1981–82 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1981–82 season
Chairman Maurice Cadman
Manager Bobby Roberts
(Until 3 May 1982)
Allan Hunter
(From 5 May 1982)
Fourth Division 6th
FA Cup 3rd Round
League Cup 3rd Round
Top goalscorer League:
Ian Allinson
Kevin Bremner (21)
All:
Ian Allinson (26)
Highest home attendance 5,194 (Sheffield United)
Lowest home attendance 1,374 (Halifax Town)
Average home attendance 2,793
← 1980–81 1982–83 →

The 1981–82 season was Colchester United's first season back in the Football League Fourth Division since the a one year stint in the 1976–77 season.

Contents

Season review

Three points for a win helped United hit top spot in Division Four by November 1981 scoring an incredible 41 goals. The U's also reached the FA Cup Third Round, drawing with Newcastle at St James' Park before losing a thrilling 4–3 replay.

Another £25,000 brought striker John Lyons who scored on his debut as Colchester thrashed rivals Sheffield United 5–2 in front of the Match of the Day cameras. But a host of injuries and suspensions saw United free-fall down the table and manager Bobby Roberts was asked to resign in April 1982. He refused and was promptly sacked a month later. Colchester had gone from promotion certainties to sixth, 16 points off the pace despite boasting a prolific strike force in Ian Allinson (26 goals), Kevin Bremner (24) and Roy McDonough (16).[1]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
–– GK Mike Walker
–– DF Phil Coleman
–– DF Micky Cook
–– DF Allan Hunter
–– DF Mick Packer
–– DF Wayne Ward
–– DF Steve Wignall
–– DF Steve Wright
–– MF Ian Allinson
No. Position Player
–– MF Perry Groves
–– MF Steve Leslie
–– MF Dennis Longhorn
–– MF Roger Osborne
–– FW Tony Adcock
–– FW Kevin Bremner
–– FW John Lyons
–– FW Roy McDonough

Player information

Pos. Name Place of Birth Date of Birth Previous Club Date Joined Fee
GK Mike Walker Colwyn Bay 28 November 1945 Watford 25 August 1973 £4,000
DF Phil Coleman Woolwich 8 September 1960 Millwall 21 February 1981 £15,000
DF Micky Cook Enfield 9 April 1951 Leyton Orient 6 October 1969 Free
DF Allan Hunter Sion Mills 30 June 1946 Ipswich Town 5 May 1982 Free
DF Mick Packer Willesden 20 April 1950 Watford 25 August 1973 Free
DF Wayne Ward Colchester 28 April 1964 Youth Team 1 August 1981 Free
DF Steve Wignall Liverpool 17 September 1954 Doncaster Rovers 13 September 1977 £5,000
DF Steve Wright Clacton-on-Sea 16 June 1959 Youth Team 1 August 1977 Free
MF Ian Allinson Hitchin 1 October 1957 Youth Team 1 August 1974 Free
MF Perry Groves Bow 19 April 1965 Youth Team 1 August 1981 Free
MF Steve Leslie Hornsey 4 September 1952 Youth Team 1 August 1970 Free
MF Dennis Longhorn Hythe 12 September 1950 Aldershot 9 August 1980 Free
MF Roger Osborne Otley 9 March 1950 Ipswich Town 14 February 1981 £25,000
FW Tony Adcock Bethnal Green 27 March 1963 Youth Team 1 August 1980 Free
FW Kevin Bremner Banff 7 October 1957 Keith 11 October 1980 £25,000
FW John Lyons Buckley 8 November 1956 Cambridge United 6 February 1982 £25,000
FW Roy McDonough Solihull 16 October 1958 Chelsea 14 February 1981 £15,000

Transfers

Transfers in

Date Pos. Player Name Previous Club Transfer Fee Notes
1 August 1981 DF Wayne Ward Youth Team Free
1 August 1981 MF Perry Groves Youth Team Free
6 February 1982 FW John Lyons Cambridge United Free
5 May 1982 DF Allan Hunter Ipswich Town Free Player-manager

