1992–93 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1992–93 season
Chairman	Gordon Parker[1]
Manager	Roy McDonough
Division Three	10th
FA Cup	2nd Round
Rumbelows Cup	1st Round
Auto Windscreens Shield	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Roy McDonough Steve McGavin (9) All: Gary Bennett Steve McGavin (10)
Highest home attendance	5,695 (Gillingham)
Lowest home attendance	2,774 (Torquay United)
Average home league attendance	3,840
Home colours
← 1991–92 1993–94 →

The 1992–93 season was Colchester United's first season back in the Football League and fourth tier of English football after being crowned Conference champions, finishing 1st.

Season Review

The advent of the Premier League meant that Colchester jumped two Leagues, in name, to Division Three.

James Bowdidge stepped down because of business commitments handing over the Chair to former reserve player Gordon Parker.

United lost Mike Masters, an American, because of work permit problems and Scott Barrett to a richer contract.

The U's lost four of their first five games and sunk to the bottom, they also suffered a hefty FA fine for their indiscipline on the field with Roy McDonough one of the main culprits. The attacking approach was not as effective against League teams and United concede a 7, a 5 and 4 goals on six occasions. Despite this they rallied, with a young Mark Kinsella blossoming and finished just four points shy of a play-off place.

With 79 bookings and three red cards it was apt that their new blue shirts had an upward pointing repeating arrow which many fans, upset at the loss of striped shirts, dubbed the 'jailbird' kit.^[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 Simon Betts –– DF Peter Cawley –– DF Tony English –– DF Paul Flowers –– DF Martin Grainger –– DF Andy Partner –– DF Paul Roberts –– MF Steve Ball –– MF Jason Cook

No. Position Player –– MF Robert Hopkins –– MF Mark Kinsella –– MF Nicky Smith –– FW Paul Abrahams –– FW Gary Bennett –– FW Julian Hazel –– FW Roy McDonough –– FW Steve McGavin

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
DF	Simon Betts	Middlesbrough	3 March 1973	Ipswich Town	11 December 1992	Free
DF	Peter Cawley	Walton-on-Thames	15 September 1965	Barnet	9 October 1992	Free
DF	Tony English	Luton	19 October 1966	Coventry City	1 January 1985	Free
DF	Paul Flowers	Stepney	7 September 1974	Youth Team	1 August 1992	Free
DF	Martin Grainger	Enfield	23 August 1972	Youth Team	1 August 1989	Free
DF	Andy Partner	Colchester	21 October 1974	Youth Team	1 August 1991	Free
DF	Paul Roberts	West Ham	21 October 1974	Fisher Athletic	28 September 1991	Free
MF	Steve Ball	Colchester	2 September 1969	Cambridge United	14 September 1992	Free
MF	Jason Cook	Edmonton	29 December 1969	Southend United	28 September 1991	Free
MF	Robert Hopkins	Birmingham	25 October 1961	Shrewsbury Town	20 February 1993	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
FW	Paul Abrahams	Colchester	31 October 1973	Youth Team	1 August 1991	Free
FW	Gary Bennett	Enfield	13 November 1970	Youth Team	1 August 1988	Free
FW	Julian Hazel	Luton	25 September 1973	Youth Team	1 August 1991	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

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1992	DF	Paul Flowers	Youth Team	Free
15 August 1992	DF	Darren Oxbrow	Maidstone United	Free
15 August 1992	MF	Robbie Devereux	Cornard United	Free
14 September 1992	MF	Steve Ball	Cambridge United	Free
6 October 1992	GK	Alasdair Monk	Norwich City	Free
9 October 1992	DF	Peter Cawley	Barnet	Free
7 November 1992	MF	Tony Sorrell	Boston United	Free
11 December 1992	DF	Simon Betts	Ipswich Town	Free
20 February 1993	MF	Robert Hopkins	Shrewsbury Town	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 May 1992	GK	Scott Barrett	Gillingham	Free
31 May 1992	DF	Shaun Elliott	Gateshead	Free
31 May 1992	MF	Eamonn Collins	Exeter City	Free
31 May 1992	MF	Ian Stewart	Harrow Borough	Free
31 May 1992	FW	Mike Masters	Newbury Town	Free
24 October 1992	MF	Robbie Devereux	Shelbourne	Free
28 November 1992	DF	Warren Donald	Kettering Town	Free
28 November 1992	DF	Darren Oxbrow	Barnet	Free
18 December 1992	MF	Tony Sorrell	Barnet	Free
21 December 1992	GK	Alasdair Monk	Released	Free
21 December 1992	DF	Ian Phillips	Halstead Town	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
12 August 1992	GK	Paul Newell	Leyton Orient	3 November 1992
7 November 1992	GK	Ron Green	Kidderminster Harriers	16 December 1992
17 December 1992	GK	Carl Emberson	Millwall	12 March 1993
2 January 1993	MF	Dean Martin	West Ham United	20 February 1993
19 March 1993	GK	Fred Barber	Peterborough United	4 May 1993

