1978–79 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1978–79 season

Chairman

Jack Rippingale^[1]

Manager

7th

5th Round

1st Round

Top goalscorer

League:
Bobby Gough (16)
All:
Bobby Gough (22)

Highest home attendance

6,317 (Gillingham)

Lowest home attendance

2,311 (Chester City)

Average home league attendance

3,412

Home colours

← 1977–78

1979–80 →

The 1978–79 season was Colchester United's second consecutive season in the Football League Third Division.

Season Review

Manager Bobby Roberts kept faith with his squad, but with a second injury to Eddie Rowles, Colin Garwood's replacement, forced him into the transfer market. Cash-strapped United splashed out £15,000 on Millwall's Trevor Lee who became the first black player to represent Colchester's first team.

Once again, United fell short of promotion finishing seventh - nine points behind third-placed Swansea. In the final game of the season 9 May 1979 United recorded their biggest ever away win in the League with a 5-1 romp at Tranmere less than a month after they had stunned champions-elect Watford with a 3-0 Good Friday win at Vicarage Road.

Colchester's season wouldn't be complete without the obligatory cup run and after disposing of Oxford, with a Bobby Gough hat trick, laying the ghost of Leatherhead with a 4-0 replay win at Layer Road and overcoming tricky away ties at Darlington and Newport, the U's welcomed Manchester United to Layer Road. Called off from the original Saturday date, Colchester were so near to an Old Trafford replay only for Jimmy Greenhoff to break the hearts of most of the 13,171 crowd with an 86th-minute winner.^[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
––	GK	Mike Walker
––	DF	Micky Cook
––	DF	Steve Dowman
––	DF	Mick Packer
––	DF	Steve Wignall
––	DF	Steve Wright
––	MF	Ian Allinson
––	MF	Ray Bunkell
––	MF	Russell Cotton

No.	Position	Player
––	MF	Paul Dyer
––	MF	Tony Evans
––	MF	Steve Foley
––	MF	Bobby Hodge
––	MF	Steve Leslie
––	MF	Eddie Rowles
––	FW	Bobby Gough
––	FW	Trevor Lee

Player Info

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	Micky Cook	Enfield	9 April 1951	Leyton Orient	6 October 1969	Free
DF	Steve Dowman	Manor Park	15 April 1958	Youth Team	1 August 1976	Free
DF	Mick Packer	Willesden	20 April 1950	Watford	25 August 1973	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	Ray Bunkell	Edmonton	18 September 1949	Swindon Town	8 December 1973	£5,000
MF	Russell Cotton	Wellington	4 April 1960	Youth Team	1 August 1977	Free
MF	Paul Dyer	Leicester	24 January 1953	Notts County	16 August 1975	Free
MF	Tony Evans	Colchester	14 March 1960	Youth Team	1 August 1977	Free
MF	Steve Foley	Clacton-on-Sea	21 June 1953	Youth Team	1 August 1971	Free
MF	Bobby Hodge	Exeter	30 April 1954	Exeter City	23 September 1978	£15,000
MF	Steve Leslie	Hornsey	4 September 1952	Youth Team	1 August 1970	Free
MF	Eddie Rowles	Gosport	10 March 1951	Darlington	26 December 1977	£15,000
FW	Bobby Gough	Ladywood	20 July 1949	Southport	10 January 1976	£7,000
FW	Trevor Lee	Lewisham	3 July 1954	Millwall	3 November 1978	£15,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
12 August 1978	MF	Pat Sharkey	Mansfield Town	£10,000
23 September 1978	MF	Bobby Hodge	Exeter City	£15,000
3 November 1978	FW	Trevor Lee	Millwall	£15,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
3 May 1978	DF	Johnny Williams	Margate	Free
27 September 1978	MF	Pat Sharkey	Peterborough United	£8,000

Results

Third Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
6	Carlisle United	46	15	22	9	53	42	+11	52
7	Colchester United	46	17	17	12	60	55	+5	51
8	Hull City	46	19	11	16	66	61	+5	49

