2010–11 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

2010–11 season
Chairman	Robbie Cowling
Manager	John Ward (From 31 May 2010)
League One	10th
FA Cup	3rd Round
League Cup	2nd Round
Football League Trophy	2nd Round
Top goalscorer	League: Ian Henderson (10) All: Dave Mooney (14)
Highest home attendance	6,523 (Southampton)
Lowest home attendance	2,892 (Oldham Athletic)
Average home league attendance	4,223
Home colours Away colours
← 2009–10 2011–12 →

The 2010–11 season was Colchester United's third consecutive season in the third tier of English football.

Season Review

Aidy Boothroyd became the second successive U’s manager to walk away from the club after less than 10 months in charge when he was appointed by Championship side Coventry. Unlike Paul Lambert’s switch to Norwich though this time the move was wholly amicable. Despite having just finished eighth in the League One table – the club’s fourth highest Football League finish in their history – many U’s fans were unhappy with a direct and soulless style of play.

Instead of appointing another marquee name, chairman Robbie Cowling promoted Boothroyd’s experienced assistant John Ward to the hotseat.

Cowling stressed that – having spent big for two seasons in an attempt to bounce quickly back into the Championship – a more prudent, stable and long-term approach would now be required, while Ward insisted that he would try to get the side playing entertaining football.

With key players such as Clive Platt, Kevin Lisbie, David Prutton, David Fox and Danny Batth leaving the club, Ward barely spent a penny when bringing in replacements. Brian Wilson and Lloyd James had both been made free agents, Andy Bond and Ben Coker were plucked from non-league football, while David Mooney was brought in on loan.

After losing keeper Ben Williams and striker Steven Gillespie to injury over pre-season, Ward’s promise of entertainment was evident from the very first kick.

August

Colchester quickly went 1–0 behind at Exeter only to lead 2–1 by the 11th minute mark thanks to an Anthony Wordsworth brace. A late equaliser denied Ward victory in his first game in charge.

When Mooney scored a stunning brace in the 3–0 League Cup win at Hereford three days’ later few would have predicted that the Irishman would go almost the entire campaign without registering an away league goal.

Bond then announced himself on the scene with a stunning outside of the boot opener against newly relegated Sheffield Wednesday, but again the U’s were denied by a late equaliser.

Ward’s first win duly followed thanks to Colchester getting a late goal of their own. Bond had given the U’s the lead at Rochdale and, after the newly promoted side equalised, Ian Henderson shocked the hosts with a winner.

Keeper Mark Cousins had a night to forget at Sunderland in the League Cup as his two glaring errors allowed Darren Bent to score both goals. The U’s more than held their own against the Premier League side though.

The month then finished with Colchester being denied victory by yet another last gasp leveller. This time, Carlisle forced the equaliser their pressure deserved in stoppage-time.

September

The month started with another impressive away win – Bond on target again as he headed in the only goal of the game after 83 minutes at Walsall. The midfielder, who the previous season had been playing in the Blue Square Premier for Barrow, then sensationally made it four goals in five games with his opener against Plymouth Argyle. In a rapidly recurring theme though the U’s could not hold on to victory and drew 1–1.

Keeper Cousins was the hero at Southampton, making numerous breathtaking saves as Colchester held out for a backs-to-the-wall goalless draw.

And that was followed up with a thumping 3–1 home victory over Tranmere with Mooney, Wordsworth and Magnus Okuonghae’s goals all coming within the opening 31 minutes.

Three days’ later the U’s had to make do with a point in an Essex derby against newly promoted Dagenham & Redbridge. Having come from behind to lead 2–1 through Ashley Vincent and Mooney goals, a lead was once again surrendered.

October

Playing with a fluid 4–3–3 formation, Colchester had started the season providing plenty of the entertainment Ward had promised. That once again proved to be the case at MK Dons when they completely dominated the first half to lead through Okuonghae’s goal only to concede yet another equaliser. It sparked a glass half-empty or half-full debate. On one hand the U’s had made a record 10-game unbeaten start to the campaign, while on the other 12 points had been dropped from winning positions.

