| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1971–72 |
| Chairman: | Roy Chapman[1] |
| Manager: | Dick Graham |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Fourth Division |
| League Result: | 11th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Shrewsbury Town) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Blackpool) |
| Cup3: | Watney Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | Winners |
| League Topscorer: | Brian Lewis (15) |
| Season Topscorer: | Brian Lewis (23) |
| Highest Attendance: | 9,807 v Southend United, 18 October 1971[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 3,390 v Workington, 7 April 1972[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 5,695[4] |
| Largest Win: | 4–1 v Swindon Town, 8 September 1971 v Southend United, 28 January 1972 5–2 v Lincoln City, 15 October 1971 3–0 v Exeter City, 26 November 1971 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–4 v Blackpool, 5 October 1971 v Peterborough United, 1 April 1972 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern B1: | _with_white_collar |
| Pattern Sh1: | _white border |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | 0000FF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Alt1: | Football kit (blue jersey; blue shorts with white sides; and white socks). |
| Prevseason: | 1970–71 |
| Nextseason: | 1972–73 |
The 1971–72 season was Colchester United's 30th season in their history and their fourth successive season in the fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup, as well as being entered into the pre-season Watney Cup.
Continuing with their cup success of the previous season, Dick Graham's high-scoring side were entered into the Watney Cup, a pre-season tournament held between the two highest scoring teams in each of the four divisions in the Football League who had not achieved promotion or entered European football. Colchester defeated West Bromwich Albion in their first ever penalty shoot-out following a 4–4 draw at The Hawthorns.
Colchester reached the third round of the League Cup, where they were knocked out by Blackpool, and were eliminated from the FA Cup in the first round by Shrewsbury Town. Meanwhile, the U's ended their league campaign in eleventh position, nine points away from promotion.
Colchester's goalscoring exploits of the previous campaign enabled qualification for the 1971–72 pre-season Watney Cup competition, open to the two highest scoring teams from each division, exclusively for teams that had not achieved promotion or entered into European competition. Both Luton Town and Carlisle United were beaten at Layer Road ahead of the final, held against West Bromwich Albion at their Hawthorns stadium. The encounter registered four goals apiece, taking the fixture to a penalty shoot-out. Albion missed two penalties, while Colchester youngster Phil Bloss scored the decisive spot kick to win the competition.
Although early favourites for promotion, a club debt of over £21,000 meant that manager Dick Graham needed to inject youth into his ageing side, bringing apprentices Steve Leslie, Steve Foley, Lindsay Smith, Micky Cook and John McLaughlin to name but a few into the first-team picture during the season. All became regulars but youth alone was not sufficient for Colchester to maintain a promotion push as they finished the season in eleventh position, nine points adrift of promotion.
Meanwhile, Colchester experienced a brief run in the League Cup, defeating Brentford and Swindon Town at Layer Road in the first and second rounds respectively, but were heavily beaten at Blackpool in round three. An early exit in the FA Cup followed. After reaching the quarter-final stage last season, the U's were humbled 4–1 at home to Shrewsbury Town in the first round.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Barry Smith | GK | Colchester | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Richard Bourne | CB | Colchester | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 3 April 1972 | Free transfer | |||
| Eric Burgess | FB | Edgware | June 1, 1971 | 10 | 1 | Plymouth Argyle | December 1970 | Free transfer | |||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1971 | 61 | 0 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Brian Hall | LB | Burbage | June 1, 1971 | 305 | 31 | Mansfield Town | March 1965 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Howlett | CB | West Ham | June 1, 1971 | 18 | 0 | Southend United | Summer 1968 | Free transfer | |||
| John McLaughlin | FB | Edmonton | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 18 March 1972 | Free transfer | |||
| Lindsay Smith | CB | Enfield | June 1, 1971 | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Phil Bloss | MF | Colchester | June 1, 1971 | 1 | 1 | Apprentice | January 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1971 | 2 | 0 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Mills | MF | Edmonton | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 4 March 1972 | Free transfer | |||
| Tony Wingate | MF | Islington | June 1, 1971 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 18 March 1972 | Free transfer | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Brian Gibbs | FW | Gillingham | June 1, 1971 | 138 | 36 | Gillingham | September 1968 | £8,000 | |||
