1979–80 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1979–80 season
Chairman	Jack Rippingale[1]
Manager	Bobby Roberts
Third Division	5th
FA Cup	3rd Round
League Cup	2nd Round
Top goalscorer	League: Trevor Lee (17) All: Trevor Lee (18)
Highest home attendance	6,135 (Southend United)
Lowest home attendance	2,346 (Mansfield Town)
Average home league attendance	3,818
Home colours
← 1978–79 1980–81 →

The 1979–80 season was Colchester United's third consecutive season in the Football League Third Division.

Season Review

The 1979/80 season had barely begun when United faced yet another top flight club. Beating Watford over two legs in the League Cup, the U's were drawn at home to Aston Villa, rekindling memories of the Quarter Final tie five years previously. A 2-0 defeat in front of just 6,221 meant to many that the tie was over, but remarkably United went to Villa Park and won 2-0 to take the game to extra time and then penalties. So successful were all the takers that it was necessary for the goalkeepers to take their turn. U's stalwart Mike Walker missed his and Colchester bowed out 9-8.

The U's were in fine form in the League from then on going ten games undefeated and positioning themselves level on points with Sheffield United at the top.

Chairman Maurice Cadman announced that Layer Road needed £280,000 (over £1.5m in today's terms) of basic improvements just to meet the then safety legislation. Despite some grants being available the figure was unattainable. The club could not relocate because a series of covenants was placed on the ground when it was purchased from the Council in 1971. One of those was that the club could not sell the land for housing. Plans were drawn up to virtually lose the Open End by moving the pitch to create a 5,000 capacity terrace behind the Layer Road goal whilst building a new main stand on the Popular side of the ground with executive boxes. The capacity would increase to an 'adequate' 18,000.

Tracking the leaders for most of the season, with ten away wins to boot, United succumbed to successive defeats to Blackpool, Blackburn and Reading as February turned into March 1980 and, with injuries to Steve Foley and Bobby Gough, the goalscoring was left to Trevor Lee who returned 18 League and Cup strikes.

Colchester had occupied a top four slot for virtually all of the season but had to be content with fifth place and six points short of the promotion places. It was the closest that the club had come to the dream of Second Division football since the 1956–57 season but the Colchester public had not responded. The average gate of 3,818 was the third lowest in the division ahead of Wimbledon and Chester.^[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 Mick Packer –– DF Steve Wignall –– DF Steve Wright –– MF Ian Allinson –– MF Russell Cotton –– MF Tony Evans

No. Position Player –– MF Steve Foley –– MF Bobby Hodge –– MF Steve Leslie –– MF Eddie Rowles –– FW Bobby Gough –– FW Gary Harvey –– 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	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	Russell Cotton	Wellington	4 April 1960	Youth Team	1 August 1977	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	Gary Harvey	Colchester	19 November 1961	Youth Team	1 August 1979	Free
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
1 August 1979	FW	Gary Harvey	Youth Team	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 August 1979	MF	Ray Bunkell	Retired	Free
26 December 1979	MF	Paul Dyer	Gravesend & Northfleet	Free
12 April 1980	DF	Steve Dowman	Wrexham	£75,000

Results

Third Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
4	Chesterfield	46	23	11	12	71	46	+25	57
5	Colchester United	46	20	12	14	64	56	+8	52
6	Carlisle United	46	18	12	16	66	56	+10	48

