2007–08 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

2007–08 season
Chairman	Robbie Cowling[1]
Manager	Geraint Williams
Championship	24th (Relegated)
FA Cup	3rd Round
League Cup	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Lisbie (17) All: Kevin Lisbie (17)
Highest home attendance	6,300 (Stoke City)
Lowest home attendance	4,450 (Barnsley)
Average home league attendance	5,508
Home colours
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 season was Colchester United's second ever season in the second tier of English football after finishing 10th in the 2006–07 season Football League Championship.

Season Review

Ahead of United's largely unexpected second season in the Championship, Jamie Cureton, Chris Iwelumo, Wayne Brown and Richard Garcia all left on a rather sour note in the summer. Lack of ambition, for that read wages, cited as the reason. Cureton fetched £850,000 from Norwich prompting boss Geraint Williams to smash the clubs own record by paying a reported £300,000 for MK Dons' Clive Platt. On the same day he spent another six figure sum on Mark Yeates and news broke that England legend Teddy Sheringham would be donning a blue and white shirt.

Robbie Cowling's move from owner to Chairman prompted an about turn where agents were concerned. He admitted that if Colchester were to compete then they would have to use agents. Peter Heard stepped down after 16 tremendous years as Chairman to become Life President.

Life was tougher and so-called second-season syndrome set in. Layer Road had been a fortress but proved easy pickings in 2007/8. Williams failed to find an adequate replacement for Brown and his defence leaked goals all season. Platt and Cureton's replacement Kevin Lisbie had no trouble scoring as United maintained their ability in the opponents' box. It was pretty clear by Christmas that United would be in a relegation battle particularly after a dismal home defeat to Blackpool.

Cowling made funds available during the January transfer window with Chris Coyne arriving for another record £300,000 with £250,000 spent on both Phil Ifil and Dean Hammond. The rot was briefly stopped but a series of injuries and inability to win any of a batch of five home games in seven left United bottom.

They could have been relegated on 5 April 2008 but a 2-0 win over Ipswich ensured that it wouldn't be U's neighbours applying the final nail. The inevitable happened four days later when, without playing, relegation was confirmed. They also had the worst defensive record in the division, conceding a staggering 86 goals and keeping just two clean sheets all season.

Layer Road hosted its last ever League game on 26 April 2008, just over 70 years after its first, when The U's lost 1-0 to a Stoke City side on its way to the Premier League. The Old Lady had been nursed through many seasons but was long past its use-by date. Chief Executive Marie Partner bid a sad farewell to Layer Road as she ceremonially locked the gates for the last time. An auction of memorabilia followed with the Clock End timepiece being a much sought after lot. Other items to sell included patches of turf, a tea hut, a complete set of seating and the entire Family Enclosure structure.^[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 1 GK Dean Gerken 2 DF Danny Granville 3 DF John White 4 MF Johnnie Jackson 5 DF Chris Coyne 6 MF Kevin Watson 7 MF Karl Duguid 8 FW Teddy Sheringham 9 FW Clive Platt 10 MF Kemal Izzet 11 MF Mark Yeates 12 DF Pat Baldwin 13 GK Aidan Davison

No. Position Player 14 MF Kevin McLeod 15 FW Jamie Guy 17 MF Luke Guttridge 18 DF Philip Ifil 20 FW Kevin Lisbie 22 MF Dean Hammond 23 GK Mark Cousins 24 FW Scott Vernon 27 MF Anthony Wordsworth 29 FW Tom Webb 30 MF Medy Elito 31 GK Ademola Bankole

