| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1981–82 |
| Chairman: | Maurice Cadman[1] |
| Manager: | Bobby Roberts (until 3 May) Ray Bunkell (from 3 May to 5 May) Allan Hunter (from 5 May) |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Fourth Division |
| League Result: | 6th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Newcastle United) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Tranmere Rovers) |
| League Topscorer: | Ian Allinson Kevin Bremner (21) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ian Allinson (26) |
| Highest Attendance: | 7,505 v Newcastle United, 18 January 1982[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,470 v Port Vale, 3 May 1982[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 3,161[4] |
| Largest Win: | 4–0 v Tranmere Rovers, 4 September 1981 v York City, 16 October 1981 v Hereford United, 20 October 1981 5–1 v Northampton Town, 2 October 1981 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–3 v York City, 5 March 1982 |
| 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: | 1980–81 |
| Nextseason: | 1982–83 |
The 1981–82 season was Colchester United's 40th season in their history and first season back in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division following relegation the previous campaign. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Colchester mounted a serious promotion challenge for much of the season, but a downturn in form in the second half of the season led to Bobby Roberts losing his job as manager, with Allan Hunter recruited to replace him in May when the U's promotion hopes were over for the season. They exited both cups in the third round, although they took Second Division Newcastle United to a thrilling extra time finale at Layer Road where the hosts were eventually defeated 4–3.
After the board had decided to keep the faith in Bobby Roberts for the new season despite relegation, the introduction of the three-points for a win format for this year helped Colchester hit the top of the league by November 1981, scoring an impressive 41 goals. The U's also reached the third round of the FA Cup, taking Newcastle United to a replay before losing 4–3 following extra time at Layer Road.
A £25,000 outlay brought forward John Lyons to Layer Road who promptly scored on his debut as Colchester thrashed promotion rivals Sheffield United 5–2 in front of the Match of the Day cameras. However, a host of injuries and suspensions in the latter stages of the season saw Colchester drop down the table, and as such the board requested Roberts resign in April. He refused to do so and was sacked a month later. Former player Ray Bunkell filled the brief void before Allan Hunter was brought in as his replacement, tasked with his first managerial role.
Colchester had gone from promotion favourites to sixth, 16 points off the promotion places, despite a prolific strike force in Ian Allinson, who scored 26 goals, and Kevin Bremner, who scored 24 goals.[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, 1981 | 418 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 | |||
| Jeff Wood | GK | Islington | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Charlton Athletic | Summer 1981 | Undisclosed | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Phil Coleman | FB | Woolwich | June 1, 1981 | 4 | 0 | Millwall | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1981 | 551 | 15 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Allan Hunter | CB | Sion Mills | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Ipswich Town | May 1982 | Player-manager | |||
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | June 1, 1981 | 366 | 21 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer | |||
| Wayne Ward | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | April 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | June 1, 1981 | 183 | 11 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Andy Gooding | MF | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1981 | 391 | 41 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Dennis Longhorn | MF | Hythe | June 1, 1981 | 26 | 0 | Aldershot | May 1980 | Free transfer | |||
| Roger Osborne | MF | Otley | June 1, 1981 | 12 | 0 | Ipswich Town | February 1981 | £25,000 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | June 1, 1981 | 1 | 0 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | June 1, 1981 | 257 | 30 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer | |||
| Kevin Bremner | FW | Banff | June 1, 1981 | 38 | 10 | Keith | October 1980 | £25,000 | |||
| Perry Groves | WG | Bow | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Cornard Dynamos | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| John Lyons | FW | Buckley | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Cambridge United | February 1982 | £25,000 | |||
| Roy McDonough | FW | Solihull | June 1, 1981 | 12 | 2 | Chelsea | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| John Taylor | FW | Norwich | June 1, 1981 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1981 | GK | Jeff Wood | Charlton Athletic | Undisclosed | [7] | ||
| Summer 1981 | MF | Andy Gooding | Apprentice | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| Summer 1981 | WG | Perry Groves | Cornard Dynamos | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| Summer 1981 | FW | John Taylor | Apprentice | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| February 1982 | FW | John Lyons | Cambridge United | £25,000 | [11] | ||
| April 1982 | FB | Wayne Ward | Apprentice | Free transfer | [12] | ||
| May 1982 | CB | Allan Hunter | Ipswich Town | Player-manager | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | FB | Nigel Crouch | Harwich & Parkeston | Released | [14] | ||
| End of season | FB | Leo Cusenza | Harlow Town | Released | [15] | ||
| End of season | MF | Tony Evans | Tiptree United | Released | [16] | ||
| End of season | WG | Bobby Hodge | Torquay United | Released | [17] | ||
| End of season | FW | Gary Harvey | Harwich & Parkeston | Released | [18] | ||
| 12 September 1981 | MF | Steve Foley | Wivenhoe Town | Released | [19] | ||
| 23 January 1982 | MF | Eddie Rowles | Free agent | Retired | [20] | ||
| 30 March 1982 | MF | Russell Cotton | Free agent | Released | [21] | ||
| 7 May 1982 | CB | Steve Wright |  HJK Helsinki | Undisclosed | [22] |
See main article: 1981–82 Football League.
See main article: 1981–82 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1981–82 FA Cup.
[6] [23] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WG | Ian Allinson | 21 | 3 | 2 | 26 | ||
| 2 | FW | Kevin Bremner | 21 | 0 | 3 | 24 | ||
| 3 | FW | Roy McDonough | 14 | 0 | 2 | 16 | ||
| 4 | FW | Tony Adcock | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 | ||
| FB | Micky Cook | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | |||
| 6 | MF | Roger Osborne | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7 | FB | Phil Coleman | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 8 | MF | Steve Leslie | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||
| FW | John Lyons | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 10 | FB | Mick Packer | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| CB | Steve Wignall | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | ||||
| TOTALS | 82 | 8 | 8 | 98 | ||||
| Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth 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" | ||||||||
| CB | Steve Wright | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| FW | Roy McDonough | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| TOTALS | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[25]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Walker | 10 | 2 | 1 | 13 | ||
| TOTALS | 10 | 2 | 1 | 13 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[26]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FW | John Lyons | 6 February 1982 | Sheffield United | Layer Road | ||
| WG | Perry Groves | 10 April 1982 | Bournemouth | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Wayne Ward | 24 April 1982 | Darlington | Layer Road | ||
| CB | Allan Hunter | 15 May 1982 | Crewe Alexandra | Gresty Road | ||
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