BLUES head coach Kevin Maher will received the freedom of the city of Southend on Thursday.

Here MP Anna Firth reveals why she put Maher forward and why he deserves to receive such recognition. 

'It was my absolute pleasure to nominate Kevin to receive the Freedom of the City of Southend.

'Kevin is an absolute inspiration to us all and I am truly delighted I'll be there tomorrow evening, celebrating his many years of exceptional service to our City, and to our beloved football club.

'Although I had the honour to nominate Kevin, the idea came not from me, but from the many fans he has inspired.

'At games, very often fans come up to me and ask me questions, occasionally about Westminster, but much more normally about the football club.

'However, the same question kept coming up time and time again: “is there not something we can do to celebrate Kevin, and show him what he means to us as fans?”.

'There can be no question what an indelible mark Kevin has left on the lives of all Southend United fans, and by extension, on the City itself.

"And that is why, it is only right that we as a City, recognise your exceptional contribution.

"After 10 years, 454 games, two fans player of the year awards, two promotions and one famous win against Manchester United, Kevin returned in 2021 when the club was in dire need of a manager who could not only provide stability when it mattered most, but also someone who truly understood what it meant to be a blue.

'Kevin immediately began instilling those values into players taking the club from 20th to 13th that season, before narrowly missing out on the play-offs in his first full season as manager last year.

'I hardly think it’s an understatement to say if there was anyone else at the helm in the last couple of years, we may not have a club.

'Kevin has been truly remarkable in the way he has conducted himself, throughout the most trying of circumstances and has been a shining example to all associated with the club.

'When so many would have given up, or deemed it too hard to continue, Kevin stayed strong and somehow kept providing Southend fans with result after result when everything was stacked against us.

'Which of course, leads us to the inevitable conclusion, something that I feel Southend fans have known for quite a while now.

'There is only one, Kevin Maher.'