Southend United have ended each of the past two seasons at Wembley—first with a 2025 play-off loss to Oldham Athletic, then with FA Trophy success over Wealdstone about three months ago.
Drama is nothing new in Essex, but club icon Kevin Maher has left the dugout and been replaced by former Newcastle and England midfielder Kieron Dyer, who steps into his first full-time managerial role.
Letting Maher go just two days after that Wembley win suggests sixth place—27 points behind champions York—wasn’t enough for a club boasting the league’s best average crowd of 8,103, so Dyer will be under pressure to start fast.
This is Southend’s sixth straight season at this level since relegation from the EFL, while it’s Hartlepool United’s fourth.
Hartlepool’s last three finishes—12th, 11th, and ninth—have been solid but unspectacular, yet there’s real optimism for the new campaign.
After American investor Landon Smith’s long-awaited January takeover, the Pools appointed Lee Clark and have been busy recruiting proven National League performers to push for the play-offs and more.
Forest Green Rovers have fallen short in the play-offs in each of the past two seasons, and Robbie Savage returns to the touchline looking to build on a strong first year that ended in seventh.
Scunthorpe United signaled real progress by finishing fifth immediately after promotion from National League North, and both they and Forest Green will expect to be in the promotion mix again come April.