FROM the brink of the Championship to the brink of expulsion, Jason Demetriou has experienced every possible emotion with Southend United.
The right-back – who has been with Blues since 2016 – made his 250th appearance for the club during Saturday’s win at Eastleigh.
And the 36-year-old admits it is impossible to sum up just how eventful his spell with the Shrimpers has been.
“I don’t think you can really sum up in words what’s happened and I think I’ve experienced every possible emotion here,” said Demetriou.
“When I first came here I remember being on the pitch after the last game of the season to see if we were in the play-offs trying to get into the Championship.
“The ground was packed and I thought we were on a real high at that point.
“But we didn’t make it.
“We had two relegations after that, we’ve gone into the National League and could’ve gone out of business.
“I’ve had the highs and the lows but I enjoy it here and sometimes you just have to suck it up.
“You accept the good times so you have to roll with the bad times too.”
Early on however, the signs were promising for the Shrimpers after Demetriou’s arrival.
And a resurgence under Chris Powell during Demetriou’s second season also produced some memorable moments.
“If I look back at highs then I remember scoring twice against Portsmouth,” said Demetriou.
“That was nice from a personal point of view as well.
“There have been loads of things that stick out to be honest but it’s mad how quickly time flies!”
Time certainly never stands still where the Shrimpers are concerned and the club soon started to struggle badly on and off the pitch.
Victory over Sunderland on the last game of the 2018/19 season kept Blues in League One.
But around that time Demetriou was experiencing his own issues and was advised he might have to hang up his boots due to a knee injury.
“At one stage I thought I would have to retire,” said Demetriou.
“I was told to reduce the training programme and that there was a good chance I would not come back and even if I did that I wouldn’t be able to reach a level I was comfortable with.
“Luckily I ended up seeing a top specialist who told me to try something else and it’s worked for me so I always think I got lucky there.”
However, not many players would have felt fortunate to be at Blues for the seasons that followed as back to back relegations saw the club drop out of the Football League.
And Demetriou found the demotions tough to take, along with the start of the Shrimpers’ first season in the National League.
“The relegation from League Two was a real low point,” said Demetriou.
“I just remember thinking “my god how can this have happened”.
“Other stuff played a part of course but as a player you take responsibility and I knew how hard the National League is because I had friends at Orient telling me.
“It was tough and the Chesterfield game stands out for all the wrong reasons too that first season we had in it.
“That is honestly the lowest I’ve ever been on the pitch.
“At that point I was wondering just how much lower we could get and it was a sad time for the club.”
The Shrimpers were in deep trouble at that stage and the seriousness of their financial issues saw the club come close to going out of the business.
But Demetriou never wanted to leave.
“Like everyone you do have other clubs that come say look come on get out, but the club has felt like home for me,” said Demetriou.
“I’m a local boy.
“I’m in Brentwood with my family and this club just means the world to the fans.
“When something like that ties in with your lifestyle it’s perfect.
“Sure it would’ve been easy to walk away at the time but I’m glad I’ve stuck around because I look at it now and the club is in the right place.
“It’s on the up and I’m so happy for everyone.”
With Kevin Maher as head coach and the consortium headed up by Justin Rees close to officially taking control of the club the future is starting to look far brighter for Blues.
But those who stood up during the tough times should never be forgotten and Demetriou is most definitely in that category.
As a senior professional, Demetriou was often the link between the players, the management and the board during the most difficult of times.
He also went out of his way to speak with supporters protesting outside the stadium and carried out a wide range of duties.
From goalkeeper to caretaker manager to taking on the toilets when water was cut off at the training ground last summer, Demetriou has pretty much done it all with Blues!
But he is not finished yet.
“Maybe I’ll be kit man next because I haven’t done that yet,” laughed Demetriou.
“There are good people at the club so you just muck in and help out.
“You just do it naturally and do what you can because this club means a lot to so many people.
“It’s people’s lives and you’ve been through it too.
“You’ve seen how low people have been.
“I’ve seen people crying with the risk of going out of business and seen how low it was on the pitch too.”
But that is no longer the case and Blues boast a side pushing their way up the table despite suffering a 10 point penalty earlier in the season due to financial irregularities.
“Now you see optimism and energy on and off the pitch,” said Demetriou.
“Everyone wants to be here and there’s such a good group of people involved.
“It’s positive all round and I think sometimes you really see how much something means to people when it is that low.
“The amount of stuff going on was unbelievable and I’m just buzzing for everyone.
“It’s only going in one direction now too.”
Demetriou continues to play his part in the Roots Hall resurgence, combining his playing duties alongside a coaching role.
And he was delighted to reach his latest landmark at the weekend.
“I’m buzzing really and it’s a nice landmark to get to,” said Demetriou.
“You never know what’s going to happen in football so I’m really pleased to play 250 games for this club which really should be in the Championship or League One.
“Things are moving in the right direction again now though and that’s the most important thing.”
But how long will Demetriou keep going?
“I know I haven’t played as much but I enjoy it,” said Demetriou.
“It’s honestly such a great group of boys and with the management we’ve got too it’s fantastic to be a part of.
“Who knows what’s going to happen?
“We’ll go month by month then see what happens in the summer. “
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