SOUTHEND United began their long road back to redemption with a morale boosting 1-0 win at King’s Lynn on Saturday.

An early effort from summer signing Sam Dalby saw the Shrimpers triumph on the opening day of the National League season.

But it will be matters off the field and not on it which live longest in the memory from the weekend’s clash at the Walks.

Put simply, Blues must have been one of the toughest teams to support in the entire country in the past few seasons.

And every time you thought things could not get any worse, they did.

A truly wretched run of results led to successive relegations as the Shrimpers fell out of the Football League for the first time in 101 years.

However, given the level of support coming the Shrimpers’ way on Saturday you could have been forgiven for momentarily forgetting the recent heartbreak and humiliation.

Blues’ travelling fans outnumbered those of the home supporters and created an incredible atmosphere more akin to a successful side looking to secure more points and prizes.

Anyone can support a team at the top of the table who regularly win trophies and brush aside the majority of their opponents.

But it takes a special kind of supporter to stick by a troubled team enduring the darkest days in their long history and the Shrimpers had them in abundance at the weekend.

The brilliant backing was even more noticeable given it was the first time since March 2020 Blues had been roared on away from home by their own supporters.

And those fans were welcomed back with a win by a new look Southend side containing several players also looking to bounce back after their own troubled times.

Goalkeeper Steve Arnold has endured a horrendous build up to the new season, having to spend 21 days in isolation due to Covid.

But Arnold looked incredibly assured at the weekend and pulled off a couple of splendid saves to ensure the Shrimpers kicked off the campaign with a clean sheet.

In front of him, Nathan Ralph is also looking to rebuild his career after seeing his last two seasons cut short by serious injuries.

However, the defender’s difficulties do not stop with just the prolonged spells on the treatment table as Ralph has suffered four successive relegations and will be desperate to get himself back on track. That challenge is shared by the Shrimpers whose depressing demise has been caused by a variety of reasons regularly pored over on these very pages.

Phil Brown returned to Roots Hall towards the end of last season in a bid to get Blues out of the doldrums.

And, without wanting to get too carried away, there does seem to be more spirit about the Shrimpers with him back in charge.

Brown sprung an early selection surprise on Saturday as he handed Harry Phillips a rare start.

The midfielder has long been highly rated by youth coaches at Roots Hall but has yet to take that talent into the senior set up.

At 23 years of age, Phillips has made just seven first team appearances for Blues and it is now do or die for him at Roots Hall.

Phillips is now entering the final year of contract and must perform in the next few months to secure his future at his home-town club. The early signs were certainly promising on Saturday as Phillips not only showed his talent on the ball but also a willingness to get stuck in.

The midfielder will now be pushing for a regular starting slot and definitely deserves to keep his place after this performance.

Phillips’ influence on proceedings should not be underestimated as Blues carved out a number of clean cut chances to score. However, the majority of them were wasted and that almost came back to haunt the Shrimpers late on when Ross Barrows came within a whisker of grabbing an equaliser as his looping header bounced back off the crossbar.

That ensured Blues kicked off the campaign with a welcome win.

And, while tougher tests may lie in store this season, it was simply refreshing to see a Southend side winning once again and to see so many fans enjoying it too.