson, recognized as the first player to sign for the club.
The concept for Pioneers Day emerged over the past year when Andy Leeder, chairman of the Southend United Historical Society, met passionate SUFC supporter Terry Hamlyn at a pub before a match against Eastleigh. Their shared interest in the club’s history inspired a project to investigate and document the lives of the original 16 players, along with four essential backroom staff members, collectively referred to as the club’s pioneers.
Working alongside Paul Fitzgerald, Leeder and Hamlyn embarked on extensive research to trace living descendants and uncover detailed accounts of these early figures. Their efforts relied on various sources including census records, genealogy websites, war archives, newspaper collections, and social media. This research aimed to fill gaps beyond existing statistics and headlines, exploring the pioneers’ family backgrounds, career paths, wartime experiences, and their lives after football.
The results of their work have been compiled into a book that is now available for purchase online and at the Southend United museum. The publication shares compelling stories, such as that of club captain George Molyneux, who earned an England cap during the 1902 Ibrox disaster, and the journeys of four pioneers who emigrated to Canada shortly after the Titanic’s tragic sinking in 1912.
This initiative not only honours the club’s heritage but also provides an in-depth look at the personal histories and enduring legacies of Southend United’s founding figures. The book can be obtained through the Shrimpers Trust website.