| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1980–81 |
| Chairman: | Jack Rippingale[1] |
| Manager: | Bobby Roberts |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Third Division |
| League Result: | 22nd (relegated) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Watford) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Gillingham) |
| League Topscorer: | Kevin Bremner (10) |
| Season Topscorer: | Kevin Bremner (8) |
| Highest Attendance: | 7,769 v Watford, 3 January 1981[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,430 v Carlisle United, 2 May 1981[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,956[4] |
| Largest Win: | 3–0 v Millwall, 13 September 1980 v Portsmouth, 22 November 1980 v Oxford United, 29 November 1980 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–4 v Exeter City, 30 August 1980 v Carlisle United, 6 December 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 |
| Prevseason: | 1979–80 |
| Nextseason: | 1981–82 |
The 1980–81 season was Colchester United's 39th season in their history and fourth 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.
On the back of the success of the previous season, Colchester crashed out of the Third Division, relegated in 22nd-position. Several winless streaks contributed to their downfall. In the cup competitions, the U's were defeated in the first round of the League Cup by Gillingham, while Watford overcame Colchester in the third round of the FA Cup.
The club's chairman warned financial difficulties would result in an exodus of players, but in the summer months, only Steve Dowman left the club, joining Wrexham for £75,000. The club also received their first-ever shirt sponsorship from Royal London Insurance.
In the opening game of the season in the League Cup against Gillingham, debutant Nigel Crouch became the first Colchester player to be sent off on their debut following an altercation with Gillingham's Steve Bruce. Colchester failed to win any of their opening eight games. When they beat Millwall 3–0 in their ninth game, it attracted national media coverage. Sergeant Frank Ruggles of Essex Police marched on the field during play and attempted to arrest Millwall defender Mel Blyth for swearing.
Manager Bobby Roberts signed unknown Highland League player Kevin Bremner for a then-club record £25,000. Following this came six consecutive home wins, and Colchester were well-placed in the table by Christmas. However, after Trevor Lee moved to Gillingham for a club record deal worth £90,000, the U's form dipped and they began to slip down the table again. In response to this, on transfer deadline day, Roberts matched Colchester's record fee paid for Bremner, signing Roger Osborne from Ipswich Town, while also paying £15,000 each for Roy McDonough and Phil Coleman.
Eight games without a win from March to the penultimate game of the season ensured Colchester were relegated by just two points. Amid news of a 25,000 all-seater stadium development in the pipeline, the stark reality was that a new all-time low attendance of 1,430 witnessed the final day 1–0 win over Carlisle United, with a league average of just 2,641.
Despite relegation, Roberts was given a vote of confidence by the board, while the local Council refused the new stadium plans ensuring the U's would remain at Layer Road for the foreseeable future.[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, 1980 | 366 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Phil Coleman | FB | Woolwich | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Millwall | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1980 | 501 | 15 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Nigel Crouch | FB | Ardleigh | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Ipswich Town | Summer 1980 | Free transfer | |||
| Leo Cusenza | FB | Edmonton | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1979 | Free transfer | |||
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | June 1, 1980 | 317 | 18 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | June 1, 1980 | 135 | 9 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 | |||
| Steve Wright | CB | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1980 | 76 | 2 | Woods Athletic | 1 October 1977 | Free transfer | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Russell Cotton | MF | Wellington | June 1, 1980 | 7 | 0 | Apprentice | 26 October 1977 | Free transfer | |||
| Tony Evans | MF | Colchester | June 1, 1980 | 22 | 2 | Apprentice | 4 March 1978 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | June 1, 1980 | 276 | 51 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1980 | 344 | 41 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Dennis Longhorn | MF | Hythe | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Aldershot | May 1980 | Free transfer | |||
| Roger Osborne | MF | Otley | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Ipswich Town | February 1981 | £25,000 | |||
| Eddie Rowles | MF | Gosport | June 1, 1980 | 71 | 18 | Darlington | 26 December 1977 | £15,000 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | June 1, 1980 | 205 | 23 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer | |||
| Kevin Bremner | FW | Banff | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Keith | October 1980 | £25,000 | |||
| Gary Harvey | FW | Colchester | June 1, 1980 | 4 | 2 | Apprentice | March 1978 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Hodge | WG | Exeter | June 1, 1980 | 82 | 10 | Exeter City | September 1978 | £15,000 | |||
| Roy McDonough | FW | Solihull | June 1, 1980 | 0 | 0 | Chelsea | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1980 | FB | Nigel Crouch | Ipswich Town | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| May 1980 | MF | Dennis Longhorn | Aldershot | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| October 1980 | FW | Kevin Bremner | Keith | £25,000 | [9] | ||
| February 1981 | FB | Phil Coleman | Millwall | £15,000 | [10] | ||
| February 1981 | MF | Roger Osborne | Ipswich Town | £25,000 | [11] | ||
| February 1981 | FW | Roy McDonough | Chelsea | £15,000 | [12] | ||
| 31 March 1981 | FW | Tony Adcock | Apprentice | Free transfer | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | CB | Steve Dowman | Wrexham | £75,000 | [14] | ||
| 3 January 1981 | FW | Trevor Lee | Gillingham | £90,000 | [15] | ||
| March 1981 | FW | Bobby Gough | Hendon | Released | [16] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Late 1980 | MF | Tony Evans | Kongsvinger | Late 1980 | [17] | ||
| Late 1980 | FW | Gary Harvey | Kongsvinger | Late 1980 | [18] |
See main article: 1980–81 Football League.
See main article: 1980–81 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1980–81 FA Cup.
[6] [19] |-!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 | Kevin Bremner | 8 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 2 | FW | Trevor Lee | 7 | 2 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 3 | WG | Ian Allinson | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 4 | WG | Bobby Hodge | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 5 | MF | Steve Foley | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| FW | Bobby Gough | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |||
| 7 | FB | Mick Packer | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 8 | FW | Roy McDonough | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| MF | Eddie Rowles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| CB | Steve Wignall | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 11 | MF | Russell Cotton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 45 | 6 | 1 | 52 | ||||
| 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" | ||||||||
| FB | Nigel Crouch | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| MF | Steve Foley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTALS | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[21]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Walker | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | ||
| TOTALS | 12 | 2 | 0 | 14 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[22]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FB | Nigel Crouch | 9 August 1980 | Gillingham | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Leo Cusenza | 9 August 1980 | Gillingham | Layer Road | ||
| MF | Dennis Longhorn | 9 August 1980 | Gillingham | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Kevin Bremner | 11 October 1980 | Barnsley | Layer Road | ||
| MF | Roger Osborne | 14 February 1981 | Burnley | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Roy McDonough | 14 February 1981 | Burnley | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Phil Coleman | 21 February 1981 | Chester | Sealand Road | ||
| FW | Tony Adcock | 2 May 1981 | Carlisle United | Layer Road | ||
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