1989–90 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1989–90 season
Chairman	Jonathan Crisp[1]
Manager	Jock Wallace (Until 20 December 1989) Steve Foley (Caretaker) (20 December 1989 to 2 January 1990) Mick Mills (From 3 January 1990 until 9 May 1990)
Fourth Division	24th (Relegated)
FA Cup	2nd Round
Littlewoods Cup	1st Round
Leyland DAF Cup	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Trevor Morgan (12) All: Trevor Morgan (12)
Highest home attendance	5,283 (Southend United)
Lowest home attendance	1,720 (Torquay United)
Average home league attendance	3,122
Home colours
← 1988–89 1990–91 →

The 1989–90 season was Colchester United's ninth consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division. The season ended in relegation to the Football Conference.

Season Review

Hopes of building on the Jock Wallace regime were tattered when Colchester failed to win any of the opening eight games of 1989/90. Only two wins were secured before the turn of the year. Assistant manager Alan Ball left for Stoke and it was a closely guarded secret that Wallace was very ill with the onset of Parkinson's disease. Wallace moved upstairs and once again Steve Foley was in temporary charge. Many wanted him appointed permanently but Foley preferred his youth team duties.

Chairman Jonathan Crisp's regime was now over; £1m in debt and his next new manager was former Ipswich Town and England defender Mick Mills, recently sacked from Stoke. The new appointment had immediate effect as U's won three out of four in February and, as with the season before, faced up to a crunch game at the home of their nearest rivals. Leading Wrexham twice United succumbed to a 3-2 defeat. There was still time to recover but six defeats in the last eight games ended United's 40 season Football League tenure.

Crisp's dream of Second Division football in five years was light years away and new plans for a stadium at Wick Lane, Ardleigh had been thrown out before ink was dry.^[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 –– DF Marcelle Bruce –– DF Scott Daniels –– DF Tony English –– DF Billy Gilbert –– DF Martin Grainger –– DF Stuart Hicks –– DF Neale Marmon –– DF John Pollard –– MF Steve Ball

No. Position Player –– MF Eamonn Collins –– MF Mark Kinsella –– MF Mark Radford –– MF Les Taylor –– MF Richard Wilkins –– FW Gary Bennett –– FW Trevor Morgan –– FW Steve Restarick

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
DF	Marcelle Bruce	Detroit	15 March 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free
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	Billy Gilbert	Lewisham	10 November 1959	Portsmouth	21 October 1989	Free
DF	Martin Grainger	Enfield	23 August 1972	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free
DF	Stuart Hicks	Peterborough	30 May 1967	Wisbech Town	8 April 1988	Free
DF	Neale Marmon	Bournemouth	21 April 1961	Hannover 96	20 January 1990	Nominal
DF	John Pollard	Chelmsford	17 November 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
MF	Steve Ball	Colchester	2 September 1969	Arsenal	1 January 1990	Free
MF	Eamonn Collins	Inchicore	22 October 1965	Portsmouth	19 August 1989	Free
MF	Mark Kinsella	Dublin	12 August 1972	Home Farm	26 August 1989	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	Trevor Morgan	Forest Gate	30 September 1956	Bolton Wanderers	28 October 1989	£8,000
FW	Steve Restarick	Barking	28 November 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1989	DF	Marcelle Bruce	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1989	DF	Martin Grainger	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1989	FW	Steve Restarick	Youth Team	Free
19 August 1989	GK	John Grace	Tolka Rovers	Free
19 August 1989	MF	Eamonn Collins	Portsmouth	Free
26 August 1989	MF	Mark Kinsella	Home Farm	Free
13 October 1989	DF	Robbie Devereux	Ipswich Town	Free
21 October 1989	DF	Billy Gilbert	Portsmouth	Free
21 October 1989	FW	Tommy English	Bishop's Stortford	Free
28 October 1989	FW	Trevor Morgan	Bolton Wanderers	£8,000
2 December 1989	MF	Jim Hagan	Celta de Vigo	Free
1 January 1990	MF	Steve Ball	Arsenal	Free
20 January 1990	DF	Neale Marmon	Hannover 96	Nominal

