Bury FC v Southend United Match Information

October 23, 2014 by Alec Hitchman

Shakers Are In Town

Bury visit Roots Hall, with Blues Looking To Win Their First Game in October

The Manager of The Month curse certainly appears to have struck Blues this month. Manager Phil Brown picked up the award for September, but Blues are yet to win since Brown was awarded the title. Blues have lost three and drawn one of their games so far this month.
Bury are the next team to come to Roots Hall, looking to get something from the game, a point or three. This would condemn Blues to a completely winless October. Both sides go into the game on the back of a defeat. Blues were beaten 1-0 by Newport in Wales on Tuesday night, whilst Bury were thrashed 5-0 by Shrewsbury. Both sides will be looking to improve on recent performances, particularly Blues.
This will be the 39th meeting between the sides. We first played Bury in 1958 when Blues won 3-2 up in Lancashire. The last time we met was last season, when we drew 0-0 at Roots Hall. We had drawn 1-1 with Bury at the JD Stadium (their ground) earlier in the season, Ben Coker scored a free kick for Blues.

Who are Bury FC?

Full Name:Bury Football Club
Founded: 1885
Nickname: The Shakers
Ground:Gigg Lane (AKA: The JD Stadium – for sponsorship reasons) – (11,840 Capacity)
Manager:David Flitcroft
2013-14 Season:SkyBet League Two – 12th

Most Recent Line-Ups

Southend UnitedBentley, White, Thompson, Prosser, Binnom-Williams, Leonard, Atkinson, Timlin (Payne ’82), Deegan, Weston (Barnard ’66), Corr (Coulthirst ’89)
Bury FCLainton, Cameron, Mills, McNulty, Jones, Etuhu, Soares, Mayor (Sedgwick ’66), Adams (Tutte ’45), Rose (Hussey ’45), Lowe

Last Time We Met – 15/02/2014 – Southend United 2-3 Exeter City

Southend United:Bentley, White, Coker, Leonard, Sokolik, Egan, Laird, Clifford (Atkinson ’57), Eastwood (Corr ’57), Hurst, Straker (Barnard ’75)
Bury FCJensen (Charles-Cook ’45), Sedgwick, Hussey (Young ’88), McNulty, Mills, Veseli, Tutte, Soares, Akpa-Akpro, Grimes (Platt ’58), Mayor

Bury’s Last 5 Results

Shrewsbury Town (A) – L 5-0
Portsmouth (H) – W 3-0
AFC Wimbledon (A) – L 3-2
Morecambe (H) – W 3-1 – Johnstone’s Paint Trophy
Tranmere Rovers (H) – W 2-0

What Could Happen?

A win for Southend could potentially take them back into the play-offs, but only if the four teams above them all lose. A draw could take Blues up to 8th and one place outside the play-offs, if the two teams above them both lose.
A win for Bury could put them level on points with Wycombe Wanderers, but only if Wycombe lose. If Burton & Luton both lose and Bury win, Bury will be back in the top three. A draw wouldn’t do much for Bury, although, they could go into 3rd place, if Luton lose and Bury score one goal or more. (And Luton don’t score at all)

For the Away Fans – A Quick Guide

Distance to Travel (Based on the distance between both team’s grounds)

243 Miles (4 Hours, 4 Minutes)

Where Can I Drink?

There is a bar in the ground known as the Shrimpers Bar. Although this is mainly for home fans, away supporters do have access. Other than this, there is the Blue Boar pub on Victoria Road, which, on match days, only admits away supporters. It is about a two minute walk from the ground (heading towards the town centre). You will have to walk past The Spread Eagle in order to get to the Blue Boar, but "The Spread" is only open to home fans on match days.

Where Can I Park? –

TThere is plenty of street parking within walking distance of the ground, based in the many back streets behind and to the right of the away stand, otherwise, there is a car park at Southend High School For Boys, which charges £5 for match day parking.

Staying Overnight?

There are plenty of hotels and B&B’s in Southend. One of which is the airport hotel, approximately a 5 minute drive, or a 30 minute walk from Roots Hall. On the other hand, there are a number of B&B’s along the seafront, just like Morecambe! The seafront is roughly 25 minutes by foot from Roots Hall.

Attractions

If you have planned to make a weekend of your visit, there are many attractions in Southend. One of which is Adventure Island, an amusement park on the seafront at the end of the town centre. Just along from that, there is a Sea-Life Centre, along with ten-pin bowling at the Kursaal.

Where can I Eat?

