1990–91 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1990–91 season
Chairman	Jonathan Crisp[1]
Manager	Ian Atkins (From 1 June 1990 until 30 June 1991)
Conference	2nd
FA Cup	2nd Round
FA Trophy	Quarter-final
Conference League Cup	2nd Round
Top goalscorer	League: Mario Walsh (17) All: Mario Walsh (18)
Highest home attendance	7,221 (Altrincham)
Lowest home attendance	1,966 (Northwich Victoria)
Average home league attendance	2,992
Home colours
← 1989–90 1991–92 →

The 1990–91 season was Colchester United's first season outside of the Football League since 1950, when they were elected to the football league. The season ended with Colchester finishing runners-up in the Conference behind Barnet by two points.

Season Review

Lincoln and Darlington had both returned to the Football League at the first attempt from the Conference and the onus was on new Player Manager Ian Atkins to achieve the same. United remained full-time and wearing a navy and white striped kit enjoyed a 100% record from their first six home games.

Layer Road was sold back to the Council for £1.2m to help clear debts with the club leasing for a maximum of three seasons. Barnet and Kettering were U's main challengers and it took until April for U's to hit top spot.

United faced the ignominy of having to compete in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round and had a shock home defeat to Witton Albion in the FA Trophy Quarter Finals after beating neighbours Wivenhoe Town.

Facing late challengers Altrincham drew a Layer Road crowd of 7,221, but a draw and Barnet's matching form meant that Colchester finished runners-up by two points. Chairman Jonathan Crisp fumed: "To come second with a fully professional squad in a part-time League is a bloody disgrace." He soon left the club, a wiser if not poorer man, as did Atkins who joined Birmingham as coach.^[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 Scott Barrett –– DF Ian Atkins –– DF Marcelle Bruce –– DF Scott Daniels –– DF Warren Donald –– DF Shaun Elliott –– DF Tony English –– DF Martin Grainger –– DF Neale Marmon –– DF Gary Osbourne –– DF John Pollard –– MF Garry Brooke

No. Position Player –– MF Eamonn Collins –– MF Wayne Hannigan –– MF Mark Kinsella –– MF Nicky Smith –– MF Les Taylor –– FW Gary Bennett –– FW Roy McDonough –– FW Steve McGavin –– FW Steve Restarick –– FW Laurie Ryan –– FW Mario Walsh

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Scott Barrett	Ilkeston	2 April 1963	Stoke City	18 August 1990	Free
DF	Ian Atkins	Sheldon	16 January 1957	Birmingham City	18 August 1990	Free
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	Warren Donald	Uxbridge	7 October 1964	Northampton Town	27 August 1990	Free
DF	Shaun Elliott	Haltwhistle	26 January 1957	Blackpool	15 December 1990	£7,000
DF	Tony English	Luton	19 October 1966	Coventry City	1 January 1985	Free
DF	Martin Grainger	Enfield	23 August 1972	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free
DF	Neale Marmon	Bournemouth	21 April 1961	Hannover 96	20 January 1990	Nominal
DF	Gary Osbourne	Wolverhampton	22 October 1969	Telford United	1 April 1991	Free
DF	John Pollard	Chelmsford	17 November 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
MF	Garry Brooke	Bethnal Green	24 November 1960	Baldock Town	21 January 1991	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	Nicky Smith	Berkeley	28 January 1969	Southend United	18 August 1990	Free
MF	Les Taylor	North Shields	4 December 1956	Reading	13 January 1989	£20,000
FW	Gary Bennett	Enfield	13 November 1970	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
FW	Roy McDonough	Solihull	16 October 1958	Southend United	13 October 1990	Free
FW	Steve McGavin	North Walsham	24 January 1969	Sudbury Town	1 April 1991	£3,000
FW	Steve Restarick	Barking	28 November 1971	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free
FW	Laurie Ryan	Watford	15 October 1963	Cambridge United	15 December 1990	Free
FW	Mario Walsh	Paddington	19 January 1966	Southend United	1 September 1990	£25,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
18 August 1990	GK	Scott Barrett	Stoke City	Free
18 August 1990	DF	Ian Atkins	Birmingham City	Free
18 August 1990	MF	Nicky Smith	Southend United	Free
18 August 1990	FW	Morrys Scott	Cardiff City	Free
27 August 1990	DF	Warren Donald	Northampton Town	Free
1 September 1990	FW	Mario Walsh	Southend United	£25,000
22 September 1990	MF	Mark Rees	Walsall	Free
13 October 1990	FW	Roy McDonough	Southend United	Free	Swap deal with Morrys Scott; Player-manager
15 December 1990	DF	Shaun Elliott	Blackpool	£7,000
15 December 1990	FW	Laurie Ryan	Cambridge United	Free
21 January 1991	MF	Garry Brooke	Baldock Town	Free
26 February 1991	MF	Wayne Hannigan	Home Farm	Free
1 April 1991	DF	Gary Osbourne	Telford United	Free
1 April 1991	FW	Steve McGavin	Sudbury Town	£3,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 May 1990	DF	Billy Gilbert	Maidstone United	Free
31 May 1990	DF	Stuart Hicks	Scunthorpe United	Free
31 May 1990	DF	Robert Scott	East Fife	Free
31 May 1990	MF	Richard Wilkins	Cambridge United	£65,000
31 May 1990	FW	Trevor Morgan	Exeter City	Free
18 September 1990	MF	Steve Ball	Norwich City	Free
22 September 1990	MF	Mark Rees	Shamrock Rovers	Free
13 October 1990	FW	Morrys Scott	Southend United	Free	Swap deal with Roy McDonough

