Colchester United are a relatively recent club in historical terms, only being formed in 1937. Previously Colchester Town had flown the Association flag in in this part of Essex, but they went bust mid 1937-38 season and had their record expunged. Whether some in the town had seen the writing was on the wall for Colchester Town, or whether it was a contributory factor in their demise, but United had been formed that same season, applying and being accepted into the Southern League. When Town folded United took the opportunity to take over their ground at Layer Road.

The U's first ever competitive game was on August 28th 1937 at Huish. Yeovil & Petters United won 3-0. The return on September 11th was 0-0. The clubs met again towards the end of that season in the two-legged Southern League Cup Final. Colchester emerged victorious 4-3 on aggregate. In the league the Glovers finished 4th, Colchester 6th.

The following season saw each side win their respective home league game, but whilst Yeovil were distracted by one of their great F.A. Cup runs it was Colchester United who finished the season as Southern League Champions. On the strength of this they made their first application to join the Football League, but only received one vote.

After the War the (renamed) Yeovil Town and Colchester United were again rivals in the Southern League. Yeovil got revenge for the 1938 League Cup Final defeat when they took the U's in the 1949 Final 3-0. However Colchester got the far greater prize the next season. Although they hadn't won the Southern League title post-war, when Division Three South was expanded by two clubs in 1950 they were voted in along with Gillingham.

A couple of mid-table seasons were followed by several needs for re-election, but when the cut came for who went into Division Three and who into Division Four in the restructuring for the 1958-59 campaign they were doing well enough to get put into the higher tier. It was in that season that Yeovil and Colchester met again, but now in the F.A. Cup in Round Two. The Glovers got a very creditable 1-1 draw at Layer Road and strongly fancied their chances in the replay at Huish. The 1-7 hammering was a shock, Yeovil's second largest F.A. Cup defeat ever. That was it until 1980 when the teams were again drawn in Round Two of the FAC. The pattern was repeated : a 1-1 draw in Essex, followed by defeat in Somerset. In the intervening years Colchester had bobbed about fairly regularly between Divisions Three and Four. Their greatest moment was the defeat of the then mighty Leeds United in the Fifth Round of the F.A. Cup in 1971.

In the Eighties Colchester appeared a solid Division Four team, but towards the end of the decade cracks began to appear in the club and two flirtations with relegation saw them down to the Conference on the second of them in 1990. History never repeats itself? Well not quite, as Colchester United's first match back in Non-league was at Huish Park - the stadium's first ever competitive match. The result was the same as in 1937 though, a win for the Glovers. Full-time Colchester were bound to be a major force in the Conference, but did have one major handicap - a prat of a manager called Ian Atkins. They ended runners-up to Barnet. In 1991-92 under Roy McDonough they made no mistake, though it was a close run thing. In a titanic struggle Colchester and Wycombe Wanderers were in a mini-league of their own, finishing 21 points clear of the rest. The U's pipped it on goal difference and were back in the Football League.

In 1998 Steve Wignall took them up to Division Two (now League One) through the play-offs, and there they remained for eight campaigns, a significant achievement for a club with one of the smallest average crowds at this level. The price paid was season after season of finishing in the bottom half of the table with little excitement other than the odd flirtation with relegation. In 2000 the Glovers, not to put too fine a point on it, slaughtered the U's 5-1 in Round One of the FAC. The Round Two LDV tie in 2003 finished 2-2 after extra time, but Colchester went through 4-2 on penalties. We didn't catch up with them in league competition again until 2005-06, losing 2-3 away and drawing 0-0 at home, that point in the final game of the season securing Colchester a rather unlikely promotion to the Championship as runners-up. Even more unlikely was the 10th placed finish in the second tier the following season. However it didn't last and they came back down last term, finishing bottom.

In the meantime, nearly three decades after they first began trying, Colchester at last have their new stadium, mainly paid for by the council.