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

Third Division Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19/08/1978	Swansea City	H	2-2	2,918	Foley, Rowles
21/08/1978	Brentford	A	0-1	6,800
26/08/1978	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0-0	10,685
02/09/1978	Rotherham United	H	0-0	2,448
08/09/1978	Carlisle United	A	0-4	4,430
12/09/1978	Chester City	H	2-1	2,311	Gough, Cook
15/09/1978	Shrewsbury Town	H	1-0	2,788	Foley
23/09/1978	Walsall	A	2-2	4,052	Gough, Foley
27/09/1978	Exeter City	A	1-2	3,421	Gough
30/09/1978	Blackpool	H	3-1	3,007	Rowles, Gough (2)
06/10/1978	Swindon Town	H	3-2	3,324	Rowles, Evans, Gough
13/10/1978	Lincoln City	A	0-0	3,541
18/10/1978	Chesterfield	A	1-2	4,394	Dyer
20/10/1978	Southend United	H	1-1	5,881	Evans
28/10/1978	Mansfield Town	A	1-1	4,515	Wignall
03/11/1978	Plymouth Argyle	H	2-1	4,564	Bunkell, Gough
11/11/1978	Rotherham United	A	0-1	3,777
18/11/1978	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-0	4,346	Wignall
09/12/1978	Bury	H	0-0	2,732
23/12/1978	Watford	H	0-1	5,424
26/12/1978	Oxford United	A	0-2	4,892
17/01/1979	Chester City	A	2-2	2,339	Foley (2)
19/01/1979	Shrewsbury Town	A	0-2	2,119
02/02/1979	Exeter City	H	2-2	2,767	Roberts (o.g.), Allinson (pen.)
10/02/1979	Blackpool	A	1-2	3,446	Allinson
23/02/1979	Lincoln City	H	2-0	2,861	Lee, Hodge
27/02/1979	Walsall	H	2-0	3,135	Hodge, Wignall
02/03/1979	Southend United	A	1-1	6,957	Lee
09/03/1979	Mansfield Town	H	1-0	2,866	Gough
13/03/1979	Hull City	A	0-1	4,201
17/03/1979	Plymouth Argyle	A	1-1	5,342	Dyer
20/03/1979	Swindon Town	A	2-1	6,678	Lee (2)
24/03/1979	Brentford	H	1-1	3,528	Hodge (pen.)
27/03/1979	Swansea City	A	1-4	11,645	Lee
31/03/1979	Peterborough United	A	2-1	3,559	Gough, Allinson
02/04/1979	Carlisle United	H	2-1	2,608	Lee, Wignall
06/04/1979	Tranmere Rovers	H	1-0	2,578	Lee
13/04/1979	Watford	A	3-0	17,903	Lee (2), Gough
14/04/1979	Oxford United	H	1-1	3,892	Gough
16/04/1979	Gillingham	A	0-3	12,030
21/04/1979	Hull City	H	2-1	2,762	Rowles, Gough
24/04/1979	Chesterfield	H	0-0	2,762
28/04/1979	Bury	A	2-2	2,905	Gough, Wright
04/05/1979	Peterborough United	H	4-2	2,662	Foley, Allinson, Dowman (2)
07/05/1979	Gillingham	H	2-2	6,317	Allinson, Gough
09/05/1979	Tranmere Rovers	A	5-1	1,016	Gough (2), Packer, Lee (2)

Source: 1978-79 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12/08/1978	R1 (L1)	Charlton Athletic	H	2-3	3,016	Rowles, Dowman
15/08/1978	R1 (L2)	Charlton Athletic	A	0-0	7,205

Source: 1978-79 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25/11/1978	R1	Oxford United	H	4-2	4,170	Gough (3), Foley
16/12/1978	R2	Leatherhead	A	1-1	2,250	Gough
19/12/1978	R2 (R)	Leatherhead	H	4-0	3,920	Lee, Gough, Dowman (2)
09/01/1979	R3	Darlington	A	1-0	3,465	Hodge
30/01/1979	R4	Newport County	A	0-0	10,329
05/02/1979	R4 (R)	Newport County	H	1-0	7,025	Gough
20/02/1979	R5	Manchester United	H	0-1	13,171

Source: 1978-79 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Three		FA Cup		League Cup
No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Mike Walker	55	0	46	0	7	0	2	0
––	DF		Micky Cook	54	1	46	1	7	0	1	0
––	DF		Steve Dowman	47	5	38	2	7	2	2	1
––	DF		Mick Packer	49	1	42	1	5	0	2	0
––	DF		Steve Wignall	51	4	42	4	7	0	2	0
––	DF		Steve Wright	42	1	35	1	7	0	0	0
––	MF		Ian Allinson	55	5	46	5	7	0	2	0
––	MF		Ray Bunkell	15	1	12	1	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Russell Cotton	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Paul Dyer	47	2	40	2	5	0	2	0
––	MF		Tony Evans	9	2	9	2	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Steve Foley	42	7	34	6	6	1	2	0
––	MF		Bobby Hodge	38	4	31	3	7	1	0	0
––	MF		Steve Leslie	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Eddie Rowles	23	5	21	4	0	0	2	1
––	MF		Pat Sharkey	8	0	6	0	0	0	2	0
––	FW		Bobby Gough	50	22	42	16	6	6	2	0
––	FW		Trevor Lee	32	12	27	11	5	1	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All

Scorer	Goals
Bobby Gough	22
Trevor Lee	12
Steve Foley	7
Ian Allinson	5
Steve Dowman
Eddie Rowles
Bobby Hodge	4
Steve Wignall	4
Paul Dyer	2
Tony Evans	2
Ray Bunkell	1
Micky Cook
Mick Packer
Steve Wright
Own goal	1

League

Scorer	Goals
Bobby Gough	16
Trevor Lee	11
Steve Foley	6
Ian Allinson	5
Eddie Rowles	4
Steve Wignall	4
Bobby Hodge	3
Steve Dowman	2
Paul Dyer
Tony Evans
Ray Bunkell	1
Micky Cook
Mick Packer
Steve Wright
Own goal	1

FA Cup

Scorer	Goals
Bobby Gough	6
Steve Dowman	2
Steve Foley	1
Bobby Hodge
Trevor Lee

League Cup

Scorer	Goals
Steve Dowman	1
Eddie Rowles	1

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 5-4-1 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos.	Name	Apps.	Goals
GK	Mike Walker	46	0
DF	Micky Cook	46	1
DF	Steve Wignall	42	4
DF	Mick Packer	40	1
DF	Steve Dowman	37	2
DF	Steve Wright	33	1
MF	Ian Allinson	45	5
MF	Paul Dyer	37	2
MF	Steve Foley	34	6
MF	Bobby Hodge	31	3
FW	Bobby Gough	42	16

Walker

Cook

Wignall

Packer

Dowman

Wright

Allinson

Dyer

Foley

Hodge

Gough

References

↑ Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
↑ "The U's History: The 70s". Colchester United F.C. Archived from the original on 4 June 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
↑ "1978–79 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
↑ "1978–79 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.

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