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Colchester United

1976–77 season
Chairman	Jack Rippingale
Manager	Bobby Roberts
Stadium	Layer Road
Fourth Division	3rd (promoted)
FA Cup	4th round (eliminated by Derby County)
League Cup	1st round (eliminated by Millwall)
Top goalscorer	League: Bobby Gough (17) All: Colin Garwood (24)
Highest home attendance	14,030 v Derby County, 29 January 1977
Lowest home attendance	2,489 v Halifax Town, 24 August 1976
Average home league attendance	4,944
Biggest win	5–0 v Newport County, 1 January 1977
Biggest defeat	0–2 v Cambridge United, 21 August 1976 v Scunthorpe United, 23 October 1976 v Darlington, 7 May 1977
Home colours
← 1975–761977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Colchester United's 35th season in their history and first season back in fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division following relegation the previous season. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Colchester bounced back to the Third Division at the first attempt under Bobby Roberts with a largely unchanged team from the previous season. He led them to a third-place finish in the league, while in the FA Cup, Colchester took First Division Derby County to a replay in the fourth round. In the League Cup, it took Second Division Millwall three attempts to dispatch the U's in a replay following the initial two legs.

Season overview

Colchester made an instant return to the Third Division after the board kept the faith in manager Bobby Roberts. The season began strongly with twelve successive home victories. Despite a first round League Cup defeat to Millwall, an impressive FA Cup run saw the U's lose out in the fourth round to First Division Derby County in a replay at the Baseball Ground. Over 14,000 fans had seen Colin Garwood equalise in the seventh minute of injury time in the first match at Layer Road.

A settled side aided Colchester's progress across the season. Eight players played over 40 of the 46 league games. The two favoured forwards of Bobby Gough and Colin Garwood registered 17 and 16 goals respectively, while centre-half Steve Dowman scored twelve goals in his debut season. Colchester were promoted in third position behind only Cambridge United and Exeter City.

Players

As of match played 14 May 1977.

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Mike Walker	GK		Colwyn Bay	(1945-11-28)28 November 1945 (aged 30)	149	0	Watford	July 1973	£4,000
Defenders
Micky Cook	FB		Enfield	(1951-04-09)9 April 1951 (aged 25)	289	10	Orient	1 March 1969	Free transfer
Steve Dowman	CB		Ilford	(1958-04-15)15 April 1958 (aged 18)	0	0	Apprentice	24 August 1976	Free transfer
Mick Packer	FB		Willesden	(1950-04-20)20 April 1950 (aged 26)	120	4	Watford	July 1973	Free transfer
Lindsay Smith	CB		Enfield	(1954-09-18)18 September 1954 (aged 21)	183	12	Apprentice	20 April 1971	Free transfer
Johnny Williams	FB		Tottenham	(1947-03-26)26 March 1947 (aged 29)	39	0	Watford	June 1976	Undisclosed
Midfielders
Ray Bunkell	MF		Edmonton	(1949-09-18)18 September 1949 (aged 26)	85	5	Swindon Town	December 1973	Part exchange
Paul Dyer	MF		Leicester	(1953-01-24)24 January 1953 (aged 23)	40	2	Notts County	Summer 1975	Undisclosed
Steve Foley	MF		Clacton-on-Sea	(1953-06-21)21 June 1953 (aged 22)	139	29	Apprentice	July 1969	Free transfer
Steve Leslie	MF		Hornsey	(1952-09-04)4 September 1952 (aged 23)	187	34	Apprentice	20 April 1971	Free transfer
Forwards
Ian Allinson	WG		Hitchin	(1957-10-01)1 October 1957 (aged 18)	6	0	Apprentice	Summer 1974	Free transfer
John Froggatt	FW		Stanton Hill	(1945-12-13)13 December 1945 (aged 30)	98	23	Boston United	Summer 1974	£6,000
Colin Garwood	FW		Heacham	(1949-06-29)29 June 1949 (aged 26)	15	2	Huddersfield Town	February 1976	£4,000
Bobby Gough	FW		Ladywood	(1949-07-20)20 July 1949 (aged 26)	22	5	Southport	January 1976	£7,000

1. ^ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
24 August 1976	CB		Steve Dowman	Apprentice	Free transfer

• Total spending: ~ £0

1. Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	CB		Barry Dominey	Yeovil Town	Released
End of season	CB		Derek Harrison	Salisbury City	Released
End of season	WG		Terry Anderson	Free agent	Released
August 1976	GK		Lee Smelt	Margate	Free transfer
23 November 1976	FB		Stewart Bright	Chelmsford City	Free transfer

• Total incoming: ~ £0

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
19 February 1977	GK		Glenn Ellis	Ipswich Town	22 February 1977