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
13 May 1989	GK	Mark Walton	Norwich City	£75,000
13 May 1989	DF	Phil Coleman	Wivenhoe Town	Free
13 May 1989	DF	Steve Hetzke	Retired	Free
13 May 1989	DF	Colin Hill	Sheffield United	£85,000
13 May 1989	FW	Dale Tempest	Eastern AA	Free
13 May 1989	FW	Mario Walsh	Southend United	£30,000
7 October 1989	DF	Rodney Rooke	Wivenhoe Town	Free
21 October 1989	DF	Robbie Devereux	Cornard United	Free
16 December 1989	MF	Ian Allinson	Baldock Town	Free	Player-manager
5 January 1990	GK	John Grace	Kilkenny City	Free	Player-manager
5 January 1990	FW	John Warner	Heybridge Swifts	Free
14 March 1990	DF	Clive Stafford	Bury Town	Free
10 April 1990	FW	Tommy English	Happy Valley AA	Free
29 April 1990	DF	Robert Scott	East Fife	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
26 August 1989	GK	Roger Hansbury	Birmingham City	16 September 1989
8 September 1989	DF	Mark Blake	Southampton	26 September 1989
12 January 1990	GK	Scott Barrett	Stoke City	17 March 1990
3 February 1990	DF	Karl Goddard	Bradford City	24 April 1990
24 March 1990	GK	Andy Marriott	Nottingham Forest	5 May 1990

Results

Fourth Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
22	Aldershot	46	12	14	20	49	69	-20	50
23	Halifax Town	46	12	13	21	57	65	-8	49
24	Colchester United (R)	46	11	10	25	48	75	-27	43

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
18/08/1989	Chesterfield	A	1-1	3,161	Radford
26/08/1989	Halifax Town	H	2-2	2,404	Bennett, Radford (pen.)
02/09/1989	Grimsby Town	A	1-4	4,678	Allinson
08/09/1989	Hereford United	H	1-1	3,269	Allinson (pen.)
16/09/1989	Rochdale	A	2-2	1,466	Collins, Blake
23/09/1989	Scarborough	H	0-0	2,420
26/09/1989	Maidstone United	H	4-1	2,946	Radford, Allinson (pen.), Taylor, Bennett
30/09/1989	Carlisle United	A	0-1	3,979
07/10/1989	Aldershot	A	0-4	2,092
13/10/1989	York City	H	0-2	3,274
17/10/1989	Wrexham	H	1-3	2,564	Scott
21/10/1989	Scunthorpe United	A	0-4	3,254
28/10/1989	Peterborough United	H	0-1	3,460
01/11/1989	Exeter City	A	1-2	3,905	Tony English
04/11/1989	Burnley	A	0-0	6,145
10/11/1989	Cambridge United	A	1-2	3,771	Tommy English (pen.)
24/11/1989	Gillingham	A	3-3	3,816	Tommy English (pen.), Bennett, Morgan
02/12/1989	Lincoln City	H	0-1	2,517
16/12/1989	Torquay United	H	0-3	1,720
26/12/1989	Southend United	A	2-0	5,563	Grainger, Tommy English
30/12/1989	Doncaster Rovers	A	0-2	2,942
01/01/1990	Hartlepool United	H	3-1	3,826	Morgan, Grainger, Radford
05/01/1990	Stockport County	H	0-1	3,609
12/01/1990	Halifax Town	A	1-1	1,397	Scott
20/01/1990	Chesterfield	H	1-0	3,016	Wilkins
27/01/1990	York City	A	1-3	2,311	Wilkins
03/02/1990	Scarborough	A	2-2	1,786	Tony English, Morgan
10/02/1990	Rochdale	H	1-2	2,744	Morgan
17/02/1990	Lincoln City	A	1-2	3,284	Wilkins
20/02/1990	Grimsby Town	H	1-0	3,026	Bruce
23/02/1990	Gillingham	H	2-0	4,456	Morgan (pen.), Scott
02/03/1990	Stockport County	A	1-1	3,452	Goddard
06/03/1990	Carlisle United	H	4-0	3,752	Wilkins, Marmon, Morgan (pen.) (2)
10/03/1990	Maidstone United	A	1-4	2,856	Morgan (pen.)
14/03/1990	Hereford United	A	0-2	2,253
17/03/1990	Aldershot	H	1-0	2,682	Morgan
24/03/1990	Wrexham	A	2-3	4,653	Marmon, Wilkins
31/03/1990	Scunthorpe United	H	1-0	2,920	Morgan
07/04/1990	Peterborough United	A	0-1	4,025
10/04/1990	Exeter City	H	0-1	3,369
14/04/1990	Hartlepool United	A	2-0	3,397	Bennett, Collins
16/04/1990	Southend United	H	0-2	5,283
21/04/1990	Torquay United	A	1-4	1,531	Morgan (pen.)
24/04/1990	Doncaster Rovers	H	2-0	2,631	Marmon (2)
29/04/1990	Cambridge United	A	0-4	4,558
05/05/1990	Burnley	H	1-2	2,786	Morgan (pen.)

