| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1979–80 |
| Chairman: | Jack Rippingale[1] |
| Manager: | Bobby Roberts |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Third Division |
| League Result: | 5th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Reading) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 2nd round (eliminated by Aston Villa) |
| League Topscorer: | Trevor Lee (17) |
| Season Topscorer: | Trevor Lee (18) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,221 v Aston Villa, 28 August 1979[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 2,346 v Mansfield Town, 18 September 1979[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 3,932[4] |
| Largest Win: | 6–1 v Brentford, 22 March 1980 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–3 v Rotherham United, 25 August 1979 v Chesterfield, 8 September 1979 v Blackburn Rovers, 27 October 1979 v Sheffield Wednesday, 2 February 1980 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _linesonwhite |
| Pattern B1: | _3stripesonwhite |
| Pattern Ra1: | _linesonwhite |
| Pattern Sh1: | _adidaswhite |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_blue |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | 0000FF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Alt1: | Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; blue shorts; and white socks). |
| Prevseason: | 1978–79 |
| Nextseason: | 1980–81 |
The 1979–80 season was Colchester United's 38th season in their history and third 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.
An excellent season in the league took Colchester to their highest finish since the 1956–57 season with fifth position, having occupied the top four spots for the majority of the campaign. Colchester exited the FA Cup in round three to Reading, while they fell to defeat after a penalty shoot-out to First Division side Aston Villa.
With a very much unchanged squad from the previous campaign, Colchester faced First Division opposition in the League Cup second round after beating Watford over two legs in the first round. Rekindling memories of the Quarter-final tie five years prior, the U's were drawn at home to Aston Villa, who won 2–0 at Layer Road. However, in the away fixture at Villa Park, Colchester earned a 2–0 victory to take the tie to extra time and penalties. The penalty takers were successful enough that it was necessary for the goalkeepers to take their turns. Mike Walker stepped up to take his penalty for Colchester and missed, meaning the U's bowed out 9–8.
Keeping track with the league leaders for much of the season – and even being level on points with first-placed Sheffield United at one stage – Colchester had ten away wins to their name before successive defeats to Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Reading in February and March 1980. Injuries to Steve Foley and Bobby Gough contributed to the U's downturn in form, and having occupied a top four spot for much of the season, Colchester had to be content with a fifth-place finish, six points short of the promotion places. It was the closest United had come to Second Division football since the 1956–57 season, but attendances weren't reflective of on-field performance, with a league average gate of 3,818, the third-lowest in the division ahead of Wimbledon and Chester.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | 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 | June 1, 1979 | 312 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1979 | 451 | 15 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Leo Cusenza | FB | Edmonton | June 1, 1979 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1979 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Dowman | CB | Ilford | June 1, 1979 | 141 | 24 | Apprentice | 24 August 1976 | Free transfer | |||
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | June 1, 1979 | 268 | 14 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | June 1, 1979 | 89 | 6 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 | |||
| Steve Wright | CB | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1979 | 43 | 1 | Woods Athletic | 1 October 1977 | Free transfer | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Russell Cotton | MF | Wellington | June 1, 1979 | 3 | 0 | Apprentice | 26 October 1977 | Free transfer | |||
| Tony Evans | MF | Colchester | June 1, 1979 | 16 | 2 | Apprentice | 4 March 1978 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1979 | 226 | 43 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1979 | 290 | 40 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Eddie Rowles | MF | Gosport | June 1, 1979 | 32 | 8 | Darlington | 26 December 1977 | £15,000 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | June 1, 1979 | 159 | 19 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Gough | FW | Ladywood | June 1, 1979 | 175 | 63 | Southport | January 1976 | £7,000 | |||
| Gary Harvey | FW | Colchester | June 1, 1979 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | March 1978 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Hodge | WG | Exeter | June 1, 1979 | 38 | 4 | Exeter City | September 1978 | £15,000 | |||
| Trevor Lee | FW | Lewisham | June 1, 1979 | 32 | 12 | Millwall | November 1978 | £15,000 | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 August 1979 | MF | Ray Bunkell | Colchester United reserve team manager | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| 26 December 1979 | MF | Paul Dyer | Gravesend & Northfleet | Released | [9] |
See main article: 1979–80 Football League.
See main article: 1979–80 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1979–80 FA Cup.
[6] [10] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | Trevor Lee | 17 | 0 | 1 | 18 | ||
| 2 | FW | Bobby Gough | 10 | 0 | 2 | 12 | ||
| 3 | MF | Eddie Rowles | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4 | MF | Steve Foley | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5 | WG | Bobby Hodge | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 6 | WG | Ian Allinson | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||
| FB | Mick Packer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 8 | CB | Steve Wignall | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 9 | CB | Steve Dowman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| FW | Gary Harvey | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 11 | MF | Steve Leslie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| CB | Steve Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| TOTALS | 64 | 3 | 5 | 72 | ||||
| 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" | ||||||||
| FW | Bobby Gough | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| CB | Steve Dowman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| CB | Steve Wignall | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTALS | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[12]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Walker | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 | ||
| TOTALS | 12 | 2 | 2 | 16 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[13]
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