With Williams returning to the team in goal, back-to-back home defeats followed. First the U’s lost 2–0 to fierce rivals Wycombe in the Football League Trophy before they were thrashed 3–0 by Huddersfield.

A forgettable goalless draw at Oldham steadied the ship, before two superb wins elevated the U’s up to third in the table by the end of the month.

A switch back to a more traditional 4–4–2 style formation saw substitute Kayode Odejayi score a brace and seal a come-from-behind 2–1 home win over Notts County, before the notable away scalp of Bournemouth (1–2) was taken.

November

Colchester was the place to be for excitement in November as the U’s edged two five-goal thrillers in the league and a seven-goal thriller in the cup. And having previously been the team that dropped points from winning positions, the U’s suddenly became a side that gained points from losing positions.

Ward’s men came from two down to beat Leyton Orient 3–2 before winning an FA Cup classic against League Two side Bradford 4–3.

There was also a 3–2 victory over Hartlepool; Colchester coming from behind to lead 2–1, conceding an 88th-minute equaliser only for Odejayi to win it at the very death. That proved to be Okuonghae’s last game of the season though as it was decided a serious blood flow problem in his foot needed surgery.

The U’s finally lost their first away league game of the season at Swindon (2–1) amongst those fixtures. Little did they know that it would be the start of a miserable spell of form on their travels.

The month ended on a bit of a deflated note as Brentford won 2–0 in Essex before the crowd voiced their discontent as Colchester laboured to a 1–0 FA Cup win over non-league minnows Swindon Supermarine.

December

The freezing weather conditions meant the U’s played only once in December – a drab goalless draw at home against Yeovil.

January

With left-back Marc Tierney and centre-back Paul Reid sold to Championship clubs Norwich and Scunthorpe respectively in the transfer window and right-back Wilson ruled out for eight weeks with an ankle injury, the U’s began 2011 with a completely different back four to the one which started the season.

The New Year started with an action-packed 3–3 home draw against Charlton. Colchester led three times, former U’s man Johnnie Jackson twice equalised and both teams had men dismissed in a dramatic match. That appeared to take its toll as the U’s then conceded four goals in each of their next two games as they left Leyton Orient defeated 4–2 and exited the FA Cup third round with a 4–0 thrashing at Championship club Swansea. Striker Gillespie – having missed much of the campaign through injury – returned with a bang, coming off the bench to score the goals which sealed a 2–1 come-from-behind home win over Bournemouth in front of the TV cameras.

A hard-fought goalless draw at Huddersfield and a valiant 2–0 defeat at league leaders Brighton followed, before a 2–1 come-from-behind home win was secured on a memorable Friday night against Peterborough.

February

Yet more disruptions in defence as Nathan Clarke was brought in on loan from Huddersfield, Pat Baldwin was ruled out for the season with an ankle injury and Cousins returned in goal following another injury to Williams.

Going into February just two points adrift of the play-offs, U’s fans will forever look back on the refereeing controversy at Charlton as a major turning point in their season. Gillespie had a perfectly good goal disallowed and the U’s went on to lose 1–0.

Barring a rip-roaring 1–1 draw at Peterborough, the U’s away from took a serious nose-dive with defeats at lowly trio Hartlepool (0–1), Notts County (0–2) and Plymouth (1–2).

The continuation of their superb home form kept the Ward’s men in touch with the top six though, with Swindon (2–1) and Walsall (2–0) both beaten in Essex.

March

A 1–0 win at Bristol Rovers – Odejayi becoming the first U’s striker to score an away league goal in just over a year – briefly restored hope before four straight defeats appeared to finally destroy any lingering promotion ambitions.

Southampton (0–2) and MK Dons (1–3) both won in Essex, while there were more away defeats to lowly opposition in the form of Dagenham & Redbridge (0–1) and Tranmere (0–1) to leave the U’s nearer the relegation zone than the top six.

Colchester refused to give up the ghost though and showed bundles of character to finish the month with back-to-back home wins over Oldham (1–0) and nine-man Exeter (5–1).

April

The season eventually came to an anti-climactic finish, with strong home form and a continuation of dire away results keeping them in mid-table.