1. Loan start and end dates refer to the date of the player's first and final games for the club

Match details

Fourth Division

Results round by round

League table

Matches

21 August 1976 (1976-08-21) 1	Cambridge United	2–0	Colchester United	Cambridge
	Biley 8', 38'	Report		Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 3,056 Referee: John Homewood

24 August 1976 (1976-08-24) 2	Colchester United	3–0	Halifax Town	Colchester
	Allinson 74', 75' Gough 89'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 2,489 Referee: D Reeves

28 August 1976 (1976-08-28) 3	Rochdale	1–0	Colchester United	Rochdale
	Hanvey 65'	Report		Stadium: Spotland Stadium Attendance: 1,440 Referee: T Mills

4 September 1976 (1976-09-04) 4	Colchester United	3–1	Exeter City	Colchester
	Froggatt 25' Cook 54' Garwood 59'	Report	Smith 30' (o.g.)	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 2,516 Referee: Colin Downey

11 September 1976 (1976-09-11) 5	Watford	2–1	Colchester United	Watford
	Garner 76' Mayes 78'	Report	Dowman 65' Packer  72'	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 5,386 Referee: A Turvey

18 September 1976 (1976-09-18) 6	Colchester United	3–2	Crewe Alexandra	Colchester
	Froggatt 11' Garwood 46' Allinson 65'	Report	Abbott 2', 20'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 2,519 Referee: Tom Bune

1 October 1976 (1976-10-01) 8	Colchester United	3–1	Workington	Colchester
	Garwood 10', 20' Gough 82'	Report	Lowrey 70'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 2,957 Referee: Alan Gunn

16 October 1976 (1976-10-16) 10	Colchester United	6–2	Hartlepool	Colchester
	Gough 2', 34' Garwood 8', 17', 67' Allinson 57'	Report	Bielby 12', 25'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,180 Referee: R Robinson

23 October 1976 (1976-10-23) 11	Scunthorpe United	2–0	Colchester United	Scunthorpe
	Pilling 40' Keeley 61'	Report		Stadium: Old Showground Attendance: 3,157 Referee: R Horner

25 October 1976 (1976-10-25) 12	Doncaster Rovers	3–2	Colchester United	Doncaster
	Taylor 5' Kitchen 20' Laidlaw 80'	Report	Packer 26' (pen.) Cook 28'	Stadium: Belle Vue Attendance: 3,856 Referee: T Morris

30 October 1976 (1976-10-30) 13	Colchester United	2–1	Brentford	Colchester
	Garwood 18' Cook 24'	Report	Cross 19'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,607 Referee: Ron Challis

1 November 1976 (1976-11-01) 14	Colchester United	4–0	Torquay United	Colchester
	Gough 15' Garwood 25', 30' Dowman 43'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,102 Referee: M Taylor

12 November 1976 (1976-11-12) 15	Colchester United	1–0	Stockport County	Colchester
	Dowman 85'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,948 Referee: B Daniels

27 November 1976 (1976-11-27) 16	Barnsley	0–1	Colchester United	Barnsley
		Report	Garwood 8'	Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 5,662 Referee: J Rice

4 December 1976 (1976-12-04) 17	Colchester United	4–0	Darlington	Colchester
	Gough 8' Dowman 36', 75' Smith 80'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 2,951 Referee: P Reeves

18 December 1976 (1976-12-18) 18	Bradford City	1–0	Colchester United	Bradford
	Cooke 39'	Report		Stadium: Valley Parade Attendance: 4,173 Referee: A Saunders

27 December 1976 (1976-12-27) 19	Colchester United	1–0	Aldershot	Colchester
	Smith 43'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,007 Referee: C Maskell

28 December 1976 (1976-12-28) 20	Swansea City	2–1	Colchester United	Swansea
	May 77' Charles 87'	Report	Bunkell 49'	Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 5,666 Referee: B James

1 January 1977 (1977-01-01) 21	Colchester United	5–0	Newport County	Colchester
	Gough 6', 63' Smith 25' Dowman 52' Garwood 64'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,614 Referee: Alf Grey

3 January 1977 (1977-01-03) 22	Brentford	1–4	Colchester United	Brentford
	McCulloch 25'	Report	Garwood 47' Gough 67', 85' Dowman 80'	Stadium: Griffin Park Attendance: 4,610 Referee: Tom Bune

18 January 1977 (1977-01-18) 23	Colchester United	4–1	Southport	Colchester
	Bunkell 18' Garwood 48' Packer 76' (pen.) Allinson 84'	Report	Dewsnip 88'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,634 Referee: Rob Lewis

21 January 1977 (1977-01-21) 24	Colchester United	0–1	Cambridge United	Colchester
		Report	Spriggs 24'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,639 Referee: T Spencer