There is a chip shop opposite the Blue Boar pub, called The Fish House. Other than this, there are the usual fast food restaurants in Southend high street. There is also the Chinese buffet, known as "East", which is located near the Royals Shopping Centre, in the high street. Locals will be happy to guide you should you need help.

Programme Price

£3.00

Postcode (for SatNav users):

SS2 6NQ

My Predicted Southend Line-Up:

Bentley, White, Prosser, Thompson, Binnom-Williams, Hurst, Payne, Deegan, Leonard, Corr, Barnard

The Opposition View

I managed to get the opinion of Bury fan Nick Holt ahead of the game:

Nick Holt

1. What is your name and how long have you supported Bury FC?

I'm Nick Holt and I've been a fan since 1988, that's 26 years of fun fun fun.

2. What are your views on Bury's season so far?

We've started pretty well and as expected we're near the top of the league. David Flitcroft has put together a very good squad and they've mostly matched the expectations of the fans, chairman and management. We expect promotion which is very unusual for us. We were the bookies favourites for promotion before the season began, which I've never seen before.

3. Which player has impressed you most?

Danny Mayor has been the best player so far. Flitcroft uses the term 'destructive' which is apt. At his best he's unplayable, as he was against Portsmouth last Saturday when he scored a blinder and then gave their defenders hell.

4. Which player should Southend fans look out for?

If Mayor is on his game, he'll cause problems but there's a lot of quality about us these days. Ryan Lowe at age 36 is still scoring and Nicky Adams in midfield won't stop running and chasing until the final whistle.

5. Ex-Blues winger Danny Mayor is currently at Bury. What are your views on him?

He's done really well. He was on loan from Sheffield Wednesday for a full season and then signed permanently in the summer. He can cause all sorts of problems. He's skilful and can create a bit of space then hammer one in from 20 yards. Alternatively, if its not his night, you'll barely notice he's there.

6. What are your views on Southend United?

They're another club like Bury. Small and unassuming, I have never had reason to dislike Southend. I remember you getting promoted at Gigg in about 1991 with a late goal hit on the turn from the corner of the box along the floor and it crept in for 1-0 and the Southend fans went mental. My mate Dave and I stood there in silence as you and your mates went barmy and he said "The Southend supporters seem to be engaging in the bouncing activity". It still makes me laugh even now. Dave'll be there on Saturday no doubt as he lives in London.
I really like that double-tiered stand behind one of the goals. There's not enough of that sort of thing these days.

7. Will you be attending the game? If so, will this be your first visit to Roots Hall?

I came down to Southend years and years ago, but I won't be coming this weekend. My days of traipsing about the country every weekend watching the Shakers are behind me, me and the lads now restrict ourselves to one or two big days out per season. This year it'll be Portsmouth and maybe one or two more.

8. Has your manager David Flitcroft impressed you, personally, since he joined?

He talks a lot of sense and has put together a great squad. He was fairly disparaging towards the possibility of Bolton showing an interest when they were managerless and we approve of that kind of attitude in these parts. His tactics are generally fairly sound but we have lost the last three away games so here's where we see what he's made of.

9. Following your 5-0 defeat against Shrewsbury on Tuesday (21/10/14), what needs to change for Bury ahead/for Saturday's match?

We've been a bit gung-ho in the early part of the season and against relegation fodder like Hartlepool and Carlisle its worked a treat, but against Exeter, Wimbledon and Shrewsbury, when we were up against a bit of quality and organisation, we came unstuck. Flitcroft himself admitted a bit of naivety in his approach so I expect us to be a bit more defensive, possibly with a 4-5-1 formation even. The manager needs another defeat right now like a hole in the head so I expect a more cautious approach.

10. How do you think the game will pan out and what do you think the score will be? Or, what scoreline would you settle for?

I think we'll try to keep it at 0-0 for as long as possible in order to bore your players into submission, then we'll unleash Mayor, Adams and Danny Rose and go for the winner. That said I predict a 1-1 and I'd take that scoreline against a team that is more than capable of turning us over if we're not prepared for it.

The Rest Of Them

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Cambridge United v Hartlepool United
Carlisle United v Oxford United
Luton Town v Northampton Town
Morecambe FC v Exeter City (PLAYING ON SUNDAY)
Newport County v Accrington Stanley
Plymouth Argyle v Cheltenham Town
Shrewsbury Town v Portsmouth FC
Stevenage FC v Burton Albion
Wycombe Wanderers v Dagenham & Redbridge
York City v Mansfield Town