Key information about Roots Hall

The current, new Roots Hall was built in 1952 and opened in 1955 and is now the home of Southend United. The ground is located in Southend-on-Sea and is the largest stadium in Essex.

Its current capacity stands at 12,392 and has a pitch size of 100m x 68m with no running track nor undersoil heating installed.

The record attendance was set in 1979 when 31,033 supporters gathered to watch the visiting Liverpool in action in the FA Cup.

A history of Roots Hall

Southend United have been truly nomadic since their inception and have called multiple grounds their home over the years. They were settled in the original Roots Hall from 1906 until 1919 and would then move to the Kursaal, the Southend Stadium, New Writtle Street, Chelmsford and then finally, to Roots Hall again from 1955 to the present day.

When the club was founded, they played at the site of Roots Hall but had to move away in 1919, as we mentioned, because of World War I. The area was used for storage so they were forced to vacant the ground and move to the Kursaal.

As we now know, they would spend around three decades moving around until they finally returned home in 1955, three years after the development of Roots Hall was started and once again opened for business. Interestingly enough, it would be the last new stadium in England to open until as late as 1988.

The first game to be played there was between the hosts and their visitors, Norwich, on 20 August 1955 and in the first season after the ground’s grand opening, the stadium was still incomplete with the drainage on the pitch a big problem during the 1955/1956 campaign. So much so that it had to be completely replaced in the off-season.

Some of the first changes were done in the 1960s with the added roof, the extension of the stands and the club installing floodlighting. Soon afterwards, in 1979, they recorded their highest attendance to date when Liverpool came to visit in the FA Cup in front of 31,033 supporters.

New upgrades were recorded in the 1980s and 1990s, even though the club was somewhat struggling financially at that time. In 1994, Roots Hall was converted into an all-seater and part of the south stand got sold off to real estate developers to give Southend United a financial boost.

Some of the final improvements were made in 1995 when the west stand roof was extended with seating also being installed in the north-west corner of the ground. Lately, the club has been looking into the possibility of moving to a brand new stadium, Fossetts Farm, and they received planning permission in January 2007.

Even though it was initially planned to be opened in December 2018, we are still waiting on the final verdict as to when the club can move to their new home.

Tickets to watch Southend United at Roots Hall

All tickets to watch Southend United at Roots Hall can be found on the club’s official website. The price varies depending on multiple factors such as category and age but the adult ticket bought in advance costs £22.

Southend United also offer season and half-season tickets as well as group and student discounts. More information can be found on their official website.

https://www.southendunited.co.uk/ - Official website of Southend United