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1985–86 Colchester United F.C. season
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| club | Colchester United |
| season | 1985–86 |
| chairman | Jonathan Crisp |
| manager | Cyril Lea |
| (until 10 April) | |
| Mike Walker | |
| (from 10 April) | |
| stadium | Layer Road |
| league | Fourth Division |
| league result | 6th |
| cup1 | FA Cup |
| cup1 result | 1st round |
| (eliminated by | |
| Wycombe Wanderers) | |
| cup2 | League Cup |
| cup2 result | 1st round |
| (eliminated by | |
| Millwall) | |
| cup3 | Associate Members' Cup |
| cup3 result | Preliminary round (southern section) |
| league topscorer | |
| Tony Adcock (15) | |
| season topscorer | |
| Tony Adcock (16) | |
| highest attendance | 3,927 |
| v Exeter City, 4 October 1985 | |
| lowest attendance | 1,356 |
| v Crewe Alexandra, 25 March 1986 | |
| average attendance | 2,253 |
| largest win | 5–0 |
| v Peterborough United, 22 April 1986 | |
| largest loss | 0–4 |
| v Chester City, 6 November 1985 | |
| pattern_name1 | Home |
| pattern_la1 | _white_stripes |
| pattern_b1 | _stripesandshouldersonwhite |
| pattern_ra1 | _white_stripes |
| pattern_so1 | _color_3_stripes_white |
| leftarm1 | 87CEEB |
| body1 | 87CEEB |
| rightarm1 | 87CEEB |
| shorts1 | 87CEEB |
| socks1 | 87CEEB |
| prevseason | 1984–85 |
| nextseason | 1986–87 |
(until 10 April) Mike Walker (from 10 April) (eliminated by Wycombe Wanderers) (eliminated by Millwall) Tony Adcock (15) Tony Adcock (16) v Exeter City, 4 October 1985 v Crewe Alexandra, 25 March 1986 v Peterborough United, 22 April 1986 v Chester City, 6 November 1985 The 1985–86 season was Colchester United's 44th season in their history and fifth consecutive season in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Associate Members' Cup.
Colchester finished sixth in the league table come the end of the season, but were nine points distant of promoted Port Vale in fourth place. The U's were knocked out of the FA Cup by non-League opposition in Wycombe Wanderers in the first round, and exited the League Cup in the first round to Millwall. Despite a win against Southend United in the Associate Members' Cup, Colchester were defeated by Northampton Town who progressed from the group stages to the knockout phase of the competition.
Three weeks prior to the end of the season, manager Cyril Lea was sacked and replaced by former U's goalkeeper Mike Walker.
Season overview
Following regulation changes in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster and the Bradford City stadium fire, Layer Road was facing £500,000 of safety improvements to bring the ground up to standards. With the club ailing financially, sections of the ground were closed, reducing capacity to 4,900.
Manager Cyril Lea continued a trend of recruiting former Ipswich Town by bringing in forwards Robin Turner and Trevor Whymark during the season.
In October, the club were top of the table, but after suffering six successive league defeats, four without scoring, the club slid down the table and crashed out of the FA Cup to non-League Wycombe Wanderers. They had already made an early exit to Millwall in the League Cup and would soon follow suit in the Associate Members' Cup.
Lea struggled to find a strike partner for Tony Adcock following a car crash that ended Keith Bowen's playing career. The side were otherwise free scoring, and despite a good record, Lea was sacked three weeks ahead of the end of the campaign and replaced by Reserve team coach Mike Walker. Walker, initially in a caretaker capacity, took the U's on an unbeaten run for their final eight games of the season, winning five. This left the club in sixth position in the table, nine points shy of promotion.
The season was notable for hat-tricks, with Perry Groves twice achieving the feat against Southend United and brothers Tommy and Tony English scoring hat-tricks within five days of one another. The brothers were also both sent off at Crewe Alexandra in April, a game which Colchester won 2–0.
