If ever a 6ft polyester crustacean could be said to have captured the mood of a city, this was the moment. Bouncing up and down on the touchline, arms aloft and pointy plush head waggling, Sammy the Shrimp was a picture of delight. Admittedly that’s the way his costume is designed, but still, the mascot’s smile echoed those of every Southend United fan in Roots Hall.
This match, a National League fixture against Oxford City, had been expected to be a wake. A winding up order was to be heard in the high court on Wednesday, the final, inexorable verdict on the 25-year ownership of Ron Martin, a property developer who took Southend to the Championship and promised an even brighter future, only for everything to come crashing down over the past half a dozen years, league position included.
