JUST twice in the past 28 years has a Southend United player scored more than 20 League goals in a season.

One, unsurprisingly, was Freddy Eastwood.

But the other came back in the 2003/04 season when Leon Constantine took centre stage for Blues.

Constantine bagged 25 goals to help the Shrimpers maintain their Football League status.

However, the striker left at the end of the season to join Peterborough United.

And Constantine has now revealed the strange circumstances which led to his departure.

“The meetings about who was staying and who was going were taking place upstairs at the training ground and I was sitting there for ages,” said Constantine.

“After a while the youth team players started to go in and eventually I thought I’ve had enough of this so I got in my car to go back home.

“I got as far as the roundabout when you first leave Boots & Laces when the manager called me to say they had forgotten they hadn’t seen me so I headed back to talk to him.”

But Constantine’s disappointment did not stop there.

“We started to talk, they said I had done well but then offered me less than Drewe Broughton was originally on and I just felt as though I deserved more than that, “said Constantine.

“I had scored 21 League goals to help us stay up and had scored four goals to help us get to the LDV Vans Trophy final at the Millennium Stadium but I just didn’t really feel like I was valued.

“I didn’t really feel like they were that keen to keep me.”

However, it was the not the first time Constantine had been frustrated by Blues.

“When I joined I was on non-contract terms and it stayed that way for a while even though I was scoring a few goals,” said Constantine.

“It genuinely got to the point where I couldn’t afford to drive in to training and it was only then I actually got put on a contract.

“A lot of things went on that season really and it was always frustrating that the fans thought I just left because I was greedy.

“That definitely wasn’t the case and it’s good to get that out there now.”

Constantine went on to play for 10 other clubs before retiring in 2011.

But he still remains in the game working as a consultant while also running his own academy in Walthamstow.

“We work youngsters aged between 16 and 19 in the academy and it’s been going well,” said Constantine.

“I also work as a consultant for SMI and we have 50 or 60 players with us.

"We have players in the Premier League and the Championship including Lyle Taylor who is one the best strikers at that level."