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Colchester United
Full name	Colchester United Football Club Limited
Nickname(s)	The U's
Founded	1937
Ground	Layer Road Colchester (Capacity 6,340)
Manager	Geraint Williams
League	The Championship
2006–07	Championship, 10th
Home colours 　 Away colours

Colchester United Football Club is an English football team who play in the Championship. 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.

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.

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.

Contents 1 Colchester Town F.C. 2 Stadium 3 Rivalries 4 Trivia 5 Players 5.1 Current squad 5.2 Notable former players 6 League Honours 7 Cup Honours 8 External links

Colchester Town F.C., nicknamed 'The Oystermen', were the 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 have a strong presence in the town, until it was purchased by the club in 1919.

Town's original colours

Main articles: Layer Road and Cuckoo Farm

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 19,012 for an FA Cup fixture against Reading in November 1949, a match that was actually abandoned due to fog.

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 is funded by the council. On June 4 2007, Barr Ltd. began to set up their portacabins on site and work is now underway on the stadium site. Much to the annoyance of the supporters, there will be no pub or bar facility^{[citation needed]}.

Colchester United's primary rivals are League Two side Wycombe Wanderers, a rivalry dating back to both clubs' latter years in the Conference[1].. 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.

Colchester also have a rivalry with fellow Essex side 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 [2]. The return fixture, in April 2007, was also won 3–0 by Colchester, with a Jamie Cureton hat-trick sealing the victory.

There is also a rivalry with their geographically closest league 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 [3].

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• They recorded their highest attendance at a match that was abandoned.
• They had to use three goalkeepers in one match after two were sent off for foul and/or abusive language.
• The club has won the non-league double (Conference and FA Trophy).
• They have the lowest average attendance in the Championship.
• They entered the FA Cup in the third round for the first time during the 2006–2007 season, losing to Barnet without further progress.
• The 2006–07 season is the best season they have had in their history by finishing in 10th place in the Championship.

As of 19 August 2007.

No. Position Player 1 GK Dean Gerken 2 DF Danny Granville 3 DF John White 4 MF Johnnie Jackson 6 MF Kevin Watson 7 MF Karl Duguid (captain) 8 FW Teddy Sheringham 9 FW Clive Platt 10 MF Kemal İzzet 11 MF Mark Yeates 12 DF Pat Baldwin 13 GK Aidan Davison 14 MF Kevin McLeod

No. Position Player 15 FW Jamie Guy 16 DF George Elokobi 17 MF Luke Guttridge 18 DF Matthew Connolly (on loan from Arsenal) 19 DF Adam Virgo (on loan from Celtic) 20 FW Kevin Lisbie 21 DF Béla Balogh (on loan from MTK Hungária) 23 GK Mark Cousins 27 MF Anthony Wordsworth 28 DF Tom Devaux 29 FW Tom Webb 30 MF Medi Elito

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

• Jamie Cureton (2007)
• Greg Halford (2002)
• Lomana Tresor LuaLua (1998)
• Mark Kinsella
• Tony English
• Tony Adcock
• Perry Groves
• Roy McDonough
• Micky Cook
• Ray Crawford
• Brian Hall
• Peter Wright
• Mike Masters (1992)
• Ernest Chapman (1909)
• Chris Iwelumo (2007)
• Neil Danns (2006)

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

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: 1981–82

• Colchester United Official Homepage
• Colchester United at the Football Club History Database
• Colchester United Reserves at the Football Club History Database
• Colchester United "A" at the Football Club History Database
• ColUOnline.com - The Supporters Website
• Colchester Utd Layer Road Stadium - Googlemaps

Colchester United Football Club v • d • e
Club: Colchester United F.C. | Players | Managers Grounds: Layer Road | Cuckoo Farm
Football League Championship 2007–08 v • d • e
Barnsley | Blackpool | Bristol City | Burnley | Cardiff City | Charlton Athletic | Colchester United | Coventry City | Crystal Palace | Hull City | Ipswich Town | Leicester City | Norwich City | Plymouth Argyle | Preston North End | Queens Park Rangers | Scunthorpe United | Sheffield United | Sheffield Wednesday | Southampton | Stoke City | Watford | West Bromwich Albion | Wolverhampton Wanderers
English football league system - Level 2
Promotion to: FA Premier League
Relegation to: Football League One
Football in England v • d • e
League competitions The FA Cup competitions Premier League England (B) (C) FA Cup The Football League (Champ, 1, 2) (U-21) (U-20) (U-19) Football League Cup Football Conference (Nat, N, S) (U-18) (U-17) (U-16) FA Community Shield Northern Premier (Prem, 1N, 1S) List of clubs Football League Trophy Southern League (Prem, 1Mid, 1S&W) List of venues FA Trophy Isthmian League (Prem, 1N, 1S) (by capacity) Conference League Cup English football league system List of leagues FA Vase Records FA NLS Cup Foreign players