1997–98 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1997–98 season
Chairman	Gordon Parker[1]
Manager	Steve Wignall
Division Three	4th (Promoted via Playoffs)
FA Cup	2nd Round
Coca-Cola Cup	1st Round
Auto Windscreens Shield	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Paul Abrahams Neil Gregory Mark Sale Aaron Skelton (7) All: Mark Sale (8)
Highest home attendance	6,220 (Leyton Orient)
Lowest home attendance	1,867 (Chester City)
Average home league attendance	3,122
Home colours
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

The 1997–98 season was Colchester United's sixth consecutive season in fourth tier of English football. The season ended in success with Colchester achieving promotion after beating Torquay United 1–0 at Wembley Stadium in the Playoff final.

Season Review

Colchester, once famed giantkillers, again lost to a non-League side when Hereford won a 1997/8 replay at Edgar Street on penalties. The FA Cup was truly Steve Wignall's Achilles Heel.

Meanwhile, the club was vindicated in the Courts when the George Burley case was settled at £300,000 and, with the lease on Layer Road due to expire in 2002, Kirklees McAlpine were commissioned as consultants for the new stadium.

Wignall broke the club's transfer record spending £50,000 on Neil Gregory. The dividend was paid when U's won 10 of their last 15 missing automatic promotion by one point, but more importantly qualifying for the play-offs. In the play-off semi-finals, Barnet held a 1-0 lead but in a powder-keg Layer Road atmosphere, a brace from David Gregory, the second in extra time, turned the tie in U's favour and earned a third trip to Wembley in six years.

Disappointingly moved to a Friday night to accommodate a meaningless England v Saudi Arabia friendly match, the Play-Off Final with Torquay attracted just 19,486 with live TV coverage another factor. David Gregory's 22nd minute penalty was enough to fire U's back to the third tier after 17 years away. Once again the streets of Colchester thronged to an open-top bus parade.^[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 Garrett Caldwell –– GK Carl Emberson –– GK Tamer Fernandes –– DF Simon Betts –– DF Peter Cawley –– DF Joe Dunne –– DF David Greene –– DF Scott Stamps –– MF Paul Buckle –– MF Karl Duguid –– MF Steve Forbes –– MF David Gregory

No. Position Player –– MF Ian Hathaway –– MF Nicky Haydon –– MF Dave Rainford –– MF Aaron Skelton –– MF Richard Wilkins –– FW Paul Abrahams –– FW Tony Adcock –– FW Neil Gregory –– FW Tony Lock –– FW Mark Sale –– FW Steve Whitton

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Garrett Caldwell	Princeton	6 November 1973	Princeton University	24 September 1995	Free
GK	Carl Emberson	Epsom	13 July 1973	Millwall	6 July 1994	£25,000
GK	Tamer Fernandes	Paddington	7 December 1974	Brentford	29 January 1998	Undisclosed
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	Joe Dunne	Dublin	25 May 1973	Gillingham	27 March 1996	Free
DF	David Greene	Luton	26 October 1973	Luton Town	21 June 1996	£30,000
DF	Scott Stamps	Edgbaston	20 March 1975	Torquay United	26 March 1997	£10,000
MF	Paul Buckle	Welwyn Garden City	16 December 1970	Wycombe Wanderers	28 November 1996	Free
MF	Karl Duguid	Hitchin	21 March 1978	Youth Team	16 July 1995	Free
MF	Steve Forbes	Stoke Newington	24 December 1975	Millwall	14 March 1997	Undisclosed
MF	David Gregory	Polstead	23 January 1970	Peterborough United	7 December 1995	Free
MF	Ian Hathaway	Wordsley	22 August 1968	Torquay United	1 August 1997	Free
MF	Nicky Haydon	Barking	10 August 1978	Youth Team	1 August 1995	Free
MF	Dave Rainford	Stepney	21 April 1979	Youth Team	1 August 1996	Free
MF	Aaron Skelton	Welwyn Garden City	22 November 1974	Luton Town	3 July 1997	Free
MF	Richard Wilkins	Lambeth	28 May 1965	Hereford United	3 July 1996	£30,000
FW	Paul Abrahams	Colchester	31 October 1973	Brentford	23 October 1996	£20,000
FW	Tony Adcock	Bethnal Green	27 February 1963	Luton Town	3 August 1995	Free
FW	Neil Gregory	Ndola	7 October 1972	Ipswich Town	26 March 1998	£50,000
FW	Tony Lock	Harlow	3 September 1976	Youth Team	1 August 1994	Free
FW	Mark Sale	Burton upon Trent	27 February 1972	Mansfield Town	10 March 1997	£23,500
FW	Steve Whitton	London	4 December 1960	Ipswich Town	24 March 1994	£10,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
3 July 1997	MF	Aaron Skelton	Luton Town	Football League Division Two	Free
1 August 1997	MF	Ian Hathaway	Torquay United	Football League Division Three	Free
29 January 1998	GK	Tamer Fernandes	Brentford	Football League Division Two	Undisclosed
26 March 1998	FW	Neil Gregory	Ipswich Town	Football League Division One	£50,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 May 1997	DF	Paul Gibbs	Torquay United	Football League Division Three	Free
31 May 1997	DF	Ben Lewis	Southend United	Football League Division Two	Free
31 May 1997	DF	Tony McCarthy	Shelbourne	League of Ireland	Free
31 May 1997	DF	Geoff Pitcher	Kingstonian	Isthmian League Premier Division	Free
1 August 1997	MF	Chris Fry	Exeter City	Football League Division Three	Free
1 August 1997	DF	Adam Locke	Bristol City	Football League Division Two	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
26 September 1997	FW	Isaiah Rankin	Arsenal	Premier League	26 December 1997
17 October 1997	DF	Wayne Brown	Ipswich Town	Football League Division One	8 November 1997
1 January 1998	FW	Neil Gregory	Ipswich Town	Football League Division One	2 March 1998
9 February 1998	DF	Guy Branston	Leicester City	Premier League	31 May 1998