Player Info

No.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
1	Dean Gerken	Southend-on-Sea	22 May 1985	Youth Team	1 August 2002	Free
2	Danny Granville	Islington	19 January 1975	Crystal Palace	9 July 2007	Free
3	John White	Colchester	26 July 1986	Youth Team	1 July 2003	Free
4	Johnnie Jackson	Camden	15 August 1982	Tottenham Hotspur	26 June 2006	Free
5	Chris Coyne	Brisbane	20 December 1978	Luton Town	10 January 2008	£350,000
6	Kevin Watson	Hackney	3 January 1974	Reading	5 July 2004	Free
7	Karl Duguid	Hitchin	21 March 1978	Youth Team	16 July 1995	Free
8	Teddy Sheringham	Highams Park	2 April 1966	West Ham United	4 July 2007	Free
9	Clive Platt	Wolverhampton	27 October 1977	MK Dons	3 July 2007	£300,000
10	Kemal Izzet	Whitechapel	29 September 1980	Charlton Athletic	13 April 2001	Free
11	Mark Yeates	Tallaght	11 January 1985	Tottenham Hotspur	3 July 2007	£250,000
12	Pat Baldwin	London	12 November 1982	Chelsea	31 August 2002	Free
13	Aidan Davison	Sedgefield	11 May 1968	Grimsby Town	5 July 2004	Free
14	Kevin McLeod	Liverpool	12 September 1980	Swansea City	7 September 2006	Free
15	Jamie Guy	Barking	1 August 1987	Youth Team	1 July 2004	Free
17	Luke Guttridge	Barnstaple	27 March 1982	Leyton Orient	5 July 2007	Free
18	Philip Ifil	Willesden	18 November 1986	Tottenham Hotspur	10 January 2008	£100,000
20	Kevin Lisbie	Hackney	17 October 1978	Charlton Athletic	3 August 2008	Free
22	Dean Hammond	Hastings	7 March 1983	Brighton & Hove Albion	31 January 2008	£250,000
23	Mark Cousins	Chelmsford	9 January 1987	Youth Team	1 July 2004	Free
24	Scott Vernon	Manchester	13 December 1983	Blackpool	31 January 2008	£100,000
27	Anthony Wordsworth	Camden	3 January 1989	Youth Team	1 July 2006	Free
30	Medy Elito	Kinshasa	20 March 1990	Youth Team	1 July 2007	Free
31	Ademola Bankole	Lagos	9 September 1969	Nuneaton Borough	1 March 2008	Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 July 2007	MF	Medy Elito	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 July 2007	FW	Tom Webb	Youth Team	N/A	Free
3 July 2007	MF	Mark Yeates	Tottenham Hotspur	Premier League	£250,000
3 July 2007	FW	Clive Platt	MK Dons	Football League Two	£300,000
4 July 2007	FW	Teddy Sheringham	West Ham United	Premier League	Free
5 July 2007	MF	Luke Guttridge	Leyton Orient	Football League One	Free
9 July 2007	DF	Danny Granville	Crystal Palace	Football League Championship	Free
3 August 2008	FW	Kevin Lisbie	Charlton Athletic	Football League Championship	Free
10 January 2008	DF	Chris Coyne	Luton Town	Football League One	£350,000
10 January 2008	DF	Philip Ifil	Tottenham Hotspur	Premier League	£100,000
31 January 2008	MF	Dean Hammond	Brighton & Hove Albion	Football League One	£250,000
31 January 2008	FW	Scott Vernon	Blackpool	Football League Championship	£100,000
1 March 2008	GK	Ademola Bankole	Nuneaton Borough	Conference North	Free	Signed as player and goalkeeping coach

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
21 May 2007	FW	Chris Iwelumo	Charlton Athletic	Football League Championship	Free
31 May 2007	MF	Robbie King	Heybridge Swifts	Isthmian League Premier Division	Free
1 June 2007	DF	Lawrie Wilson	Stevenage Borough	Conference National	Free
29 June 2007	FW	Jamie Cureton	Norwich City	Football League Championship	£750,000
2 July 2007	MF	Richard Garcia	Hull City	Football League Championship	Free
13 July 2007	DF	Wayne Brown	Hull City	Football League Championship	£450,000
4 August 2007	DF	Garry Richards	Southend United	Football League One	£50,000
31 January 2008	DF	George Elokobi	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Football League Championship	£500,000

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
9 July 2007	DF	Matthew Connolly	Arsenal	Premier League	16 December 2007
2 August 2007	DF	Béla Balogh	MTK Hungária	Nemzeti Bajnokság I	31 May 2008
15 August 2007	DF	Adam Virgo	Celtic	Scottish Premier League	27 April 2008
29 February 2008	FW	Izale McLeod	Charlton Athletic	Football League Championship	5 May 2008
14 March 2008	DF	Matt Heath	Leeds United	Football League One	5 May 2008

Loans Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
22 November 2007	DF	John White	Stevenage Borough	Conference National	30 December 2007
28 February 2008	FW	Tom Webb	Folkestone Invicta	Isthmian League Premier Division	28 March 2008

Results

Championship Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
22	Leicester City (R)	46	12	16	18	42	45	-3	52
23	Scunthorpe United (R)	46	11	13	22	45	69	-24	46
24	Colchester United (R)	46	7	17	22	62	86	-24	38

