2006-07 Season

10th in the Championship
League Cup: 1st round: MK Dons a. 0-1 aet.
FA Cup: 3rd Round: Barnet a. 1-2

Highlight:
4-3 win over Derby County, 26/8/06

Low Spot:
3-1 defeat at Stoke City, 28/4/07

Good:
Jamie Cureton
Slammed in 24 goals including hat tricks against Derby and Southend and was a constant menace with his intelligent movement and assured finishing.
Cureton's career had appeared to have fizzled out but his efforts during the season reminded everybody of what a class act he is.
Wayne Brown His gritty, no nonsense approach typified Colchester's excellent season as Brown proved himself one of the divisions' most consistent defenders.

Bad:
Jamie Guy
Guy made 32 appearances during the season although all but one of these came from the substitutes bench. His one goal showed that he was no David Fairclough, however.
Kemi Izzet
Izzet was a fixture in the Colchester side and cannot be accused of giving less than 100% effort but he has no real quality to speak of as his single goal demonstrates.
Isn't particularly creative either.

In Brief:
It looked like being a season of struggle after promotion when Colchester lost their first four league games and were also knocked out of the League Cup by League Two MK Dons.
Then came a memorable 4-3 victory over Derby, inspired by the outstanding Jamie Cureton, and the club went from strength to strength, particularly at home where 11 games on the trot were won.
The play offs became a distinct possibility but a poor spell from mid February when only two points were gained in a six game spell put paid to those ambitions.
10th position was more than respectable, however, although the clubs' need to sell players was again demonstrated by the disappointing sale of Greg Halford to Reading.

Colchester United Football Club was formed in 1937 although this event simply marked the continuation of the existing Colchester Town club which was already situated at Layer Road. The new club would be a professional outfit, however.

Colchester were elected into Division Three South in 1950, two years after a marvellous run to the 5th round of the FA Cup. The U's were the scourge of West Yorkshire after knocking out Huddersfield Town and Bradford City but they came down to earth at the seaside when Blackpool beat them 5-0.

Colchester maintained steady progress in the league before being relegated to Division Four in 1961. This at least allowed them the joy of a first promotion the following year.

Then when the club were relegated again in 1965 they bounced back at the first time of asking once more. Colchester could only manage a two year spell in Division Three before dropping back into the fourth division in 1968.

This time the club would spend six seasons in Division Four before escaping but during that time Colchester enjoyed their finest hour.

In 1971 Colchester took advantage of favourable draws pairing them with Barnet and Rochdale to progress to the 5th round of the FA Cup where they were given a home tie with the mighty Leeds United, holders of the competition.

On a never to be forgotten day the U's stormed into a three goal lead as the former England striker Ray Crawford rolled back the years with a couple of goals. United buckled under tremendous late pressure but held on for a famous 3-2 win.

In the quarter finals they were caned 5-0 by Everton at Goodison Park.

Colchester were promoted to Division Three in 1974 but again found themselves unable to cope at that level and were relegated after just two seasons. The club did manage to bounce straight back up again in 1977 and finishes of 8th and 7th on their return to Division Three suggested the club might at last move forward. Instead they faltered and slipped to another relegation in 1981.

Colchester remained a strong fourth division outfit throughout most of the 1980's. They reached the first divisional play offs in 1987 only to lose in the semi finals to Aldershot. They then suffered a sudden collapse, however.

United dropped alarmingly to finish 22nd in 1989 and the following year finished bottom to lose their league status.

Fortunately the club rallied and in 1992 returned to the league after winning the Vauxhall Conference and they also took the opportunity to capture the FA Trophy after a 3-1 victory over Witton Albion at Wembley.

Colchester returned to Wembley in 1997 for the Auto Windscreens Shield final but lost out on penalties to Carlisle United. This disappointment was more than softened the following year when the club made their third trip to the national stadium and claimed a 1-0 win over Torquay United in the play off final. David Gregory was the match winner slotting home from the penalty spot.

The club have spent the last seven seasons safely in the middle reaches of the third tier which marks a decent run of form for the club. Whether the club has the potential to progress to the next level is debatable with an apparently small fan base and perhaps the worst ground in the country. This could change, however, with a move to a new stadium, intriguingly named Cuckoo Farm, planned for the start of the 2007-08 season.

Colchester's best effort in the League Cup came in 1975 when they made it through to the 5th round. The U's knocked out Oxford United, Southend United, Carlisle United and Southampton. The victory over the Saints was especially worthy as it came in a replay at the Dell. United only fell in the quarter finals after a titanic struggle at home to the eventual winners of the trophy, Aston Villa, who left Essex very relieved about their 2-1 win.

In the course of establishing the clubs record victory, a 9-1 demolition of Bradford City in 1961, both Bobby Hunt and Martyn King set a club record by scoring four goals apiece. Hunt managed to repeat the feat before the season was out, putting another four past Doncaster Rovers.

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