5 February 1977 (1977-02-05) 25	Colchester United	1–0	Rochdale	Colchester
	Dowman 27'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,943 Referee: K Salmon

12 February 1977 (1977-02-12) 26	Exeter City	1–0	Colchester United	Exeter
	Hodge 6'	Report		Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 6,132 Referee: Malcolm Sinclair

19 February 1977 (1977-02-19) 27	Colchester United	1–0	Watford	Colchester
	Packer 13' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,678 Referee: D Smith

22 February 1977 (1977-02-22) 28	Newport County	1–2	Colchester United	Newport
	Emanuel 49'	Report	Gough 44', 55'	Stadium: Somerton Park Attendance: 1,575 Referee: W Harvey

26 February 1977 (1977-02-26) 29	Crewe Alexandra	1–0	Colchester United	Crewe
	Smith 31' (o.g.)	Report		Stadium: Gresty Road Attendance: 2,410 Referee: K Hacken

4 March 1977 (1977-03-04) 30	Colchester United	1–0	Bournemouth	Colchester
	Froggatt 14'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,948 Referee: M Taylor

8 March 1977 (1977-03-08) 31	Halifax Town	1–2	Colchester United	Halifax
	Lawson 44' (pen.)	Report	Packer 35' Leslie 88'	Stadium: The Shay Attendance: 2,097 Referee: N Glover

12 March 1977 (1977-03-12) 32	Workington	2–4	Colchester United	Workington
	Kavanagh 39' Prudham 44'	Report	Froggatt 37' Gough 53' Dowman 53' Dowman 66' Packer 83' (pen.)	Stadium: Borough Park Attendance: 1,223 Referee: Bob Matthewson

19 March 1977 (1977-03-19) 33	Colchester United	0–1	Southend United	Colchester
		Report	Morris 87'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,637 Referee: I Hunting

26 March 1977 (1977-03-26) 35	Hartlepool	2–2	Colchester United	Hartlepool
	Poskett 27' (pen.), 29'	Report	Allinson 44' Dowman 52'	Stadium: Victoria Park Attendance: 1,822 Referee: A Porter

2 April 1977 (1977-04-02) 36	Colchester United	1–1	Scunthorpe United	Colchester
	Leslie 2'	Report	Lumby 34'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,799 Referee: B James

5 April 1977 (1977-04-05) 37	Aldershot	1–1	Colchester United	Aldershot
	Bell 1'	Report	Gough 85'	Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 2,586 Referee: C White

8 April 1977 (1977-04-08) 38	Colchester United	1–1	Swansea City	Colchester
	Dowman 83'	Report	Williams 58' (o.g.) Lally  70'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,184 Referee: Rob Lewis

11 April 1977 (1977-04-11) 39	Torquay United	2–2	Colchester United	Torquay
	Rudge 5' Lee 81'	Report	Dowman 24' Gough 82'	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 3,189 Referee: B Stevens

15 April 1977 (1977-04-15) 40	Colchester United	1–0	Doncaster Rovers	Colchester
	Gough 79'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,668 Referee: D Smith

19 April 1977 (1977-04-19) 41	Colchester United	3–1	Huddersfield Town	Colchester
	Smith 9', 63' Garwood 39'	Report	Dowman 3' (o.g.)	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,051 Referee: John Homewood

22 April 1977 (1977-04-22) 42	Stockport County	1–1	Colchester United	Stockport
	Daniels 40'	Report	Garwood 18'	Stadium: Edgeley Park Attendance: 2,826 Referee: D Richardson

29 April 1977 (1977-04-29) 43	Colchester United	1–0	Barnsley	Colchester
	Smith 83'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,802 Referee: Tom Bune

3 May 1977 (1977-05-03) 44	Southport	1–3	Colchester United	Southport
	Walker 15' (o.g.)	Report	Froggatt 65', 78' Gough 76'	Stadium: Haig Avenue Attendance: 867 Referee: C Newsome

7 May 1977 (1977-05-07) 45	Darlington	2–0	Colchester United	Darlington
	Rowles 21', 48'	Report		Stadium: Feethams Attendance: 1,964 Referee: M Lowe

14 May 1977 (1977-05-14) 46	Colchester United	2–1	Bradford City	Colchester
	Ratcliffe 1' (o.g.) Allinson 41'	Report	Watson 5'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,912 Referee: Malcolm Sinclair

League Cup

14 August 1976 (1976-08-14) 1st round 1st leg	Millwall	2–1	Colchester United	New Cross
	Seasman 22' Shanahan 38'	Report	Smith 2'	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 4,599 Referee: C Maskell

17 August 1976 (1976-08-17) 1st round 2nd leg	Colchester United	2–1	Millwall	Colchester
	Gough 35' Garwood 41'	Report	Evans 60'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,155 Referee: B Daniels
Note: Colchester and Millwall drew 3–3 on aggregate

