A FOOTBALL fan beaten into a coma after a Southend United match has spoken to his family for the first time in five months– saying he loves them.

Simon Dobbin, 43, was attacked by a gang as he made his way to Prittlewell Station after watching his beloved Cambridge United take on the Blues at Roots Hall.

He was knocked unconscious outside the Railway Tavern, in East Street, and taken to Southend Hospital before being treated in Bury St Edmunds and then Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, before being transferred to the neurological rehabilitation centre at the Colman Hospital, Norwich.

His wife, Nicole, said the latest move has rapidly improved his condition and he can now talk to his family.

She said: “We have heard him say our names and he has told us he loves us – it was pretty emotional and we got a little overwhelmed.

“I started counting to ten and then he copied me and carried on to 40. He sounded like someone who had smoked 50 cigarettes a day, but he doesn’t smoke. It’s understandable, though, considering he hasn’t spoken for five months.”

Mr Dobbin is expected to be in the centre for four to six months with doctors focused on getting the top half of his body moving.

His family do not know if he will walk again, but have been heartened to see him laughing at jokes which suggest his long term memory is intact.

Mrs Dobbin added: “He doesn’t have any control over his hands, but is moving his arms.

“We don’t know if he’ll walk again, but he is moving his legs.

If you go to tickle his feet, he’ll try to pull them away.”

Mr Dobbin of Mildenhall, Suffolk, was attacked on March 21 after his side’s 0-0 draw with the Blues.

Police have arrested and bailed 16 suspects, with investigations ongoing. Investigating officer, Det Chief Insp Martin Pasmore, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, described Mr Dobbin as a “decent family man” who was an “entirely innocent victim in this attack”.

A 24-year-old man from Rochford and a 20-year-old man from Southend answered bail and have been rebailed until October 8.

A 32-year-old from Southend and a 39-year-old man from Basildon have been rebailed until October 9.

Anyone with information about the incident can call Essex Police on 101, or Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555111.