1998–99 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1998–99 season
Chairman	Peter Heard[1]
Manager	Steve Wignall (Until 21 January 1999) Steve Whitton (Caretaker) (21 January to 28 January 1999) Mick Wadsworth (From 28 January 1999)
Division Two	18th
FA Cup	1st Round
Worthington Cup	1st Round
Auto Windscreens Shield	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: David Gregory (11) All: David Gregory (14)
Highest home attendance	6,554 (Manchester City)
Lowest home attendance	3,228 (Blackpool)
Average home league attendance	4,550
Home colours
← 1997–98 1999–2000 →

The 1998–99 season was Colchester United's first season back in the third tier of English football for 17 years. Colchester achieved promotion after beating Torquay United 1-0 at Wembley Stadium in the Playoff final.

Season Review

Steve Wignall was under no illusions as to the task his side had. Division Two boasted fallen giants in Manchester City and Stoke and Kevin Keegan led the Al-Fayed revolution at Fulham.

A preferred site was found for the new stadium and, better still, Cuckoo Farm was owned by the Council.

From the magnificent stage of Maine Road and a loyal 25,000 home crowd, Wignall faced his FA Cup nemesis at the tiny Northumberland outpost of Bedlington. The Terriers walloped United 4-1 the most embarrassing defeat in the club's history. The U's won just one of the next nine including a 5-1 home defeat to Gillingham in the Auto Windscreen Shield.

In January 1999, seven days after unleashing a raw Lomana Tresor LuaLua into the first team, Wignall quit citing that he had taken his team as far as he could and was frustrated at the role agents were playing in transfer deals he was trying to set up. Steve Whitton, his assistant, became Caretaker before Mick Wadsworth, recently of Scarborough, fought off the challenge of Cheltenham's Steve Cotterill to become the new manager. He kept Whitton on and brought in a number of foreign players including Brazilian Fumaça and Frenchmen Stéphane Pounewatchy and Fabrice Richard. He appointed Warren Aspinall captain and together they staved off relegation by two points. However, Fumaça's Colchester career lasted just 14 minutes after being pole-axed.

Crowds rose to 4,479, but the season's end brought swingeing cuts to the playing staff. Nine were axed including Joe Dunne and Tony Adcock, who fell tantalisingly four goals short of Martyn King's club record of 131 career league goals.^[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 Carl Emberson –– GK Tamer Fernandes –– GK Andy Walker –– DF Simon Betts –– DF Joe Dunne –– DF David Greene –– DF Stéphane Pounewatchy –– DF Fabrice Richard –– DF Scott Stamps –– MF Warren Aspinall –– MF Paul Buckle –– MF Jason Dozzell –– MF Karl Duguid –– MF Steve Forbes

No. Position Player –– MF David Gregory –– MF Nicky Haydon –– MF Sam Okafor –– MF Dave Rainford –– MF Aaron Skelton –– MF Richard Wilkins –– MF Geraint Williams –– FW Paul Abrahams –– FW Tony Adcock –– FW Neil Gregory –– FW Tony Lock –– FW Lomana LuaLua –– FW KK Opara –– FW Mark Sale

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
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
GK	Andy Walker	Sidcup	9 June 1981	Youth Team	1 August 1998	Free
DF	Simon Betts	Middlesbrough	3 March 1973	Ipswich Town	11 December 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	Stéphane Pounewatchy	Paris	10 February 1968	Port Vale	18 February 1999	Free
DF	Fabrice Richard	Saintes	16 August 1973	AC Ajaccio	18 March 1999	Free
DF	Scott Stamps	Edgbaston	20 March 1975	Torquay United	26 March 1997	£10,000
MF	Warren Aspinall	Wigan	13 September 1967	Brentford	25 March 1999	Free
MF	Paul Buckle	Welwyn Garden City	16 December 1970	Wycombe Wanderers	28 November 1996	Free
MF	Jason Dozzell	Ipswich	9 December 1967	Northampton Town F.C.	15 October 1998	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	Nicky Haydon	Barking	10 August 1978	Youth Team	1 August 1995	Free
MF	Sam Okafor	Nigeria	17 March 1982	Youth Team	1 August 1998	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
MF	Geraint Williams	Cwmparc	5 January 1962	Ipswich Town	7 July 1998	Undisclosed
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	Lomana LuaLua	Kinshasa	28 December 1980	Youth Team	1 August 1998	Free
FW	KK Opara	Owerri	21 December 1981	Youth Team	1 August 1998	Free
FW	Mark Sale	Burton upon Trent	27 February 1972	Mansfield Town	10 March 1997	£23,500