Defeats at Sheffield Wednesday (1–2), Carlisle (1–4) sandwiched a 1–0 home win over Rochdale, before the Easter weekend was made up of respectable 1–1 draws away at Brentford and at home against already-crowned champions Brighton.

The U’s finally found their away-day shooting boots at Yeovil – Mooney eventually getting his first away league goal of the season at the final attempt – but this time their defence let them down as they were defeated 4–2.

May

A solid home win over already-relegated Bristol Rovers confirmed a 10th-place finish.^[1]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Ben Williams 2 DF Conor Powell 3 DF Lee Beevers 4 DF Magnus Okuonghae 5 DF Pat Baldwin 7 MF Ashley Vincent 8 MF John-Joe O'Toole 10 MF Kemal Izzet (captain) 11 MF Simon Hackney 12 GK Mark Cousins 14 MF Andrew Bond 15 FW Kayode Odejayi 16 MF Ian Henderson 17 MF David Perkins

No. Position Player 18 FW Steven Gillespie 20 DF Brian Wilson 21 MF Medy Elito 22 MF Anthony Wordsworth 24 MF Ben Coker 25 DF John White 26 MF Lloyd James 28 DF Matt Heath 30 DF Morten Knudsen 32 MF Sam Corcoran 33 MF Jordan Sanderson 34 DF Thomas Bender 35 GK Carl Pentney

Player Info

No.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee	Contract Expiry[2]
1	Ben Williams	Manchester	27 August 1982	Carlisle United	10 July 2009	£60,000	May 2012
2	Conor Powell	Dublin	26 August 1987	Bohemians	6 January 2011	Free	May 2011*
3	Lee Beevers	Doncaster	4 December 1983	Lincoln City	29 June 2009	Free	May 2011*
4	Magnus Okuonghae	Croydon	16 February 1986	Dagenham & Redbridge	1 July 2009	£65,000	May 2012
5	Pat Baldwin	London	12 November 1982	Chelsea	31 August 2002	Free	May 2012
7	Ashley Vincent	Birmingham	26 May 1985	Cheltenham Town	1 July 2009	Free	May 2012
8	John-Joe O'Toole	Harrow	30 September 1988	Watford	1 January 2010	£275,000	May 2012
10	Kemal Izzet	Whitechapel	29 September 1980	Charlton Athletic	13 April 2001	Free	May 2012
11	Simon Hackney	Manchester	5 February 1984	Carlisle United	26 January 2009	£100,000	May 2011*
12	Mark Cousins	Chelmsford	9 January 1987	Youth Team	1 July 2004	Free	May 2011
14	Andrew Bond	Wigan	16 March 1986	Barrow	18 July 2010	Free	May 2012
15	Kayode Odejayi	Ibadan	21 February 1982	Barnsley	1 January 2010	Undisclosed	May 2012
16	Ian Henderson	Thetford	24 January 1985	Ankaragücü	6 January 2010	Free	May 2011
17	David Perkins	Heysham	21 June 1982	Rochdale	8 July 2008	£150,000	May 2011
18	Steven Gillespie	Liverpool	4 June 1985	Cheltenham Town	7 July 2008	£400,000	May 2011
20	Brian Wilson	Manchester	9 May 1983	Bristol City	15 July 2010	Free	Unknown
21	Medy Elito	Kinshasa	20 March 1990	Youth Team	1 July 2007	Free	May 2011*
22	Anthony Wordsworth	Camden	3 January 1989	Youth Team	1 July 2006	Free	May 2013
24	Ben Coker	Kettering	1 July 1990	Bury Town	23 July 2010	Free	May 2012
25	John White	Colchester	26 July 1986	Youth Team	1 July 2003	Free	May 2011
26	Lloyd James	Bristol	16 February 1988	Southampton	22 July 2010	Free	Unknown
28	Matt Heath	Leicester	1 November 1981	Leeds United	13 May 2008	Free	May 2012
30	Morten Knudsen	Notodden	27 October 1986	Notodden FK	19 January 2010	Free	May 2011*
32	Sam Corcoran	Enfield	5 February 1991	Youth Team	1 July 2008	Free	May 2011*
33	Jordan Sanderson	London	7 August 1993	Youth Team	11 February 2011	Free	May 2012
34	Thomas Bender	Harlow	19 January 1993	Youth Team	1 July 2009	Free	May 2012
35	Carl Pentney	Colchester	29 October 1989	Leicester City	6 August 2010	Free	May 2012