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
18 August 1990	MF	Mark Yates	Birmingham City	2 February 1991
19 September 1990	FW	Laurie Ryan	Cambridge United	29 September 1990
24 November 1990	FW	Mike Masters	San Francisco Bay Blackhawks	25 March 1991
30 March 1991	DF	Rudi Hedman	Crystal Palace	4 May 1991
30 March 1991	MF	David Leworthy	Reading	30 April 1991

Results

Conference Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Barnet (C)	42	26	9	7	103	52	+51	87
2	Colchester United	42	25	10	7	68	35	+33	85
3	Altrincham	42	23	13	6	87	46	+41	82

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

Conference Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18/08/1990	Yeovil Town	A	0-2	4,169
22/08/1990	Welling United	A	1-1	1,828	Yates
25/08/1990	Merthyr Tydfil	H	3-1	2,008	Yates, Bennett, Collins
27/08/1990	Fisher Athletic	A	0-0	1,395
01/09/1990	Northwich Victoria	H	4-0	1,966	Walsh (2), Yates, English
08/09/1990	Barrow	A	2-2	1,441	Walsh, Yates
15/09/1990	Telford United	H	2-0	2,164	Daniels, Walsh
19/09/1990	Boston United	A	3-1	1,620	Walsh (2), Bennett
22/09/1990	Cheltenham Town	H	3-1	2,527	Atkins (pen.), Bennett, Walsh
29/09/1990	Runcorn	A	3-0	861	Atkins (2) (pen.), Marmon
06/10/1990	Macclesfield Town	A	0-1	1,100
13/10/1990	Sutton United	H	1-0	2,716	Bennett
20/10/1990	Bath City	A	2-1	1,078	Atkins (pen.), Yates
27/10/1990	Barrow	H	1-0	2,650	Walsh
03/11/1990	Stafford Rangers	H	2-0	2,403	Walsh, English
10/11/1990	Kettering Town	A	0-1	5,020
24/11/1990	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2-2	2,970	Yates, Walsh
01/12/1990	Stafford Rangers	A	2-0	1,304	Marmon, McDonough
15/12/1990	Merthyr Tydfil	A	0-3	710
22/12/1990	Cheltenham Town	A	2-1	1,397	English, Walsh
26/12/1990	Barnet	H	0-0	3,946
29/12/1990	Boston United	H	3-1	2,416	Collins, English, Walsh
01/01/1991	Barnet	A	3-1	5,105	Bennett, Walsh, Masters
05/01/1991	Slough Town	H	2-1	2,175	Bennett, Walsh
19/01/1991	Altrincham	A	2-2	1,388	English, McDonough
26/01/1991	Sutton United	A	1-0	1,496	McDonough
02/03/1991	Bath City	H	2-0	2,277	Atkins (pen.), Walsh
05/03/1991	Slough Town	A	2-0	1,120	McDonough (2)
09/03/1991	Macclesfield Town	H	1-0	2,735	Atkins (pen.)
12/03/1991	Runcorn	H	2-2	2,969	Ryan, Bennett
23/03/1991	Fisher Athletic	H	2-1	2,492	McDonough, Walsh
25/03/1991	Wycombe Wanderers	A	0-1	3,200
30/03/1991	Yeovil Town	H	0-1	3,115
01/04/1991	Gateshead	A	2-1	753	Leworthy, McDonough
05/04/1991	Northwich Victoria	A	2-2	1,094	Walsh, McDonough
09/04/1991	Welling United	H	2-1	2,889	Atkins (pen.), English
17/04/1991	Kettering Town	H	3-1	5,048	Bennett, English, Donald
20/04/1991	Altrincham	H	1-1	7,221	Leworthy
22/04/1991	Kidderminster Harriers	A	0-0	1,721
26/04/1991	Telford United	A	0-2	1,592
30/04/1991	Gateshead	H	3-0	2,667	Bennett, Leworthy (2)
04/05/1991	Kidderminster Harriers	H	2-0	3,481	Ryan (2)