30 August 1976 (1976-08-30) 1st round replay	Colchester United	4–4 (a.e.t.) (2–4 p)	Millwall	Colchester
	Garwood 62', 82', 118' Bunkell 72' (pen.)	Report	Lee 34', 39' Salvage 70' (pen.) Fairbrother 119'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,695 Referee: Alf Grey

FA Cup

20 November 1976 (1976-11-20) 1st round	Cambridge United	1–1	Colchester United	Cambridge
	Fallon 89'	Report	Packer 72' (pen.)	Stadium: Abbey Stadium Attendance: 5,090 Referee: R Toseland

24 November 1976 (1976-11-24) 1st round replay	Colchester United	2–0	Cambridge United	Colchester
	Garwood 3' Leslie 16'	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,041 Referee: R Toseland

20 December 1976 (1976-12-20) 2nd round	Colchester United	3–2	Brentford	Colchester
	Gough 6' Froggatt 7' Packer 88' (pen.)	Report	Rolph 49' Fraser 74'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,730 Referee: J Sewell

8 January 1977 (1977-01-08) 3rd round	Kettering Town	2–3	Colchester United	Kettering
	Clayton 80' Kellock 81'	Report	Froggatt 7' Garwood 30', 60'	Stadium: Rockingham Road Attendance: 7,176 Referee: John Homewood

29 January 1977 (1977-01-29) 4th round	Colchester United	1–1	Derby County	Colchester
	Garwood 90'	Report	Hales 23'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 14,030 Referee: R Crabb

2 February 1977 (1977-02-02) 4th round replay	Derby County	1–0	Colchester United	Derby
	James 44'	Report		Stadium: Baseball Ground Attendance: 22,155 Referee: R Crabb

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Fourth Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	WAL	Mike Walker	53	0	44	0	6	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Micky Cook	55	3	46	3	6	0	3	0
	DF	ENG	Steve Dowman	42	12	33+3	12	6	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Mick Packer	47	7	35+4	5	4+1	2	3	0
	DF	ENG	Lindsay Smith	54	7	45	6	6	0	3	1
	DF	ENG	Johnny Williams	52	0	43	0	6	0	3	0
	MF	ENG	Ray Bunkell	24	3	16+2	2	3	0	3	1
	MF	ENG	Paul Dyer	43	0	29+5	0	4+2	0	3	0
	MF	ENG	Steve Foley	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Steve Leslie	50	3	40+1	2	6	1	3	0
	FW	ENG	Ian Allinson	44	7	31+9	7	1+1	0	0+2	0
	FW	ENG	John Froggatt	52	8	43	6	6	2	3	0
	FW	ENG	Colin Garwood	51	24	40+2	16	6	4	3	4
	FW	ENG	Bobby Gough	52	19	43	17	6	1	3	1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	GK	ENG	Glenn Ellis	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Stewart Bright	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Barry Dominey	3	0	1+2	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		FW	Colin Garwood	16	4	4	24
2		FW	Bobby Gough	17	1	1	19
3		CB	Steve Dowman	12	0	0	12
4		FW	John Froggatt	6	2	0	8
5		WG	Ian Allinson	7	0	0	7
		FB	Mick Packer	5	2	0	7
		CB	Lindsay Smith	6	0	1	7
8		MF	Ray Bunkell	2	0	1	3
		FB	Micky Cook	3	0	0	3
		MF	Steve Leslie	2	1	0	3
			Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	77	10	7	94

Disciplinary record

Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
	FB	Mick Packer	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
	FW	John Froggatt	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	FB	Johnny Williams	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		TOTALS	4	1	0	0	0	0	4	1

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		Mike Walker	14	1	0	15
2		Glenn Ellis	1	0	0	1
		TOTALS	15	1	0	16

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
CB		Steve Dowman	24 August 1976	Halifax Town	Layer Road
GK		Glenn Ellis	19 February 1977	Watford	Layer Road

See also

• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons

References

General

Books

• Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.

Websites

• "Colchester United football club match record: 1977". 11v11.com. Retrieved 24 April 2018.

Specific

1. Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
2. "Colchester Utd 1–1 Derby County". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
3. "Colchester Utd 3–0 Halifax Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
4. "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
5. Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1970s and 1980s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
6. ^ "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
7. "Steve Dowman (Defender)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
8. "Barry Dominey". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
9. "Derek Harrison". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
10. "Terry Anderson". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
11. "Lee Smelt". Margate Football Club history. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
12. "Stewart Bright". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
13. "Glen Ellis (Goalkeeper)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2018.
14. ^ "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
15. "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
16. "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
17. "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2018.

• Colchester United F.C. seasons
• English football clubs 1976–77 season