1983–84 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1983–84 season

Chairman

Maurice Cadman^[1]

Manager

8th

3rd Round

3rd Round

Associate Members' Cup

2nd Round (Southern section)

Top goalscorer

League:
Tony Adcock (26)
All:
Tony Adcock (33)

Highest home attendance

3,402 (Crewe Alexandra)

Lowest home attendance

1,226 (Torquay United)

Average home league attendance

2,180

Home colours

← 1982–83

1984–85 →

The 1983–84 season was Colchester United's third consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division.

Season Review

Four months after becoming caretaker, Cyril Lea was appointed full-time manager with Stewart Houston assisting. He lost Ian Allinson to Arsenal on an infuriating free transfer following an administrational blunder at Layer Road.

Always in touch with the leaders United embarked on another League Cup run. Securing a fine 1-1 draw at Second Division Swansea City, United Chairman Maurice Cadman pledged that if more than 5,000 attended the second leg at Layer Road that he would give Lea funds to buy two more players. The U's beat the Swans 1-0 in front of 5,204 and his promise was underwritten when Colchester drew Manchester United in the Third Round on 8 November 1983. The 13,031 crowd would be the last-ever five figure gate at Layer Road and the slick Red Devils ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

As had become the norm U's form tailed off and they ended 15 points adrift of promotion in eighth place despite Tony Adcock's 33 goals. Frustrated by his Board's attempt to fund promotion that continually ended in close failure, Cadman announced that win bonuses would be dropped for the 1984–85 season with an insurance-backed promotion bonus on offer and the club was available for sale at £150,000.

Attendances continued to fall and a new low of 1,226 watched the 3-0 win over Torquay on 28 April 1984. Micky Cook, who had set a club record 613 appearances, and Steve Leslie both retired through injury.^[2]

Squad

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

No.	Position	Player
––	GK	Alec Chamberlain
––	DF	Phil Coleman
––	DF	Tony Hadley
––	DF	Rudi Hedman
––	DF	Stewart Houston
––	DF	Ian Phillips
––	DF	Steve Wignall
––	MF	Andy Farrell

No.	Position	Player
––	MF	Perry Groves
––	MF	Jeff Hull
––	MF	Roger Osborne
––	FW	Tony Adcock
––	FW	Keith Bowen
––	FW	Dave Hubbick
––	FW	Les Mutrie

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Alec Chamberlain	March	20 June 1964	Ipswich Town	3 January 1983	Free
DF	Phil Coleman	Woolwich	8 September 1960	Millwall	21 February 1981	£15,000
DF	Tony Hadley	Upminster	5 July 1955	Southend United	27 August 1983	Free
DF	Rudi Hedman	Lambeth	16 November 1964	Youth Team	1 August 1983	Free
DF	Stewart Houston	Dunoon	20 August 1949	Sheffield United	27 August 1983	Free
DF	Ian Phillips	Cumnock	23 April 1959	Northampton Town	9 September 1983	Free
DF	Steve Wignall	Liverpool	17 September 1954	Doncaster Rovers	13 September 1977	£5,000
MF	Andy Farrell	Colchester	7 October 1965	Youth Team	1 August 1983	Free
MF	Perry Groves	Bow	19 April 1965	Youth Team	1 August 1981	Free
MF	Jeff Hull	Rochford	25 August 1960	Basildon United	17 December 1982	Free
MF	Roger Osborne	Otley	9 March 1950	Ipswich Town	14 February 1981	£25,000
FW	Tony Adcock	Bethnal Green	27 March 1963	Youth Team	1 August 1980	Free
FW	Keith Bowen	Northampton	26 February 1958	Brentford	25 March 1983	Free
FW	Dave Hubbick	South Shields	16 March 1960	Dagenham	15 October 1983	Free
FW	Les Mutrie	Newcastle upon Tyne	5 May 1952	Hull City	28 January 1984	£10,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1983	DF	Rudi Hedman	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1983	MF	Andy Farrell	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1983	FW	Craig Oldfield	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1983	FW	John Taylor	Youth Team	Free
27 August 1983	DF	Stewart Houston	Sheffield United	Free
27 August 1983	DF	Tony Hadley	Southend United	Free
9 September 1983	DF	Ian Phillips	Northampton Town	Free
15 October 1983	FW	Dave Hubbick	Dagenham	Free
18 October 1983	DF	Adam Nichols	Ipswich Town	Free
28 January 1984	FW	Les Mutrie	Hull City	£10,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
2 May 1983	GK	Mike Walker	Retired	Free
13 May 1983	DF	Mick Packer	Wivenhoe Town	Free
13 May 1983	DF	Wayne Ward	Tiptree United	Free
13 May 1983	MF	Ian Allinson	Arsenal	Free
13 May 1983	FW	Roy McDonough	Southend United	Free
14 September 1983	FW	John Taylor	Cambridge United	Free
2 January 1984	DF	Adam Nichols	Wits University	Free
21 February 1984	DF	Craig Oldfield	Stowmarket Town	Free
31 March 1984	MF	Steve Leslie	Brentwood	Free
14 April 1984	DF	Micky Cook	Retired	Free