Results

Division Three Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Shrewsbury Town	42	17	11	14	57	52	+5	62
10	Colchester United	42	18	5	19	67	76	-9	59
11	Rochdale	42	16	10	16	70	70	0	58

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

Division Three Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15/08/1992	Lincoln City	H	2-1	4,131	McDonough, Oxbrow
21/08/1992	Barnet	A	1-3	3,600	Kinsella
29/08/1992	Darlington	H	0-3	3,524
01/09/1992	Shrewsbury Town	H	0-2	3,530
05/09/1992	Bury	A	2-3	2,072	Bennett, McDonough (pen.)
12/09/1992	Walsall	H	3-1	3,218	Bennett, Smith, McDonough (pen.)
15/09/1992	Doncaster Rovers	A	0-1	1,719
19/09/1992	York City	A	0-2	3,820
26/09/1992	Chesterfield	H	3-0	3,436	Bennett, Kinsella
10/10/1992	Halifax Town	A	4-2	2,445	Kinsella, Oxbrow, McDonough, Bennett
16/10/1992	Crewe Alexandra	H	3-2	4,524	Bennett, McDonough, Oxbrow
24/10/1992	Scunthorpe United	A	1-3	2,473	McGavin
30/10/1992	Wrexham	H	2-4	4,423	Ball, Kinsella
03/11/1992	Carlisle United	H	2-1	3,263	Roberts, Cawley
07/11/1992	Cardiff City	A	1-3	5,505	Kinsella
21/11/1992	Rochdale	H	4-4	3,172	Cawley, Ball, Sorrell, McDonough
28/11/1992	Hereford United	A	1-3	1,671	Oxbrow
11/12/1992	Torquay United	H	2-0	2,774	McDonough, Smith
18/12/1992	Gillingham	A	1-0	2,331	McGavin
26/12/1992	Northampton Town	A	0-1	4,861
29/12/1992	Scarborough	H	1-0	3,640	McGavin
02/01/1993	Walsall	A	3-1	3,669	Martin, McGavin, Cawley
08/01/1993	Doncaster Rovers	H	2-0	4,402	Grainger, McGavin
16/01/1993	Chesterfield	A	0-4	3,016
22/01/1993	York City	H	0-0	4,528
29/01/1993	Barnet	H	1-2	5,609	Bennett
06/02/1993	Lincoln City	A	1-1	3,380	Martin
13/02/1993	Bury	H	0-0	3,264
20/02/1993	Shrewsbury Town	A	3-4	2,653	Hopkins, Grainger (pen.), McGavin
26/02/1993	Halifax Town	H	2-1	3,007	McGavin, Grainger
12/03/1993	Cardiff City	H	2-4	4,538	McDonough (pen), McGavin
20/03/1993	Carlisle United	A	2-0	3,003	Cook, Edmondson (o.g.)
23/03/1993	Hereford United	H	3-1	3,024	Titterton (o.g.), McDonough, Abrahams
27/03/1993	Rochdale	A	2-5	1,783	Smith, Abrahams
06/04/1993	Torquay United	A	2-2	2,915	McGavin, Ball
13/04/1993	Scarborough	A	1-0	1,803	Abrahams
16/04/1993	Gillingham	H	3-0	5,695	Clark (o.g.), Smith, Abrahams
20/04/1993	Northampton Town	H	2-0	3,519	Ball (pen.), Abrahams
24/04/1993	Crewe Alexandra	A	1-7	3,250	English
01/05/1993	Scunthorpe United	H	1-0	3,421	Abrahams
04/05/1993	Darlington	A	0-1	2,007
08/05/1993	Wrexham	A	3-4	9,705	Hardy (o.g.), Bennett, Kinsella

