1988–89 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1988–89 season
Chairman	Jonathan Crisp[1]
Manager	Roger Brown (Until 1 October 1988) Steve Foley (Caretaker) (1 October 1988 to 12 January 1989) Jock Wallace (From 12 January 1989)
Fourth Division	22nd
FA Cup	4th Round
Littlewoods Cup	1st Round
Sherpa Van Trophy	Quarter-final (Southern section)
Top goalscorer	League: Mario Walsh (9) All: Mario Walsh (15)
Highest home attendance	5,256 (Exeter City)
Lowest home attendance	1,258 (Rochdale)
Average home league attendance	2,824
Home colours
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

The 1988–89 season was Colchester United's eighth consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division.

Season Review

Roger Brown's unsuccessful stint managing Colchester came to an end in October 1988. Having already inflicted United's joint record defeat of 7-0 back in 1952, Leyton Orient went one better and despatched Brown's sorry team by 8-0 at Brisbane Road on October 15, 1988. The manager's days were over.

Caretaker Steve Foley disposed of Brown's misfits introducing his own youth team players Gary Bennett, Mark Radford and Scott Daniels. Whilst League form did not improve - United sunk to 92nd, a position they had not occupied since 1972 - Foley's team embarked on a typically Colchester FA Cup run. Defying the odds they saw off Fulham, Swansea and Second Division Shrewsbury. In the Fourth Round, a dramatic 3-3 draw at Bramall Lane forced Sheffield United back to fog-shrouded Layer Road. U's lost 2-0 but they had the mercurial former Glasgow Rangers manager Jock Wallace in charge with the late England World Cup winner Alan Ball as his assistant.

The impact was immediate. Crowds rose to over 3,500 as the town became gripped by the passion of Wallace and an equal desire to avoid the drop to the GM Vauxhall Conference. Paul McGee was sold to Wimbledon for a new record £150,000 fee and on April 29, 1989 United travelled to closest rivals Darlington in a do-or-die battle. Robert Scott's goal earned a 2-1 win to lift U's off the bottom for the first time since Brown's departure. Two successive home wins against Halifax and Exeter confirmed U's Fourth Division status.^[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 Mark Walton –– DF Scott Daniels –– DF Tony English –– DF Steve Hetzke –– DF Stuart Hicks –– DF Colin Hill –– DF John Pollard –– DF Rodney Rooke –– DF Clive Stafford

No. Position Player –– DF Robert Scott –– MF Ian Allinson –– MF Mark Radford –– MF Les Taylor –– MF Richard Wilkins –– FW Gary Bennett –– FW Dale Tempest –– FW Mario Walsh –– FW John Warner

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Mark Walton	Merthyr Tydfil	1 June 1969	Luton Town	26 December 1987	£17,500
DF	Scott Daniels	South Benfleet	22 November 1969	Youth Team	1 August 1987	Free
DF	Tony English	Luton	19 October 1966	Coventry City	1 January 1985	Free
DF	Steve Hetzke	Marlborough	3 June 1955	Chester City	1 March 1988	£10,000
DF	Stuart Hicks	Peterborough	30 May 1967	Wisbech Town	8 April 1988	Free
DF	Colin Hill	Uxbridge	12 November 1963	C.S. Marítimo	30 October 1987	Free
DF	John Pollard	Chelmsford	17 November 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
DF	Rodney Rooke	Orsett	7 April 1970	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
DF	Clive Stafford	Ipswich	4 April 1963	Diss Town	5 March 1989	Free
DF	Robert Scott	Broxburn	13 January 1964	Whitburn Junior	24 March 1989	Free
MF	Ian Allinson	Stevenage	1 October 1957	Luton Town	16 December 1988	Free
MF	Mark Radford	Leicester	20 December 1968	Youth Team	1 August 1986	Free
MF	Les Taylor	North Shields	4 December 1956	Reading	13 January 1989	£20,000
MF	Richard Wilkins	Lambeth	28 May 1965	Haverhill Rovers	17 November 1986	Free
FW	Gary Bennett	Enfield	13 November 1970	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
FW	Dale Tempest	Leeds	30 December 1963	Lokeren	29 August 1987	£40,000
FW	Mario Walsh	Paddington	19 January 1966	Torquay United	15 August 1987	£15,000
FW	John Warner	Paddington	20 November 1961	Burnham Ramblers	18 February 1989	Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1988	DF	John Pollard	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1988	DF	Rodney Rooke	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1988	FW	Gary Bennett	Youth Team	Free
27 August 1988	DF	Steve Cartwright	Tamworth	Free
27 August 1988	DF	Dave Swindlehurst	Wimbledon	Free
27 August 1988	MF	Dave Barnett	Windsor & Eton	Free
2 September 1988	DF	Kevin Bedford	Wimbledon	Free
11 November 1988	GK	Mark Coombe	Bristol City	Free
16 December 1988	MF	Ian Allinson	Luton Town	Free
20 December 1988	MF	Phil Coleman	Millwall	Free
13 January 1989	MF	Les Taylor	Reading	£20,000
10 February 1989	MF	Paul McGee	Bohemians	£35,000
18 February 1989	FW	John Warner	Burnham Ramblers	Free
5 March 1989	DF	Clive Stafford	Diss Town	Free
24 March 1989	DF	Robert Scott	Whitburn Junior	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
2 May 1988	DF	John Ray	Wycombe Wanderers	Free
2 May 1988	MF	Tommy Keane	Galway United	Free
2 May 1988	MF	John Reeves	Enfield	Free
2 May 1988	MF	Gary Smith	Enfield	Free
15 October 1988	DF	Steve Cartwright	Tamworth	Free
15 October 1988	MF	Winston White	Burnley	Free
11 November 1988	DF	Stephen Grenfell	Bromley	Free
3 December 1988	GK	Mark Coombe	Torquay United	Free
3 December 1988	MF	Nicky Chatterton	Retired	Free
16 December 1988	DF	Rudi Hedman	Crystal Palace	£100,000
31 January 1989	DF	Dave Swindlehurst	Bromley	Free	Player-manager
24 February 1989	MF	Dave Barnett	Edmonton Brickmen	Free
24 February 1989	MF	Paul McGee	Wimbledon	£150,000
27 March 1989	DF	Kevin Bedford	Retired	Free
21 April 1989	MF	Lee Hunter	Wivenhoe Town	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
25 October 1988	MF	Tony Kelly	West Bromwich Albion	21 January 1989
4 February 1989	GK	Tom McAlister	West Ham United	1 May 1989

