FORMER Southend United defender Martyn Booty will temporarily be forced to forget his fondness for the Shrimpers tonight.

Booty – who made 91 appearances for Blues between 1999 and 2001 is keen for his ex team-mate Kevin Maher to bring the good times back to Roots Hall.

But that does not include this evening’s encounter at Maidstone United which will see his son Regan lining up for the hosts.

“I have a WhatsApp group with a few old Southend boys and I speak to them every now and then,” said Booty.

“I look out for their results, especially with Kev in charge there and it’s sad to see what’s happened to the club in the last few years.

“I’m sure Kev will go on to do really well though and I really hope he does too with Southend, just not against Maidstone tonight for obvious reasons.

“I’m just gutted the game is on a Tuesday night because it’s impossible for me to get there with work and living in Holmfirth which is between Leeds and Manchester.

“But I will be listening on the radio.”

Tuning in will bring back memories for Booty.

And he enjoyed his spell at Southend, on and off the pitch.

“We lived in Gret Wakering and it was brilliant,” said Booty.

“My wife said it was the best two years of her life down there.

“The kids were young, we would go to the beach with them and we loved it.”

Booty initially joined the Shrimpers on loan from Reading before opting to make the move permanent.

“I came in back in 1999 and I remember after a game telling the manager Alvin Martin my loan was up,” said Booty.

“He didn’t know but I went in on the Monday or the Tuesday and signed a three year deal I think it was.

“After I signed I got in the car and I’d had a missed call on my phone from Jimmy Quinn.

“He had signed me at Reading but then went to Swindon who might have been in the Championship then.

“He was looking to sign me but I rung him back and said I’d already signed for Southend.”

However, Booty does not remember too many games with Blues.

“I played about 400 games in my career but I can’t remember many of them,” said the 51-year-old.

“I’m not sure if that’s because I didn’t have many good ones.

“But I do remember being 3-0 down to Rochdale at half-time before coming back to draw 3-3.”

Booty played all across the back line for Blues before leaving to Chesterfield in 2001.

“I did two years at Southend,” said Booty.

“Alvin got sacked and then Alan Little came in.

“David Webb replaced him but he had to get players out to bring some in so I left a week before the season started and went to Chesterfield.”

Booty spent two years with the Spireites before moving to Huddersfield which led to the next chapter of his career getting underway.

“My career finished at Huddersfield,” said Booty.

“I only played three or four games before getting offered a coaching job when I was 33. “I stayed until I was 38 coaching and went to non-league coaching after that.

“I went to National League North with Hyde who we got promoted but we turned down a contract to stay because of the budget.”

And, after that, Booty wanted to pay closer attention to his son’s career.

“My lad started playing after that and I wanted to watch him play,” said Booty.

“We moved up here in 2006.

“Regan was at Leicester at the time but we moved away and he joined Huddersfield at the age of eight.

“He went on loan to Aldershot in 2019 and had a full season there in the National League.

“He was at Notts County for a season, he must have played 15 or 20 games before December but then got a back injury.

“He had a bulging disc on his sciatic nerve so he was in a lot of pain.

“He was out for a year and didn’t have a club when Covid stopped everything.”

But, once football returned, Booty got back in to action at Maidstone.

“He needed to kick-start his career,” said Booty.

“He had a full season last year and they won the league.

“He did get sent off three times but none of them were honestly red cards.

“You think the refs are bad in the National League, you should see National League South.

“It’s great for him to be back and he’s played every game this year too.”

But nowadays Booty himself is working away from football.

“I started in the building game when I was 38 and been in it ever since,” said Booty.

“Because of my career I had three or four groin operations and three or four on my knee.

“I need to be mobile because sitting down I seize up! “Doing the building keeps me reasonably fit.

“It’s hard graft in the winter but it’s got to be done. “

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>Blues match will be shown live on BT Sport