Altrincham v Southend United: Right Then, Let’s Get Going

Right then. After the longest summer of talking about who might sign, who might leave and what Kieron Dyer’s Southend will actually look like, we finally get to find out. Altrincham away is where the 2026/27 season begins, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited. Nervous as well, naturally. I have supported this club for far too long to expect a gentle opening day.

There is more to this one than three points. It will be Dyer’s first competitive match as our head coach. It will be the first look at a reshaped team when the result really matters. And it will be our first chance to see whether all the encouraging noises from pre-season can stand up to the National League on a Saturday afternoon.

We ended last season with an FA Trophy on the way back from Wembley, 81 league points and sixth place. That should not be brushed aside. We also ended our promotion hopes at Scunthorpe and then said goodbye to Kevin Maher, the man who helped hold this club together through some frightening times. I am still sad about that decision. But we are where we are, and whoever is in the dugout deserves a proper chance. I want Dyer to succeed because I want Southend United back in the Football League.

The first test is at a ground we know can hurt us

Altrincham finished 13th last season. It is easy to look at that league position and think a promotion hopeful ought to win there. I would be very careful with that. The J.Davidson Stadium was a much less welcoming place for visiting sides than their final position suggests. They won 13 league matches at home, accounting for the vast majority of their 17 victories.

We had a reminder of that in March. Southend beat the Robins 3–0 at Roots Hall in November, only for them to beat us 1–0 on their own patch four months later. Same two clubs, completely different afternoons. I remember that sort of fixture whenever somebody tells me a game should be straightforward.

Neil Gibson has now had a summer to prepare for his first full season in charge of Altrincham. He has retained some important players while adding experience, so I would expect a side that knows what it is trying to do. They will be at home, they will have a crowd behind them, and they will fancy giving one of the division’s more fancied teams a difficult afternoon.

They are not going to stand aside so that Dyer can have a nice debut. Why should they? If Southend want to challenge near the top, these are the away grounds where we must learn to impose ourselves.

Look back at Southend’s 2025/26 results and records in the Football Hub.

Altrincham players I’ll be keeping an eye on

Jimmy Knowles is the obvious starting point. He was their leading scorer in the league last season with 11 goals and has already shown his eye for goal in pre-season, including the winner against Manchester United Under-21s. He is the sort of forward you cannot leave unmarked and then complain when he takes his opportunity. Make him work for every touch and keep him facing away from goal where possible.

Aidan Barlow has come in from Rochdale, where he was part of a promotion-winning squad, and he has already been getting involved in their friendly results. I am interested in how he links with Knowles. One player finding space between our midfield and defence can cause all sorts of problems, especially while a new side is still learning who is supposed to pick whom up.

Kristian Dennis gives them another option. At 36 he has been around, scored goals in the Football League and non-league, and knows where the penalty area is. I would not be surprised to see him used to change the game if they need something different. Sam Taylor offers Gibson further attacking possibilities, so there is more to their forward line than one name on the teamsheet.

Then there is Tom Crawford, the captain. I always pay attention to the player who sets the tone in the middle for the opposition. If he is allowed to settle, recycle possession and bring their attacking players into the match, we could spend too much time chasing the ball. Put him under sensible pressure and that rhythm becomes much harder to find.

In goal, Owen Evans has arrived from Barnet. He is an experienced goalkeeper, a member of the Barnet squad that won this league in 2024/25, and he made some important saves in Altrincham’s final friendly. That will give them confidence at the back. Liam Humbles and Jack Hinchy are also familiar faces who have made permanent returns following loans.

There is an injury question over defender Charlie Olson after he was stretchered off in the friendly against Manchester United’s youngsters. It is a concerning way for any player to end pre-season, and I hope he is all right. I would rather wait for official team news than speculate about whether he can play on Saturday.

What will Kieron Dyer’s Southend actually be?

This is the question I have been waiting all summer to answer. We have heard about wanting to play positive football, about controlling matches and pressing with intensity. Fine. I like the sound of all of that. But plenty of teams look wonderful when they have time and space in pre-season. Altrincham will not give us either out of kindness.

