| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1982–83 |
| Chairman: | Maurice Cadman[1] |
| Manager: | Allan Hunter (until 18 January) Cyril Lea (from 1 February) |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Fourth Division |
| League Result: | 6th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Torquay United) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 2nd round (eliminated by Southampton) |
| Cup3: | Football League Trophy |
| Cup3 Result: | Group stage |
| League Topscorer: | Ian Allinson (22) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ian Allinson (26) |
| Highest Attendance: | 7,679 v Southampton, 6 October 1982[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,625 v Stockport County, 17 December 1982[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,690[4] |
| Largest Win: | 5–1 v Scunthorpe United, 15 April 1983 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–4 v Halifax Town, 14 January 1983 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _thinwhitestripes2 |
| Pattern Ra1: | _shoulder_stripes_white_stripes |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | FFFFFF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Prevseason: | 1981–82 |
| Nextseason: | 1983–84 |
The 1982–83 season was Colchester United's 41st season in their history and second consecutive season in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Football League Trophy.
Colchester challenged for the top four but once again fell short, on this occasion missing promotion by just two points. A tragic season saw forward John Lyons take his own life, while Allan Hunter resigned two months later, replaced by his assistant Cyril Lea in February.
In the cups, Colchester were entered into the second and final iteration of the Football League Trophy, which the U's exited at the group stage, which defeats to Southampton and Torquay United in the second and first round of the League and FA Cup respectively denied the club a cup run.
Allan Hunter continued in his role as player-manager for the new season, with former Ipswich Town coach Cyril Lea his assistant. Colchester led the table undefeated after seven games and earned a League Cup second round tie against Southampton. Following a 0–0 draw at Layer Road, with England international Peter Shilton in inspired form, the U's could not repeat their heroics from 1974 at The Dell, losing 4–2 and making another early exit.
The season then took a tragic turn, when in November, just hours after turning out for the U's against Chester City, forward John Lyons committed suicide at his home in Layer de la Haye. After this incident and having to give up his own playing career, Allan Hunter resigned as manager in January with Colchester in seventh place. Cyril Lea took over initially until the end of the campaign and promptly won eight of his first eleven games. However, four defeats in 17 days during April cost the U's and they finished sixth position in the league, missing promotion by just two points.
Ian Allinson ended the season as Colchester's top scorer with 26 league and cup goals, while youth graduate Tony Adcock scored 17 goals. Veteran goalkeeper Mike Walker, who had missed just nine games in ten seasons for the club, announced his retirement at the end of the season.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Alec Chamberlain | GK | March | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Ipswich Town | Summer 1982 | Undisclosed | |||
| Ian Cranstone | GK | Rochford | 0 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | Summer 1977 | Free transfer | ||||
| Bobby Hamilton | GK | 0 | 0 | Unknown | Summer 1977 | ||||||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Phil Coleman | FB | Woolwich | June 1, 1982 | 51 | 4 | Millwall | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | June 1, 1982 | 607 | 21 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer | |||
| Adrian Keith | CB | Colchester | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | December 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| Wayne Ward | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1982 | 5 | 0 | Apprentice | April 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | June 1, 1982 | 236 | 12 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Andy Farrell | MF/FB | Colchester | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| Andy Gooding | MF | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||||
| Jeff Hull | MF | Rochford | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Basildon United | 17 December 1982 | Undisclosed | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1982 | 435 | 44 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Roger Osborne | MF | Otley | June 1, 1982 | 60 | 5 | Ipswich Town | February 1981 | £25,000 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | June 1, 1982 | 49 | 6 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Keith Bowen | FW | Northampton | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Brentford | 25 March 1983 | £10,000 | |||
| Perry Groves | WG | Bow | June 1, 1982 | 9 | 0 | Cornard Dynamos | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Roy McDonough | FW | Solihull | June 1, 1982 | 62 | 18 | Chelsea | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Craig Oldfield | FW | Warley | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Stowmarket Town | Summer 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| John Taylor | FW | Norwich | June 1, 1982 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1982 | GK | Alec Chamberlain | Ipswich Town | Undisclosed | [7] | ||
| Summer 1982 | CB | Kevin Beattie | Free agent | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| Summer 1982 | MF/FB | Andy Farrell | Apprentice | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| Summer 1982 | FW | Craig Oldfield | Stowmarket Town | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| December 1982 | CB | Adrian Keith | West Ham United | Free transfer | [11] | ||
| 17 December 1982 | MF | Jeff Hull | Basildon United | Undisclosed | [12] | ||
| 25 March 1983 | FW | Keith Bowen | Brentford | £10,000 | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | GK | Jeff Wood |  HJK Helsinki | Free transfer | [14] | ||
| November 1982 | CB | Kevin Beattie | Middlesbrough | Free transfer | |||
| 9 November 1982 | FW | John Lyons | [15] | ||||
| January 1983 | CB | Allan Hunter | Free agent | Retired | [16] | ||
| February 1983 | FW | Kevin Bremner | Millwall | £25,000 | [17] | ||
| 22 April 1983 | MF | Dennis Longhorn | Chelmsford City | Released | [18] | ||
| 2 May 1983 | GK | Mike Walker | Free agent | Retired | [19] | ||
| 13 May 1983 | FB | Mick Packer | Wivenhoe Town | Became player-manager | [20] | ||
| 13 May 1983 | WG | Ian Allinson | Arsenal | Free transfer | [21] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1983 | FW | John Linford | Ipswich Town | 1 March 1983 | [22] | ||
| 12 March 1983 | FW | Keith Bowen | Brentford | 19 March 1983 |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | End date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October 1982 | FW | Kevin Bremner | Birmingham City | October 1982 | |||
| December 1982 | FW | Kevin Bremner | Wrexham | December 1982 | |||
| January 1983 | FW | Kevin Bremner | Plymouth Argyle | January 1983 |
See main article: 1982–83 Football League.
See main article: 1982–83 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1982–83 FA Cup.
[6] [23] |-!colspan="16"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | WG | Ian Allinson | 22 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 26 | ||
| 2 | FW | Tony Adcock | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | ||
| 3 | FW | John Lyons | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 4 | FW | Roy McDonough | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5 | CB | Steve Wignall | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6 | FW | Keith Bowen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| MF | Jeff Hull | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 8 | FB | Phil Coleman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| WG | Perry Groves | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 10 | FW | Kevin Bremner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| MF | Roger Osborne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 12 | FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF | Steve Leslie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 75 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 86 | ||||
| Nationality | Position | Name | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | 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" | ||||||||||
| FB | Micky Cook | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| FW | Roy McDonough | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| FB | Mick Packer | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| CB | Steve Wignall | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[25]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mike Walker | 15 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 19 | ||
| 2 | Alec Chamberlain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| TOTALS | 16 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 20 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[26]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Kevin Beattie | 17 August 1982 | Watford | Vicarage Road | ||
| MF | Jeff Hull | 17 December 1982 | Stockport County | Layer Road | ||
| CB | Adrian Keith | 1 January 1983 | Torquay United | Plainmoor | ||
| GK | Alec Chamberlain | 3 January 1983 | Hartlepool United | Layer Road | ||
| FW | John Linford | 14 January 1983 | Halifax Town | The Shay | ||
| FW | Keith Bowen | 12 March 1983 | Bury | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Keith Bowen | 25 March 1983 | Tranmere Rovers | Layer Road | [27] | |
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