| Mick Mahon | WG | Manchester | June 1, 1971 | 47 | 7 | York City | May 1970 | Free transfer | |||
| Dave Simmons | FW | Ryde | June 1, 1971 | 15 | 6 | Aston Villa | 26 December 1970 | £6,000 | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 1971 | CB | Barry Smith | Apprentice | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| 4 March 1972 | MF | Bobby Mills | Apprentice | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| 18 March 1972 | FB | John McLaughlin | Apprentice | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| 18 March 1972 | MF | Tony Wingate | Apprentice | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| 3 April 1972 | CB | Richard Bourne | Apprentice | Free transfer | [11] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | CB | Trevor Painter | Wealdstone | Released | [12] | ||
| End of season | WG | Ray Whittaker | King's Lynn | Released | [13] | ||
| Summer 1971 | WG | Micky Brown | Wealdstone | Released | [14] | ||
| 31 May 1971 | DF | Adrian Webster | Hillingdon Borough | Released | [15] | ||
| July 1971 | GK | Brian Sherratt | Oxford City | Released | [16] | ||
| 31 July 1971 | FW | Ray Crawford | Durban City | Released | [17] | ||
| 13 November 1971 | GK | Graham Smith | West Bromwich Albion | £11,000 | [18] | ||
| December 1971 | CB | John Kurila | Lincoln City | Free transfer | [19] | ||
| January 1972 | CB | Alan Dennis | Dover | Free transfer | [20] | ||
| January 1972 | WG | Brian Owen | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Player-coach | [21] | ||
| March 1972 | FB | John Gilchrist | Tonbridge | Player-coach | [22] | ||
| March 1972 | MF | Ken Jones | Margate | Released | [23] | ||
| 31 March 1972 | FB | Bobby Cram | Royal Canada | Free transfer | [24] | ||
| 3 April 1972 | MF | Brian Lewis | Portsmouth | £8,500 | [25] | ||
| 24 April 1972 | CB | Brian Garvey | Bedford Town | Player-manager | [26] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 November 1971 | FB | Charlie Woods | Watford | 18 December 1972 | [27] | ||
| March 1972 | MF | David Burnside | Bristol City | 29 April 1972 | [28] |
See main article: 1971–72 Football League.
See main article: 1971–72 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1971–72 FA Cup.
[6] [29] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Watney Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | Brian Lewis | 15 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 23 | ||
| 2 | MF | Steve Leslie | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 3 | WG | Mick Mahon | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 4 | FB | Eric Burgess | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5 | FW | Brian Gibbs | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | ||
| 6 | MF | Steve Foley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| FB | Brian Hall | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| FW | Dave Simmons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |||
| 9 | CB | Lindsay Smith | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 10 | MF | Ken Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| CB | John Kurila | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 12 | MF | Phil Bloss | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| CB | Brian Garvey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| TOTALS | 70 | 1 | 7 | 7 | 85 | ||||
| Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Watney Cup | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | ||||||||||
| FW | Brian Gibbs | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| CB | Brian Garvey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| MF | Brian Lewis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| FB | John Gilchrist | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| MF | Ken Jones | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| CB | John Kurila | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| MF | Steve Leslie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| WG | Mick Mahon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[31]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Watney Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barry Smith | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Graham Smith | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |||
| TOTALS | 12 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 14 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[32]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Barry Smith | 28 August 1971 | Bury | Gigg Lane | ||
| FB | Charlie Woods | 26 November 1971 | Exeter City | Layer Road | ||
| MF | Steve Foley | 26 November 1971 | Exeter City | Layer Road | ||
| MF | Bobby Mills | 4 March 1972 | Brentford | Griffin Park | ||
| MF | David Burnside | 11 March 1972 | Aldershot | Layer Road | ||
| FB | John McLaughlin | 18 March 1972 | Hartlepool | Victoria Park | ||
| MF | Tony Wingate | 18 March 1972 | Hartlepool | Victoria Park | ||
| CB | Richard Bourne | 3 April 1972 | Chester | Sealand Road | ||
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