Roots Hall Stadium

Stadium

What is recorded here

Roots Hall Stadium is recorded as a named stadium in Southend-on-Sea. It is mapped for football. The point is the centre supplied by the public map.

Read the whole record

Roots Hall Stadium is recorded as a named stadium in Southend-on-Sea. It is mapped for football. The point is the centre supplied by the public map.

Roots Hall opened in 1955 as Southend United's football ground on the same land where the new club had first played in 1906. Supporters helped turn an old quarry and rubbish tip into a stadium, later completing its great banks and stands; repeated alteration reduced the crowds it could hold but left a strong record of fan-built local football.

What this place is

Roots Hall is Southend United's enclosed football stadium, built on ground the club had used briefly after its formation before wartime storage forced it away.

People and events

Sid Broomfield led a small building team, supporters raised money and gave the ground to the club, and Stanley Rous formally opened it in 1955.

How it was used

League and cup football filled unfinished banks at first; terraces, roofs and floodlights followed, and a record crowd watched Liverpool here in 1979.

What survives

The pitch, east and west stands, covered north bank and much smaller replacement south stand show the stadium's piecemeal growth and later safety changes.

Why it mattered

Roots Hall mattered because supporters physically reclaimed difficult ground and built a lasting home whose uneven fabric records Southend United's fortunes.