Players
Transfers
In
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1985 | CB | ENG | Kirk Game | ENG Southend United | Free transfer | ||||
| August 1985 | MF | ENG | John Reeves | ENG Fulham | Undisclosed | ||||
| November 1985 | CB | ENG | Terry Baker | ENG Billericay Town | Free transfer | ||||
| 8 November 1985 | FW | ENG | Tommy English | AUS Canberra City | Undisclosed | ||||
| 23 November 1985 | FW | ENG | Trevor Whymark | ENG Diss Town | Free transfers | url=http://www.coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=430 | title=Trevor Whymark | publisher=Coludata.co.uk | access-date=9 July 2018 }} |
| 20 December 1985 | FW | ENG | Robin Turner | WAL Swansea City | Undisclosed | url=http://www.coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=429 | title=Robin Turner | publisher=Coludata.co.uk | access-date=9 July 2018 }} |
| 31 March 1986 | FW | ENG | Mick Ferguson | ENG Brighton & Hove Albion | Undisclosed |
- Total spending: ~ £0
Out
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | FW | DMA | Liburd Henry | ENG Rainham Town | Free transfer | |
| 26 October 1985 | FW | WAL | Keith Bowen | Free agent | Retired | |
| 6 November 1985 | MF | ENG | Jeff Hull | Free agent | Retired | |
| 14 December 1985 | FW | ENG | Trevor Whymark | Free agent | Released | |
| 31 January 1986 | MF | ENG | Russell Irving | ENG Stowmarket Town | Undisclosed | |
| 31 March 1986 | MF | ENG | Noel Parkinson | Free agent | Retired | |
| 8 April 1986 | CB | SCO | Stewart Houston | Free agent | Retired | |
| 6 May 1986 | MF | ENG | Roger Osborne | ENG Sudbury Town | Undisclosed | |
| 6 May 1986 | FW | ENG | Robin Turner | ENG Bury Town | Released | name=FG}} |
- Total incoming: ~ £0
Loans in
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 1985 | FW | ENG | Robin Turner | WAL Swansea City | 14 December 1985 | name=Loanend | Loan end date refers to the date of the player's final game for the club}} |
Match details
Fourth Division
Main article: 1985–86 Football League
Results round by round
|color_-4=green1|color_21-=red1
League table
Matches
Day Adcock Steel Adcock Groves Hedman Crowe Bowen Muir Worthington Groves Parkinson Day Groves Bowen Bowen Chamberlain McDonough Groves Mann Rimmer Abel Gray Stevens Adcock Dixon Robinson Adcock Groves Hedman Gregory Wade Tommy English Phillips Mungall Kellock Adcock Clark Crawford Burman Phillips Baker Glenn Greenough Day Phillips Tony English Taylor Farrell Tommy English Ferguson Atkins Tommy English Tony English Tommy English Tony English Ferguson Tommy English Tony English Groves Tommy English Devine
League Cup
Main article: 1985–86 Football League Cup
Fashanu Lowndes Fashanu Leslie
FA Cup
Main article: 1985–86 FA Cup
Read
Associate Members' Cup
Main article: 1985–86 Associate Members' Cup
Adcock Benjamin
Squad statistics
Appearances and goals
|- !colspan="16"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season |}
Goalscorers
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENG | FW | Tony Adcock | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 2 | ENG | WG | Perry Groves | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | ENG | DF/MF | Tony English | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 4 | ENG | FW | Tommy English | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | WAL | FW | Keith Bowen | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | ENG | FW | Mick Ferguson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| ENG | MF | Noel Parkinson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |
| 8 | ENG | CB | Keith Day | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | ENG | MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | ENG | CB | Terry Baker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| ENG | CB | Rudi Hedman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 12 | SCO | FB | Ian Phillips | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | ENG | WG/MF | Simon Burman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| ENG | MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| ENG | MF | Roger Osborne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| TOTALS | 88 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 96 |
Disciplinary record
| Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG | WG | Perry Groves | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | DF/MF | Tony English | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | FW | Tommy English | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | CB | Keith Day | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | WG/MF | Simon Burman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | MF | Noel Parkinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | FW | Tony Adcock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| WAL | FW | Keith Bowen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | FW | Mick Ferguson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| ENG | CB | Rudi Hedman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TOTALS | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Clean sheets
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENG | Alec Chamberlain | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| TOTALS | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
Player debuts
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | ENG | John Reeves | 17 August 1985 | Stockport County | Layer Road | |
| CB | ENG | Kirk Game | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | |
| FW | ENG | Tommy English | 9 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | |
| FW | ENG | Robin Turner | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | |
| FW | ENG | Trevor Whymark | 23 November 1985 | Preston North End | Deepdale | |
| FW | ENG | Robin Turner | 20 December 1985 | Wrexham | Layer Road | |
| CB | ENG | Terry Baker | 11 January 1986 | Torquay United | Layer Road | |
| FW | ENG | Mick Ferguson | 31 March 1986 | Peterborough United | London Road Stadium |
References
General
Books
Websites
Specific
References
- (2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
- "Colchester Utd 1–1 Exeter City". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Colchester Utd 1–2 Crewe Alexandra". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
- Hudson, Matt. (11 July 2012). "The 1970s and 1980s". Colchester United FC.
- "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Kirk Game". Coludata.co.uk.
- "John Reeves". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Terry Baker". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Tommy English". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Trevor Whymark". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Robin Turner". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Mick Ferguson". Coludata.co.uk.
- Triggs, Roger. (2001). "The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club". Tempus Publishing Ltd.
- "Keith Bowen". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Jeff Hull". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Russell Irving". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Noel Parkinson". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Stewart Houston". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Roger Osborne". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
- "Colchester Utd 0–1 Rochdale". Coludata.co.uk.
- "Colchester Utd 5–2 Wrexham". Coludata.co.uk.
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