Results

Division Three Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
3	Lincoln City (P)	46	20	15	11	60	51	+9	75
4	Colchester United (PO) (P)	46	21	11	14	72	60	+12	74
5	Torquay United (PO)	46	21	11	14	68	59	+9	74

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
09/08/1997	Darlington	H	2–1	2,958	Abrahams, Buckle (pen.)
16/08/1997	Hartlepool United	A	2–3	2,174	Buckle (pen.), Abrahams
22/08/1997	Barnet	H	1–1	3,286	Wilkins
30/08/1997	Torquay United	A	1–1	2,081	Wilkins
02/09/1997	Cambridge United	A	1–4	3,264	D.Gregory
08/09/1997	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	3–1	3,081	Greene (2), Abrahams
12/09/1997	Scarborough	H	1–0	2,756	Lock
20/09/1997	Swansea City	A	1–0	3,414	Greene
27/09/1997	Exeter City	H	1–2	3,175	Abrahams
04/10/1997	Mansfield Town	A	1–1	2,341	Greene
11/10/1997	Peterborough United	A	2–3	6,277	Rankin, Adcock
18/10/1997	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–1	2,977	Skelton
21/10/1997	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–1	2,588	Sale, Skelton
25/10/1997	Leyton Orient	A	2–0	4,592	Adcock, Forbes
31/10/1997	Scunthorpe United	H	3–3	3,134	Rankin, Buckle, Sale
04/11/1997	Macclesfield Town	A	0–0	1,577
08/11/1997	Rochdale	A	1–2	1,702	Duguid
18/11/1997	Notts County	H	2–0	2,643	Sale, Rankin
22/11/1997	Lincoln City	H	0–1	2,932
29/11/1997	Rotherham United	A	2–3	3,259	Skelton, Sale
13/12/1997	Hull City	A	1–3	3,896	Adcock
19/12/1997	Chester City	H	2–0	1,867	Adcock, Duguid
26/12/1997	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	4–4	2,647	Rankin (2), Adcock, Stamps
29/12/1997	Cambridge United	H	3–2	4,518	Wilkins (2), Skelton
03/01/1998	Hartlepool United	H	1–2	2,885	Buckle
10/01/1998	Darlington	A	2–4	2,170	N.Gregory
16/01/1998	Torquay United	H	1–0	2,776	Tony Lock
20/01/1998	Cardiff City	H	2–1	1,929	N.Gregory, Buckle
24/01/1998	Barnet	A	2–3	2,471	Skelton, Wilkins
31/01/1998	Scarborough	A	1–1	2,219	Whitton
06/02/1998	Swansea City	H	1–2	2,789	N.Gregory
13/02/1998	Mansfield Town	H	2–0	2,320	Lock, D.Gregory
21/02/1998	Exeter City	A	1–0	3,346	Lock
24/02/1998	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–0	1,972	N.Gregory, D.Gregory
27/02/1998	Peterborough United	H	1–0	4,117	Branston
03/03/1998	Rochdale	H	0–0	2,112
07/03/1998	Scunthorpe United	A	0–1	2,143
14/03/1998	Macclesfield Town	H	5–1	2,760	Sale (2), Skelton, Abrahams, Lock
21/03/1998	Notts County	A	0–0	6,284
28/03/1998	Lincoln City	A	1–0	4,040	Dunne
03/04/1998	Rotherham United	H	2–1	3,824	Skelton, Sale
11/04/1998	Cardiff City	A	2–0	2,809	Abrahams, D.Gregory
13/04/1998	Hull City	H	4–3	4,168	D.Gregory, Lock, Dunne, Duguid
18/04/1998	Chester City	A	1–3	1,780	Abrahams
25/04/1998	Leyton Orient	H	1–1	6,220	N.Gregory
02/05/1998	Doncaster Rovers	A	1–0	3,572	N.Gregory