Source: 1990-91 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17/11/1990	R1	Reading	H	2-1	3,761	Atkins (pen.), Marmon
12/12/1990	R2	Leyton Orient	H	0-0	6,150
27/11/1991	R1 (R)	Leyton Orient	A	1-4	4,615	Masters

Source: 1990-91 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Trophy

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15/01/1991	R1	Windsor & Eton	A	1-0	727	Bennett
02/02/1991	R2	Runcorn	H	2-0	2,348	Walsh, Marmon
23/02/1991	R3	Wivenhoe Town	H	3-0	4,923	McDonough, Bennett (2)
16/03/1991	QF	Witton Albion	H	0-2	3,079

Source: 1990-91 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Conference League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21/01/1991	R1	Fisher Athletic	A	3-2 (a.e.t.)	293	Marmon, Restarick (2)
26/02/1991	R2	Sutton United	A	0-2	582

Source: 1990-91 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Conference		FA Cup		FA Trophy		Conference LC
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Scott Barrett	51	0	42	0	3	0	4	0	2	0
––	DF		Ian Atkins	49	8	41	7	3	1	4	0	1	0
––	DF		Marcelle Bruce	7	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
––	DF		Scott Daniels	47	1	40	1	3	0	4	0	0	0
––	DF		Warren Donald	46	1	38	1	3	0	4	0	1	0
––	DF		Shaun Elliott	22	0	19	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
––	DF		Tony English	48	7	40	7	3	0	4	0	1	0
––	DF		Martin Grainger	8	0	5	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
––	DF		Rudi Hedman	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Neale Marmon	45	5	37	2	3	1	3	1	2	1
––	DF		Gary Osbourne	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		John Pollard	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
––	MF		Garry Brooke	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Eamonn Collins	42	5	35	2	3	0	4	3	0	0
––	MF		Wayne Hannigan	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Mark Kinsella	12	0	11	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Mark Radford	6	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
––	MF		Mark Rees	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Nicky Smith	41	0	34	0	2	0	4	0	1	0
––	MF		Les Taylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Mark Yates	30	6	25	6	3	0	1	0	1	0
––	FW		Gary Bennett	43	9	36	9	3	0	4	0	0	0
––	FW		David Leworthy	9	4	9	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Mike Masters	16	2	11	1	1	1	2	0	2	0
––	FW		Roy McDonough	29	9	24	8	1	0	4	1	0	0
––	FW		Steve McGavin	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Steve Restarick	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
––	FW		Laurie Ryan	17	3	13	3	0	0	2	0	2	0
––	FW		Morrys Scott	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Mario Walsh	38	18	32	17	3	0	3	1	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 18 Gary Bennett 12 Roy McDonough 9 Ian Atkins 8 Tony English 7 Mark Yates 6 Neale Marmon 5 Dave Leworthy 4 Laurie Ryan 3 Eamonn Collins 2 Mike Masters Steve Restarick Scott Daniels 1 Warren Donald

League Scorer Goals Mario Walsh 17 Gary Bennett 9 Roy McDonough 8 Ian Atkins 7 Tony English Mark Yates 6 Dave Leworthy 4 Laurie Ryan 3 Eamonn Collins 2 Neale Marmon Scott Daniels 1 Warren Donald Mike Masters

FA Cup Scorer Goals Ian Atkins 1 Neale Marmon Mike Masters

FA Trophy Scorer Goals Gary Bennett 3 Neale Marmon 1 Roy McDonough Mario Walsh

Conference League Cup Scorer Goals Steve Restarick 2 Neale Marmon 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 Scott Barrett 42 0 DF Scott Daniels 40 1 DF Ian Atkins 41 7 DF Tony English 39 7 DF Neale Marmon 36 2 DF Warren Donald 33 1 MF Nicky Smith 34 0 MF Eamonn Collins 35 2 MF Mark Yates 22 6 FW Mario Walsh 31 17 FW Gary Bennett 34 9

Barrett Daniels Atkins English Marmon Donald Smith Collins Yates Bennett Walsh

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 90s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
3. "1990–91 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
4. "1990–91 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.