EX Southend United manager Steve Tilson is relishing being reunited with his former assistant Paul Brush.

Tilson and Brush memorably guided the Shrimpers to successive promotions and victory against Manchester United while working together at Roots Hall.

And Tilson is now pleased to be teaming up with Brush once again at the Players Football Academy.

“I hadn’t seen Brushy for a while because of the lockdown so it was good to see him again and have a good old chat about Southend,” said Tilson.

“It brought back a few memories and it was great to see him again.

“We’ll be working together again on a weekly basis now with the boys aged under nines to probably the under 14s.

“Hopefully the boys will enjoy it and we’d like to think they will learn something too.

“We’re really looking forward to it and it’s brilliant to have Brushy with us as well now.”

Echo:

Coaching again - former Blues boss Steve Tilson

Tilson and Brush will be holding weekly training sessions at Cedar Hall School in Thundersley for the PFA Academy which is overseen by former Shrimpers skipper Adam Barrett.

And the PFA’s head coach Ian Peterson is delighted to see the Academy back in action once again.

We are delighted to be back coaching again after the latest lockdown, seeing all our players playing with a smile on their faces again,” said Peterson.

“At the Players Football Academy we run various weekly evening sessions across our two venues, the Cedar Hall School in Benfleet and the Len Forge Centre in Eastwood.

“We coach players from the ages of 5 to 16 in their age-related groups, separate goalkeepers only sessions and an over 50s weekly walking football session.

“We have a mixture of established and new coaches, who each bring their own unique experience and flare to their sessions.”

Echo:

Hard at work - the PFA youngsters are put through their paces

And matches are also being arranged for the PFA youngsters.

“We have started to organise our first set of fixtures with Professional Academies for nearly a year, due to the covid-19 restrictions, and we can’t wait for our players to showcase their skills against strong oppositions,” added Peterson.

For more information about the Players Football Academy email IanpetersonPFA@outlook.com