There has been real change. We have waved goodbye to familiar faces, including Nathan Ralph, Gus Scott-Morriss and Collin Andeng-Ndi. I wish we could have kept them all, particularly after what that group achieved at Wembley. But the new manager has recruited players with some serious experience. Darren Oldaker and Anthony Hartigan have won this division with Chesterfield and Barnet respectively. That is a useful foundation for a midfield, although medals do not make tackles or passes for you.

There are other new faces to get to know, from Ryan Colclough to Joe Duncan and Harry Cardwell. The squad feels different. It will take time to establish combinations, and I am not expecting every pass to be perfectly timed in the first game. What I do expect is a team that knows the basic jobs: who presses the ball, who covers behind, who offers support and who takes responsibility when we are under pressure.

Oli Coker has a big part to play in that new era. I have enjoyed seeing him develop, and I want him to be one of the players who set standards rather than simply respond to them. Dyer’s first teamsheet will create debate whatever it looks like. That is half the fun of opening day. I just hope the eleven chosen look like a team rather than eleven individual names.

The midfield battle could tell us plenty

If Oldaker and Hartigan both play, I want to see how they work together. Can we move the ball quickly through the middle? Can one of them take a pass while being pressed and still find somebody in a better position? It sounds simple until an opponent is in your face and the crowd is roaring every challenge.

There were games last season when I felt we took a touch too many. The ball would go sideways, then backwards, and by the time we looked forward the chance had gone. I am not demanding that we launch everything long. I want the opposite, really: confident, purposeful passing that makes the other side move and creates space for our attacking players.

We must also be ready for the ugly bits. Second balls, corners, scrambles, throw-ins taken from awkward spots—this division tests all of it. A good midfield should help the team control the game without leaving our defenders exposed the moment possession breaks down. If we can do that away from home on the opening day, I will take it as an encouraging sign.

Give the forwards some help

One of my biggest frustrations is seeing a striker work hard to bring the ball down and then turn around to discover nobody within twenty yards of him. It does not matter how good the centre-forward is if the support arrives after the attack has ended.

Whether it is Cardwell leading the line or somebody else, I want players close enough to collect a knock-down and brave enough to get into the box. Colclough offers a threat from wide positions, but the important thing is how we use it. Get the ball to dangerous areas quickly; then make sure someone actually attacks the delivery.

Altrincham conceded 65 goals in the league last season. That does not mean they will be generous on Saturday, and they have changed personnel over the summer. Still, it tells me we should not go there frightened of attacking. Respect them, absolutely. Fear them, no.

When they have a good spell—and they will have one—we should not panic either. An opening-day match rarely follows the tidy script everybody wrote in their heads the night before. The sign of a good team is how it reacts when that script goes wrong.

A word for everyone making the trip

There is something wonderful about the first away day. You set off with the league table still blank, the shirts still feeling new and ninety minutes of possibility ahead of you. Then you spend the journey discussing who should start, whether we need another signing and why the referee is almost certainly going to annoy us. Some traditions never change.

The supporters have been through enough over the last few years to deserve a season in which the conversation is mostly about football. We have a trophy to remember now. What we need next is a sustained league challenge, not a couple of brilliant afternoons surrounded by dropped points.

I am not expecting everything to be settled at Altrincham. I am expecting the players to show that they understand what representing Southend means and that this group is prepared to work for every result. Give the travelling supporters something to get behind from the first whistle.

Go there to win it. Give the new side a chance.

I would love to start with a win. Of course I would. But I will be looking at the performance as well as the score: our organisation without the ball, how quickly we move it when we have it, and whether the players help one another when the game gets difficult.

There is no sense demanding instant perfection from so many new faces. Equally, a new manager and a new squad should not be a free pass for a lack of effort or ideas. I want to see a clear direction. I want to see us make the opposition worry about us.

After the disappointment of the play-offs and the emotion of Wembley, it feels good to have another season ahead. Dyer gets his first real chance to show us what he has been building. I am ready for it.

Altrincham 1–2 Southend United

I do not think this will be comfortable. Altrincham’s home record deserves respect and the opening game can throw up surprises. But I am going to back Southend to find a way to win it. Perhaps there will be a nervous spell, perhaps we will have to come from a difficult situation. Whatever happens, I want us to keep playing and have the courage to go for the extra goal.

Safe travels to everyone heading north. The football is finally back. Up the Shrimpers.