# 1985–86 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1985–86 season was Colchester United's 44th season in their history and fifth consecutive season in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Associate Members' Cup.
Colchester finished sixth in the league table come the end of the season, but were nine points distant of promoted Port Vale in fourth place. The U's were knocked out of the FA Cup by non-League opposition in Wycombe Wanderers in the first round, and exited the League Cup in the first round to Millwall. Despite a win against Southend United in the Associate Members' Cup, Colchester were defeated by Northampton Town who progressed from the group stages to the knockout phase of the competition.
Three weeks prior to the end of the season, manager Cyril Lea was sacked and replaced by former U's goalkeeper Mike Walker.

## Season overview

Following regulation changes in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster and the Bradford City stadium fire, Layer Road was facing £500,000 of safety improvements to bring the ground up to standards. With the club ailing financially, sections of the ground were closed, reducing capacity to 4,900.
Manager Cyril Lea continued a trend of recruiting former Ipswich Town by bringing in forwards Robin Turner and Trevor Whymark during the season.
In October, the club were top of the table, but after suffering six successive league defeats, four without scoring, the club slid down the table and crashed out of the FA Cup to non-League Wycombe Wanderers. They had already made an early exit to Millwall in the League Cup and would soon follow suit in the Associate Members' Cup.
Lea struggled to find a strike partner for Tony Adcock following a car crash that ended Keith Bowen's playing career. The side were otherwise free scoring, and despite a good record, Lea was sacked three weeks ahead of the end of the campaign and replaced by Reserve team coach Mike Walker. Walker, initially in a caretaker capacity, took the U's on an unbeaten run for their final eight games of the season, winning five. This left the club in sixth position in the table, nine points shy of promotion.
The season was notable for hat-tricks, with Perry Groves twice achieving the feat against Southend United and brothers Tommy and Tony English scoring hat-tricks within five days of one another. The brothers were also both sent off at Crewe Alexandra in April, a game which Colchester won 2–0.

## Players

    As of match played 6 May 1986.
| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Alec Chamberlain | GK | March | (1964-06-20)20 June 1964 (aged 20) | 114 | 0 | Ipswich Town | Summer 1982 | Undisclosed |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Terry Baker | CB | Rochford | (1965-11-13)13 November 1965 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | Billericay Town | November 1985 | Free transfer |
| Keith Day | CB | Grays | (1962-11-29)29 November 1962 (aged 22) | 52 | 4 | Aveley | Summer 1984 | Undisclosed |
| Tony English | DF/MF | Luton | (1966-10-19)19 October 1966 (aged 18) | 25 | 3 | Coventry City | 24 December 1984 | Free transfer |
| Kirk Game | CB | Rochford | (1966-10-22)22 October 1966 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Southend United | August 1985 | Free transfer |
| Rudi Hedman | CB | Lambeth | (1964-11-16)16 November 1964 (aged 20) | 40 | 2 | Apprentice | February 1984 | Free transfer |
| Ian Phillips | FB | Cumnock | (1959-04-23)23 April 1959 (aged 26) | 93 | 6 | Northampton Town | September 1983 | £5,000 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Andy Farrell | MF/FB | Colchester | (1965-10-07)7 October 1965 (aged 19) | 67 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1982 | Free transfer |
| John Reeves | MF | Hackney | (1963-07-08)8 July 1963 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | Fulham | August 1985 | Undisclosed |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | (1963-03-27)27 March 1963 (aged 22) | 171 | 84 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer |
| Simon Burman | WG/MF | Ipswich | (1965-11-26)26 November 1965 (aged 19) | 9 | 0 | Apprentice | 15 February 1985 | Free transfer |
| Tommy English | FW | Cirencester | (1961-10-18)18 October 1961 (aged 23) | 1 | 0 | Canberra City | 8 November 1985 | Undisclosed |
| Mick Ferguson | FW | Newcastle upon Tyne | (1954-10-03)3 October 1954 (aged 30) | 0 | 0 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 31 March 1986 | Undisclosed |
| Perry Groves | WG | Bow | (1965-04-19)19 April 1965 (aged 20) | 133 | 17 | Cornard Dynamos | Summer 1981 | Free transfer |
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game in his second spell for the club

