[FM2013] You don’t have to have been a horse to be a jockey - A football career

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

Introduction to Club

History

Colchester United Football Club is a football club in Colchester, England, who play in League One, the third tier in the English football league system. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910.

Colchester United are perhaps most famous for beating Don Revie's Leeds United 3–2 in the 5th round of the FA Cup in 1971. Their highest ever league finish was achieved in 2006–07, when they ended the season in 10th place in the Championship, above East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, Norwich City and also Essex rivals Southend United while having the division's lowest attendance.

Colchester Town were the town's main club in the early 20th century and were the original tenants of Layer Road. In 1935 they joined the Eastern Counties League, but their poor performances in the league convinced supporters that the club should turn professional like nearby Ipswich Town. Officials at the club were against the idea, resulting in a new professional club, Colchester United, being formed in March 1937, which would also play at Layer Road. United joined the Southern League and crowds at Town matches quickly dwindled. In December United formed a reserve team, signing many Town players. As a result of this and financial problems (the club were £300 in debt), Town folded in the same month.

In the 1947–48 season Colchester, then in the Southern League, produced one of the most notable FA Cup runs by a non-league side, beating fellow-non-league side Banbury Spencer in the First Round before beating league clubs Wrexham, Huddersfield and Bradford Park Avenue. They finally fell to Blackpool in the fifth round.

United went from strength to strength, and they were elected to the Football League in 1950. They spent most of the 50s, 60s and 70s either in the third or fourth tiers before spending the 80s in the fourth tier. However the club got into financial problems towards the end of the 80s and lost their league status for two seasons from relegation in 1990 until 1992, when they won a non-league double by collecting the Conference title and the FA Trophy. They then finished around mid table in the fourth tier for the next 3 seasons before reaching the play-offs in 1995–96 but losing in the semis to Plymouth Argyle.

In the 1996–97 season Colchester were runners up in the Football League Trophy and just missed out on the play-offs by 1 point. But in 1997–98, they got themselves promoted by winning the play-offs to the third tier. They then consolidated their position in that division before achieving promotion in 2005–06 to the second tier of English football, the Championship, by finishing in second place in League One, just behind local rivals Southend United. They also had a good FA Cup run that season before losing in the 5th round to Chelsea despite taking the lead at Stamford Bridge. After a slow start to the 2006–07 season, they soon entered the higher reaches of the division and there was even talk of a challenge for promotion to the Premier League, before they finished tenth in the final table, their highest ever placing. The following season Colchester finished bottom of the Championship with 38 points and were relegated back to League One, where they currently compete.

Stadium

WESTON HOLMES COMMUNITY STADIUM

Capacity:10,084

Built: 2008

Surface: Grass

Manager

A 31 year old former professional footballer. Played 300 times for London side, Leyton Orient before spending two seasons at Colchester United, before retiring after a recurrence of a knee problem.

[cerud]

Welcome to the Career Forums! Looking forward to seeing how you progress.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Not many players retire through injury these days.

[Orient1996]

Not many players retire through injury these days.

More likely when they are 32 years old. Wasn't the injury itself that caused 'me' to retire, just the fact I would be out for a long time, so I decided to retire. Too old.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

Pre-Season

My Team Information

League: Npower League 1

Predicted: 13th

Expectations: Mid-Table Position

My Aim: Play-off's

Transfer Budget: 0 pounds.

Wage Budget: 32,981 pounds per week

Current Wages: 32,746 pounds per week

Transfers

Only made the two signings, no-one has left yet.

Mikkel Andersen

A keeper brought on loan from Reading, and has experience in League 1 through two successful loan spells to Bristol Rovers a few years ago. He was brought in because we only have one keeper - Mark Cousins.

Chris Spendlove

A left-back brought in as back-up. Only played previously in the American non-leagues, but recieved a lot of interest by other League-One clubs.

Pre-season

A highly successful pre-season where we won all of the games. The wins against Liverpool Reserves and Bristol City were particularly pleasing.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

August Update

A tough start to the month getting knocked out of the Capital One Cup against Cheltenham. This lost us a game against Premier League West Brom, and the performance was awful. The same followed in the first league game, however it was the referee's performance rather than my player's. We were winning with 5 minutes to go, but a dodgy penalty was given and they equalised. However, after a change in tactics, we won against Portsmouth and MK Dons, with great performances.

Transfers

Shaun Batt

One of my favourite players in real-life, he has played for just about every club in the lower division, most notably Millwall, and boasts good pace but is also well-built and should dominate the less physical League 1 defenders.

[Orient1996]

[Animosama]

good luck

[deltablue]

Good start in the league.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

September Update

Matches

A poor start to the month with defeats against Leyton Orient and Walsall, was shined over with a great run of 4 straight wins. We had fallen 2-0 against Walsall and despite a great comeback, their striker Paterson punished us with a hat-trick. Yet the performance served as a catalyst for four straight wins. Three 2-0 wins and a 4-2 win versus Yeovil had moved us into second, and we were on a roll. Despite the hammering against Bournemouth, I was pleased with the month and the performances in it.

