# 1978–79 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was Colchester United's 37th season in their history and second successive season in third tier of English football, the Third Division. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Colchester improved on their previous league campaign by one position, finishing in a strong seventh. The U's were eliminated in the League Cup by Charlton Athletic in the first round, but had greater success in the FA Cup. They saw off Oxford United, Leatherhead, Darlington and Newport County before facing Manchester United in the fifth round of the competition at Layer Road. Colchester held on until the 86th-minute before Jimmy Greenhoff broke the deadlock and denied the U's an Old Trafford replay.

## Season overview

Bobby Roberts kept the faith in his squad for their second season in the Third Division, but an injury to Eddie Rowles forced him into the transfer market. Despite Colchester suffering financial difficulty, the club spent £15,000 on Millwall forward Trevor Lee, who became the first black player to represent Colchester's first team.
A strong season in the league saw the club finish one position higher than the previous campaign in seventh, narrowly falling short of the promotion places – nine points behind third-placed Swansea City. In the final game of the season, Colchester recorded their then highest-ever away league victory with a 5–1 win at Tranmere Rovers, less than a month after they had stunned champions-elect Watford 3–0 at Vicarage Road on Good Friday.
Colchester had a productive run in the FA Cup, where they disposed of Oxford United 4–2 with Bobby Gough netting a hat-trick. They defeated non-League Leatherhead 4–0 in a replay, and overcame difficult away ties at Darlington and Newport County. In the fifth road, the U's welcomed First Division Manchester United to Layer Road. After the fixture was called off from its original Saturday date, the crowd of 13,171 saw the U's come four minutes within an Old Trafford replay after Jimmy Greenhoff finally broke the deadlock after 86-minutes to send Colchester out.

## Players

    As of match played 9 May 1979.
| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Ian Cranstone | GK | Rochford | | 0 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | Summer 1977 | Free transfer |
| Bobby Hamilton | GK | | | 0 | 0 | Unknown | Summer 1977 | |
| Mike Walker | GK | Colwyn Bay | (1945-11-28)28 November 1945 (aged 32) | 257 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | (1951-04-09)9 April 1951 (aged 27) | 397 | 14 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Dowman | CB | Ilford | (1958-04-15)15 April 1958 (aged 20) | 94 | 19 | Apprentice | 24 August 1976 | Free transfer |
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | (1950-04-20)20 April 1950 (aged 28) | 219 | 13 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer |
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | (1954-09-17)17 September 1954 (aged 23) | 38 | 2 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 |
| Steve Wright | CB | Clacton-on-Sea | (1959-06-16)16 June 1959 (aged 18) | 1 | 0 | Woods Athletic | 1 October 1977 | Free transfer |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Ray Bunkell | MF | Edmonton | (1949-09-18)18 September 1949 (aged 28) | 137 | 9 | Swindon Town | December 1973 | Part exchange |
| Russell Cotton | MF | Wellington | (1960-04-04)4 April 1960 (aged 18) | 2 | 0 | Apprentice | 26 October 1977 | Free transfer |
| Paul Dyer | MF | Leicester | (1953-01-24)24 January 1953 (aged 25) | 115 | 2 | Notts County | Summer 1975 | Undisclosed |
| Tony Evans | MF | Colchester | (1960-03-14)14 March 1960 (aged 18) | 7 | 0 | Apprentice | 4 March 1978 | Free transfer |
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | (1953-06-21)21 June 1953 (aged 24) | 184 | 36 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | (1952-09-04)4 September 1952 (aged 25) | 286 | 40 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer |
| Eddie Rowles | MF | Gosport | (1951-03-10)10 March 1951 (aged 27) | 9 | 3 | Darlington | 26 December 1977 | £15,000 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | (1957-10-01)1 October 1957 (aged 20) | 104 | 14 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer |
| Bobby Gough | FW | Ladywood | (1949-07-20)20 July 1949 (aged 28) | 125 | 41 | Southport | January 1976 | £7,000 |
| Gary Harvey | FW | Colchester | (1961-11-19)19 November 1961 (aged 16) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | March 1978 | Free transfer |
| Bobby Hodge | WG | Exeter | (1952-04-30)30 April 1952 (aged 26) | 0 | 0 | Exeter City | September 1978 | £15,000 |
| Trevor Lee | FW | Lewisham | (1954-06-03)3 June 1954 (aged 23) | 0 | 0 | Millwall | November 1978 | £15,000 |
* 1 2 3 4 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 12 August 1978 | MF | Pat Sharkey | Mansfield Town | £10,000 |
| September 1978 | WG | Bobby Hodge | Exeter City | £15,000 |
| November 1978 | FW | Trevor Lee | Millwall | £15,000 |
* Total spending: ~ £40,000
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. |
| End of season | FB | | Johnny Williams | Margate | Free transfer | |
| 31 March 1979 | MF | | Pat Sharkey | Peterborough United | £8,000 | |
* Total incoming: ~ £8,000

## Match details
### Third Division
#### 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 | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | D | L | D | D | L | W | W | D | L | W | W | D | L | D | D | W | L | W | D | L | L | D | L | D | L | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | D | D | W | D | W |
| Position | 9 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 11 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 |

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 5 | Swindon Town | 46 | 25 | 7 | 14 | 74 | 52 | +22 | 57 |
| 6 | Carlisle United | 46 | 15 | 22 | 9 | 53 | 42 | +11 | 52 |
| 7 | Colchester United | 46 | 17 | 17 | 12 | 60 | 55 | +5 | 51 |
| 8 | Hull City | 46 | 19 | 11 | 16 | 66 | 61 | +5 | 49 |
| 9 | Exeter City | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 61 | 56 | +5 | 49 |

#### Matches
### FA Cup
## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | WAL | Mike Walker | 55 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Micky Cook | 54 | 1 | 46 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Dowman | 47 | 5 | 37+1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Mick Packer | 49 | 1 | 40+2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Wignall | 51 | 4 | 42 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Wright | 42 | 1 | 33+2 | 1 | 6+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ray Bunkell | 15 | 1 | 10+2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Russell Cotton | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Paul Dyer | 47 | 2 | 37+3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Tony Evans | 9 | 2 | 8+1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Foley | 42 | 7 | 34 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Leslie | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Eddie Rowles | 23 | 5 | 19+2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Ian Allinson | 55 | 5 | 45+1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Bobby Gough | 50 | 22 | 42 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Bobby Hodge | 38 | 4 | 31 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Trevor Lee | 32 | 12 | 27 | 11 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||||
| | MF | NIR | Pat Sharkey | 8 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Bobby Gough | 16 | 6 | 0 | 22 |
| 2 | FW | Trevor Lee | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | MF | Steve Foley | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | WG | Ian Allinson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 4 | CB | Steve Dowman | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 4 | MF | Eddie Rowles | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 7 | WG | Bobby Hodge | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | CB | Steve Wignall | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | MF | Paul Dyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | Tony Evans | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | Ray Bunkell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FB | Mick Packer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | CB | Steve Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 60 | 11 | 2 | 73 |

### Disciplinary record

| Position | Name | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| FB | Mick Packer | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| MF | Paul Dyer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| CB | Steve Wignall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | TOTALS | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | | Mike Walker | 12 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| | | TOTALS | 12 | 4 | 1 | 17 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| MF | Pat Sharkey | 12 August 1978 | Charlton Athletic | Layer Road |
| WG | Bobby Hodge | 27 September 1978 | Exeter City | St James Park |
| FW | Trevor Lee | 3 November 1978 | Plymouth Argyle | Layer Road |