1981–82 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1981–82 season
Chairman Maurice Cadman[1]
Manager Scotland Bobby Roberts
(Until 3 May 1982)
Northern Ireland 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 league attendance 2,793
Home colours

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

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).[2]

Squad

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

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

Player information

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

Transfers

Transfers in

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

Transfers out

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

Results

Fourth Division results summary

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
5Peterborough United 462410127157+1482
6Colchester United 462012148257+2572
7Port Vale 461816125649+770

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

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
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

DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
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
DateRoundOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
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

[3]

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

Scorers

[4]

All

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

League

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

FA Cup

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

League Cup

Scorer Goals
Scotland Kevin Bremner 3
England Ian Allinson 2
England Roy McDonough
England 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 Wales Mike Walker 46 0
DF England Micky Cook 46 4
DF England Steve Wignall 43 0
DF England Steve Wright 38 0
DF England Phil Coleman 34 4
MF England Ian Allinson 41 21
MF England Roger Osborne 39 5
MF England Steve Leslie 37 3
FW Scotland Kevin Bremner 46 21
FW England Roy McDonough 40 14
FW England Tony Adcock 31 5

References

  1. Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
  2. "The U's History: The 80s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  3. "1981–82 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  4. "1981–82 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
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