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
18/08/1979	Hull City	A	2-0	4,463	Allinson, Hodge
21/08/1979	Sheffield United	H	1-0	4,191	Lee
25/08/1979	Rotherham United	A	0-3	3,278
31/08/1979	Swindon Town	H	2-3	2,794	Gough, Hodge
08/09/1979	Chesterfield	A	0-3	4,206
15/09/1979	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0-0	3,473
18/09/1979	Mansfield Town	H	2-1	2,346	Gough, Lee
22/09/1979	Grimsby Town	A	2-1	6,962	Lee (2)
29/09/1979	Barnsley	H	0-0	3,376
01/10/1979	Mansfield Town	A	1-0	3,500	Lee
05/10/1979	Reading	H	1-1	3,330	Rowles
09/10/1979	Sheffield United	A	2-1	18,712	Foley, Gough
12/10/1979	Southend United	A	1-0	5,944	Walker (o.g.)
19/10/1979	Blackpool	H	3-1	4,383	Gough, Lee, Hodge
23/10/1979	Wimbledon	H	4-0	4,396	Hodge (pen.), Lee, Gough, Wignall
27/10/1979	Blackburn Rovers	A	0-3	6,436
02/11/1979	Hull City	H	1-1	4,510	Gough
06/11/1979	Wimbledon	A	3-3	2,465	Wignall, Lee, Gough
10/11/1979	Brentford	A	0-1	9,060
16/11/1979	Plymouth Argyle	H	5-2	3,520	Lee, Packer (2), Hodge, Gough
01/12/1979	Millwall	A	2-1	7,563	Lee, Foley
07/12/1979	Carlisle United	H	1-1	4,104	Lee
21/12/1979	Exeter City	A	1-3	2,648	Wright
26/12/1979	Gillingham	H	2-2	5,145	Packer, Allinson
29/12/1979	Rotherham United	H	1-1	3,375	Lee
08/01/1980	Chester City	H	1-1	3,251	Wignall
12/01/1980	Oxford United	A	2-0	3,857	Foley, Lee
18/01/1980	Chesterfield	H	0-1	3,763
29/01/1980	Bury	A	1-0	3,551	Rowles
02/02/1980	Sheffield Wednesday	A	0-3	11,958
08/02/1980	Grimsby Town	H	2-1	5,149	Gough, Foley
16/02/1980	Barnsley	A	2-1	11,309	Dowman, Rowles
22/02/1980	Southend United	H	2-1	6,135	Rowles, Leslie
29/02/1980	Blackpool	A	0-1	5,594
08/03/1980	Blackburn Rovers	H	0-1	4,957
14/03/1980	Reading	A	0-2	5,444
22/03/1980	Brentford	H	6-1	3,818	Foley (2), Lee (2), Dowman, Rowles
29/03/1980	Plymouth Argyle	A	0-2	4,330
02/04/1980	Exeter City	H	0-0	2,780
05/04/1980	Gillingham	A	2-2	6,561	Lee, Foley
07/04/1980	Bury	H	2-1	3,190	Gough, Lee
12/04/1980	Chester City	A	1-2	2,282	Foley
19/04/1980	Millwall	H	0-0	3,296
22/04/1980	Swindon Town	A	3-2	7,985	Rowles, Harvey (2)
26/04/1980	Carlisle United	A	0-2	3,702
02/05/1980	Oxford United	H	3-0	2,535	Packer, Rowles (2)

Source: 1979-80 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11/08/1979	R1 (L1)	Watford	H	2-0	4,368	Hodge (pen.), Gough
14/08/1979	R1 (L2)	Watford	A	1-2	10,051	Allinson
28/08/1979	R2 (L1)	Aston Villa	H	0-2	6,221
14/08/1979	R2 (L2)	Aston Villa	A	2-0 8-9 on Pens	19,475	Lee, Gough

Source: 1979-80 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
24/11/1979	R1	Plymouth Argyle	H	1-1	4,064	Rowles
27/11/1979	R1 (R)	Plymouth Argyle	A	1-0 (A.E.T.)	6,926	Allinson
15/12/1979	R2	Bournemouth	H	1-0	3,693	Rowles
05/01/1980	R3	Reading	A	0-2	7,780

Source: 1979-80 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Three		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Mike Walker	54	0	46	0	4	0	4	0
––	DF		Micky Cook	50	0	44	0	4	0	2	0
––	DF		Steve Dowman	45	2	37	2	4	0	4	0
––	DF		Mick Packer	49	4	43	4	4	0	2	0
––	DF		Steve Wignall	46	3	40	3	2	0	4	0
––	DF		Steve Wright	33	1	26	1	4	0	3	0
––	MF		Ian Allinson	46	4	38	2	4	1	4	1
––	MF		Ray Bunkell	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Russell Cotton	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Paul Dyer	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Tony Evans	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Bobby Hodge	44	6	37	5	3	0	4	1
––	MF		Steve Foley	50	8	42	8	4	0	4	0
––	MF		Steve Leslie	54	1	46	1	4	0	4	0
––	MF		Eddie Rowles	39	10	34	8	3	2	2	0
––	FW		Bobby Gough	39	12	32	10	3	0	4	2
––	FW		Gary Harvey	4	2	4	2	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Trevor Lee	51	18	43	17	4	0	4	1

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Trevor Lee 18 Bobby Gough 12 Eddie Rowles 10 Steve Foley 8 Bobby Hodge 6 Ian Allinson 4 Mick Packer Steve Wignall 3 Steve Dowman 2 Gary Harvey Steve Leslie 1 Steve Wright Own goal 1

League Scorer Goals Trevor Lee 17 Bobby Gough 10 Steve Foley 8 Eddie Rowles Bobby Hodge 5 Mick Packer 4 Steve Wignall 3 Ian Allinson 2 Steve Dowman Gary Harvey Steve Leslie 1 Steve Wright Own goal 1

FA Cup Scorer Goals Eddie Rowles 2 Ian Allinson 1

League Cup Scorer Goals Bobby Gough 2 Ian Allinson 1 Bobby Hodge Trevor Lee

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 4-4-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos. Name Apps. Goals GK Mike Walker 46 0 DF Steve Wignall 40 3 DF Mick Packer 43 4 DF Steve Dowman 37 2 DF Micky Cook 44 0 MF Ian Allinson 37 2 MF Steve Leslie 46 1 MF Steve Foley 42 8 MF Bobby Hodge 34 5 FW Trevor Lee 43 17 FW Bobby Gough 31 10

Walker Wignall Packer Dowman Cook Allinson Leslie Foley Hodge Lee Gough

References

1. 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.
2. "The U's History: The 70s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
3. "1979–80 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
4. "1979–80 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 April 2011.