Colchester United F.C.
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| Colchester United | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Colchester United Football Club Limited | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname(s) | The U's, The Oysters | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1937 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Layer Road Colchester |
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| Capacity | 6,340 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman |  Peter Heard |
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| Manager |  Geraint Williams |
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| League | Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-06 | League One, 2nd (promoted) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Colchester United Football Club are an English football team who, after finishing 2nd in League One for the 2005/6 season are competing in the Championship in 2006/07, for the first time in their history.
The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town F.C. who had previously used the ground from 1910. Layer Rd was bought from the Army in 1919. Colchester had remained a lower division club throughout their league history until the 2006-07 season. Their highest ever finish, second in League One, came in the 2005-06 season, the resulting promotion guaranteeing that this will be superseded.
Colchester United are perhaps most famous for beating Don Revie's Leeds United 3-2 in the 5th round of the FA Cup in 1971.
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[edit] History
Colchester United were elected to the Southern League in 1937 and were champions of the league two years later, but failed to gain election to the Football League until 1950 - when the league expanded from 88 to 92 clubs.
Colchester United joined the Southern section of the Third Division on their election to the Football League, and finished high enough in 1958 to gain a place in the new national Third Division, only to suffer relegation after just one season.
Colchester returned to the Third Division in 1962, and over the next 20 years bounced between the league's lower two divisions no less than seven times.
Colchester qualified for the Fourth Division playoffs in 1987, but lost to Wolves in the semi-finals and 18 months later were bottom of the league and looked doomed for relegation to the Conference. Former Glasgow Rangers manager Jock Wallace was appointed in January 1989 and pulled off a miracle survival act, but he was sacked within a year as Colchester headed for relegation to the Conference, ending 40 successive seasons of Football League membership.
Roy McDonough, who at one stage had the worst personal record in English football for sending-offs, was appointed player-manager following Colchester's relegation and in their first Conference campaign they narrowly missed out on promotion after being pipped to the post by Barnet. But the following year, McDonough's men fought off a fierce challenge from Wycombe Wanderers to earn a return to the Football League. In the same season, they made their first-ever appearance at Wembley, winning the FA Trophy by beating Witton Albion 3-1.
Colchester achieved promotion to Division Two in 1998 after they beat Torquay in the Division Three playoff final. Against all odds they established themselves at this level.
In 2005-06, Colchester equalled their club record victory by beating Leamington Town 9-1 in the F.A Cup First Round. A remarkable cup run that included wins away at Shrewsbury (2-1), Sheffield United (2-1) and home to Derby County (3-1) ended in the Fifth Round at Stamford Bridge. The U's took the lead against the Premiership champions Chelsea through a Ricardo Carvalho own goal in front of 6,000 travelling fans, only to lose 3-1. The season ended as easily the best in Colchester's history as they finished runners-up in League One to claim automatic promotion to the Championship just 14 years after winning promotion from the Conference. The sensational season included a club record 10 wins in a row, part of a scintillating run of 20 wins out of 22 matches.
Colchester's promotion joy was slightly soured by the fact that Parkinson was soon on his way out of the club, having agreed to take charge of Hull City. Key midfield man Neil Danns, so pivotal in the promotion push, was lost to newly relegated Birmingham City for a fee in the region of £500,000. Parkinson's assistant Geraint Williams is now Colchester United's manager, and made four signings for the club during his first transfer window.
Colchester were made favourites for relegation by the bookmakers before the season, but after a poor start that included five successive defeats, they adjusted to life in the Championship, winning their tenth consecutive home game on Boxing Day. After extending this run to 11, it was brought to an end with a 1-1 draw with Leicester City on 13 January. Their unbeaten Home run lasted unitll 13 February 2007 when they were beaten by West Bromwich Albion (1-2). They finished February in 10th place, but manager Geraint Williams has played down talk of a second successive promotion, fearing that such high expectations could lead to an exodus of players who were disappointed at failing to reach the Premiership.
[edit] Colours and badge
Colchester United play in blue and white vertically striped shirts, with blue shorts and white socks, manufactured by Diadora. This was due to the club's first chairman being a Huddersfield Town fan. The current away strip, is a white shirt (dark navy piping), dark navy shorts and socks. The third strip, meanwhile, is identical but with red as oppose to white.
