2005–06 Colchester United F.C. season

Season overview

Colchester started the new season poorly. At the end of August after six games, they found themselves in the relegation zone with one win and two draws. Phil Parkinson had made a number of changes to his playing staff over the summer with numerous outgoings. He had signed Chris Iwelumo from Alemannia Aachen on a permanent basis and brought in Mark Yeates on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. It wasn't until Jamie Cureton arrived on loan from Swindon Town that the U's had an upturn in form as they earned five consecutive wins and went eight matches unbeaten.

By Christmas, Colchester were in the top four but their unbeaten run was ended by Swindon on Boxing Day. They recovered from this setback to embark on another winning streak, earning seven wins on the bounce, ten matches including cup ties and sat top of the table by the end of January. Their form fell away in mid February and through March into April when they picked up just one win in 10 games, dropping from the automatic promotion places to the play-off spots.

Meanwhile, in the FA Cup, Colchester had progressed to the fifth round to set up a tie with Premier League champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The club equalled a 44-year-old record by beating Leamington 9–1 in the first round, and then saw off the challenge of Shrewsbury Town, and then Championship sides Sheffield United and Derby County.

José Mourinho's Chelsea side had been assembled for around £225m, while Colchester United's squad had a value of approximately £150,000. More than 6,000 U's fans travelled to the game and were given an early treat when the underdogs took the lead through a Ricardo Carvalho own goal in the 28th minute. Paulo Ferreira equalised ten minutes later as the sides went into half time with the score level. At half time, Mourinho made two changes, introducing star players Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. He then sent on Hernán Crespo with the score still level up until the 79th minute when Cole struck to give Chelsea the lead. He added a second in the final minute of the game to hand the hosts a 3–1 victory.

The U's again reached the area final of the Football League Trophy, but lost over two legs to eventual winners Swansea City.

In the closing stages of the season, Colchester returned to winning ways and to the automatic promotion places with four games remaining. Wins against AFC Bournemouth and Rotherham United meant United only had to secure a draw in their final game of the season at Yeovil Town. The U's nervously held on to a 0–0 draw to gain promotion to the Championship, finishing the campaign behind leaders and rivals Southend United. Southend had beaten Colchester twice over the course of the season as they finished three points shy of the title.

Players

Transfers

In

• Total spending: ~ £0

Out

• Total incoming: ~ £0

Loans in

Loans out

Match details

League One

Main article: 2005–06 Football League

League table

Results round by round

Matches

Byfield Trundle Davison Cole McDaid Foster McIndoe Hall Cureton Harrold Iwelumo Halford Wright Cureton Brown Iwelumo Yeates Garcia Iwelumo Danns Stewart Iwelumo Graham Maher Wilson Hall Iwelumo Vernon Yeates

Football League Cup

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Cup

Jerome

FA Cup

Main article: 2005–06 FA Cup

Brown Iwelumo Cureton Watson Yeates Danns Iwelumo Williams Garcia J. Cole

Football League Trophy

Main article: 2005–06 Football League Trophy

Garcia Danns Bojić Danns Knight

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

|- !colspan="16"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season |}

Goalscorers

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.

References

General

Books

Websites

Specific

References

1. (2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
2. "Colchester Utd 3–1 Derby County". Coludata.co.uk.
3. "Colchester Utd 3–2 aet Northampton Town". Coludata.co.uk.
4. "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
5. Hudson, Matt. (11 August 2013). "The 1990s and 2000s". Colchester United FC.
6. "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
7. "Colchester United". FootballSquads.
8. "All Colchester United football club players: 2006". 11v11.com.
9. {{Soccerbase. 41563. Russell Pond
10. "Chris Iwelumo". Coludata.co.uk.
11. {{Soccerbase. 11505. Chris Iwelumo
12. "Dean Howell". Coludata.co.uk.
13. {{Soccerbase. 15691. Dean Howell
14. "Matt Paine". 11v11.com.
15. {{Soccerbase. 43056. Matthew Paine
16. "Tony Thorpe". Coludata.co.uk.
17. {{Soccerbase. 7949. Tony Thorpe
18. "Craig Hughes". 11v11.com.
19. {{Soccerbase. 43390. Craig Hughes
20. "Gavin Johnson". Coludata.co.uk.
21. {{Soccerbase. 3938. Gavin Johnson
22. "Joe Keith". Coludata.co.uk.
23. {{Soccerbase. 14637. Joe Keith
24. "Ben Bowditch". Coludata.co.uk.
25. {{Soccerbase. 39086. Ben Bowditch
26. "Liam Coleman". 11v11.com.
27. {{Soccerbase. 41578. Liam Coleman
28. "Craig Johnston". 11v11.com.
29. {{Soccerbase. 40518. Craig Johnston
30. "Tristan Toney". 11v11.com.
31. "Bobby Bowry". Coludata.co.uk.
32. {{Soccerbase. 865. Bobby Bowry
33. "Jamie Cade". Coludata.co.uk.
34. {{Soccerbase. 33806. Jamie Cade
35. "Mark Yeates". Coludata.co.uk.
36. {{Soccerbase. 35004. Mark Yeates
37. "Jamie Cureton (Forward)". Coludata.co.uk.
38. {{Soccerbase. 1843. Jamie Cureton
39. "Scott Vernon". Coludata.co.uk.
40. {{Soccerbase. 33620. Scott Vernon
41. "Billy Clarke". Coludata.co.uk.
42. {{Soccerbase. 41447. Billy Clarke
43. "Jamal Campbell-Ryce". Coludata.co.uk.
44. {{Soccerbase. 32441. Jamal Campbell-Ryce
45. "Robbie King". Coludata.co.uk.
46. {{Soccerbase. 40800. Robbie King
47. "Robbie King". 11v11.com.
48. "Jamie Guy". Coludata.co.uk.
49. {{Soccerbase. 40737. Jamie Guy
50. "Jamie Guy". 11v11.com.
51. "Sam Stockley". Coludata.co.uk.
52. {{Soccerbase. 9941. Sam Stockley
53. "Gareth Williams". Coludata.co.uk.
54. {{Soccerbase. 32581. Gareth Williams
55. "Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
56. "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk.
57. "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
58. "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.