Southend United

Nickname: The Shrimpers

Year formed: 1906

Ground: Roots Hall, Victoria Ave, Southend-On-Sea, SS2 6NQ

Capacity: 12,392

2008/09 average: 7,850

For visitors: 2,000 in the North Stand

Position last season: 8th in League One

Manager: Steve Tilson (November 2003)

Player to watch - Francis Laurent: Signed from Germany, the French forward seems to have found his feet in Essex and is fast becoming a bedrock of Steve Tilson's side. Capable of playing wide or down the centre, Laurent is blessed with pace to burn and the skills to match, and is fast adding goalscoring to his list of traits.

Record transfer fee paid: �750,000 (Stan Collymore, Crystal Palace)

Record transfer fee received: �3,570,000 (Stan Collymore, Nottingham Forest)

Ticket office: 01702 304050

Ticket prices: Adult �20-�22, concessions �10-�14

Official website: www.southendunited.co.uk

Distance: 98 miles

Journey time: 2 hrs, 12 mins

For directions to the ground go to www.pinkun.com/content/pinkun/norwich-city/away-guide/Map.aspx

Pub: There is a Wetherspoons (The Last Post, 8 Clifftown Road, Southend-on-Sea, SS1 1AB�) and a few other bars on the seafront, two miles from the ground. Closer is The Blue Boar where the meeting to form Southend United was held. There's also the Victoria Court Bar at Thamesgate House, 33-41 Victoria Ave, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6DF�.

Last league meeting: Norwich City 0, Southend United 0 (26 December, 2006): Norwich City broke a sequence stretching back more than two years when the goals finally dried up at Carrow Road. It was the first goalless draw at home since September 18, 2004, when Aston Villa were the visitors. The crowd's reaction was hardly surprising given that City had just been held by the league's bottom side, who took their points tally away from home this season to the grand total of four.

City connection: Spencer Prior was signed by Norwich from Southend in 1993 for �300,000.