| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1975–76 |
| Chairman: | Jack Rippingale[1] |
| Manager: | Bobby Roberts |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Third Division |
| League Result: | 22nd (relegated) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Dover) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Crystal Palace) |
| League Topscorer: | Steve Leslie (6) |
| Season Topscorer: | Steve Leslie (7) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,240 v Crystal Palace, 10 January 1976[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 2,245 v Chesterfield, 7 February 1976[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 3,385[4] |
| Largest Win: | 3–1 v Crystal Palace, 25 August 1975 2–0 v Brighton & Hove Albion, 20 September 1975 v Walsall, 11 October 1975 v Aldershot, 16 March 1976 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–6 v Brighton & Hove Albion, 17 January 1976 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _3whitestripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _white_stripes |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | 0000FF |
| Alt1: | Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; blue shorts; and white socks). |
| Prevseason: | 1974–75 |
| Nextseason: | 1976–77 |
The 1975–76 season was Colchester United's 34th season in their history and their second consecutive 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.
With Jim Smith departing for Second Division Blackburn Rovers in the summer, his former Colchester United coach Bobby Roberts was appointed manager in his place. A succession of poor results spelt relegation for Colchester, while they exited both cup competitions in the first round.
Jim Smith was prized away from Colchester by Second Division Blackburn Rovers over the summer. His coach Bobby Roberts was appointed manager but his early days in charge proved ominous for the remainder of the season. A winless first five games was only worsened by Smith returned to sign top scorer Bobby Svarc for £25,000 from the cash-strapped U's.
Colchester suffered defeat at the hands of non-League opposition in the FA Cup once again after being taken to a replay and then extra time by Dover. They were soundly beaten 4–1 at the end of extra time. They also lost out in the League Cup first round 4–3 on aggregate against Crystal Palace. Despite this, Colchester rallied for a mid-season resurgence of form to climb to twelfth position in the league table, but some crushing defeats including 6–1 at Chesterfield and 6–0 at Brighton & Hove Albion put the U's back in the relegation mire. Relegation was confirmed as Colchester finished 22nd position in the table, with Steve Leslie the club's top scorer with a record low of just six league goals.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Lee Smelt | GK | Edmonton | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Bishop's Stortford | Summer 1975 | Free transfer | |||
| Mike Walker | GK | Colwyn Bay | June 1, 1975 | 102 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Stewart Bright | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer | |||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1975 | 246 | 9 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Barry Dominey | CB | Edmonton | June 1, 1975 | 35 | 3 | Enfield WMC | September 1973 | Free transfer | |||
| Derek Harrison | CB | Littlethorpe | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Torquay United | Summer 1975 | Free transfer | |||
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | June 1, 1975 | 72 | 1 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer | |||
| Lindsay Smith | CB | Enfield | June 1, 1975 | 138 | 6 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Johnny Williams | FB | Tottenham | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Watford | June 1976 | Undisclosed | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Ray Bunkell | MF | Edmonton | June 1, 1975 | 40 | 1 | Swindon Town | December 1973 | Part exchange | |||
| Paul Dyer | MF | Leicester | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Notts County | Summer 1975 | Undisclosed | |||
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1975 | 109 | 24 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1975 | 146 | 27 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | June 1, 1975 | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer | |||
| Terry Anderson | WG | Woking | June 1, 1975 | 4 | 0 |  Baltimore Comets | 23 August 1975 | Free transfer | |||
| John Froggatt | FW | Stanton Hill | June 1, 1975 | 54 | 18 | Boston United | Summer 1974 | £6,000 | |||
| Colin Garwood | FW | Heacham | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Huddersfield Town | February 1976 | £4,000 | |||
| Bobby Gough | FW | Ladywood | June 1, 1975 | 0 | 0 | Southport | January 1976 | £7,000 | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1975 | GK | Lee Smelt | Bishop's Stortford | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| Summer 1975 | CB | Derek Harrison | Torquay United | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| Summer 1975 | MF | Paul Dyer | Notts County | Undisclosed | [9] | ||
| June 1975 | FB | Johnny Williams | Watford | Undisclosed | [10] | ||
| 23 August 1975 | WG | Terry Anderson | Baltimore Comets | Free transfer | [11] | ||
| January 1976 | FW | Bobby Gough | Southport | £7,000 | [12] | ||
| February 1976 | FW | Colin Garwood | Huddersfield Town | £4,000 | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | CB | Ray Harford | Romford | Player-coach | [14] | ||
| Summer 1975 | MF | Jimmy Lindsay | Hereford United | £13,000 | [15] | ||
| 18 August 1975 | MF | Bobby Roberts | Colchester United | Manager | [16] | ||
| October 1975 | FW | Bobby Svarc | Blackburn Rovers | £25,000 | [17] | ||
| January 1976 | MF | Phil Thomas | Free agent | Retired | [18] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 August 1975 | FB | Jon O'Donnell | Cambridge United | 16 August 1975 | [19] | ||
| January 1976 | FW | Billy Telford | Peterborough United | 7 February 1976 | [20] | ||
| 24 January 1976 | GK | Len Bond | Bristol City | 14 February 1976 | [21] | ||
| February 1976 | FW | Colin Garwood | Huddersfield Town | February 1976 |
See main article: 1975–76 Football League.
See main article: 1975–76 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1975–76 FA Cup.
[6] [22] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MF | Steve Leslie | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 2 | CB | Lindsay Smith | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 3 | MF | Steve Foley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| FW | John Froggatt | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| FW | Bobby Gough | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| FW | Bobby Svarc | 3 | 0 | 2 | 5 | |||
| 7 | MF | Ray Bunkell | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8 | FB | Mick Packer | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 9 | CB | Barry Dominey | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| MF | Paul Dyer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| FW | Colin Garwood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 12 | FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| FW | Billy Telford | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 41 | 4 | 3 | 48 | ||||
| Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League 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" | ||||||||
| MF | Steve Foley | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| FW | John Froggatt | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| FB | Johnny Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTALS | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[24]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Walker | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | ||
| TOTALS | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[25]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | Paul Dyer | 16 August 1975 | Preston North End | Deepdale | ||
| CB | Derek Harrison | 16 August 1975 | Preston North End | Deepdale | ||
| FB | Jon O'Donnell | 16 August 1975 | Preston North End | Deepdale | ||
| FB | Johnny Williams | 23 August 1975 | Mansfield Town | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Stewart Bright | 8 November 1975 | Shrewsbury Town | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Bobby Gough | 10 January 1976 | Crystal Palace | Layer Road | ||
| GK | Len Bond | 24 January 1976 | Hereford United | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Billy Telford | 24 January 1976 | Hereford United | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Colin Garwood | 14 February 1976 | Shrewsbury Town | Gay Meadow | ||
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