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
7 July 1998	MF	Geraint Williams	Ipswich Town	Football League Division One	Undisclosed
1 August 1998	GK	Andy Walker	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 August 1998	MF	Sam Okafor	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 August 1998	MF	Ian Wiles	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 August 1998	FW	Lomana LuaLua	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 August 1998	FW	KK Opara	Youth Team	N/A	Free
15 October 1998	MF	Jason Dozzell	Northampton Town	Football League Division Two	Free
18 February 1999	DF	Stéphane Pounewatchy	Port Vale	Football League Division One	Free
18 March 1999	DF	Fabrice Richard	AC Ajaccio	Ligue 2	Free
25 March 1999	MF	Warren Aspinall	Brentford	Football League Division Three	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 May 1998	GK	Garrett Caldwell	Toronto Supra	Canadian National Soccer League	Free
31 May 1998	DF	Peter Cawley	Retired	N/A	Free
31 May 1998	FW	Steve Whitton	Retired	N/A	Free
15 August 1998	MF	Ian Wiles	Heybridge Swifts	Isthmian League Premier Division	Undisclosed
24 October 1998	MF	Ian Hathaway	Aldershot Town	Football Conference	Undisclosed

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
1 August 1998	DF	Guy Branston	Leicester City	Premier League	3 October 1998
9 November 1998	DF	Keith Dublin	Southend United	Football League Division Three	9 December 1998
8 February 1999	MF	Warren Aspinall	Brentford	Football League Division Three	24 March 1999
24 February 1999	FW	Bradley Allen	Charlton Athletic	Premier League	18 March 1999
18 March 1999	MF	Fumaça	S.L. Benfica	Portuguese Liga	24 March 1999
25 March 1999	MF	Brian Launders	Derby County	Premier League	27 March 1999
25 March 1999	FW	Steve Germain	AS Cannes	Championnat National	9 May 1999

Loans Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
25 September 1998	MF	Ian Hathaway	Aldershot Town	Football Conference	24 October 1998
25 March 1999	FW	Mark Sale	Plymouth Argyle	Football League Division Three	9 May 1999

Results

Division Two Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
17	Wrexham	46	13	14	19	43	62	-19	53
18	Colchester United	46	12	16	18	52	70	-18	52
19	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	12	21	52	58	-6	51

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

Division Two Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
08/08/1998	Chesterfield	H	1-0	4,042	Sale
15/08/1998	Wrexham	A	4-2	4,157	Abrahams, Haydon, N.Gregory, D.Gregory (pen.)
22/08/1998	Fulham	H	0-1	6,377
29/08/1998	Luton Town	A	0-2	5,005
31/08/1998	Stoke City	H	0-1	4,728
05/09/1998	York City	A	2-1	2,699	N.Gregory, Forbes
08/09/1998	Wigan Athletic	A	1-1	2,784	Sale
12/09/1998	Gillingham	H	1-1	4,612	N.Gregory
19/09/1998	Reading	A	1-1	9,058	Duguid
26/09/1998	Wycombe Wanderers	H	2-1	4,205	Forbes, D.Gregory (pen.)
03/10/1998	Oldham Athletic	A	0-1	4,231
09/10/1998	Burnley	H	0-4	5,532
17/10/1998	Preston North End	A	0-2	10,483
20/10/1998	Walsall	A	1-1	3,319	Lock
31/10/1998	Manchester City	A	1-2	24,820	Dozzell
06/11/1998	Macclesfield Town	H	1-1	3,927	Greene
10/11/1998	Northampton Town	H	1-0	3,597	Greene
21/11/1998	Notts County	A	3-1	4,598	Greene (2), D.Gregory
28/11/1998	Millwall	H	0-0	4,476
12/12/1998	Lincoln City	A	0-0	4,513
18/12/1998	Blackpool	H	2-2	3,228	Greene, D.Gregory
26/12/1998	Fulham	A	0-2	11,939
28/12/1998	Bristol Rovers	H	0-3	4,609
02/01/1999	Luton Town	H	2-2	4,964	D.Gregory, Abrahams
09/01/1999	Chesterfield	A	1-3	3,761	LuaLua
15/01/1999	Wrexham	H	1-3	3,491	Wilkins
23/01/1999	Stoke City	A	3-3	12,507	Betts, D.Gregory, Dozzell
30/01/1999	Bristol Rovers	A	1-1	6,249	D.Gregory (pen.)
05/02/1999	York City	H	2-1	3,982	Betts, Greene
12/02/1999	Wigan Athletic	H	2-1	3,934	Wilkins, D.Gregory
20/02/1999	Gillingham	A	1-1	7,276	Duguid
27/02/1999	Reading	H	1-1	4,686	N.Gregory
06/03/1999	Wycombe Wanderers	A	2-2	4,670	Dozzell, D.Gregory
09/03/1999	Oldham Athletic	H	2-2	3,616	Allen, D.Gregory (pen.)
13/03/1999	Macclesfield Town	A	0-2	2,796
20/03/1999	Manchester City	H	0-1	6,554
27/03/1999	Bournemouth	A	1-2	6,442	Greene
02/04/1999	Preston North End	H	1-0	5,644	Aspinall
05/04/1999	Burnley	A	1-3	10,747	D.Gregory
10/04/1999	Walsall	H	1-0	4,082	Greene
14/04/1999	Millwall	A	0-2	4,686
16/04/1999	Notts County	H	2-1	4,215	Buckle, Aspinall (pen.)
24/04/1999	Northampton Town	A	3-3	6,146	Buckle, Aspinall (pen.), Duguid
27/04/1999	Bournemouth	H	2-1	4,168	Hayter (o.g.), Dozzell
01/05/1999	Lincoln City	H	1-3	4,613	Duguid
08/05/1999	Blackpool	A	1-2	4,866	Pounewatchy