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

Championship Results Round by Round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	D	D	W	L	D	D	D	L	W	L	W	L	L	D	D	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	D	L	W	D	L	D	D	W	D	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	D
Position	10	13	5	13	16	14	14	18	12	17	12	15	16	16	17	18	18	20	19	19	22	22	24	24	24	23	24	24	24	24	23	22	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24

Source:
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Championship Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11/08/2007	Sheffield United	A	2–2	26,202	McLeod, Platt
18/08/2007	Barnsley	H	2–2	4,450	Sheringham, Connolly
25/08/2007	Preston North End	A	3–0	11,582	Lisbie, Sheringham (pen.), Yeates
01/09/2007	Burnley	H	2–3	4,925	Lisbie, Virgo
15/09/2007	Charlton Athletic	H	2–2	5,860	Yeates, Lisbie
19/09/2007	Southampton	A	1–1	18,773	Skácel (o.g.)
22/09/2007	Blackpool	A	2–2	7,959	Yeates (2)
29/09/2007	Scunthorpe United	H	0–1	5,218
03/10/2007	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–2	5,361	Leigertwood (o.g.), Izzet, Yeates, Platt
06/10/2007	Stoke City	A	1–2	12,395	Platt
20/10/2007	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–2	5,798	Yeates (2), Lisbie
23/10/2007	Ipswich Town	A	1–3	25,727	Platt
27/10/2007	Coventry City	A	0–1	23,431
03/11/2007	Leicester City	H	1–1	5,661	Jackson
06/11/2007	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–1	4,883	Lisbie
10/11/2007	Watford	A	2–2	16,069	Platt, Lisbie
24/11/2007	Crystal Palace	H	1–2	5,856	Jackson
28/11/2007	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–1	20,966
01/12/2007	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1	22,331	Sheringham, Elokobi
04/12/2007	Watford	H	2–3	5,750	Platt, Connolly
08/12/2007	Cardiff City	A	1–4	11,006	Jackson
15/12/2007	Norwich City	H	1–1	5,560	McLeod
22/12/2007	QPR	A	1–2	12,464	Yeates
26/12/2007	Southampton	H	1–1	6,157	Platt
29/12/2007	Blackpool	H	0–2	5,160
01/01/2008	Charlton Athletic	A	2–1	21,508	Lisbie (2)
12/01/2008	Bristol City	A	1–1	16,484	Lisbie
29/01/2009	Barnsley	A	0–1	9,246
02/02/2008	Sheffield United	H	2-2	5,695	Lisbie, Armstrong (o.g.)
09/02/2008	Burnley	A	1-1	15,376	Jackson
12/02/2008	Preston North End	H	2-1	5,122	Vernon (pen.), Jackson
16/02/2008	Hull City	A	1-1	15,664	Jackson
23/02/2008	Bristol City	H	1-2	5,609	Platt
01/03/2008	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0-1	5,989
04/03/2008	Plymouth Argyle	A	1-4	11,562	Lisbie
08/03/2008	Crystal Palace	A	1-2	13,895	Lisbie
11/03/2008	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1-2	5,086	Lisbie
15/03/2008	Cardiff City	H	1-1	4,699	Jackson
18/03/2008	Hull City	H	1-3	5,497	Lisbie
22/03/2008	Norwich City	A	1-5	25,215	Lisbie
29/03/2008	West Bromwich Albion	A	3-4	20,433	Coyne, Elito, Lisbie
05/04/2008	Ipswich Town	H	2-0	6,264	Vernon (2)
12/04/2008	Leicester City	A	1-1	22,719	Lisbie
19/04/2008	Coventry City	H	1-5	5,836	Vernon
26/04/2008	Stoke City	H	0-1	6,300
04/05/2008	Scunthorpe United	A	3-3	5,554	McLeod (2), Vernon

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14/08/2007	R1	Shrewsbury Town	A	0-1 (aet)	3,069

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
05/01/2008	R3	Peterborough United	H	1–3	4,003	Sheringham (pen.)

