SOUTHEND United’s promotion from League Two completed five years of hard work for the Shrimpers’ first team coach Graham Coughlan.

A vital cog behind the scenes, Coughlan has worked tirelessly to help transform Blues’ fortunes.

And the Irishman feels the club is now far stronger than when he first signed, under Paul Sturrock’s stewardship, back in 2010.

“It’s been a long, hard five years but the club has grown and got stronger in that time,” said Coughlan.

“I can recall our first game here five years ago against Stockport and they were in a similar situation to us at the time.

“But you look at where we are now compared to them and all credit to the club and fans for how far we’ve come.

“The infrastructure is a lot better now too and the club can go a long way because it has a hell of a lot of potential.

“Winning promotion like we did was a special moment and you have to enjoy these achievements when they come around.”

The Shrimpers’ dramatic play-off final win against Wycombe also made for far happier Wembley memories for Coughlan.

The 40-year-old had been beaten in his two previous trips to the world-famous stadium.

And he was thrilled to make it a case of third time lucky.

“Wembley is not one of my favourite stadiums because of what’s happened in the past there for me and I was starting to think it was going to be another defeat, but the lads were unbelievable,” said Coughlan.

“If I’m being entirely honest, I couldn’t see the goal coming but the lads showed the character they’ve shown all season to get the win.

“But if we had we had another couple of minutes after Joe Pigott’s goal I really think we could’ve done what Manchester United did against Bayern Munich in 1999.

“Wycombe looked dead and out on their feet to me but we certainly didn’t and you have to get real credit to the fitness department here for that. They’ve been different class and deserve top marks for what they’ve done.”

The Shrimpers instead had to take their momentum into the penalty shoot-out which they won 7-6.

And that, along with Pigott’s late equaliser, led to some memorable celebrations, including a now customary charge out of the technical area by Coughlan.

“I’m not normally one for emotion but in the last couple of weeks I’ve been charging down the touch-line and god knows where I run after Pigs’ goal and after the penalties as well,” said the former defender.

“Sometimes your emotions take over but the end to Saturday’s game was a very special moment that will certainly live long in the memory for me and everyone else at the club.”