SOUTHEND United legend Steve Tilson enjoyed a trip down memory lane to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK.

Tilson looked back on his lengthy association with the Shrimpers, as both a player and manager, during an entertaining evening at Hullbridge Sports.

And Tilson was thrilled to raise £1,529 for the charity.

“I hadn’t really done anything like it before but it was suggested to me and we did it for a cause very close to my heart,” said Tilson.

“My dad died of prostate cancer and I want to do things in his memory to raise money for the charity.

“I did one of Jeff Stelling’s marathon walks last year to raise funds so this wasn’t quite as tiring but I was quite nervous because it was something different.

“But it went well and it was well supported so we were able to raise a really good amount for the charity which was the most important thing.”

Tilson joined Blues in 1988 and spent 10 years at the club as a player, making 275 appearances and being voted the Shrimpers’ player of the Millennium.

Tilson returned to Roots Hall as a youth coach before being appointed as manager in 2003.

The former midfielder - who also enjoyed success with Canvey Island in non-league - led the Shrimpers from League Two to the Championship and victory over Manchester United in the League Cup.

And event organiser Kevin Caldon was pleased with how the evening went.

“Steve is a local legend really so it was great to have helped him put this evening on,” said Caldon.

“He’s a local guy who everyone knows and we had close to 100 people there who definitely all had a good time.

“We had an auction with some sporting memorabilia and a raffle all to raise funds for a charity which is very close to Steve’s heart and to also many others as well.

“We didn’t really know how much we were going to raise because it’s the first time we’ve done something like this.

“We had hoped to maybe make £1,000 but ended up making quite a lot more, which is great. We’d like to thank everyone who made the evening so successful.”

The event was hosted by BBC Essex’s Blues commentator Nick Alliker and the Echo’s chief sports reporter Chris Phillips.