Everything about Colchester United F C totally explained
Colchester United Football Club is an
English football team who play in
League One for the 2008/09 season following confirmation of their relegation on
April 9 2008 from the
Championship. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side
Colchester Town F.C. who had previously used the ground from
1910.
Colchester United now play in the new
Colchester Community Stadium after playing at
Layer Road since they were formed in
1937. The last game at Layer Road was at the end of the 2007/2008 season with a game versus
Stoke City FC in the
Championship.
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. Their highest ever league finish was achieved in
2006–07, when they ended the season in 10th place in the Championship, albeit with the division's lowest attendance.
Colchester United Ladies are a very successful part of the club, having won promotion to the
FA Women's Premier League Southern Division in
2006-07.
History
Colchester Town, nicknamed 'The Oystermen', were the original local side, established in 1867 and playing at
Layer Road from
1909 until
1937, when they were dissolved. The stadium was originally owned by the army, who still have a strong presence in the town, until it was purchased by the club in
1919. Shortly before Town folded, Colchester United was set up. The owners had intended to run both teams, one professional and one amateur, under the same umbrella but the Essex County FA ruled that both teams couldn't be run under one set of rules, and so Town were wound down.
In the 1947/48 season Colchester, then in the Southern League, produced one of the most notable
F.A. Cup runs by a non-league side, beating fellow-non-league side
Banbury Spencer in the First Round before beating league clubs
Wrexham,
Huddersfield and
Bradford Park Avenue. They finally fell to
Blackpool in the Fifth Round.
United went from strength to strength, and they were promoted to the
Football League in 1950. They lost their league status for two seasons from relegation in
1990 until
1992, when they won a non-league double by collecting
the Conference title and the
Football Trophy.
In 1996-97 season Colchester were runners up in the
Football League Trophy and in more recent times they won promotions from League One (in
2005–06) claiming second place to the
Championship.
2006-07 was Colchester's first season in the second tier of English football, and after a slow start they soon entered the higher reaches of the division and there was even ambitious talk of a challenge for promotion to the
Premier League. In the end, they finished 10th in the final table above some much more fancied sides including
Leeds United,
Norwich City and
Crystal Palace.
2007-08, however, was less successful, as Colchester finished bottom of the Championship with 38 points and were relegated back to League One.
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Stadium
Colchester United formed and took over
Layer Road, which has been their home since the formation of the club. The ground has a capacity of 6,340, though in the past it was 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 due to fog. The record league attendance is 18,559 for a game against Ipswich in 1957.
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. The construction of the stadium, funded by the council, started in June 2007.
Rivalries
Colchester United's primary rivals are their geographically closest league opponents
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 8 wins, 3 losses with 4 draws . By finishing above both Ipswich & Norwich in the 2006-07 season Colchester United took the "Pride of Anglia" title for the first time.
Colchester also have a rivalry with fellow Essex side
Southend United, with a competitive head-to-head record of 28 wins to Southend, 22 wins for Colchester and 16 draws .
League Two side
Wycombe Wanderers can also be considered rivals to Colchester United dating back to both clubs' latter years in the
Conference. Whilst not a local derby, the rivalry goes back to the 1985–86 season, when Wycombe defeated Colchester 2–0 in an FA Cup tie marred by crowd trouble at Loakes Park.
Colchester and Wycombe were also involved in a race for the Conference title throughout the 1991–92 season, during which Colchester defeated Wycombe 2–1 at Adams Park with an injury-time wind-assisted winner from their goalkeeper, Scott Barrett.
Another controversial meeting was during the 1998–99 season. Relegation-threatened Wycombe were leading Colchester 2–1 at Adams Park until the ninth minute of stoppage time, when Colchester were awarded, and converted, an equalising penalty.
However, due to lack of recent games between the two sides, Colchester United fans consider Ipswich & Southend bigger rivals.
Players
Current squad
» As of 16 February 2008.
(on loan at
Folkestone Invicta)
Notable former players
Listed according to when they debuted for Colchester United (year in parentheses):
Honours
League
Coca-Cola League One
Runners-Up: 2005–06
Third Division
Play-Off Winners: 1997–98
Fourth Division
Runners-Up: 1961–62
Football Conference
Champions: 1991–92
Runners-Up: 1990–91
Southern Football League
Champions: 1938–39
Runners-Up: 1949–50
Southern Football League - Midweek Section
Runners-Up: 1937–38, 1938–39
Eastern Counties Football League
Colchester United Reserves
Champions: 1938–39, 1956–57, 1958–59
Runners-Up: 1951–52, 1954–55, 1985–86
Cup
FA Trophy
Champions: 1991–92
Watney Cup
Champions: 1971
Football League Trophy
Runners-Up: 1996–97
Southern Football League Cup
Champions: 1939–40, 1946–47
Essex Senior League Challenge Cup
Colchester United 'A'
Champions: 1974–75
Essex Senior Cup
Runners-Up: 1981–82Further Information
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