Colchester United F.C.

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Colchester United Football Club is an English football team who, after finishing 2nd in League One will compete in the Championship in 2006/07.

The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town F.C.. First admitted to the league in 1950, they play at Layer Road in Colchester. The ground was originally used by Colchester Town as far back as 1910. It was bought from the Army in 1919. Colchester have remained a lower division club throughout their league history; their highest ever finish came at the end of last season, finishing second in League One and gaining promotion to the second-tier of English football.

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.

The worst season in Colchester's history was 1989-90, when they were relegated from the Fourth Division to the Conference. Ian Atkins joined from Birmingham City in the summer of 1990 and he guided them to runners-up spot in the 1990-91 Conference. Roy McDonough then took over in the summer of 1991 and the U's were promoted back to the league as Conference champions in May 1992.The double was completed in the same month beating Witton Albion 3-1 at Wembley in the FA Trophy Final.

Colchester's next promotion came in 1998, when they won the Division Three playoffs beating Torquay United 1-0 at Wembley and were promoted to Division Two. Division Two later changed it's name to League One.

History was made at Colchester United in the 2005-06 season when they finished second in League One, losing out on the title by just three points to Essex rivals Southend United, and won promotion to the Championship - bringing second tier football to the club for the first time in its history.

In 2006-07, Colchester will be competing with some of the biggest names in English football, including Leeds United and Sunderland. They will also face local rivals Ipswich Town, just 15 years after being a non-league team.

Contents

1 History
2 Colours and Badge
3 Stadium
4 Rivalries
5 Trivia
6 Current Playing Squad
7 Notable former players
8 Celebrity Fans
9 Honours
10 External links

History

1937-38 - Joined Southern League. Also played in Midweek Section. Southern League Midweek Section runner-up
1938-39 - Southern League Champions. Southern League Midweek Section runner-up
1945-46 - 1 point awarded for unplayed game at Millwall
1949-50 - Southern League runner-up (lost title on goal average)
1950-51 - Elected to Football League Division Three South
1958-59 - Placed in Division Three upon re-organisation
1961-62 - Relegated to Division Four
1961-62 - Football League Division Four runner-up; promoted to Division Three
1964-65 - Relegated to Division Four
1965-66 - Promoted to Division Three (on goal average)
1967-68 - Relegated to Division Four
1973-74 - Promoted to Division Three
1975-76 - Relegated to Division Four
1976-77 - Promoted to Division Three
1980-81 - Relegated to Division Four
1986-87 - Not promoted after play-offs
1989-90 - Relegated to Conference
1990-91 - Conference runners-up
1991-92 - Conference Champions on goal difference; promoted to Football League Division Four. F.A. Trophy Winners
1992-93 - Division Four re-designated Division Three on formation of FA Premier League
1995-96 - Not promoted after play-offs
1997-98 - Promoted to Division Two after play-offs
2004-05 - Football League Division Two renamed "Football League One"
2005-06 - Equalled Record Win by beating Leamington 9-1 in FA Cup 1st Round. Promoted to the Championship after finishing 2nd in Football League One, behind local rivals Southend United

Source: [Colchester United] at the Football Club History Database

Colours and Badge

Colchester United play in blue and white vertically striped shirts, with white shorts and white socks. This was due to the club's first chairman being a Huddersfield Town fan. Their change colours are currently yellow and blue. 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.

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. In 2000 Colchester announced plans to move to a new 10,000 capacity all-seater stadium at Cuckoo Farm, originally scheduled in time for the 2007/08 season, but now put back to the end of 2007.

Rivalries

Colchester United's primary rivals are League One champions Southend United F.C. There are also rivalries with Ipswich Town (this goes back to their days in the Southern League) and Wycombe Wanderers (this goes back to their days in the Football Conference). Colchester United don't have a great record of success against these rivals, it is only against Wycombe that they have a superior head to head record.

Trivia

Colchester were listed as a former club of fictional manager in the British TV comedy series spin-off from the .

Current Playing Squad

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Notable former players

Listed according to when they debuted for Colchester United (year in parentheses):

Celebrity Fans

Radio 1 DJ Steve Lamacq.

Honours

Football League One runners-up 2005/06
Football Conference Champions 1991/92
FA Trophy Winners 1991/92
Watney Cup Winners 1971
Division 3 Play-Off Winners 1998
Football League Trophy runners-up 1996/97
Highest League position: 2nd in League One, 2005/06
Best FA Cup performance: quarter-finals, 1970/71
Best Football League Cup performance: quarter-finals, 1974/75

External links

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