All you need to know ahead of Southend United's final at Wembley

Southend United are dreaming of ending their quest for a first domestic trophy when they head to Wembley on Sunday.

The Shrimpers will take on fellow National League side Wealdstone in the showpiece FA Trophy final, which kicks off at 16:30 BST.

Fans will be hoping their side can avoid a repeat of last year's Wembley heartache, where Blues fell at the final hurdle in the play-off final.

Here is what you need to know ahead of Southend's return to the national stadium, including how many tickets are available.

The tournament was started by the Football Association in 1969 as a way of giving non-league sides a realistic chance of playing at Wembley.

It is open to sides playing in steps one to four of the English football pyramid and was won by Aldershot Town in 2025.

For Southend, it is providing another chance to secure elusive cup glory.

The Shrimpers lost all three of their previous cup finals in 2004, 2005 and 2013, but have enjoyed Wembley glory in a League Two play-off final in 2015.

Club chairman Justin Rees said: "The chance to win a trophy at Wembley, at any level of football, you shouldn't take that for granted.

"There are enough tough times, you may as well enjoy the good ones when they come along, and this will certainly be one of the good ones."

More than 22,000 tickets have been sold to Southend supporters so far.

They have an allocation of 30,901, and seats can still be purchased up until noon on Friday.

Blues fans are being seated in the north-west quadrant of Wembley this year, which may come as a relief to those who are superstitious.

A theory popular on social media is that the east side of the stadium is jinxed, with the unfortunate supporters sitting there doomed to watch their team lose.

Manchester City and Liverpool both fell foul of the "curse" in 2025, losing in finals they were arguably favourites to win.

Where were Southend fans housed in last year's play-off final? You guessed it, the east side.

The club's most vocal supporters, the Blue Voice, will be sitting in blocks 133, 134 and 135 for the match.

Rail operator c2c, which runs services from Southend-on-Sea into London, says it is running longer services where possible on Sunday.

However, its capital-bound services will be diverted to London Liverpool Street. They usually end at London Fenchurch Street.

Trains on the Rainham and Basildon lines will call at Stratford but not Limehouse or West Ham.

Train shuttles will run between Upminster and Grays on the Ockendon line.

Wembley Park, Wembley Stadium and Wembley Central all serve the football ground and are open as usual for the match.

Limited parking is available at the ground, and some National Express coach services can be booked in advance.

The Shrimpers finished sixth in the National League and qualified for the play-off eliminators.

However, they were knocked out in a 1-0 defeat by Scunthorpe United.

But Southend have already had the perfect warm-up for Sunday's opponents, who they played and beat 2-1 in their final league game of the season.

The FA Trophy final could prove to be the perfect revenge against Wealdstone, who knocked Southend out of the more prestigious FA Cup in November.

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