“Kevin and his staff have played a hugely important role during a significant period in the club’s history. Since the COSU [Custodians of Southend United] takeover, they have helped stabilise the football club, delivered back-to-back top-seven finishes, taken us to Wembley on two occasions, and on Sunday, delivered our first domestic cup triumph.

“Kevin was involved in more games as both a player and head coach than anyone in our 120-year history and departs with his status as a club legend firmly cemented.

“Everyone at Southend United thanks Kevin, Darren and Mark for their commitment to the club and the wider community and wishes them every success in the future.”

Maher, who made 454 appearances for Southend between 1998 and 2008, told BBC Radio Essex after Sunday’s Wembley success: “I’m so proud of the players and the fans who turned out in their numbers.

“It’s the first domestic cup the club has ever won – this is up there in my career highlights for sure.

“There’s been some tough times this year and a lot of talk about me but I love winning trophies for this football team.”

In 2024 he was given the Freedom of the City of Southend in recognition of his dedication to the club during a challenging financial period.

The underarm serve and its legitimacy continues to be a divisive issue in tennis, but on Tuesday in French Open qualifying, tennis fans were again treated to its even stranger cousin.

Step forward Zsombor Piros, the world No. 175 from Hungary, who once more used his bizarre serving tactic to outfox an opponent. First seen by the wider tennis public in a Davis Cup tie against Austria in September, Piros used the serve at an arguably bigger moment, down set point in the first set of his first-round qualifying match against Portugal’s Henrique Rocha.

The serve sees Piros barely throw the ball into the air, before patting it over the net to his unsuspecting opponent. As against Lukas Neumayer in that Davis Cup tie, Rocha was completely outfoxed, and the serve bounced twice for an ace.

Piros appeared perilously close to committing a foot fault, which happens when a player touches the baseline or jumps into the court before striking the ball, but it was not called against him.

Le service Piros sur balle de set.

Le fait que ce soit un ace.

Le fait que Piros s’excuse de honte après avoir fait ça.

C’est déjà la première pépite de RG

Image : France TV ( me strikez pas les bros ) pic.twitter.com/nM434aYpaD

— Quentin « Quento » Mengual (@QuentinMengual) May 19, 2026

Aesthetically, it looks like an amalgamation of every beginner tennis player hitting a serve. But despite being an eyesore technically, it’s so unorthodox and hard to spot coming from the toss (more so than an underarm serve) that it’s a difficult thing to counter. On this occasion, Piros held out his racket in apology to Rocha, seemingly acknowledging the strangeness of what he was doing — even if it’s perfectly legal.

After saving the first set point with the unusual serve, Piros saved the second and went on to hold for 5-4, but Rocha served out the set and ultimately went on to win the match 6-4, 7-6(4).

Piros will have to decide whether to continue using the serve, which his opponents may begin to expect. There was no dissent from the crowd, which can sometimes react with hostility to an underarm serve. At the Barcelona Open last month, Nuno Borges was booed and given a frosty handshake after producing an underarm serve ace up match point against Tomás Martín Etcheverry.

Both serves are totally legitimate tactics though, and work particularly well on clay courts where players stand even further back than normal to return.

Ryan Wintle has announced he is leaving Cardiff City due to circumstances “completely out of my control”.

The midfielder is out of contract this summer and he announced on social media that he would be leaving the club after five years, having joined as a free agent from Crewe Alexandra in June 2021.

Cardiff confirmed Wintle’s departure, saying he would “depart the club at the end of his current agreement this summer… he leaves Cardiff City Stadium with our very best wishes for the future”.

The 28-year-old, who was voted the club’s player of the year, played 46 games this campaign, scoring one goal, as the Bluebirds secured an immediate return to the Championship after one season in League One.

“I’m gutted to be writing this post, but unfortunately the time has come for me to say goodbye to Cardiff City, a decision that was completely out of my control,” Wintle said.