Transfers out

Date Pos. Player Name New Club Transfer Fee Notes
12 September 1981 MF Steve Foley Braintree Town Free
23 January 1982 MF Eddie Rowles Retired Free
30 March 1982 MF Russell Cotton Chelmsford City Free

Results

Fourth Division results summary

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
5 Peterborough United 46 24 10 12 71 57 +14 82
6 Colchester United 46 20 12 14 82 57 +25 72
7 Port Vale 46 18 16 12 56 49 +7 70

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Fourth Division results

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
29/08/1981 Hartlepool United A 3–1 2,007 Bremner (2), Packer (pen.)
04/09/1981 Tranmere Rovers H 4–0 2,474 Allinson (2) (pen.), Cook, Bremner
12/09/1981 Sheffield United A 0–1 11,293
18/09/1981 Torquay United H 3–0 2,820 Adcock (2), Cook
22/09/1981 Aldershot H 1–1 2,719 Coleman
26/09/1981 Bradford City A 1–2 4,772 Leslie
28/09/1981 Port Vale A 1–2 3,351 McDonough
02/10/1981 Northampton Town H 5–1 2,760 Coleman, Allinson (pen.), Bremner (2), McDonough
11/10/1981 Rochdale A 1–2 1,366 Allinson, McDonough
16/10/1981 York City H 4–0 3,139 McDonough, Bremner, Leslie, Allinson
20/10/1981 Hereford United H 4–0 3,064 Allinson, Bremner, Osborne (2)
24/10/1981 Halifax Town H 2–0 1,374 Allinson (pen.), McDonough
30/10/1981 Wigan Athletic H 1–2 3,882 Coleman
02/11/1981 Mansfield Town A 3–1 2,294 Allinson (3) (pen.)
07/11/1981 Hull City A 3–2 3,040 Bremner, McDonough (2)
13/11/1981 Scunthorpe United H 2–1 3,838 Allinson, Cook
28/11/1981 Darlington A 2–1 1,456 Bremner, Osborne
04/12/1981 Blackpool H 2–1 3,875 Allinson, Noble (o.g.)
26/12/1981 Bournemouth A 1–1 8,829 McDonough
16/01/1982 Bury H 1–1 3,504 Adcock
23/01/1982 Hartlepool United H 3–3 2,862 McDonough, Bird (o.g.), Allinson (pen.)
30/01/1982 Torquay United A 0–1 2,037
06/02/1982 Sheffield United H 5–2 5,194 Lyons, McDonough, Allinson (2), Bremner
09/02/1982 Aldershot A 1–1 2,324 Lyons
14/02/1982 Northampton Town A 2–1 3,102 Allinson, Bremner
19/02/1982 Bradford City H 1–2 3,975 Cook
26/02/1982 Rochdale H 3–2 2,760 Bremner, Adcock (2)
02/03/1982 Tranmere Rovers A 1–2 1,252 Bremner
05/03/1982 York City A 0–3 1,854
10/03/1982 Hereford United A 2–2 2,060 Allinson (pen.), Osborne
12/03/1982 Halifax Town H 1–1 2,464 Bremner
16/03/1982 Mansfield Town H 0–1 2,000
20/03/1982 Wigan Athletic A 2–3 6,747 Bremner, Osborne
22/03/1982 Stockport County A 0–0 1,740
26/03/1982 Hull City H 2–0 2,195 Bremner, Coleman
30/03/1982 Crewe Alexandra H 1–1 1,904 Allinson
02/04/1982 Scunthorpe United A 1–2 1,762 Bremner
10/04/1982 Bournemouth H 1–2 2,662 Allinson
09/04/1983 Peterborough United A 2–2 5,402 Allinson, McDonough
17/04/1982 Blackpool A 0–0 2,298
24/04/1982 Darlington H 1–0 1,764 Bremner
27/04/1982 Peterborough United H 1–1 2,212 Bremner
01/05/1982 Bury A 3–4 1,720 Lyons, Bremner, McDonough
03/05/1982 Port Vale H 1–0 1,470 McDonough
07/05/1982 Stockport County H 0–1 2,132
15/05/1982 Crewe Alexandra A 3–1 1,226 Bremner, Allinson, McDonough

