# 1976–77 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1976–77 season was Colchester United's 35th season in their history and first season back in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division following relegation the previous season. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Colchester bounced back to the Third Division at the first attempt under Bobby Roberts with a largely unchanged team from the previous season. He led them to a third-place finish in the league, while in the FA Cup, Colchester took First Division Derby County to a replay in the fourth round. In the League Cup, it took Second Division Millwall three attempts to dispatch the U's in a replay following the initial two legs.

## Season overview

Colchester made an instant return to the Third Division after the board kept the faith in manager Bobby Roberts. The season began strongly with twelve successive home victories. Despite a first round League Cup defeat to Millwall, an impressive FA Cup run saw the U's lose out in the fourth round to First Division Derby County in a replay at the Baseball Ground. Over 14,000 fans had seen Colin Garwood equalise in the seventh minute of injury time in the first match at Layer Road.
A settled side aided Colchester's progress across the season. Eight players played over 40 of the 46 league games. The two favoured forwards of Bobby Gough and Colin Garwood registered 17 and 16 goals respectively, while centre-half Steve Dowman scored twelve goals in his debut season. Colchester were promoted in third position behind only Cambridge United and Exeter City.

## Players

    As of match played 14 May 1977.
| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Mike Walker | GK | Colwyn Bay | (1945-11-28)28 November 1945 (aged 30) | 149 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | (1951-04-09)9 April 1951 (aged 25) | 289 | 10 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Dowman | CB | Ilford | (1958-04-15)15 April 1958 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 24 August 1976 | Free transfer |
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | (1950-04-20)20 April 1950 (aged 26) | 120 | 4 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer |
| Lindsay Smith | CB | Enfield | (1954-09-18)18 September 1954 (aged 21) | 183 | 12 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer |
| Johnny Williams | FB | Tottenham | (1947-03-26)26 March 1947 (aged 29) | 39 | 0 | Watford | June 1976 | Undisclosed |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Ray Bunkell | MF | Edmonton | (1949-09-18)18 September 1949 (aged 26) | 85 | 5 | Swindon Town | December 1973 | Part exchange |
| Paul Dyer | MF | Leicester | (1953-01-24)24 January 1953 (aged 23) | 40 | 2 | Notts County | Summer 1975 | Undisclosed |
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | (1953-06-21)21 June 1953 (aged 22) | 139 | 29 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | (1952-09-04)4 September 1952 (aged 23) | 187 | 34 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | (1957-10-01)1 October 1957 (aged 18) | 6 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer |
| John Froggatt | FW | Stanton Hill | (1945-12-13)13 December 1945 (aged 30) | 98 | 23 | Boston United | Summer 1974 | £6,000 |
| Colin Garwood | FW | Heacham | (1949-06-29)29 June 1949 (aged 26) | 15 | 2 | Huddersfield Town | February 1976 | £4,000 |
| Bobby Gough | FW | Ladywood | (1949-07-20)20 July 1949 (aged 26) | 22 | 5 | Southport | January 1976 | £7,000 |
* 1 2 3 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. |
| 24 August 1976 | CB | | Steve Dowman | Apprentice | Free transfer | |
* Total spending: ~ £0
* ↑ 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 | CB | Barry Dominey | Yeovil Town | Released |
| End of season | CB | Derek Harrison | Salisbury City | Released |
| End of season | WG | Terry Anderson | Free agent | Released |
| August 1976 | GK | Lee Smelt | Margate | Free transfer |
| 23 November 1976 | FB | Stewart Bright | Chelmsford City | Free transfer |
* Total incoming: ~ £0

### Loans in

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. |
| 19 February 1977 | GK | | Glenn Ellis | Ipswich Town | 22 February 1977 | |
* ↑ Loan start and end dates refer to the date of the player's first and final games 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | L | W | L | W | L | W | D | W | D | W | L | L | W | W | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | W | W | L | D | D | D | D | D | D | W | W | D | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 24 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 |

#### League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Cambridge United | 46 | 26 | 13 | 7 | 87 | 40 | +47 | 65 | Division Champions, promoted |
| 2 | Exeter City | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 70 | 46 | +24 | 62 | Promoted |
| 3 | Colchester United | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 77 | 43 | +34 | 59 | Promoted |
| 4 | Bradford City | 46 | 23 | 13 | 10 | 78 | 51 | +27 | 59 | Promoted |
| 5 | Swansea City | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 92 | 68 | +24 | 58 | |

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

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Fourth Division | Fourth 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 | 53 | 0 | 44 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Micky Cook | 55 | 3 | 46 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Dowman | 42 | 12 | 33+3 | 12 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Mick Packer | 47 | 7 | 35+4 | 5 | 4+1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Lindsay Smith | 54 | 7 | 45 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Johnny Williams | 52 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ray Bunkell | 24 | 3 | 16+2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | MF | ENG | Paul Dyer | 43 | 0 | 29+5 | 0 | 4+2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Foley | 10 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Leslie | 50 | 3 | 40+1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Ian Allinson | 44 | 7 | 31+9 | 7 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | John Froggatt | 52 | 8 | 43 | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Colin Garwood | 51 | 24 | 40+2 | 16 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| | FW | ENG | Bobby Gough | 52 | 19 | 43 | 17 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||||
| | GK | ENG | Glenn Ellis | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Stewart Bright | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Barry Dominey | 3 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Colin Garwood | 16 | 4 | 4 | 24 |
| 2 | FW | Bobby Gough | 17 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| 3 | CB | Steve Dowman | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | FW | John Froggatt | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | WG | Ian Allinson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | FB | Mick Packer | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | CB | Lindsay Smith | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 8 | MF | Ray Bunkell | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | FB | Micky Cook | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | Steve Leslie | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| | | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 77 | 10 | 7 | 94 |

### Disciplinary record

| Position | Name | Fourth Division | Fourth Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| FB | Mick Packer | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| FW | John Froggatt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FB | Johnny Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | TOTALS | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | Mike Walker | 14 | 1 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | Glenn Ellis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | TOTALS | 15 | 1 | 0 | 16 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
| CB | | Steve Dowman | 24 August 1976 | Halifax Town | Layer Road | |
| GK | | Glenn Ellis | 19 February 1977 | Watford | Layer Road | |