The club badge features an eagle on a blue and white striped shield, with the name of the club at the top in white lettering. The eagle represents the town's Roman roots. Prior to the eagle emblem the club used the Colchester Borough coat-of-arms but had to change this in the 1970s.
[edit] Stadium
Colchester play their home games at Layer Road, which has been their home since the formation of the club. Prior to this, the ground was home to the now-defunct Colchester Town F.C.. The ground has a capacity of 6,190, though in the past this figure has been much higher. The record attendance at Layer Road is 19,072 for an FA Cup fixture against Reading in November 1948, a match that was actually abandoned.
In 2000 Colchester announced plans to move to a new 10,000 capacity all-seater community stadium at Cuckoo Farm. It was given the go-ahead by Colchester Borough Council on November 13, 2006, and is expected to be opened at the start of the 2008-09 season with work likely to start in early 2007. The construction of the stadium is to be funded by the council.
[edit] Rivalries
Colchester United's primary rivals are fellow Essex club Southend United. During November 2006 Colchester registered their first competitive victory over the Shrimpers since December 1989, by a margin of 3-0, taking the overall competitive head-to-head record for the rivalry to 28 wins to Southend, 22 wins for Colchester with 16 draws [1].
There is also a rivalry with their geographically closest club Ipswich Town, whom they met for the first time in a league fixture for almost half a century in the 2006/07 season. A 1-0 win at home followed by a 3-2 defeat away for Colchester saw Ipswich take their overall competitive record against Colchester to a dominant 8 wins, 3 losses with 4 draws [2].
There is also a rivalry with Wycombe Wanderers dating back to their days in the Football Conference. Colchester United don't have a great record of success against these rivals, and only against Wycombe do they have a superior head to head record.
[edit] Trivia
- They are possibly the only club to have recorded their record attendance at a match that was abandoned.
- Colchester were listed as a former club of fictional manager Mike Bassett in the British TV comedy series spin-off from the 2001 film.
- They had to use three goalkeepers in one match after both were sent off for foul/and or abusive language.
- The club has won the non-league double (Conference and FA Trophy).
- Have the lowest average attendance in the Championship.
- Entered the FA Cup in the third round for the first time during the 2006/2007 season, losing to Barnet without further progress
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable former players
Listed according to when they debuted for Colchester United (year in parentheses):
[edit] Notable fans
- Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq
- Colin Lloyd, Darts player
- Tony Gardner (Brian from My Parents Are Aliens)
- Bob Russell (politician) Colchester MP
[edit] League Honours
Football League One
- Runners-Up: 2005/06
Third Division
- Play-Off Winners: 1997/98
Fourth Division
- Runners-Up: 1961/62
- Champions: 1991/92
- Runners-Up: 1990/91
- Champions: 1938/39
- Runners-Up: 1949/50
Southern Football League - Midweek Section
- Runners-Up: 1937/38, 38/39
Eastern Counties Football League
Colchester United Reserves
- Champions: 1938/39, 56/57, 58/59
- Runners-Up: 1951/52, 54/55, 85/86
[edit] Cup Honours
- Champions: 1991/92
- Champions: 1971
- Runners-Up: 1996/97
Southern League Cup
- Champions: 1939/40, 46/47
Essex Senior League Challenge Cup
Colchester United 'A'
- Champions: 1974/75
Essex Senior Cup
- Runners-Up: 1981/82
[edit] External links
- Colchester United Official Homepage
- ColUOnline.com - The Supporters Website
- Colchester United Swedish Branch
| Football League Championship, 2006-2007 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Barnsley | Birmingham City | Burnley | Cardiff City | Colchester United | Coventry City | Crystal Palace | Derby County | Hull City | Ipswich Town | Leeds United | Leicester City | Luton Town | Norwich City | Plymouth Argyle | Preston North End | Queens Park Rangers | Sheffield Wednesday | Southampton | Southend United | Stoke City | Sunderland | West Bromwich Albion | Wolverhampton Wanderers edit |
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