Source: 1981–82 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
01/09/1981 R1 (L1) Gillingham H 2–0 2,431 Bremner, Allinson (pen.)
15/09/1981 R1 (L2) Gillingham A 1–1 3,260 Bremner
06/10/1981 R2 (L1) Cambridge United H 3–1 3,844 Cook, McDonough (2)
27/10/1981 R2 (L2) Cambridge United A 2–3
(A.E.T.)		 4,762 Allinson, Bremner
10/11/1981 R3 Tranmere Rovers A 0–1 2,502

Source: 1981–82 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Main article: 1981–82 FA Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21/11/1981 R1 Newport County H 2–0 3,535 Steve Leslie, Adcock
16/12/1981 R2 Brentford A 1–1 5,550 Allinson
30/12/1981 R2 (R) Brentford H 1–0 5,532 McNichol (o.g.)
04/01/1982 R3 Newcastle United A 1–1 16,977 Wignall
18/01/1982 R3 (R) Newcastle United H 3–4
(A.E.T.)		 7,505 Cook, Allinson (pen.) (2)

Source: 1981–82 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

[2]

No. Nat. Pos. Name Total Division Four FA Cup League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
–– GK Mike Walker 56 0 46 0 5 0 5 0
–– DF Phil Coleman 47 4 37 4 5 0 5 0
–– DF Micky Cook 56 6 46 4 5 1 5 1
–– DF Allan Hunter 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Mick Packer 15 1 14 1 0 0 1 0
–– DF Wayne Ward 5 0 5 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Steve Wignall 53 1 43 0 5 1 5 0
–– DF Steve Wright 48 0 38 0 5 0 5 0
–– MF Ian Allinson 52 26 42 21 5 3 5 2
–– MF Russell Cotton 11 0 11 0 0 0 0 0
–– MF Steve Foley 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
–– MF Perry Groves 9 0 9 0 0 0 0 0
–– MF Steve Leslie 44 3 34 2 5 1 5 0
–– MF Dennis Longhorn 23 0 21 0 0 0 2 0
–– MF Roger Osborne 48 5 39 5 5 0 4 0
–– MF Eddie Rowles 12 0 6 0 5 0 1 0
–– FW Tony Adcock 48 6 40 5 3 1 5 0
–– FW Kevin Bremner 56 24 46 21 5 0 5 3
–– FW John Lyons 18 3 18 3 0 0 0 0
–– FW Roy McDonough 50 16 40 14 5 0 5 2

Scorers

[3]

All

Scorer Goals
Ian Allinson 26
Kevin Bremner 24
Roy McDonough 16
Tony Adcock 6
Micky Cook
Roger Osborne 5
Phil Coleman 4
Steve Leslie 3
John Lyons
Mick Packer 1
Steve Wignall
Own goal 3

League

Scorer Goals
Ian Allinson 21
Kevin Bremner
Roy McDonough 14
Tony Adcock 5
Roger Osborne
Phil Coleman 4
Micky Cook
John Lyons 3
Steve Leslie 2
Mick Packer 1
Own goal 2

FA Cup

Scorer Goals
Ian Allinson 3
Tony Adcock 1
Micky Cook
Steve Leslie
Steve Wignall
Own goal 1

League Cup

Scorer Goals
Kevin Bremner 3
Ian Allinson 2
Roy McDonough
Micky Cook 1

Most frequent starting XI

This section shows players in a 4–3–3 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos. Name Apps. Goals
GK Mike Walker 46 0
DF Micky Cook 46 4
DF Steve Wignall 43 0
DF Steve Wright 38 0
DF Phil Coleman 34 4
MF Ian Allinson 41 21
MF Roger Osborne 39 5
MF Steve Leslie 37 3
FW Kevin Bremner 46 21
FW Roy McDonough 40 14
FW Tony Adcock 31 5

References

  1. ^ "The U's History: The 80s". Colchester United F.C.. http://www.cu-fc.com/page/History/0,,10424~1320476,00.html. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  2. ^ "1981–82 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. http://www.coludata.co.uk/appearances.asp?sid=42&cid=All. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
  3. ^ "1981–82 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. http://www.coludata.co.uk/goals.asp?sid=42&cid=All. Retrieved 7 April 2011. 
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