| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1983–84 |
| Chairman: | Maurice Cadman[1] |
| Manager: | Cyril Lea |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Fourth Division |
| League Result: | 8th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Charlton Athletic) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 3rd round (eliminated by Manchester United) |
| Cup3: | Associate Members' Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | 2nd round (southern section) (eliminated by Southend United |
| League Topscorer: | Tony Adcock (26) |
| Season Topscorer: | Tony Adcock (33) |
| Highest Attendance: | 13,031 v Manchester United, 9 November 1983[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,226 v Torquay United, 28 April 1984[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,847[4] |
| Largest Win: | 6–0 v Hartlepool United, 3 December 1983 |
| Largest Loss: | 1–5 v Aldershot, 23 April 1984 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _blue_stripes4 |
| Pattern B1: | _bluestripes4 |
| Pattern Ra1: | _blue_stripes4 |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | FFFFFF |
| Socks1: | FFFFFF |
| Prevseason: | 1982–83 |
| Nextseason: | 1984–85 |
The 1983–84 season was Colchester United's 42nd season in their history and third 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 Associate Members' Cup.
Another promotion push ended a long way short with an eighth-placed finish, 15 points shy of the promotion places. Colchester reached the third round of the League Cup, where they faced Manchester United at Layer Road only to suffer a 2–0 defeat. They also reached the third round of the FA Cup, exiting to Charlton Athletic. In the inaugural Associate Members' Cup, the U's fell to a 2–0 defeat to Essex rivals Southend United in the second round.
Cyril Lea began his first full season in charge by bringing in assistant Stewart Houston in a player-coach capacity. He had however already seen the frustrating exit of last seasons top scorer Ian Allinson, who was allowed to leave the club for Arsenal on a free transfer following an administrative error.
In the early stages of the season, Colchester kept pace with the leaders as they embarked on a League Cup run. Following a 1–1 draw at Second Division Swansea City, chairman Maurice Cadman pledged Lea funds to purchase two players if there was an attendance greater than 5,000 in the second leg of the tie. As such, 5,204 were in attendance to see the U's beat the Swans 1–0. They were drawn at home to Manchester United in the third round as Layer Road saw its final-ever five figure gate when 13,031 saw the 2–0 defeat for the U's.
Colchester's form tailed off in the latter stages of the season as they ended the season 15 points adrift of the promotion places in eighth position, despite Tony Adcock's 33 goals. Now frustrated at his board's successive attempts to fund promotion that ultimately ended in failure, Maurice Cadman announced that win bonuses would be dropped for the 1984–85 season replaced by an insurance-backed promotion bonus. He also announced that the club had been put up for sale at a value of £150,000.
Attendances on average were up, largely in thanks to the cup runs, but otherwise league attendances dropped off, and a new low of 1,226 witnessed Colchester's 3–0 win over Torquay United on 28 April 1984. Meanwhile, stalwarts Micky Cook, who had set a club record of 614 league appearances, and Steve Leslie both retired through injury.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Alec Chamberlain | GK | March | June 1, 1983 | 4 | 0 | Ipswich Town | Summer 1982 | Undisclosed | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Phil Coleman | FB | Woolwich | June 1, 1983 | 96 | 7 | Millwall | February 1981 | £15,000 | |||
| Tony Hadley | CB | Upminster | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Southend United | August 1983 | Undisclosed | |||
| Rudi Hedman | CB | Lambeth | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | February 1984 | Free transfer | |||
| Stewart Houston | CB | Dunoon | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Sheffield United | Summer 1983 | Undisclosed | |||
| Ian Phillips | FB | Cumnock | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Northampton Town | September 1983 | £5,000 | |||
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | June 1, 1983 | 288 | 17 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Andy Farrell | MF/FB | Colchester | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| Jeff Hull | MF | Rochford | June 1, 1983 | 27 | 4 | Basildon United | 17 December 1982 | Undisclosed | |||
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | June 1, 1983 | 471 | 45 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer | |||