Loans Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Date Returned	Notes
31 December 1988	DF	Dave Swindlehurst	Peterborough United	14 January 1989

Results

Fourth Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
21	Halifax Town	46	13	11	22	69	75	-6	50
22	Colchester United	46	12	14	20	60	78	-18	50
23	Doncaster Rovers	46	13	10	23	49	78	-29	49

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
27/08/1988	York City	H	1-0	1,664	Tempest
02/09/1988	Tranmere Rovers	A	0-0	3,401
09/09/1988	Doncaster Rovers	H	0-1	1,726
16/09/1988	Wrexham	A	2-2	2,873	Swindlehurst, Tempest
20/09/1988	Scarborough	H	3-1	1,420	Swindlehurst (pen.), Tempest, Wilkins
24/09/1988	Burnley	A	0-2	7,177
01/10/1988	Lincoln City	H	1-3	1,529	Swindlehurst
04/10/1988	Carlisle United	A	2-1	2,193	Tempest, Swindlehurst
08/10/1988	Scunthorpe United	H	1-2	1,299	Hedman
15/10/1988	Leyton Orient	A	0-8	3,421
21/10/1988	Cambridge United	H	1-2	2,138	English
25/10/1988	Rotherham United	A	0-2	4,066
28/10/1988	Stockport County	H	1-1	1,643	Tempest
04/11/1988	Crewe Alexandra	A	1-3	2,787	Walsh
08/11/1988	Halifax Town	A	2-3	2,176	Kelly, Wilkins
11/11/1988	Torquay United	H	2-2	1,926	English, Kelly
25/11/1988	Darlington	H	1-2	1,550	Radford
03/12/1988	Exeter City	A	2-4	2,132	Swindlehurst, Tempest
16/12/1988	Rochdale	H	1-1	1,258	Walsh
26/12/1988	Peterborough United	H	1-2	2,828	Walsh
30/12/1988	Hartlepool United	H	1-2	2,359	English
02/01/1989	Grimsby Town	A	2-2	4,472	Wilkins, Allinson
13/01/1989	Tranmere Rovers	H	2-3	3,458	Walsh (2)
21/01/1989	York City	A	0-2	2,219
04/02/1989	Scarborough	A	0-0	1,913
10/02/1989	Burnley	H	2-2	3,809	Allinson, Walsh
18/02/1989	Scunthorpe United	A	3-2	4,286	Wilkins, English, Warner
24/02/1989	Leyton Orient	H	1-0	4,269	Allinson
28/02/1989	Rotherham United	H	1-1	3,671	Allinson
05/03/1989	Cambridge United	A	1-3	4,205	Wilkins
10/03/1989	Crewe Alexandra	H	2-1	3,088	English (2)
13/03/1989	Stockport County	A	0-1	2,027
18/03/1989	Doncaster Rovers	A	1-3	1,237	Walsh
24/03/1989	Grimsby Town	H	0-0	4,507
27/03/1989	Peterborough United	A	0-3	3,529
31/03/1989	Rochdale	H	3-0	3,631	Scott, Bennett, Wilkins
04/04/1989	Hereford United	H	1-1	2,862	English
08/04/1989	Hartlepool United	A	1-2	2,015	Scott
12/04/1989	Hereford United	A	1-1	2,015	Scott
15/04/1989	Lincoln City	A	1-1	3,519	Wilkins
21/04/1989	Carlisle United	H	1-1	3,906	Scott
25/04/1989	Wrexham	H	2-1	2,918	Allinson, Hetzke
29/04/1989	Darlington	A	2-1	7,126	Walsh, Scott
01/05/1989	Halifax Town	H	3-2	5,065	Wilkins, Warner, Allinson (pen.)
05/05/1989	Exeter City	H	4-0	5,256	Walsh, Allinson, Pollard, English
13/05/1989	Torquay United	A	3-1	2,066	Warner, Hetzke, Tempest