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RECENT RESULTS

04/04/2009	Leeds United	Home	CCL1	L	0-1	9559
11/04/2009	Leyton Orient	Away	CCL1	L	1-2	4685		Platt 43
13/04/2009	Brighton and Hove Albion	Home	CCL1	L	0-1	4873
18/04/2009	Hereford United	Away	CCL1	W	2-0	2100		Yeates 36, Beckwith 43
25/04/2009	Peterborough United	Home	CCL1	L	0-1	6532
02/05/2009	Yeovil Town	Away	CCL1	W	2-0	5237		Vincent 13, Yeates 15

FORTHCOMING FIXTURES

CLUB GOALSCORERS

Name	LGE	FAC	FAT	LGC	CC	Total
Mark Yeates	12	0	0	0	0	12
Clive Platt	10	0	0	0	0	10
Dean Hammond	5	0	0	0	0	5
David Perkins	5	0	0	0	0	5
Scott Vernon	4	0	0	0	0	4
Steven Gillespie	4	0	0	0	0	4
Johnnie Jackson	4	0	0	0	0	4
Anthony Wordsworth	3	0	0	0	0	3
Jermaine Easter	2	0	0	0	0	2
Akanni-Sunday Wasiu	2	0	0	0	0	2
Ashley Vincent	1	0	0	0	0	1
Kemal Izzet	1	0	0	0	0	1
Paul Reid	1	0	0	0	0	1
Marc Tierney	1	0	0	0	0	1
Own Goals	3	0	0	0	0	3

ATTENDANCE STATISTICS

Highest League Attendance: 9559, vs Leeds United, 04/04/2009
Lowest League Attendance: 3179, vs Stockport County, 24/02/2009
Average League Attendance: 5084

CURRENT LEAGUE SEQUENCE STATISTICS

Games Without A Win:	0		Games Without A Home Win:	4
Games Without An Away Win:	0		Games Without Defeat:	1
Games Without A Home Defeat:	0		Games Without An Away Defeat:	2
Games Without A Draw:	8		Games Without A Score Draw:	8
Games Without A No-Score Draw:	20		Games Without Scoring:	0
Games Without Conceding:	1		Home Results Sequence:	DWLLLL
Away Results Sequence:	DLWLWW		Overall Results Sequence:	LLLWLW

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No more Layer Road! Photo © 2005 Ciderspace

Parking

The news is not good.

There is a stadium car park with between 600 and 700 spaces, but it was intended to be Permit Holders only - and if they still haven't got enough of them signed up by this stage of the season charges £10.00 a time - so you can forget that.

Supporters should be aware that the area around the Weston Homes Community Stadium is subject to a Parking Exclusion Zone on matchdays. Covering both existing Clearways and also nearby residential areas, these roads will be marshalled by Colchester United and Essex Police to prevent parking on roads not permitted under the Stadium Travel Plan.

Parking enforcement will be carried out, so you are advised to check signage and lines carefully. Note that the Clearway restriction is not marked by yellow lines - but is zoned within signs marked with a red cross on a blue background. Clearway means that you cannot stop to load or unload passengers, wait or park, and the restrictions apply to those holding disabled drivers "Blue Badge" as well.

The following roads have a Clearway "No Stopping" restriction, which also extends to roadside verges and footways:
Northern Approach Road
Boxted Road
Langham Road
Severalls Lane
Axial Way
United Way

Most other areas around the stadium have either resident only parking restrictions or yellow lines. Residential areas subject to these restrictions include:
Mile End Road
Nayland Road (particularly near the Dog & Pheasant pub)
Turner Road
Mill Road

Marshalls also monitor nearby residential estates such as those leading off from Mill Road onto the 'Roman Place' development.

Owners of any vehicles contravening any of the above parking restrictions are liable for a Fixed Penalty Charge Notice which is currently £70.00. Fans from clubs who have already visited this season report that numbers of them departed having picked up such fines. If you can hunt down some on-street we're advised there's nothing nearer than at least a mile from the stadium

There are commercial car parks in the town centre (map), but be aware these are two to three miles, depending on location, from the stadium. If parking in a town centre car park, visiting fans can use their match ticket to buy a Matchday Rover on the No. 65 bus on Head Street for £1.00 to the train station (a five to ten minute journey), where they can then link up with the free shuttle bus service (see below) - or they could if the two clubs between them hadn't managed to make it pay-on-the-gate only for Yeovil supporters.

By Rail

The town has three railway stations, Colchester North, Colchester Town and (Colchester) Hythe. North is the only one anywhere near the stadium, and that's about two miles away.