| Roger Osborne | MF | Otley | June 1, 1983 | 113 | 7 | Ipswich Town | February 1981 | £25,000 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | June 1, 1983 | 83 | 23 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Keith Bowen | FW | Northampton | June 1, 1983 | 13 | 4 | Brentford | 25 March 1983 | £10,000 | |||
| Perry Groves | WG | Bow | June 1, 1983 | 31 | 3 | Cornard Dynamos | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Dave Hubbick | FW | South Shields | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Dagenham | 15 October 1983 | Free transfer | |||
| Les Mutrie | FW | Newcastle upon Tyne | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Hull City | January 1984 | £10,000 | |||
| Craig Oldfield | FW | Warley | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Stowmarket Town | Summer 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| John Taylor | FW | Norwich | June 1, 1983 | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1983 | CB | Stewart Houston | Sheffield United | Undisclosed | [7] | ||
| August 1983 | CB | Tony Hadley | Southend United | Undisclosed | [8] | ||
| September 1983 | FB | Ian Phillips | Northampton Town | £5,000 | [9] | ||
| October 1983 | CB | Adam Nichols | Wits University | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| 15 October 1983 | FW | Dave Hubbick | Dagenham | Free transfer | [11] | ||
| January 1984 | FW | Les Mutrie | Hull City | £10,000 | [12] | ||
| February 1984 | CB | Rudi Hedman | Apprentice | Free transfer | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | GK | Ian Cranstone | Wealdstone | Free transfer | [14] | ||
| End of season | GK | Bobby Hamilton | Free agent | Released | [15] | ||
| End of season | CB | Adrian Keith | Haverhill Rovers | Released | [16] | ||
| End of season | FB | Wayne Ward | Wivenhoe Town | Released | [17] | ||
| End of season | MF | Andy Gooding | Wivenhoe Town | Released | [18] | ||
| Summer 1983 | FW | Roy McDonough | Southend United | Undisclosed | [19] | ||
| 2 January 1984 | CB | Adam Nichols | Free agent | Released | |||
| 14 April 1984 | FB | Micky Cook | Free agent | Retired | [20] |
See main article: 1983–84 Football League.
See main article: 1983–84 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1983–84 FA Cup.
See main article: 1983–84 Football League Trophy.
[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 | FW | Tony Adcock | 26 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 33 | ||
| 2 | FW | Keith Bowen | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | ||
| 3 | CB | Steve Wignall | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 4 | CB | Stewart Houston | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| FB | Ian Phillips | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |||
| 6 | FB | Micky Cook | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| WG | Perry Groves | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| FW | Les Mutrie | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 9 | MF | Jeff Hull | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF | Steve Leslie | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| CB | Adam Nichols | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| MF | Roger Osborne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| TOTALS | 69 | 6 | 8 | 2 | 85 | ||||
| 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" | ||||||||||
| CB | Tony Hadley | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| FB | Micky Cook | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | |||||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[25]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alec Chamberlain | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | ||
| TOTALS | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[26]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Tony Hadley | 27 August 1983 | Darlington | Feethams | ||
| CB | Stewart Houston | 27 August 1983 | Darlington | Feethams | ||
| MF | Andy Farrell | 27 August 1983 | Darlington | Feethams | ||
| FW | Craig Oldfield | 3 September 1983 | Blackpool | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Ian Phillips | 9 September 1983 | Stockport County | Edgeley Park | ||
| FW | John Taylor | 14 September 1983 | Reading | Elm Park | ||
| FW | Dave Hubbick | 15 October 1983 | Northampton Town | Layer Road | ||
| CB | Adam Nichols | 18 October 1983 | Bury | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Les Mutrie | 28 January 1984 | Stockport County | Layer Road | ||
| CB | Rudi Hedman | 4 March 1984 | Bury | Gigg Lane | ||
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