We are sat just outside the play-off's so I am pleased to be in a good position. Next month, I'd like to reach the playoff places and stabilise our position.

In Other News

We secured the signing of Nicky Weaver on a free as backup goalkeeper.

Looking at investing in a different club. PLEASE BE US!

[Orient1996]

Good start in the league.

Cheers, it was a good start. Second month has been good too!

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

October Update

Matches

A mostly good month, starting with a draw and ending with a defeat. Gavin Massey finally scored his first goal for the club, and scored a hat-trick with that, Scoring a last minute penalty to get it. We also beat Southend in in the Essex Derby in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy which was epic! Great of the club.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

November Update

Matches

A superb month for the club, with only one defeat. A win in the FA Cup against Barnet, and win against 9-man Hartlepool. Gavin Massey also played superbly this month. A disappointing defeat against Brentford was the only blip in a superb month.

And in the league, we moved up superbly.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

December Update

Matches

A mixed month, with some good wins and some poor defeats. We reached the Johnstone's Paint Trophy South Semi-Final after beating Leyton Orient, and we completed the double over MK Dons. But defeats against Doncaster and Walsall were disappointing.

Other News

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

January Update

Matches

A good month with 4 wins, a draw and a defeat, which saw us reach the Johnstone Paint Trophy Southern Final. For anyone that doesn't know this glorious competition, that is pretty much the semi-final, but played over two legs. We face MK Dons in the final, who we have beaten 2 times this season. All performances, bar Crawley, were top-notch, so I am very pleased.

We continued to do well in the table, sitting third. However, the table is exceedingly close, so the extra games in the JPT may do some harm for the promotion hopes.

Still haven't managed to win this but third-place is good!

Eastman has had a great season, winning two player of the months and came second in this month's one!

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

February Update

Matches

February happens to be the shortest month of the year, and is usually the shortest for a Football team, supposedly playing less games in the month. However, that was not true for us. We managed to play 5 games this month, and two of which were in the Johnston's Paint Trophy Southern Final. Playing the team I love to play against, we beat them for the third AND fourth time this season, their former striker Jabo Ibehre scoring in both victories. This means...

WE'RE GOING TO WEMBLEY!!!

The League form was a bit up and down, losing to Preston and Walsall but we beat our JPT Final opponents Coventry 2-0 and Sheffield United, who are now managed by Craig Levein. It helped that we managed to keep up with Brentford in second.

A good month, with a final to look forward to at Wembley.

[jayahr]

Manager

A 31 year old former professional footballer. Played 300 times for London side, Leyton Orient before spending two seasons at Colchester United, before retiring after a recurrence of a knee problem.

Looking good and good luck

I also like the thread title. How however does that align with your past experience? :confused:

[Orient1996]

Looking good and good luck

I also like the thread title. How however does that align with your past experience? :confused:

The tittle doesn't have anything to do with it. It is literally a football quote I liked! It actually in a way contradicts my past experience, as it would assume I wouldn't have to have played professional football to be a manager, but Oh well. I decided to make it different from the others, and more realistic for the league.

[jayahr]

I love that quote too, especially as I agree with it's meaning in the footballing context.

[Orient1996]

I love that quote too, especially as I agree with it's meaning in the footballing context.

Probably should have thought about that beforehand

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

March Update

Matches

We have reached the business end of the season, and what a month it was. 5 wins out of 5, including a win against first-place Tranmere. Jabo Ibehre found his scoring shoes again just before the JPT final, and our defence did superbly, only conceding two goals the whole month. This month moved us into first place and GOT US INTO THE PLAYOFFS!

My first manager of the month award, so I am delighted!

In Other News

An average Youth Intake, with only two players that I signed - Gareth Sheehan and Rishi Modha

Gareth Sheehan

Rishi Modha

We also signed Ryan Tunnicliffe and Tom Lawrence from Manchester United for 3 months.

[Orient1996]

Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final

What can I say, a superb win in the cup. My first piece of silverware, so delighted. Now just for the league.

[deltablue]

Good luck finishing off the season with promotion.

[Orient1996]

COLCHESTER UNITED 2012 - 2013

April/ End Of Season Update

Matches

We ended the season as Champions following the win over Brentford, and we also managed to win the JPT, so it was an incredible month. Even the defeat to Doncaster couldn't dampen the party spirit!

New Contract

I was offered a new contract, and despite my bid to get it down to a one-year deal, they wouldn't budge and I signed a new three-year deal.

End-Of-Season Review

Some of the player's they mentioned were surprising but I was pleased with what they said.

The Awards

This one was delighting to win, especially in my first season.

Agree with this one wholeheartedly. He had a superb season, although so did Jabo Ibehre!

[Animosama]

What a title steal,guess you were the only team that finished strong.

[Orient1996]

What a title steal,guess you were the only team that finished strong.

Was a complete surprise, especially as we were not the strongest team, we just finished well. We won every game in March, so that helped.

[Lenzar]

Four wins over Franchise

Is this in FMC?

[deltablue]

Nice promotion and JPT.

[cerud]

Congrats on the title and JPT

[Nobby_McDonald]

Well done Orient.