Liverpool Street, by One Railway, is your London station for services to Colchester. Journey times to Colchester North range from 49 minutes to one hour.

Note that in terms of official names, and in particular if you go searching on the National Rail website, "Colchester North" station is known simply as "Colchester" Railway Station. However, you'll find that the locals and most local bus services refer to it as "Colchester North" to avoid confusion with the Colchester Town station which is the more central one of the two, but further away from the ground.

By Bus

A free Shuttle Bus Service from Bruff Close runs to and from the stadium. For a 7.45 p.m. kick-off the shuttle buses will run from 6.00 p.m. at Bruff Close, with the last bus back to Bruff Close leaving the stadium at 10.15 p.m.

Bruff Close is a short walk from North Station forecourt. Walk down Station Approach and turn left to cross Bergholt Road at the crossing. Continue on to Mile End Road and cross it at the crossing just twenty yards up. Bruff Close is directly in front of you with The Big Yellow Warehouse on the right hand side.

Now for the problem. Match tickets carry "Bus In" and "Bus Out" stubs. But of course we haven't got our match tickets because it's pay-on-the-day only - thanks so much YTFC and CUFC. We might be all right because whilst the system beds in the Colchester OS suggests: "At present, we are not asking fans to use the bus in/bus out stubs on their tickets, but please take note of pre-match information for each game issued on CU-FC.com." Of course there's no sign of any such info on this subject for our match. Also elsewhere on the site it states: "Visiting fans........... are able to take advantage of our FREE shuttle bus service if they possess a match ticket bought in advance of the game." It's to be hoped common sense prevails and Glovers fans who need it are allowed to use this service without the stubs otherwise you could be in for a looooong walk.

Taxis

A selection of Colchester taxi companies can be found here.

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The nearest pub to the stadium is the Dog and Pheasant on Nayland Road, and that's three-quarters of a mile away. It is billed as home fans only. Near the railway station and the shuttle bus pick up point is the Bricklayers (below). This is also claimed to be home fans only, though this seems peculiar for a real ale pub, which it is. Perhaps it means it won't let in those with colours. In North Station Road is the Norfolk, which is a Greene King outlet and will allow away fans. A little further on is the Albert, a Beefeater - arghh. All in all one is looking at a potentially miserable matchday exprience in which visiting football fans are about as welcome as a dose of the clap, and in which getting to the stadium without a marathon trek is a nightmare.
Well done all.

Club Bar :

As far as we are aware there are no alcohol provisions for away fans at the stadium. Food is the usual sort of garbage one gets fobbed off with at most football grounds.

Local Pubs :

Bricklayers: Should you arrive in the area of Colchester North railway station and the shuttle bus terminus this is the only decent pub to use whilst you work out how you are going to negotiate the couple of miles to the football stadium. However it's said to be home fans only, so it's likely you won't get in with colours. There's a public bar and a lounge, with a pool table in the former. There's a full range of Adnams beers, including relevant seasonals, plus a guest or two and a traditional cider. Food is home cooked, good value, but lunchtimes only. Has own parking. Opening times are 11.00 a.m. - 3.00 p.m. and 5.30 p.m. to 11.00 p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 11.00 a.m. - 11.00 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Bricklayers, 27, Bergholt Road, Colchester, Essex, CO4 5AA. Tel: 01206 852008. Map: Click Here.

The Norfolk: Recently refurbished. About 300 yards from Colchester North station, going towards the town centre and away from the stadium. Advantage is it accepts away fans. Disadvantage - Greene King ales are pretty poor these days. Does IPA, Abbot and Old Speckled Hen as its real ales. There's a pool table and Sky Sports on a big screen. The Norfolk, 132, North Station Road, Colchester, Essex, CO1 1UZ. Tel: 0871 9170007. Map: Click Here.

Likelihood the Natives Will Understand You :

Not quite as ghastly as 'New-Town' Essex. Deep enough into the county and old enough not to be totally dominated by Mockneys speaking Estuarine. But it's getting that way, so make the most of what's left before the chav generation takes over completely.

Top-Tip :

Wear good walking shoes, you are quite likely to need them. In fact a rucksack, tent, sleeping bag, compass and two days supply of food could be a good idea.

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