Lost Mackem
Striker
First of all, what a brilliant town Southend-On-Sea is. I was really expecting the worst judging by some of the comments on here but I was pleasantly surprised.
We stayed in the Park Inn Hotel Friday till Sunday and I think every person I saw in there was a Sunderland fan. Had a sea view, happy days. The staff were all a good laugh and had a laugh with us about losing the match which was all in good spirits. There were a few drunken arguments in the hotel but staff did well to calm the situations without kicking anyone out or causing a bigger scene etc.
The town reminded me of Sunderland in a way. Make of that as you will.
We spent the Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the day in The Last Post Wetherspoons. It was jam packed on the Friday and Saturday and I thought the bouncers and bar staff were great considering it was most likely one of their most busiest weekends of the year and it was full of ****ed up northern day drinkers. Asked the bouncers if it was OK to put the flags up as I was presuming as it was a Wetherspoons they wouldn't allow it but they were completely fine. Not sure if they're the same bouncers every day/night but the lass bouncer was great and really down to earth which is (atleast up here) very unusual. Few times the police walked through they were great too, dancing and singing ('woop woop is the sound of the police etc.') and they did great to keep the atmosphere going where usually I'd expect them to kill it abit.
Spent both night in the pubs down the seafront just due to the fact that they were close to the hotel. Again, brilliant locals, bouncers and bar staff. Quite happy to join in our singing. Can't remember too much from the nights to be honest so there's not much to say about that. Can't even remember the pubs' names on the seafront.
The match was what I expected. I'd have been more pleased with a draw obviously but given that Southend needed a win I was more than happy to lose in those circumstances. The Southend fans were (obviously) loud throughout and the scenes toward the end when the whole stadium was bouncing had me in awe - it's why we love the game. Not sure if you saw in your celebrations of the goals but after both Southend goals, many SAFC fans were applauding and some applauded during the 'we are staying up' chants. The banter between fans such as "Dirty Northern Bastards" and "You're going down" I think was expected but there was nobody getting 'handsy' and it was all in good spirit. Tin hat on, but in my opinion I thought the pitch invasion was over the top - I suppose the adrenaline took over beating the mighty Sunderland
. The stewards in and around the ground were very friendly and helpful and exactly how you'd want a steward to be. They treat the away fans with respect and weren't power junky morons which you see so often while travelling away. Police presense was high in the away end walking into the ground which was strange considering how well behaved Sunderland fans usually are while travelling away. I presumed it was for protection incase the atmosphere turned ugly if Southend were to be relegated. A great game though, and like I said - atmosphere was electric for the full 90 minutes.
Didn't see any trouble all weekend but did hear about a group of West Ham fans attacking a pub occupied by Sunderland fans which is a shame. Typical. A few said on here that there were many West Ham and Arsenal locals but I was still surprised by how many there were.
I've been to over 15 this season but that was probably the best away trip I've been to this season. It really was great thanks to the locals.
I hope Sunderland fans did themselves proud too.
What a lovely place Southend-On-Sea is.
Hope I'm not back next season like.
We stayed in the Park Inn Hotel Friday till Sunday and I think every person I saw in there was a Sunderland fan. Had a sea view, happy days. The staff were all a good laugh and had a laugh with us about losing the match which was all in good spirits. There were a few drunken arguments in the hotel but staff did well to calm the situations without kicking anyone out or causing a bigger scene etc.
The town reminded me of Sunderland in a way. Make of that as you will.
We spent the Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the day in The Last Post Wetherspoons. It was jam packed on the Friday and Saturday and I thought the bouncers and bar staff were great considering it was most likely one of their most busiest weekends of the year and it was full of ****ed up northern day drinkers. Asked the bouncers if it was OK to put the flags up as I was presuming as it was a Wetherspoons they wouldn't allow it but they were completely fine. Not sure if they're the same bouncers every day/night but the lass bouncer was great and really down to earth which is (atleast up here) very unusual. Few times the police walked through they were great too, dancing and singing ('woop woop is the sound of the police etc.') and they did great to keep the atmosphere going where usually I'd expect them to kill it abit.
Spent both night in the pubs down the seafront just due to the fact that they were close to the hotel. Again, brilliant locals, bouncers and bar staff. Quite happy to join in our singing. Can't remember too much from the nights to be honest so there's not much to say about that. Can't even remember the pubs' names on the seafront.
The match was what I expected. I'd have been more pleased with a draw obviously but given that Southend needed a win I was more than happy to lose in those circumstances. The Southend fans were (obviously) loud throughout and the scenes toward the end when the whole stadium was bouncing had me in awe - it's why we love the game. Not sure if you saw in your celebrations of the goals but after both Southend goals, many SAFC fans were applauding and some applauded during the 'we are staying up' chants. The banter between fans such as "Dirty Northern Bastards" and "You're going down" I think was expected but there was nobody getting 'handsy' and it was all in good spirit. Tin hat on, but in my opinion I thought the pitch invasion was over the top - I suppose the adrenaline took over beating the mighty Sunderland
. The stewards in and around the ground were very friendly and helpful and exactly how you'd want a steward to be. They treat the away fans with respect and weren't power junky morons which you see so often while travelling away. Police presense was high in the away end walking into the ground which was strange considering how well behaved Sunderland fans usually are while travelling away. I presumed it was for protection incase the atmosphere turned ugly if Southend were to be relegated. A great game though, and like I said - atmosphere was electric for the full 90 minutes.Didn't see any trouble all weekend but did hear about a group of West Ham fans attacking a pub occupied by Sunderland fans which is a shame. Typical. A few said on here that there were many West Ham and Arsenal locals but I was still surprised by how many there were.
I've been to over 15 this season but that was probably the best away trip I've been to this season. It really was great thanks to the locals.
I hope Sunderland fans did themselves proud too.
What a lovely place Southend-On-Sea is.
Hope I'm not back next season like.
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