Swarming fans make up for Southend United loss

Article posted by Coliseum, June 4^th, 2025

Image: Wembley Stadium connected by EE on Facebook

The Southend United F.C. fans helped smash the record National League Playoff Final attendance as they packed out the Wembley Stadium in Wembley, London (UK) on June 1^st to cheer on ‘The Shrimpers’.

The Oldham Athletic A.F.C. beat the Southend United F.C. 3-2 in extra time to win the National League Playoff Final on June 1^st held at the Wembley Stadium.

‘Echo’ stated that despite a ticket fiasco throughout the week that initially saw ‘The Blues’ and the National League team – the Oldham Athletic A.F.C. – limited to just 17,500 tickets each, a whopping 52,115 packed out the stands.

The Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England (UK) which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football.

The Roots Hall Football Stadium is a football stadium located in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England (UK). The stadium is the home ground of the National League team Southend United F.C. With a capacity of 12,392, however currently restricted to 10,502, the Roots Hall is the largest football stadium in Essex.

The 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium, currently branded as the Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London (UK). It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium which had stood from 1923 until 2003.

The Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England (UK). As of the 2024-2025 seasons the team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, but will compete in the English Football League (EFL) League Two (the fourth-highest division in the English football league system) in the 2025-2026 seasons after winning the 2025 National League Playoff Final.

The 13,186-capacity Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England (UK). It serves as the home arena of the Oldham Athletic A.F.C.

Preston (UK)-based the English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League it is the oldest football league in the world and was the top-level football league in England from its foundation until 1992 when the top 22 clubs split from it to form the Premier League (the highest level of the English football league system). The Football League was rebranded as the English Football League (EFL) starting with the 2016-2017 seasons.

‘Echo’ further stated that the fans filled the coaches from across Southend and battled against station closures to ensure they were in their seats by kick off and cheer on ‘The Shrimpers’.

And despite the result not quite going the way of the Southend the fans they were full of pride for their players.

Southend twice took the lead, including just minutes into extra time, before two late efforts saw Oldham come out on top and leave ‘The Shrimpers’ facing another season of National League football.

On his way home from Wembley, ‘The Blues’ fan Ben Thornton said, “They put on a good show. I wasn’t sure about the penalty but I would say overall they did well. I think we have a good team and the turnaround at the club has been remarkable from a few months ago. I just hope we can hang on to our good players and go again next season. When you look at our season in a sense being here is a win. We were looking like we were in a relegation battle in October and November. I think the players and the staff can carry themselves with pride. You don’t judge a season on one game and frankly it could have gone either way, we were just unlucky today.”

In front of the record crowd at the Wembley Stadium substitutes James Norwood and Kian Harratt scored within the space of two minutes for Oldham after Leon Chambers-Parillon had restored Southend’s lead just seconds into extra time.

An early own-goal from Manny Monthe had given ‘The Shrimpers’ the lead but was canceled out by Joe Garner’s penalty after Monthe had been brought down in the area.

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