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Championship		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Dean Gerken	42	0	40	0	1	0	1	0
2	DF		Danny Granville	20	0	14+5	0	0	0	1	0
3	DF		John White	23	0	21	0	1	0	1	0
4	MF		Johnnie Jackson	48	7	46	7	1	0	1	0
5	DF		Chris Coyne	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0
6	MF		Kevin Watson	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF		Karl Duguid	39	0	37	0	0+1	0	1	0
8	FW		Teddy Sheringham	20	4	11+8	3	1	1	0	0
9	FW		Clive Platt	42	8	34+7	8	0	0	1	0
10	MF		Kemal Izzet	40	1	35+4	1	0	0	0+1	0
11	MF		Mark Yeates	31	8	29	8	1	0	1	0
12	DF		Pat Baldwin	28	0	23+3	0	1	0	1	0
13	GK		Aidan Davison	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF		Kevin McLeod	30	4	21+7	4	1	0	1	0
15	FW		Jamie Guy	12	0	0+11	0	0+1	0	0	0
16	DF		Matt Heath	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF		Luke Guttridge	16	0	5+9	0	1	0	1	0
18	DF		Philip Ifil	20	0	20	0	0	0	0	0
20	FW		Kevin Lisbie	43	17	39+3	17	1	0	0	0
21	DF		Béla Balogh	17	0	10+7	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF		Dean Hammond	13	0	11+2	0	0	0	0	0
23	GK		Mark Cousins	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
24	FW		Scott Vernon	17	5	8+9	5	0	0	0	0
25	FW		Izale McLeod	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF		Anthony Wordsworth	4	0	1+2	0	0	0	0+1	0
29	FW		Tom Webb	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
30	MF		Medy Elito	11	1	7+4	1	0	0	0	0
31	GK		Ademola Bankole	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
16	DF		George Elokobi	19	1	17	1	1	0	1	0
18	DF		Matthew Connolly	16	2	13+3	2	0	0	0	0
19	DF		Adam Virgo	37	1	30+6	1	1	0	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Kevin Lisbie 17 Clive Platt 8 Mark Yeates Johnnie Jackson 7 Scott Vernon 5 Kevin McLeod 4 Teddy Sheringham Matthew Connolly 2 Chris Coyne 1 Medy Elito George Elokobi Kemal Izzet Adam Virgo Own goal 3

League Scorer Goals Kevin Lisbie 17 Clive Platt 8 Mark Yeates Johnnie Jackson 7 Scott Vernon 5 Kevin McLeod 4 Teddy Sheringham 3 Matthew Connolly 2 Chris Coyne 1 Medy Elito George Elokobi Kemal Izzet Adam Virgo Own goal 3

FA Cup Scorer Goals Teddy Sheringham 1

League Cup Scorer Goals

Assists

^[5]

Assistant	League	Cup	Total
Johnnie Jackson	9	0	9
Mark Yeates	7		7
Kevin Lisbie	4	1	5
Karl Duguid	3	0	3
George Elokobi
Teddy Sheringham
Danny Granville	2		2
Kemal Izzet
Kevin McLeod
Jamie Guy	1		1

Disciplinary record

^[6]

Pos.	Name	League		Cups		Total
DF	Pat Baldwin	2	1	0	0	2	1
DF	Béla Balogh	3	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Matthew Connolly	1	1	0	0	1	1
DF	Chris Coyne	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Karl Duguid	3	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Danny Granville	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Luke Guttridge	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Matt Heath	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Philip Ifil	2	1	0	0	2	1
MF	Kemal Izzet	8	0	0	0	8	0
MF	Johnnie Jackson	4	0	0	0	4	0
FW	Kevin Lisbie	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Kevin McLeod	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Clive Platt	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Teddy Sheringham	0	1	0	0	0	1
DF	Adam Virgo	6	0	0	0	6	0
DF	John White	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Mark Yeates	4	0	0	0	4	0

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 4-4-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

No. Pos. Name Apps. Goals 1 GK Dean Gerken 40 0 18 DF Phil Ifil 20 0 3 DF John White 21 0 12 DF Pat Baldwin 23 0 19 DF Adam Virgo 30 1 11 MF Mark Yeates 29 8 7 MF Karl Duguid 37 0 10 MF Kemal Izzet 35 1 4 MF Johnnie Jackson 46 7 20 FW Kevin Lisbie 39 17 9 FW Clive Platt 34 8

Gerken Ifil Baldwin White Virgo Yeates Duguid Izzet Jackson Lisbie Platt

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 00s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
3. "2007–08 Season Appearance Data". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
4. "2007–08 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
5. "2007–08 Season Assists Data". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
6. "2007–08 Season Discipline Data". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 1 April 2011.