* Player to be released at end of contract

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
15 July 2010	DF	Brian Wilson	Bristol City	Football League Championship	Free
18 July 2010	MF	Andrew Bond	Barrow	Conference National	Free
22 July 2010	MF	Lloyd James	Southampton	Football League One	Free
23 July 2010	MF	Ben Coker	Bury Town	Isthmian League Premier Division	Free
6 August 2010	GK	Carl Pentney	Leicester City	Football League Championship	Free
6 January 2011	DF	Conor Powell	Bohemians	League of Ireland Premier Division	Free
11 February 2011	MF	Jordan Sanderson	Youth Team	N/A	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
3 June 2010	MF	David Fox	Norwich City	Football League Championship	Undisclosed
30 June 2010	FW	Russell Malton	Heybridge Swifts	Isthmian League Division One North	Free
5 July 2010	MF	David Prutton	Swindon Town	Football League One	Free
26 July 2010	FW	Scott Vernon	Aberdeen	Scottish Premier League	Free
29 July 2010	FW	Clive Platt	Coventry City	Football League Championship	Undisclosed
1 August 2010	DF	Philip Ifil	Dagenham & Redbridge	Football League One	Free
1 August 2010	DF	Matthew Lockwood	Dundee	Scottish First Division	Free
1 August 2010	FW	Joël Thomas	Hamilton Academical	Scottish Premier League	Free
20 August 2010	DF	Alan Maybury	St Johnstone	Scottish Premier League	Free
13 January 2011	DF	Marc Tierney	Norwich City	Football League Championship	£100,000
14 January 2011	DF	Paul Reid	Scunthorpe United	Football League Championship	Undisclosed

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
5 August 2010	FW	Dave Mooney	Reading	Football League Championship	7 May 2011
14 September 2010	FW	Liam Henderson	Watford	Football League Championship	31 December 2010
30 September 2010	DF	Tom Williams	Bristol City	Football League Championship	31 December 2010
12 January 2011	MF	Matthías Vilhjálmsson	FH	Úrvalsdeild	3 March 2011
27 January 2011	DF	Nathan Clarke	Huddersfield Town	Football League One	7 May 2011
17 March 2011	DF	Tommy Smith	Ipswich Town	Football League Championship	7 May 2011

Loans Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
30 September 2010	MF	Ben Coker	Chelmsford City	Conference South	30 November 2010
4 November 2010	GK	Carl Pentney	Bath City	Conference National	31 January 2011
11 November 2010	MF	Medy Elito	Dagenham & Redbridge	Football League One	5 February 2011
31 January 2011	MF	Simon Hackney	Oxford United	Football League Two	18 April 2011
25 February 2011	MF	Medy Elito	Cheltenham Town	Football League Two	23 March 2011
10 March 2011	GK	Carl Pentney	Chelmsford City	Conference South	8 May 2011
10 March 2011	MF	Sam Corcoran	Lowestoft Town	Isthmian League Premier Division	6 April 2011

Results

League One Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
9	Rochdale	46	18	14	14	63	55	+8	68
10	Colchester United	46	16	14	16	57	63	-6	62
11	Brentford	46	17	10	19	55	62	−7	61

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

League One Results Round by Round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	D	W	D	W	D	D	W	D	D	L	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	D	L	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	W
Position	11	14	9	7	5	8	9	5	6	6	11	10	6	3	3	6	3	6	6	10	11	7	10	11	9	9	10	10	11	10	9	10	7	8	10	12	14	10	9	11	9	11	11	12	12	10

Source: ^[3]
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

League One Results

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League Cup Results

First Round

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Second Round

Football League Trophy Results

Second Round

FA Cup Results

First Round

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Second Round

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Third Round

Squad statistics

^[56][57]

