Southend United midfielder Kevin Maher admitted he was left shell-shocked by the death of referee Mike North.

The 41-year-old suffered a suspected heart attack during Monday's Third Division match against Mansfield Town, falling to the ground just a few feet away from Maher.

"I didn't think he was dead," said the 24-year-old. "I saw him on the floor and I thought he had been knocked over by one of the Mansfield players.

"I think a few of the fans cheered at first as they thought it was a genuine accident, but when the referee didn't move I knew it was serious.

"My central midfield partner Leon Johnson screamed out to our physio John Gowens for assistance and he raced on to the pitch.

"But the referee wasn't responding to his efforts and he was eventually stretchered off and taken to hospital.

"I thought the referee must have had something like a diabetes problem, which could have rendered him unconscious. It never crossed my mind that he might be dead."

After an unsuccessful attempt to revive Mr North in the players' tunnel, both teams were led back to their changing rooms.

"We didn't really know what was happening and all the lads were very quiet," added Maher.

"Everything happened really quickly. We knew something was wrong, but we never found anything out until later on."

Blues' player/coach Rob Newman, a veteran of more than 700 games, watched the tragedy unfold from the dug-out.

"I've never seen anything like this before," he said. "One minute the referee was running about, the next minute he just fell over and hit his head on the floor."

Newman was also in the tunnel as paramedic crews fought frantically to revive Mr North.

"All the medical people did everything they could to help him and the ambulance crew got him to hospital very quickly," said Newman.

"This is a very sad day for everybody connected with the football club - it just leaves you feeling gutted."

Former Shrimpers striker David Crown was stunned after watching the incident from the East Stand.

"I watched the referee do his pre-match warm-up and there were no signs of what was going to happen," he said.

"He was sprinting across the pitch before the game and looked to be a very fit man - it just doesn't make sense."

And ex-Football League referee David Axcell spoke of his amazement from his Southend home.

"During 20 years of officiating and running the line in the Football League I have never known anything like this to happen," he said.

"I never went to the game, but I knew something was wrong when I heard the match had been abandoned.

"If the referee had been injured or unwell they would have carried on with the fourth official. But the fact that they didn't was a very ominous sign.

"I retired from league football seven years ago, but I still take charge of three games a week.

"I'm 57-years-old now, which makes this news even more devastating, as Mr North was a lot younger than me."

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