Source: 1989-90 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
22/08/1989	R1 (L1)	Southend United	H	3-4	3,537	Scott (2), Bennett
29/08/1989	R1 (L2)	Southend United	A	1-2	3,763	Collins

Source: 1989-90 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18/11/1989	R1	Brentford	A	1-0	4,171	Bennett
09/12/1989	R2	Birmingham City	H	0-2	3,858

Source: 1989-90 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
07/11/1989	R1 (Group)	Northampton Town	H	0-3	1,780
10/01/1990	R1 (Group)	Maidstone United	A	1-2	1,176	Ball

Source: 1989-90 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		Scott Barrett	13	0	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		John Grace	25	0	19	0	2	0	2	0	2	0
––	GK		Roger Hansbury	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Andy Marriott	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Mark Blake	4	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Marcelle Bruce	31	1	29	1	2	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Scott Daniels	52	0	46	0	2	0	2	0	2	0
––	DF		Robbie Devereux	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Tony English	49	2	44	2	2	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Billy Gilbert	30	0	27	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Karl Goddard	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Martin Grainger	8	2	7	2	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Jim Hagan	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Stuart Hicks	23	0	20	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Neale Marmon	22	4	22	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		John Pollard	8	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Rodney Rooke	6	0	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
––	DF		Robert Scott	30	5	25	3	1	0	2	2	2	0
––	DF		Clive Stafford	19	0	17	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Ian Allinson	15	3	13	3	0	0	2	0	0	0
––	MF		Steve Ball	5	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
––	MF		Eamonn Collins	45	3	39	2	2	0	2	1	2	0
––	MF		Mark Kinsella	9	0	6	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
––	MF		Mark Radford	23	4	20	4	0	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Les Taylor	41	1	36	1	2	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Richard Wilkins	49	5	43	5	2	0	2	0	2	0
––	FW		Gary Bennett	42	6	36	4	2	1	2	1	2	0
––	FW		Tommy English	16	3	13	3	2	0	0	0	1	0
––	FW		Trevor Morgan	36	12	32	12	2	0	0	0	2	0
––	FW		Steve Restarick	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		John Warner	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Trevor Morgan 12 Gary Bennett 6 Robert Scott 5 Richard Wilkins Neale Marmon 4 Mark Radford Ian Allinson 3 Eamonn Collins Tommy English Tony English 2 Martin Grainger Steve Ball 1 Mark Blake Marcelle Bruce Karl Goddard Les Taylor

League Scorer Goals Trevor Morgan 12 Richard Wilkins 5 Gary Bennett 4 Neale Marmon Mark Radford Ian Allinson 3 Tommy English Robert Scott Eamonn Collins 2 Tony English Martin Grainger Mark Blake 1 Marcelle Bruce Karl Goddard Les Taylor

FA Cup Scorer Goals Gary Bennett 1

League Cup Scorer Goals Robert Scott 2 Gary Bennett 1 Eamonn Collins

League Trophy Scorer Goals Steve Ball 1

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 John Grace 19 0 DF Scott Daniels 46 0 DF Marcelle Bruce 28 1 DF Tony English 44 2 DF Neale Marmon 22 4 DF Billy Gilbert 26 0 MF Richard Wilkins 43 5 MF Eamonn Collins 39 2 MF Les Taylor 30 1 FW Trevor Morgan 31 12 FW Gary Bennett 26 4

Grace Daniels Bruce Tony English Marmon Gilbert Wilkins Collins Taylor Bennett Morgan

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.