Source: 1992-93 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18/08/1992	R1 (L1)	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	1-1	3,814	English
26/08/1992	R1 (L2)	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0-1	4,125

Source: 1992-93 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14/11/1992	R1	Slough Town	H	4-0	3,858	Sorrell, Bennett (2), Ball
05/12/1992	R2	Gillingham	A	1-1	5,319	McGavin
16/12/1992	R2 (R)	Gillingham	H	2-3	4,440	Ball (2)

Source: 1992-93 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
01/12/1992	R1 (Group)	Northampton Town	H	1-2	1,454	Grainger (pen.)
21/12/1992	R1 (Group)	Barnet	A	2-4	1,193	Ball, Cook

Source: 1992-93 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Three		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Fred Barber	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Carl Emberson	13	0	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Ron Green	8	0	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
––	GK		Alasdair Monk	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	GK		Paul Newell	16	0	14	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
––	DF		Simon Betts	25	0	23	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Peter Cawley	26	3	24	3	2	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Warren Donald	14	0	10	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
––	DF		Tony English	39	2	33	1	3	0	2	1	1	0
––	DF		Paul Flowers	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Martin Grainger	35	4	31	3	2	0	1	0	1	1
––	DF		Darren Oxbrow	20	4	16	4	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Andy Partner	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Ian Phillips	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Paul Roberts	49	1	42	1	3	0	2	0	2	0
––	MF		Steve Ball	27	8	24	4	2	3	0	0	1	1
––	MF		Jason Cook	38	2	34	1	2	0	1	0	1	1
––	MF		Robbie Devereux	8	0	6	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
––	MF		Robert Hopkins	14	1	14	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Mark Kinsella	44	6	38	6	3	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Nicky Smith	49	4	42	4	3	0	2	0	2	0
––	MF		Tony Sorrell	8	2	5	1	3	1	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Paul Abrahams	25	6	23	6	0	0	1	0	1	0
––	FW		Gary Bennett	44	10	38	8	2	2	2	0	2	0
––	FW		Julian Hazel	4	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
––	FW		Dean Martin	8	2	8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Roy McDonough	31	9	25	9	3	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Steve McGavin	42	10	37	9	3	1	0	0	2	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Gary Bennett 10 Steve McGavin Roy McDonough 9 Steve Ball 8 Paul Abrahams 6 Mark Kinsella Martin Grainger 4 Darren Oxbrow Nicky Smith Peter Cawley 3 Jason Cook 2 Tony English Dean Martin Tony Sorrell Robert Hopkins 1 Paul Roberts Own goal 4

League Scorer Goals Roy McDonough 9 Steve McGavin Gary Bennett 8 Paul Abrahams 6 Mark Kinsella Steve Ball 4 Darren Oxbrow Nicky Smith Peter Cawley 3 Martin Grainger Dean Martin 2 Jason Cook 1 Tony English Robert Hopkins Paul Roberts Tony Sorrell Own goal 4

FA Cup Scorer Goals Steve Ball 3 Gary Bennett 2 Steve McGavin 1 Tony Sorrell

League Cup Scorer Goals Tony English 1

League Trophy Scorer Goals Steve Ball 1 Jason Cook Martin Grainger

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 Paul Newell 14 0 DF Simon Betts 23 0 DF Paul Roberts 42 1 DF Martin Grainger 28 3 DF Tony English 30 1 MF Nicky Smith 42 4 MF Steve Ball 19 4 MF Mark Kinsella 37 6 MF Jason Cook 30 1 FW Gary Bennett 30 8 FW Steve McGavin 35 9

Newell Betts Roberts Grainger English Smith Ball Kinsella Cook Bennett McGavin

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. "1992–93 Season Appearance Data". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
4. "1992–93 Season Goalscorers Data". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 31 March 2011.