Results

Fourth Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Peterborough United	46	18	14	14	72	48	+24	68
8	Colchester United	46	17	16	13	69	53	+16	67
9	Torquay United	46	18	13	15	59	64	-5	67

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

Fourth Division Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
27/08/1983	Darlington	A	2-0	1,441	Adcock, Houston
03/09/1983	Blackpool	H	2-1	2,169	Adcock (pen.), Serella (o.g.)
06/09/1983	Bristol City	H	0-0	2,120
09/09/1983	Stockport County	A	0-0	2,077
17/09/1983	Rochdale	H	4-0	1,955	Bowen, Adcock (2), Wignall
24/09/1983	Chesterfield	A	1-1	4,106	Wignall
26/09/1983	Tranmere Rovers	A	1-2	1,866	Adcock (pen.)
01/10/1983	Chester City	H	1-0	1,976	Adcock
07/10/1983	York City	A	0-3	6,207
15/10/1983	Northampton Town	H	2-2	1,964	Houston, Cook
18/10/1983	Bury	H	1-0	1,969	Adcock
22/10/1983	Swindon Town	A	1-2	3,079	Adcock (pen.)
29/10/1983	Crewe Alexandra	H	2-0	3,402	Adcock (2) (pen.)
01/11/1983	Doncaster Rovers	A	3-3	3,491	Bowen, Humphries (o.g.), Adcock (pen.)
05/11/1983	Reading	H	3-0	2,433	Houston, Steve Leslie, Adcock
12/11/1983	Mansfield Town	A	0-0	3,042
26/11/1983	Torquay United	A	1-2	1,364	Cook
03/12/1983	Hartlepool United	H	6-0	1,935	Wignall (2), Nichols, Phillips (2), Groves
17/12/1983	Halifax Town	H	4-1	1,866	Houston, Adcock, Bowen (2)
26/12/1983	Peterborough United	A	0-2	6,527
27/12/1983	Aldershot	H	4-1	3,123	Adcock (2) (pen), Wignall, Bowen
02/01/1984	Wrexham	H	1-1	3,182	Adcock
14/01/1984	Darlington	H	2-1	2,151	Adcock (2) (pen.)
28/01/1984	Stockport County	H	1-1	2,213	Adcock
04/02/1984	Chester City	A	4-1	1,179	Bowen (2), Phillips, Mutrie
11/02/1984	Chesterfield	H	2-0	2,358	Adcock, Wignall
14/02/1984	Doncaster Rovers	H	1-1	2,821	Bowen
18/02/1984	Crewe Alexandra	A	1-1	2,532	Bowen
25/02/1984	Swindon Town	H	0-0	2,448
04/03/1984	Bury	A	1-1	1,576	Adcock (pen.)
07/03/1984	Reading	A	0-1	3,360
10/03/1984	Mansfield Town	H	1-0	2,007	Bowen
17/03/1984	York City	H	1-3	3,032	Bowen
24/03/1984	Northampton Town	A	1-3	1,499	Phillips
31/03/1984	Bristol City	A	1-4	6,504	Wignall
04/04/1984	Hereford United	A	1-1	2,501	Wignall
07/04/1984	Tranmere Rovers	H	0-1	1,679
14/04/1984	Hartlepool United	A	0-0	1,001
17/04/1984	Rochdale	A	0-0	1,020
21/04/1984	Peterborough United	H	1-1	1,746	Adcock
23/04/1984	Aldershot	A	1-5	2,443	Adcock
28/04/1984	Torquay United	H	3-0	1,226	Compton (o.g.), Phillips (pen.), Adcock
01/05/1984	Blackpool	A	2-3	3,111	Hull, Adcock
05/05/1984	Wrexham	A	2-0	1,016	Osborne, Groves
07/05/1984	Hereford United	H	3-0	1,286	Bowen, Adcock, Larkin (o.g.)
11/05/1984	Halifax Town	H	1-4	1,248	Mutrie

