11 years ago Colchester United finished 10th in the Championship, narrowly missing out on a play-off place. Jamie Cureton became the league’s top scorer and they claimed the Pride of Anglia title by finishing above all other East Anglian teams in the football league system, including Norwich City, Ipswich Town and Southend United. The pathways of the town’s and club’s growth trajectory crossed pathways in the neighbourhood of Highwoods, where new homes were being built along with the U’s state of the art new stadium. These projects were meant to display the town’s and Colchester United’s burgeoning to cityhood and rise in the football league respectively. However, just like Colchester’s quest to become a city, the dream was not meant to be. Colchester United’s fall down the divisions is one of the lesser documented events in recent Football League history.
After the success of the 2006-2007 season, Colchester United were hoping to establish themselves as a solid Championship team. This included the replacement of Layer Road – a ground that had a capacity of 6320 – with the new Colchester Community Stadium, which was planned to house over 10000 fans. Layer Road was the smallest ever stadium to be used in the second tier of English football since its renaming to the Championship. Colchester’s success could be put down to their ground’s compactness; it enabled players to quickly get the ball back into play and catch the opposition out on the counter. The fans’ proximity to the pitch also made it intimidating for players. There were numerous incidents of supporters holding onto the shirts of the away team’s players to allow the U’s to regroup.
If the 2006-2007 season turned out to be a dream, the following one was a nightmare. Colchester sold Cureton to rivals Norwich for a mere £825,000 and replaced him with a 41 year old Teddy Sheringham. It was hoped that his experience could help lead Colchester into a battle for the play-off positions, but he failed to make any meaningful impact. By the new year he had been relegated to the bench. The U’s finished rock bottom with 38 points, not even close to saving themselves from relegation. The last game at Layer Road was a 1-0 loss against Stoke City. Ironically, the new stadium, built to accommodate Colchester’s Championship ambitions, never saw second tier action.
They returned to League One unceremoniously and they failed to make an immediate impact. However, in 2009-10 they showed signs of hope. The appointment of Paul Lambert appeared to be paying dividends, as they thrashed Norwich City 7-1 on the first day of the season, laying the biggest defeat on their East Anglian rivals’ history. What happened next turned out to be the most controversial events in local football. Soon after the game Bryan Gunn was sacked by Norwich and they approached Lambert. Lambert agreed to take over the club and demolished Colchester 5-0 in the Community Stadium later that season, leading Norwich to the League One title. Norwich’s successive promotion from League One to Championship and then to the Premier League was largely down to Lambert’s managerial capabilities. To this day Lambert is the most hated man in Colchester. It is not worth dwelling on what could have been, but could Colchester be playing against the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United on a weekly basis? That question will never be answered, but it still perplexes fans today.
Since then Colchester had been slipping closer and closer to relegation year by year. Owner Robbie Cowling has not been interested in investing into the club as he has debts to pay off in addition to running the team. In the 2015-2016 season fans were hopeful of safety after beating Charlton in the FA Cup and setting up a high-profile game against Spurs, which they eventually lost. Nonetheless, the poor showing in the league meant they finished 23rd with the worst goal difference in the league.
In 2016-2017 Colchester came close to reaching the League Two play-offs, but ultimately failed on the final day of the season. Last season they appeared to be in contention for the play-off places once again, however, towards the end of the season their ambitions tailed off and finished mid table. There appears to be no hope for making any progress and the club is not even a shadow of its former self. 11 years ago the Ipswich-Colchester rivalry experienced a rejuvenation. However, today the club find themselves below even Southend, the team they have ridiculed as the lesser team of Essex. Two seasons ago local outfit Braintree Town came close to getting promoted to League Two, which would have been the ultimate humiliation for Colchester United, playing in a league with a team that many Colchester fans did not even know it existed.
There is no question that Colchester is not moving forwards. Cowling is showing no interest in selling, nor investing in the club. Nonetheless, to move forwards in this situation they need to invest in a young team that has a few experienced players to guide them. The have plenty of promising young players – including midfielders Sammie Szmodics and Craig Slater and striker Mikael Mandron. However, par centre-back Tom Eastman, they lack leadership and experience that could help the club become more successful. Only through acquiring a good mix of young and experienced players coupled with motivation can the club move onto the right path and battle their East Anglian rivals once again.
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