Thank you, Collin: Andeng-Ndi leaves Southend for Peterborough

I knew this summer would bring changes. New head coach, new players and some difficult goodbyes were always likely after the season we have just had. Even so, seeing Collin Andeng-Ndi’s name alongside a Peterborough United announcement gives me that sinking feeling. One of the young players we watched grow up at Southend is moving on, and it is going to take a while to get used to somebody else in our goal.

Southend confirmed today, 25 June 2026, that Collin is leaving for League One Peterborough for an undisclosed fee. He has agreed a two-year contract with the option of a further season. The transfer is due to take effect on 1 July, subject to EFL ratification. At 22, he has earned an opportunity to test himself higher up the pyramid. I understand why he has taken it. That does not mean I am pleased to see him go.

He leaves with 117 first-team appearances to his name, 13 clean sheets from the league season just finished and an FA Trophy winners’ medal. Those numbers alone would make him worth thanking. But there is an obvious memory that will be the first thing most of us think about whenever his name comes up.

Two saves that nobody will forget

Wembley. Wealdstone. Ninety minutes without a goal. A trophy sitting there waiting for somebody to claim it, and another Southend final threatening to end with that familiar horrible feeling. We had been to Wembley before, and we knew too well that a good day out is not the same as coming home with something to show for it.

Then came the penalty shoot-out. Collin saved from Olufela Olomola and Jack Hinchy, giving us the advantage we had been desperate for. Gus Scott-Morriss stepped up to finish the job, and suddenly Southend United were FA Trophy winners. Four successful penalties for us, two for Wealdstone, and a goalkeeper who had played an enormous part in changing the ending.

Those were not ordinary saves. They came in front of thousands of supporters, with a national trophy on the line and all the pressure a goalkeeper can possibly feel in that moment. He had to wait, read what was coming, commit himself and trust the work he had done. He did it twice. I can still picture the release of emotion when that second effort stayed out.

Collin was named Player of the Match, and rightly so. When we tell the story of that day in ten or twenty years, his name is going to be there. Nobody can take that away from him, whatever happens at Peterborough or wherever his career goes next.

But I do not want the entire farewell to be about two kicks from the penalty spot. He gave Southend much more than that.

From the academy to becoming our number one

There is something special about seeing a youngster make his way into the first team at your own club. Plenty of players arrive with a long history somewhere else. Collin came through our system, signed professional terms in 2021 and had to earn his opportunity. Goalkeepers have a particularly awkward path. Only one can play at a time, and supporters tend to remember a mistake far longer than a routine save.

As he gained appearances, you could see a young keeper learning what senior football asks of him. It is one thing to train well. It is another to deal with a physical National League striker standing in front of you at a corner, a difficult bouncing shot on a wet pitch or a match where you have hardly touched the ball before suddenly being needed.

He was not flawless, and I would not insult him by pretending he was. There were moments when his decisions could be questioned, as there are with most young goalkeepers. But he kept developing. He was willing to come for the ball, capable of producing an important stop and brave enough to take responsibility. It has been enjoyable watching that progress.

His 13 league clean sheets in 2025/26 underline that there was substance behind the big Wembley moment. Clean sheets belong to the whole team, of course. Defenders make blocks, midfielders track runners and forwards can help by keeping the ball at the other end. But a goalkeeper is the final person who has to put everything right when those efforts fail. Collin did that often enough to help us stay competitive in a season that brought another play-off place.

We can argue about which players had the better season, whether we should have finished higher or how the Scunthorpe play-off went wrong. What I do not think can be argued is that Collin played his part in getting us into those positions and in delivering a trophy at the end.

Southend gave him a chance; he made the most of it

That is one of the things that makes this departure both disappointing and strangely satisfying. Southend helped give a young goalkeeper his opportunity in senior football. He took it, worked his way into the side and did enough to attract a League One club. That is something our academy and coaching staff should be proud of.

It is also a reminder of where we are. We want to be back in the Football League, but we are still trying to get out of the National League. When a promising player is offered a chance two divisions above us, it will be difficult to persuade him that he should wait. I wish we were in a position to offer the same stage ourselves. We are not there yet.

Peterborough have recruited him to compete in their goalkeeping department, and their manager has talked about the competition he can provide for Alex Bass. He will have to prove himself all over again. That is a healthy challenge for a young goalkeeper who should have years of improvement ahead of him.

I hope he gets the games and the development he is looking for. Football does not owe anyone a smooth career, and moving up brings its own risks. The shots come quicker, mistakes get noticed and every new signing has to show why he deserves his place. But if Collin approaches this next step with the same determination he showed at Southend, he will give himself every chance.

Now Southend have a very important job to do

We cannot spend all summer waving goodbye and expect the new season to look after itself. Kieron Dyer and the recruitment team now need to make sure the goalkeeping position is properly covered. It is one of the few positions where a mistake in planning can cost you points immediately.

Whoever comes in will be compared with Collin, fairly or otherwise. That is just the way supporters are. A good save might get a nod; a mistake might produce the inevitable comment that Collin would have stopped it. I hope we give the next goalkeeper a proper chance to settle. He will not be Collin Andeng-Ndi, and he should not have to be.

What we do need is somebody who can organise the defence, deal with crosses and be comfortable with the way Dyer wants his side to play. The manager has spoken about controlled possession and pressing with intensity. Those ideas affect the goalkeeper as much as the outfield players. There will be times when he has to pass under pressure, times when he must clear his lines without hesitation and times when keeping the ball out is the only thing that matters.

We have already seen significant change in midfield with Oldaker and Hartigan arriving and Appiah-Forson moving on. Now another familiar face is leaving. It feels as though the team we celebrated with at Wembley is being reshaped rather quickly. That might prove to be the right approach for promotion, but the new players have a lot to live up to. Those who are making the decisions will be judged by how well the replacements perform, not how exciting the announcements sound.

Some players give you a memory that lasts forever

Whatever happens next, I will always be grateful to Collin. I will remember the progress from academy hopeful to first-team goalkeeper. I will remember the saves he made across the season and the way he helped us fight for something meaningful. And yes, I will remember those two penalties at Wembley until I am old and grey.

There have been so many hard years following Southend United, years when the football was almost overshadowed by worries about whether we would have a club at all. We needed days that made us feel proud again. Collin was part of giving us one. In years to come, when that FA Trophy final comes up in conversation, we will not start by talking about transfer fees or contracts. We will talk about the goalkeeper who kept his nerve when it mattered.

Thank you, Collin. Thank you for growing with us, for the work behind those 117 appearances and especially for what you gave us at Wembley. Good luck at Peterborough. Once a Shrimper, always part of our story. Up the Shrimpers.