SOUTHEND United travel to Mansfield Town in League Two tomorrow looking to get their stuttering season back on track.

But 20 years ago the Shrimpers were flying far higher.

And their former striker Jason Lee, who also played for Mansfield in his career, still believes Southend could have made it to the Premier League had manager Barry Fry not left to join Birmingham City.

“I honestly do think there is every chance Southend could have got promotion that season had Barry stayed,” said Lee, 43.

“At that time we saw ourselves as a young Wimbledon and I think we all thought we could go on to achieve what they had done.

“Barry knew the lower leagues and he bought superbly well. We had the likes of Chris Powell, Andy Ansah, Tommy Mooney and Ricky Otto but you could pick anyone out from that team.

“I remember us winning at Derby and Sunderland and holding our own against all of the top teams.

“We got to about third in what is now the Championship and it was amazing considering we were still only getting about 5,000 fans and we were playing all of these ex Premier League teams.

“But after Barry left it was difficult and unfortunately the club imploded.”

Fry was replaced in the Roots Hall hot-seat by Peter Taylor who struggled to maintain the momentum which had been built up.

Blues ended up finishing 16th in the table and Lee recalls it being a tough job for Taylor to inherit at that stage of his career.

“Peter Taylor was a completely different character to Barry and he took over a very young and very lively group,” recalled Lee who bagged six goals in 25 starts for Southend.

“At the time it was also the first job Peter had got as a manager and the results didn’t go as well.

“But Peter’s gone on to have a great career as a manager and I’ve been really happy to see that happen.”

Lee did not work with Taylor for too long though as Nottingham Forest soon snapped up the striker in a £200,000 deal the following March.

And he remains rightfully proud of the career he went on to enjoy, playing for 18 clubs and making more than 650 appearances.

“I had 21 years as a player and I’m really happy about that,” said Lee.

“I played with some great players and some even better characters and won promotion in to every single division.

“I had some great times and that certainly includes being with Southend.

“I loved it there and I still keep an eye out for their results.

“I’ll certainly be doing that tomorrow as they’re playing another of my former teams, Mansfield.

“I would love to see Southend doing well again and they certainly have a good manager in place with some very promising players.

“But League Two is very hard to get out of, especially if you don’t have much money to spend.”

Nowadays, Lee is still in contact with the current day Shrimpers as part of his work with the Professional Football Association where he works as the Equalities Education Executive.

It is a role Lee has held for the past year and it involves him holding regular talks with a number of players.

“I ticked all the boxes as a player, coach and manager and this is something different which I really like doing now,” said Lee.

“I talk to players from the Premier League down to League Two about equality issues and have dealt with the cases involving Cameron Jerome and Malky Mackay.

“We support players and managers and let them know of the penalties that are in place.

“We also ensure that black, asian and players from minority ethnic backgrounds are accessing our courses.

“And I think having played for so many clubs, including Southend, means I’m able to relate to what players are going through so I think it’s working well.”