Source: 1988-89 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
29/08/1988	R1 (L1)	Northampton Town	H	0-0	1,678
06/09/1988	R1 (L2)	Northampton Town	A	0-5	3,957

Source: 1988-89 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19/11/1988	R1	Fulham	A	1-0	4,481	Walsh
10/12/1988	R2	Swansea City	H	2-2	2,697	Hedman, Wilkins
13/12/1988	R2 (R)	Swansea City	A	3-2	4,045	Hedman, Walsh, Wilkins
07/01/1989	R3	Shrewsbury Town	A	3-0	3,982	Walsh, Pratley (o.g.), Allinson (pen.)
28/01/1989	R4	Sheffield United	A	3-3	14,406	Hicks, Hill, Hetzke
31/01/1989	R4 (R)	Sheffield United	H	0-2	7,588

Source: 1988-89 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
30/11/1988	R1 (Group)	Lincoln City	A	2-1	1,448	Walsh (2)
20/12/1988	R1 (Group)	Southend United	H	2-1	993	Tempest, Swindlehurst
17/01/1989	R2	Leyton Orient	H	3-1	1,736	Walsh, Allinson, Wilkins
20/12/1988	Area QF	Hereford United	H	0-1	2,059

Source: 1988-89 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Four		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Mark Coombe	5	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
––	GK		Tom McAlister	21	0	20	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	GK		Mark Walton	32	0	23	0	5	0	2	0	2	0
––	DF		Kevin Bedford	36	0	26	0	6	0	1	0	3	0
––	DF		Steve Cartwright	12	0	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
––	DF		Scott Daniels	34	0	26	0	5	0	0	0	3	0
––	DF		Tony English	45	8	36	8	6	0	1	0	2	0
––	DF		Stephen Grenfell	9	0	6	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Rudi Hedman	22	3	17	1	3	2	1	0	1	0
––	DF		Steve Hetzke	32	3	24	2	3	1	2	0	3	0
––	DF		Stuart Hicks	46	1	37	0	5	1	0	0	4	0
––	DF		Colin Hill	52	1	44	0	5	1	2	0	1	0
––	DF		John Pollard	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Rodney Rooke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Robert Scott	12	5	12	5	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Clive Stafford	16	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Dave Swindlehurst	18	6	12	5	2	0	2	0	2	1
––	MF		Ian Allinson	31	9	25	7	3	1	0	0	3	1
––	MF		Dave Barnett	30	0	20	0	5	0	2	0	3	0
––	MF		Nicky Chatterton	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
––	MF		Phil Coleman	14	0	10	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
––	MF		Lee Hunter	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Tony Kelly	20	2	13	2	4	0	0	0	3	0
––	MF		Paul McGee	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Mark Radford	36	1	30	1	4	0	1	0	1	0
––	MF		Les Taylor	16	0	16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Winston White	12	0	10	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
––	MF		Richard Wilkins	47	11	40	8	3	2	2	0	2	1
––	FW		Gary Bennett	9	1	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Dale Tempest	41	8	33	7	4	0	2	0	2	1
––	FW		Mario Walsh	36	15	27	9	6	3	0	0	3	3
––	FW		John Warner	15	3	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 15 Richard Wilkins 11 Ian Allinson 9 Tony English 8 Dale Tempest Dave Swindlehurst 6 Robert Scott 5 Rudi Hedman 3 Steve Hetzke John Warner Tony Kelly 2 Gary Bennett 1 Stuart Hicks Colin Hill John Pollard Mark Radford Own Goal 1

League Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 9 Tony English 8 Richard Wilkins Ian Allinson 7 Dale Tempest Robert Scott 5 Dave Swindlehurst John Warner 3 Steve Hetzke 2 Tony Kelly Gary Bennett 1 Rudi Hedman John Pollard Mark Radford

FA Cup Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 3 Rudi Hedman 2 Richard Wilkins Ian Allinson 1 Steve Hetzke Stuart Hicks Colin Hill Own Goal 1

League Cup Scorer Goals

League Trophy Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 3 Ian Allinson 1 Dave Swindlehurst Dale Tempest Richard Wilkins

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 5-3-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos. Name Apps. Goals GK Mark Walton 23 0 DF Colin Hill 42 0 DF Stuart Hicks 34 0 DF Tony English 36 8 DF Kevin Bedford 24 0 DF Steve Hetzke 22 2 MF Richard Wilkins 39 8 MF Ian Allinson 24 7 MF Dave Barnett 19 0 FW Mario Walsh 25 9 FW Dale Tempest 25 7

Walton Hill Hicks English Bedford Hetzke Wilkins Allinson Barnett Walsh Tempest

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 31 March 2011.
3. "1988–89 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
4. "1988–89 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.