| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1985–86 |
| Chairman: | Jonathan Crisp[1] |
| Manager: | Cyril Lea (until 10 April) Mike Walker (from 10 April) |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Fourth Division |
| League Result: | 6th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Wycombe Wanderers) |
| Cup2: | League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Millwall) |
| Cup3: | Associate Members' Cup |
| Cup3 Result: | Preliminary round (southern section) |
| League Topscorer: | Tony Adcock (15) |
| Season Topscorer: | Tony Adcock (16) |
| Highest Attendance: | 3,927 v Exeter City, 4 October 1985[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,356 v Crewe Alexandra, 25 March 1986[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 2,253[4] |
| Largest Win: | 5–0 v Peterborough United, 22 April 1986 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–4 v Chester City, 6 November 1985 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _stripesandshouldersonwhite |
| Pattern Ra1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern So1: | _color_3_stripes_white |
| Leftarm1: | 87CEEB |
| Body1: | 87CEEB |
| Rightarm1: | 87CEEB |
| Shorts1: | 87CEEB |
| Socks1: | 87CEEB |
| Prevseason: | 1984–85 |
| Nextseason: | 1986–87 |
The 1985–86 season was Colchester United's 44th season in their history and fifth 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.
Colchester finished sixth in the league table come the end of the season, but were nine points distant of promoted Port Vale in fourth place. The U's were knocked out of the FA Cup by non-League opposition in Wycombe Wanderers in the first round, and exited the League Cup in the first round to Millwall. Despite a win against Southend United in the Associate Members' Cup, Colchester were defeated by Northampton Town who progressed from the group stages to the knockout phase of the competition.
Three weeks prior to the end of the season, manager Cyril Lea was sacked and replaced by former U's goalkeeper Mike Walker.
Following regulation changes in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster and the Bradford City stadium fire, Layer Road was facing £500,000 of safety improvements to bring the ground up to standards. With the club ailing financially, sections of the ground were closed, reducing capacity to 4,900.
Manager Cyril Lea continued a trend of recruiting former Ipswich Town by bringing in forwards Robin Turner and Trevor Whymark during the season.
In October, the club were top of the table, but after suffering six successive league defeats, four without scoring, the club slid down the table and crashed out of the FA Cup to non-League Wycombe Wanderers. They had already made an early exit to Millwall in the League Cup and would soon follow suit in the Associate Members' Cup.
Lea struggled to find a strike partner for Tony Adcock following a car crash that ended Keith Bowen's playing career. The side were otherwise free scoring, and despite a good record, Lea was sacked three weeks ahead of the end of the campaign and replaced by Reserve team coach Mike Walker. Walker, initially in a caretaker capacity, took the U's on an unbeaten run for their final eight games of the season, winning five. This left the club in sixth position in the table, nine points shy of promotion.
The season was notable for hat-tricks, with Perry Groves twice achieving the feat against Southend United and brothers Tommy and Tony English scoring hat-tricks within five days of one another. The brothers were also both sent off at Crewe Alexandra in April, a game which Colchester won 2–0.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Alec Chamberlain | GK | March | June 1, 1985 | 114 | 0 | Ipswich Town | Summer 1982 | Undisclosed | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Terry Baker | CB | Rochford | June 1, 1985 | 0 | 0 | Billericay Town | November 1985 | Free transfer | |||
| Keith Day | CB | Grays | June 1, 1985 | 52 | 4 | Aveley | Summer 1984 | Undisclosed | |||
| Tony English | DF/MF | Luton | June 1, 1985 | 25 | 3 | Coventry City | 24 December 1984 | Free transfer | |||
| Kirk Game | CB | Rochford | June 1, 1985 | 0 | 0 | Southend United | August 1985 | Free transfer | |||
| Rudi Hedman | CB | Lambeth | June 1, 1985 | 40 | 2 | Apprentice | February 1984 | Free transfer | |||
| Ian Phillips | FB | Cumnock | June 1, 1985 | 93 | 6 | Northampton Town | September 1983 | £5,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Andy Farrell | MF/FB | Colchester | June 1, 1985 | 67 | 0 | Apprentice | Summer 1982 | Free transfer | |||
| John Reeves | MF | Hackney | June 1, 1985 | 0 | 0 | Fulham | August 1985 | Undisclosed | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Tony Adcock | FW | Bethnal Green | June 1, 1985 | 171 | 84 | Apprentice | 31 March 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Simon Burman | WG/MF | Ipswich | June 1, 1985 | 9 | 0 | Apprentice | 15 February 1985 | Free transfer | |||
| Tommy English | FW | Cirencester | June 1, 1985 | 1 | 0 |  Canberra City | 8 November 1985 | Undisclosed | |||