Source: 1997–98 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

Play-Offs

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10/05/1998	SF (L1)	Barnet	A	0–1	3,858
13/05/1998	SF (L2)	Barnet	H	3–1	5,863	D.Gregory (pen.) (2), Greene
22/05/1998	Final	Torquay United	N	1–0	19,486	D.Gregory (pen.)

Source: 1997–98 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12/08/1997	R1 (L1)	Luton Town	H	0–1	2,840
26/08/1997	R1 (L2)	Luton Town	A	1–1	2,816	Hathaway

Source: 1997–98 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15/11/1997	R1	Brentford	A	2–2	2,899	Sale, D.Gregory
25/11/1997	R1 (R)	Brentford	H	0–0 4–2 on Pens	3,613
06/12/1997	R2	Hereford United	H	1–1	3,558	D.Gregory
16/12/1997	R2 (R)	Hereford United	A	1- 1 4–5 on Pens	3,725	Forbes

Source: 1997–98 Season Colchester United Results – coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
09/12/1997	R1 (S)	Leyton Orient	A	0–1	933

Source: 1997–98 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		Garrett Caldwell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Carl Emberson	53	0	46	0	4	0	2	0	1	0
––	GK		Tamer Fernandes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Simon Betts	20	0	17	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Guy Branston	12	1	12	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Wayne Brown	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Peter Cawley	33	0	27	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Joe Dunne	30	2	25	2	4	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		David Greene	44	4	38	4	4	0	2	0	0	0
––	DF		Scott Stamps	32	1	26	1	3	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Paul Buckle	42	5	38	5	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Karl Duguid	26	3	21	3	4	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Steve Forbes	40	2	35	1	2	1	2	0	1	0
––	MF		David Gregory	51	7	44	5	4	2	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Ian Hathaway	16	1	12	0	2	0	2	1	0	0
––	MF		Nicky Haydon	20	0	17	0	2	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Dave Rainford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Aaron Skelton	45	7	39	7	4	0	1	0	1	0
––	MF		Richard Wilkins	41	5	37	5	2	0	2	0	0	0
––	FW		Paul Abrahams	29	7	25	7	2	0	2	0	0	0
––	FW		Tony Adcock	32	5	25	5	4	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Neil Gregory	15	7	15	7	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Tony Lock	38	6	32	6	3	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Isaiah Rankin	12	5	11	5	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	FW		Mark Sale	45	8	39	7	3	1	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Steve Whitton	23	1	21	1	2	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Mark Sale 8 Paul Abrahams 7 David Gregory Neil Gregory Aaron Skelton Tony Lock 6 Tony Adcock 5 Paul Buckle Isaiah Rankin Richard Wilkins David Greene 4 Karl Duguid 3 Joe Dunne 2 Steve Forbes Guy Branston 1 Ian Hathaway Scott Stamps Steve Whitton

League Scorer Goals Paul Abrahams 7 Neil Gregory Mark Sale Aaron Skelton Tony Lock 6 Tony Adcock 5 Paul Buckle David Gregory Isaiah Rankin Richard Wilkins David Greene 4 Karl Duguid 3 Joe Dunne 2 Guy Branston 1 Steve Forbes Scott Stamps Steve Whitton

FA Cup Scorer Goals David Gregory 2 Steve Forbes 1 Mark Sale

League Cup Scorer Goals Ian Hathaway 1

League Trophy Scorer Goals

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 Carl Emberson 46 0 DF David Greene 38 4 DF Joe Dunne 22 2 DF Peter Cawley 27 0 DF Scott Stamps 26 1 MF Richard Wilkins 37 5 MF David Gregory 42 5 MF Paul Buckle 33 5 MF Aaron Skelton 37 7 FW Tony Adcock 19 5 FW Mark Sale 38 7

Emberson Greene Dunne Cawley Stamps Wilkins D.Gregory Buckle Skelton Adcock Sale

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. "1997–98 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
4. "1997–98 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.