Can someone please paste the article here on this thread as frustratingly I can't access it.
SOUTHEND United have not had much to shout about off the pitch in recent seasons.
But their ex-players-association is bucking that trend.
Known as SUEPA and run superbly by fan Andy Leeder since 2018, close to 500 former Shrimpers players have already joined up.
And Leeder believes that makes them the biggest group of ex footballers anywhere in the world.
“There are currently 479 former players/ex-coaching staff members in SUEPA which we believe makes us the largest former players group in the UK, if not the world," said Leeder.
"Certainly we have put the world record claim out there on social media and no one has yet come back to refute it, so we are running with it for now!
"There are now 11 seasons where every former player still alive is a member of SUEPA, with perhaps the greatest interest in what we do coming from those players who were at Roots Hall in the 1970s and 1980s.
"Overall we now have 61 per cent of our former first team players still alive as SUEPA members."
Leeder puts together a regular newsletter which is sent out to all members.
And he first formed SUEPA after contacting the club to see if anything could be done to assist their record appearance maker Alan Moody.
“I asked if anything could be done to help Alan Moody who I had learned had to have both of his legs amputated in a life-changing operation,” said Leeder.
“That led to me working with the Shrimpers Trust and initiating the ‘Moody Blues’ campaign, which ended up raising over £11,500 to help Alan buy a car to meet his new disability needs.
“We invited Alan down to Roots Hall from his north-east home to present him with the cheque, and had lots of his old teammates and friends there to greet him.
“The day went so well that we thought that we should do more of that kind of thing and so SUEPA was born.”
Since then Leeder has welcomed a whole host of former Shrimpers players back to Roots Hall and has been able to assist many of them when needed too.
But their biggest event came last May when a legends match was organised to help ex Blues striker James Walker after he suffered a cardiac arrest and was left in need of 24 hour care.
“The match we arranged ended up raising over £21,000 which is now being used to fund additional therapy sessions that James so badly needs,” said Leeder.
“We remain in close contact with James and his family.
“We are pleased to say that, thanks to all of the kind donations from fans, the extra therapy sessions are starting to have a real positive impact in James’s long road to recovery.”
And Leeder is determined to keep on making a positive impact.
“We have now reached a critical mass where I think we can start to have a real impact, provide help where needed, and I hope become an integral part of the exciting plans that Justin Rees and the other consortium members have for our club,” said Leeder.
“SUEPA was established during very challenging times for all connected with Southend United, and despite that I think we showed that we can shine a light of positivity and achieve a great deal.
“So, if we can do that when our backs are against the wall, in a new era of optimism I am hopeful that, working in tandem , we can have an even greater impact.”
>SUEPA can be contacted at suepassoc@gmail.com
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Here you go.
