Ex-Wolves' striker ends 18-months of absence with a dream debut

The 36-year-old striker, who has played for

Wolves

,

Brighton

, and

Sunderland

, announced his return to Football League with a goal for

Southend

in their League Two match against

Grimsby

Town

.

Halford

was searching for a new club for 18 months after he left

Aberdeen

in 2019.

He told

Southend Echo

:

"It’s been a long time since I played the game so I’m really looking forward to getting some games under my belt and showing that I can still do it.

“First of all, from a selfish point of view, it’s minutes, games and just playing football but in the grand scheme of things it’s about helping the manager out, helping the team out and we’ll see where it goes after that.

” I came down and watched the game on Saturday and you could see Macca (Alan McCormack) pretty much coaching everyone on the pitch, winning the tactical free kicks and slowing the game down.

“Hopefully I can do the same sort of thing and guide the young players.

“The position we’re in at the minute, we have to be able to grind out results and 1-0 wins are the best wins. Hopefully with my experience coming into the team I can help in that aspect of game management.”