| Mick Ferguson | FW | Newcastle upon Tyne | June 1, 1985 | 0 | 0 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 31 March 1986 | Undisclosed | |||
| Perry Groves | WG | Bow | June 1, 1985 | 133 | 17 | Cornard Dynamos | Summer 1981 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 1985 | CB | Kirk Game | Southend United | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| August 1985 | MF | John Reeves | Fulham | Undisclosed | [8] | ||
| November 1985 | CB | Terry Baker | Billericay Town | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| 8 November 1985 | FW | Tommy English | Canberra City | Undisclosed | [10] | ||
| 23 November 1985 | FW | Trevor Whymark | Diss Town | Free transfers | [11] | ||
| 20 December 1985 | FW | Robin Turner | Swansea City | Undisclosed | [12] | ||
| 31 March 1986 | FW | Mick Ferguson | Brighton & Hove Albion | Undisclosed | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | FW | Liburd Henry | Rainham Town | Free transfer | [14] | ||
| 26 October 1985 | FW | Keith Bowen | Free agent | Retired | [15] | ||
| 6 November 1985 | MF | Jeff Hull | Free agent | Retired | [16] | ||
| 14 December 1985 | FW | Trevor Whymark | Free agent | Released | |||
| 31 January 1986 | MF | Russell Irving | Stowmarket Town | Undisclosed | [17] | ||
| 31 March 1986 | MF | Noel Parkinson | Free agent | Retired | [18] | ||
| 8 April 1986 | CB | Stewart Houston | Free agent | Retired | [19] | ||
| 6 May 1986 | MF | Roger Osborne | Sudbury Town | Undisclosed | [20] | ||
| 6 May 1986 | FW | Robin Turner | Bury Town | Released |
See main article: 1985–86 Football League.
See main article: 1985–86 Football League Cup.
See main article: 1985–86 FA Cup.
See main article: 1985–86 Associate Members' Cup.
[6] [21] |-!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 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | ||
| 2 | WG | Perry Groves | 12 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 15 | ||
| 3 | DF/MF | Tony English | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 4 | FW | Tommy English | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 5 | FW | Keith Bowen | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 6 | FW | Mick Ferguson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| MF | Noel Parkinson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||
| 8 | CB | Keith Day | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 9 | MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||
| 10 | CB | Terry Baker | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | ||
| CB | Rudi Hedman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||
| 12 | FB | Ian Phillips | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 13 | WG/MF | Simon Burman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| MF | Roger Osborne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||
| TOTALS | 88 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 96 | ||||
| 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" | ||||||||||
| WG | Perry Groves | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||
| DF/MF | Tony English | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| FW | Tommy English | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| MF | John Reeves | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||||||
| CB | Keith Day | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||||
| WG/MF | Simon Burman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| MF/FB | Andy Farrell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| MF | Noel Parkinson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| FW | Tony Adcock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| FW | Keith Bowen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| FW | Mick Ferguson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| CB | Rudi Hedman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 26 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 3 | |||||||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[23]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Fourth Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alec Chamberlain | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | ||
| TOTALS | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[24]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MF | John Reeves | 17 August 1985 | Stockport County | Layer Road | ||
| CB | Kirk Game | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Tommy English | 9 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | [25] | |
| FW | Robin Turner | 8 November 1985 | Rochdale | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Trevor Whymark | 23 November 1985 | Preston North End | Deepdale | ||
| FW | Robin Turner | 20 December 1985 | Wrexham | Layer Road | [26] | |
| CB | Terry Baker | 11 January 1986 | Torquay United | Layer Road | ||
| FW | Mick Ferguson | 31 March 1986 | Peterborough United | London Road Stadium | ||
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