Appearances

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		League One		FA Cup		League Cup		FL Trophy
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK		Ben Williams	37	0	33	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
2	DF		Conor Powell	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF		Lee Beevers	21	0	12+7	0	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
4	DF		Magnus Okuonghae	17	2	14	2	0	0	2	0	1	0
5	DF		Pat Baldwin	13	0	10+1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF		Nathan Clarke	18	0	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF		Ashley Vincent	42	5	28+9	5	2	0	0+2	0	1	0
8	MF		John-Joe O'Toole	11	0	5+6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	MF		Kemal Izzet	47	0	38+3	0	3	0	2	0	1	0
11	MF		Simon Hackney	2	0	0+1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
12	GK		Mark Cousins	16	0	13+1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
14	MF		Andrew Bond	46	8	36+7	7	2	1	1	0	0	0
15	FW		Kayode Odejayi	50	4	18+26	4	2+1	0	1+1	0	0+1	0
16	MF		Ian Henderson	42	11	24+13	10	2	0	2	1	1	0
17	MF		David Perkins	41	1	36	1	3	0	2	0	0	0
18	FW		Steven Gillespie	19	9	11+7	9	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
19	FW		Dave Mooney	44	14	37+2	9	3	3	1	2	1	0
20	DF		Brian Wilson	30	2	25+1	1	2	1	2	0	0	0
21	MF		Medy Elito	1	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
22	MF		Anthony Wordsworth	41	5	26+9	5	1+2	0	2	0	1	0
24	MF		Ben Coker	20	0	20	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF		John White	25	0	15+7	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
26	MF		Lloyd James	32	0	17+11	0	0+1	0	1+1	0	1	0
28	DF		Matt Heath	30	2	26+1	2	2	0	0	0	1	0
30	DF		Morten Knudsen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	DF		Tommy Smith	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF		Sam Corcoran	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF		Jordan Sanderson	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	DF		Thomas Bender	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0+1	0
35	GK		Carl Pentney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
6	DF		Paul Reid	22	0	17+1	0	3	0	1	0	0	0
23	DF		Marc Tierney	15	0	12+1	0	0+1	0	1	0	0	0
27	FW		Liam Henderson	11	0	0+8	0	0+2	0	0	0	1	0
27	MF		Matthías Vilhjálmsson	2	0	0+2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	DF		Tom Williams	9	1	7	1	2	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

Assists

^[59]

Assistant	League	Cup	Total
Anthony Wordsworth	4	1	5
Ashley Vincent		0	4
Brian Wilson
Kemal Izzet	3	1
Dave Mooney
Andrew Bond	2	1	3
David Perkins		0	2
Tom Williams
Ian Henderson	0	2
Lee Beevers	1	0	1
Ben Coker
Matt Heath
Lloyd James
Kayode Odejayi
John White
Ben Williams
Marc Tierney	0	1

Disciplinary record

^[60]

Pos.	Name	League		Cups		Total
DF	Pat Baldwin	2	1	0	0	2	1
DF	Lee Beevers	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Andrew Bond	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Nathan Clarke	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Steven Gillespie	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Matt Heath	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Ian Henderson	4	0	2	0	6	0
MF	Kemal Izzet	6	0	1	0	7	0
MF	Lloyd James	4	0	0	0	4	0
FW	Dave Mooney	6	1	1	0	7	1
FW	Kayode Odejayi	3	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Magnus Okuonghae	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	David Perkins	6	1	0	0	6	1
DF	Paul Reid	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Ashley Vincent	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	John White	2	0	2	0	4	0
DF	Brian Wilson	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Anthony Wordsworth	6	0	0	0	6	0

End of season awards

Player of the Year Award	David Perkins
Young Player of the Year Award	Ben Coker
Player's Player of the Year Award	David Perkins
Goal of the Season Award	Andy Bond (vs. Sheffield Wednesday)
Community Player of the Year Award	Steven Gillespie
CUSA Home Player of the Year Award	David Perkins
CUSA Away Player of the Year Award	David Perkins

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 4–5–1 formation with the most league starts during the season.

References