Source: 1998-99 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11/08/1998	R1 (L1)	Bournemouth	A	0-2	3,745
18/08/1998	R1 (L2)	Bournemouth	H	3-2	2,550	D.Gregory (pen.) (2), Abrahams

Source: 1998-99 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14/11/1998	R1	Bedlington Terriers	A	1-4	2,027	Adcock

Source: 1998-99 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
05/12/1998	R1 (S)	Gillingham	H	1-5	1,742	D.Gregory (pen.)

Source: 1998-99 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Two		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Carl Emberson	41	0	37	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	GK		Tamer Fernandes	8	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Andy Walker	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Simon Betts	31	2	28	2	0	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Guy Branston	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Keith Dublin	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Joe Dunne	39	0	36	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
––	DF		David Greene	46	8	42	8	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	DF		Stéphane Pounewatchy	15	1	15	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Fabrice Richard	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Scott Stamps	25	0	21	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Warren Aspinall	15	3	15	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Paul Buckle	47	2	43	2	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Jason Dozzell	31	4	29	4	1	0	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Karl Duguid	35	4	33	4	1	0	1	0	0	0
––	MF		Steve Forbes	18	2	15	2	1	0	1	0	1	0
––	MF		Fumaça	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		David Gregory	48	14	44	11	1	0	2	2	1	1
––	MF		Nicky Haydon	16	1	13	1	1	0	2	0	0	0
––	MF		Brian Launders	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Sam Okafor	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Dave Rainford	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Aaron Skelton	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Ian Wiles	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Richard Wilkins	26	2	26	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Geraint Williams	43	0	39	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Paul Abrahams	30	3	27	2	0	0	2	1	1	0
––	FW		Tony Adcock	8	1	6	0	1	1	1	0	0	0
––	FW		Bradley Allen	4	1	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Steve Germain	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Neil Gregory	41	4	38	4	0	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW		Tony Lock	25	1	23	1	1	0	0	0	1	0
––	FW		Lomana LuaLua	13	1	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		KK Opara	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Mark Sale	35	2	31	2	1	0	2	0	1	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals David Gregory 14 David Greene 8 Jason Dozzell 4 Karl Duguid Neil Gregory Paul Abrahams 3 Warren Aspinall Simon Betts 2 Paul Buckle Steve Forbes Mark Sale Richard Wilkins Tony Adcock 1 Bradley Allen Nicky Haydon Tony Lock Lomana LuaLua Stéphane Pounewatchy Own goal 1

League Scorer Goals David Gregory 11 David Greene 8 Jason Dozzell 4 Karl Duguid Neil Gregory Warren Aspinall 3 Paul Abrahams 2 Simon Betts Paul Buckle Steve Forbes Mark Sale Richard Wilkins Bradley Allen 1 Nicky Haydon Tony Lock Lomana LuaLua Stéphane Pounewatchy Own goal 1

FA Cup Scorer Goals Tony Adcock 1

League Cup Scorer Goals David Gregory 2 Paul Abrahams 1

League Trophy Scorer Goals David Gregory 1

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 37 0 DF David Greene 42 8 DF Joe Dunne 32 0 DF Simon Betts 22 2 DF Scott Stamps 19 0 MF Richard Wilkins 25 2 MF David Gregory 43 11 MF Paul Buckle 39 2 MF Geraint Williams 38 0 FW Neil Gregory 29 4 FW Mark Sale 21 2

Emberson Greene Dunne Betts Stamps Wilkins D.Gregory Buckle Williams N.Gregory 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. "1998–99 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
4. "1998–99 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2011.