Source: 1983-84 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Main article: 1983–84 Football League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
30/08/1983	R1 (L1)	Reading	H	3-2	2,418	Adcock (2), Wignall
14/09/1983	R1 (L2)	Reading	A	3-4 Away goals	3,460	Adcock, Wignall, Bowen
04/10/1983	R2 (L1)	Swansea City	A	1-1	3,758	Adcock
25/10/1983	R2 (L2)	Swansea City	H	1-0	5,204	Adcock
08/11/1983	R3	Manchester United	H	0-2	13,031

Source: 1983-84 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Main article: 1983–84 FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19/11/1983	R1	Torquay United	A	2-1	2,126	Bowen (2)
10/12/1983	R2	Wealdstone	H	4-0	2,673	Bowen (3), Houston
07/01/1984	R3	Charlton Athletic	H	0-1	6,296

Source: 1983-84 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Trophy

Southern Section

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21/02/1984	R1	Wimbledon	H	2-1	1,888	Adcock (pen.) (2)
13/03/1984	R2	Southend United	H	0-2	2,841

Source: 1983-84 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Four		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy
No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Alec Chamberlain	56	0	46	0	3	0	5	0	2	0
––	DF		Phil Coleman	9	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		Micky Cook	45	2	36	2	2	0	5	0	2	0
––	DF		Tony Hadley	55	0	45	0	3	0	5	0	2	0
––	DF		Rudi Hedman	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Stewart Houston	51	5	42	4	3	1	5	0	1	0
––	DF		Adam Nichols	7	1	6	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
––	DF		Ian Phillips	48	5	43	5	3	0	0	0	2	0
––	DF		Steve Wignall	45	10	36	8	3	0	4	2	2	0
––	MF		Andy Farrell	21	0	15	0	1	0	5	0	0	0
––	MF		Perry Groves	50	2	42	2	2	0	5	0	1	0
––	MF		Jeff Hull	39	1	33	1	0	0	4	0	2	0
––	MF		Steve Leslie	32	1	25	1	3	0	2	0	2	0
––	MF		Roger Osborne	44	1	36	1	3	0	4	0	1	0
––	FW		Tony Adcock	53	33	43	26	3	0	5	5	2	2
––	FW		Keith Bowen	55	18	46	12	3	5	4	1	2	0
––	FW		Dave Hubbick	14	0	10	0	2	0	2	0	0	0
––	FW		Les Mutrie	16	2	14	2	0	0	0	0	2	0
––	FW		Craig Oldfield	4	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
––	FW		John Taylor	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Scorers

^[4]

All

Scorer	Goals
Tony Adcock	33
Keith Bowen	18
Steve Wignall	10
Stewart Houston	5
Ian Phillips	5
Micky Cook	2
Perry Groves
Les Mutrie
Jeff Hull	1
Steve Leslie
Adam Nichols
Roger Osborne
Own goal	4

League

Scorer	Goals
Tony Adcock	26
Keith Bowen	12
Steve Wignall	8
Ian Phillips	5
Stewart Houston	4
Micky Cook	2
Perry Groves
Les Mutrie
Jeff Hull	1
Steve Leslie
Adam Nichols
Roger Osborne
Own goal	4

FA Cup

Scorer	Goals
Keith Bowen	5
Stewart Houston	1

League Cup

Scorer	Goals
Tony Adcock	5
Steve Wignall	2
Keith Bowen	1

League Trophy

Scorer	Goals
Tony Adcock	2

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 5-3-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos.	Name	Apps.	Goals
GK	Alec Chamberlain	46	0
DF	Tony Hadley	44	0
DF	Ian Phillips	43	5
DF	Stewart Houston	42	4
DF	Steve Wignall	36	8
DF	Micky Cook	36	2
MF	Perry Groves	38	2
MF	Roger Osborne	34	1
MF	Jeff Hull	33	1
FW	Tony Adcock	41	26
FW	Keith Bowen	46	12

Chamberlain

Hadley

Phillips

Houston

Wignall

Cook

Groves

Osborne

Hull

Adcock

Bowen

References

↑ Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
↑ "The U's History: The 80s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
↑ "1983–84 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
↑ "1983–84 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 6 April 2011.

Colchester United Football Club

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Matches	1997 Football League Trophy Final 1998 Football League Third Division play-off Final

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Related articles	Colchester Town F.C. Colchester United L.F.C. Peter Heard Up the U's

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