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| August 1985 | CB | Kirk Game | Southend United | Free transfer |
| August 1985 | MF | John Reeves | Fulham | Undisclosed |
| November 1985 | CB | Terry Baker | Billericay Town | Free transfer |
| 8 November 1985 | FW | Tommy English | Canberra City | Undisclosed |
| 23 November 1985 | FW | Trevor Whymark | Diss Town | Free transfers |
| 20 December 1985 | FW | Robin Turner | Swansea City | Undisclosed |
| 31 March 1986 | FW | Mick Ferguson | Brighton & Hove Albion | Undisclosed |
* Total spending: ~ £0
* 1 2 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game in his second spell for the club
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| End of season | FW | Liburd Henry | Rainham Town | Free transfer |
| 26 October 1985 | FW | Keith Bowen | Free agent | Retired |
| 6 November 1985 | MF | Jeff Hull | Free agent | Retired |
| 14 December 1985 | FW | Trevor Whymark | Free agent | Released |
| 31 January 1986 | MF | Russell Irving | Stowmarket Town | Undisclosed |
| 31 March 1986 | MF | Noel Parkinson | Free agent | Retired |
| 8 April 1986 | CB | Stewart Houston | Free agent | Retired |
| 6 May 1986 | MF | Roger Osborne | Sudbury Town | Undisclosed |
| 6 May 1986 | FW | Robin Turner | Bury Town | Released |
* Total incoming: ~ £0
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club
* ↑ Joined Plymouth Argyle as coach

### Loans in

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. |
| November 1985 | FW | | Robin Turner | Swansea City | 14 December 1985 | |
* ↑ Loan end date refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

## Match details
### Fourth 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H |
| Result | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | D | D | L | D | W | D | D | D | L | L | D | W | L | W | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | D |
| Position | 5 | 11 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 |

#### League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 4 | Port Vale | 46 | 21 | 16 | 9 | 67 | 37 | +30 | 79 | Promoted |
| 5 | Orient | 46 | 20 | 12 | 14 | 79 | 64 | +15 | 72 | |
| 6 | Colchester United | 46 | 19 | 13 | 14 | 88 | 63 | +25 | 70 | |
| 7 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 20 | 10 | 16 | 68 | 67 | +1 | 70 | |
| 8 | Northampton Town | 46 | 18 | 10 | 18 | 79 | 58 | +21 | 64 | |

#### Matches
### Associate Members' Cup

Group 2 :
| Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Northampton Town | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 6 |
| Colchester United | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 3 |
| Southend United | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 7 | −5 | 0 |

## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Fourth Division | Fourth Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Football League Trophy |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Alec Chamberlain | 51 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Terry Baker | 23 | 3 | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Keith Day | 32 | 5 | 30 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Tony English | 50 | 11 | 45 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Kirk Game | 6 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Rudi Hedman | 44 | 3 | 38+1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Ian Phillips | 41 | 2 | 37 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Andy Farrell | 25 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | John Reeves | 27 | 4 | 24 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Tony Adcock | 38 | 16 | 33 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Simon Burman | 11 | 1 | 10+1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Tommy English | 24 | 10 | 16+7 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Mick Ferguson | 10 | 7 | 9+1 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Perry Groves | 47 | 15 | 42+1 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||||||
| | DF | SCO | Stewart Houston | 41 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Jeff Hull | 5 | 0 | 4+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Roger Osborne | 38 | 1 | 28+6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Noel Parkinson | 40 | 7 | 35 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | WAL | Keith Bowen | 17 | 8 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Russell Irving | 10 | 0 | 2+7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Robin Turner | 14 | 0 | 6+5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Trevor Whymark | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
| 1 | FW | Tony Adcock | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 2 | WG | Perry Groves | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 | DF/MF | Tony English | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 4 | FW | Tommy English | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | FW | Keith Bowen | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | FW | Mick Ferguson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | MF | Noel Parkinson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 8 | CB | Keith Day | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 | CB | Terry Baker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | CB | Rudi Hedman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 12 | FB | Ian Phillips | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | WG/MF | Simon Burman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 | MF | Roger Osborne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| | | TOTALS | 88 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 96 |

### Disciplinary record

| Position | Name | Fourth Division | Fourth Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Football League Trophy | Total | Total |
| WG | Perry Groves | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| DF/MF | Tony English | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | Tommy English | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| CB | Keith Day | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| WG/MF | Simon Burman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Noel Parkinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Tony Adcock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Keith Bowen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Mick Ferguson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| CB | Rudi Hedman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | TOTALS | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
| 1 | | Alec Chamberlain | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| | | TOTALS | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| MF | John Reeves | 17 August 1985 | Stockport County | Layer Road |
| CB | Kirk Game | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road |
| FW | Tommy English | 9 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road |
| FW | Robin Turner | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road |
| FW | Trevor Whymark | 23 November 1985 | Preston North End | Deepdale |
| FW | Robin Turner | 20 December 1985 | Wrexham | Layer Road |
| CB | Terry Baker | 11 January 1986 | Torquay United | Layer Road |
| FW | Mick Ferguson | 31 March 1986 | Peterborough United | London Road Stadium |
* 1 2 Second debut for the club