ten things...

Southend
1 At tail end of the 19th century, football was catching on fast in these areas of Essex. Several amateur teams set up and Southend Athletic emerged as front runners but also with a ball moving at their feet.
2 In 1906 United formed to play at an 18th century house called Roots Hall in the village of Prittlewell. They got into the Southern League by typical bare faced cheek and maybe promises of 'free' rides at the seafront tourist attractions.
3 During WW1 their pitch was dug up for allotments and afterwards United played at the famous Kursaal amusement park. This made matchdays in div3 something of an up and down fairground experience.
4 Five years prior to WW2, purpose built Southend Stadium was used. The trouble was that as a greyhound track primarily and with a war coming, it all kind of went to the dogs.
5 Roots Hall had meanwhile been excavated for sandstone and left a crater you could put a proverbial football pitch into. Now that seemed like a good idea at the time in 1955 and...
6 When FL divisions were re-arranged in 1958, United went into div3 but times they were a changing. There were more sixties and seventies punters at the local airport for cheap continental flights than got down to Roots Hall, so welcome to div4.
7 Jump to the eighties with Thatcher's commercialism spawning blokes on the make, as entrepreneurs and property developers. Before too long Shrimpers were in an ebb tide quagmire and selling bits of land.
8 There was talk of relocation accompanying doom, gloom and despondency at Utd. But suddenly in the early nineties under Dave Webb they were promoted thru to div2. So fans didn't need to go into London for half decent sport anymore.
9 Like a coastal resort rollercoaster, a sickening drop befell their fate. They went thru three divisions at speed and approached that long dark tunnel into the Conference by Y2k. Then swerved by just in time as dawn broke.
10 Southend pressed on with plans to move out of town and go all 21st century and glitzy. Hey, wots wrong wiv 'avin a bit of the old ambition then mate?