AFTER years of incredible anxiety and pain, Saturday’s season opener against York City was an afternoon many Southend United fans feared might never happen.

For far too long these pages have been full of hurt, fear and genuine concerns as to whether or not the club could continue.

And, on several occasions, I didn’t think it would.

Blues have crawled for one crisis to the next during what seemed to be never ending chaos and confusion in recent times.

But that has now been consigned to the painful past and, thanks to the consortium, the match against the Minstermen at the weekend was the start of an exciting new era.

Close to 8,000 fans crammed into Roots Hall to cheer on the Shrimpers and to witness the first match of under different owners. 

The encounter began brightly for Blues and Kevin Maher’s side took the lead after just 16 minutes when a fantastic free-kick from Oli Coker was headed home by Gus Scott-Morriss.

From then on however, the Shrimpers were largely second best and York secured what was a well-deserved share of the spoils when substitute Lenell John-Lewis equalised with an aerial effort of his own six minutes from time.

The timing of the goal and, the fact it came from a dead ball delivery, will have frustrated Blues.

But it was a stark and harsh reminder that nothing will be given to the Shrimpers this season and that there is no divine right for them to succeed.

In previous campaigns, the Southend squad have over-achieved given the endless issues they have faced.

However, teams can only keep on upsetting the odds for so long and there is plenty which needs to be put right, on and off the pitch, for Blues to be able to sustain a genuine push for promotion.

This is certainly not aimed towards anyone still connected to the club but the Shrimpers are playing catch up in many areas, especially when compared to other clubs who have been run sensibly for far longer.

The consortium, I am sure, will get there with Blues but they have officially been in charge of the club for just three weeks and there is no magic wand.

Facilities at the training ground remain below par while the state of the Roots Hall pitch is also a concern.

Adding to that, the squad is clearly lacking depth in certain areas and that was shown up on Saturday.

York’s expensively assembled squad may not be the norm in the National League but Adam Hinshelwood had players on the bench clearly capable of making an impact.

Tyrese Sinclair certainly did that for the visitors alongside the goalscorer John-Lewis.

However, the Shrimpers do not have that level of depth right now.

Maher remains short of options in the centre of the park with Noor Husin currently still working his way back to full fitness after surgery on his shin.

Without him, Maher sprung something of a surprise by using Jack Bridge in a more central role at the weekend.

The explanation made perfect sense after the game but for me Bridge is far more of a threat out wide where he has more space to beat a man and create chances for those around him.

Strikers Harry Cardwell and Josh Walker were both starved of quality service on Saturday but that is also an area of the pitch where Blues need far more competition for places.

Thankfully, the Shrimpers do finally have the freedom to be able to add to their squad and, it is crucial they do so, with sides now able to select seven substitutes at this level.

Expectation levels must remain realistic but, if Blues can bring in the right players, the play-offs are definitely within reach given the quality of those already at the club.

There is no need to overreact after Saturday’s stalemate and, in many ways, it was a day way beyond what was happening on the pitch anyway.

Yes, three points would have topped the day off nicely but football very rarely does fairytales and neither do Southend United.

Long-term however, I am certain this will be seen as the start of something special and a day where the brilliant Blues fans finally got their club back.

Their support has kept the Shrimpers going in the toughest of times and the fact the club have a future with the right people at the helm should already be seen as the biggest victory of the season.