1977–78 Colchester United F.C. season
# 1977–78 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was Colchester United's 36th season in their history and first season back in third tier of English football, the Third Division following promotion the previous season. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Colchester made steady progress under Bobby Roberts ending the campaign in a strong eighth in the league table. They were eliminated in the League Cup by Leeds United in the third round, while they could not capitalise on last seasons FA Cup success, exiting the competition in the second round to Watford.

## Season overview

A strong start to the season saw Colchester reach the top of the Third Division table following four wins in the first five games. A slump in form ended their promotion hopes following one win in ten games after January and the sale of Colin Garwood to Portsmouth for £25,000. They ended the season in eighth position, eight points behind promoted Preston North End.

In the cups, a League Cup run saw the U's thrash former manager Jim Smith's Second Division Blackburn Rovers 4–0 in a second round replay before facing old cup adversaries Leeds United in the third round. Colchester were humbled 4–0 at Elland Road. In the FA Cup, Bournemouth were seen off after two replays, but Colchester succumbed to Watford in the second round.

## Players

    As of match played 3 May 1978.

| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Ian Cranstone | GK | Rochford | | 0 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | Summer 1977 | Free transfer |
| Bobby Hamilton | GK | | | 0 | 0 | Unknown | Summer 1977 | |
| Mike Walker | GK | Colwyn Bay | (1945-11-28)28 November 1945 (aged 31) | 202 | 0 | Watford | July 1973 | £4,000 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Micky Cook | FB | Enfield | (1951-04-09)9 April 1951 (aged 26) | 344 | 13 | Orient | 1 March 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Dowman | CB | Ilford | (1958-04-15)15 April 1958 (aged 19) | 42 | 12 | Apprentice | 24 August 1976 | Free transfer |
| Mick Packer | FB | Willesden | (1950-04-20)20 April 1950 (aged 27) | 167 | 11 | Watford | July 1973 | Free transfer |
| Steve Wignall | CB | Liverpool | (1954-09-17)17 September 1954 (aged 22) | 0 | 0 | Doncaster Rovers | September 1977 | £5,000 |
| Johnny Williams | FB | Tottenham | (1947-03-26)26 March 1947 (aged 30) | 91 | 0 | Watford | June 1976 | Undisclosed |
| Steve Wright | CB | Clacton-on-Sea | (1959-06-16)16 June 1959 (aged 17) | 0 | 0 | Woods Athletic | 1 October 1977 | Free transfer |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Ray Bunkell | MF | Edmonton | (1949-09-18)18 September 1949 (aged 27) | 109 | 8 | Swindon Town | December 1973 | Part exchange |
| Russell Cotton | MF | Wellington | (1960-04-04)4 April 1960 (aged 17) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 26 October 1977 | Free transfer |
| Paul Dyer | MF | Leicester | (1953-01-24)24 January 1953 (aged 24) | 83 | 2 | Notts County | Summer 1975 | Undisclosed |
| Tony Evans | MF | Colchester | (1960-03-14)14 March 1960 (aged 17) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | 4 March 1978 | Free transfer |
| Steve Foley | MF | Clacton-on-Sea | (1953-06-21)21 June 1953 (aged 23) | 149 | 29 | Apprentice | July 1969 | Free transfer |
| Steve Leslie | MF | Hornsey | (1952-09-04)4 September 1952 (aged 24) | 237 | 37 | Apprentice | 20 April 1971 | Free transfer |
| Eddie Rowles | MF | Gosport | (1951-03-10)10 March 1951 (aged 26) | 0 | 0 | Darlington | 26 December 1977 | £15,000 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Ian Allinson | WG | Hitchin | (1957-10-01)1 October 1957 (aged 19) | 50 | 7 | Apprentice | Summer 1974 | Free transfer |
| Bobby Gough | FW | Ladywood | (1949-07-20)20 July 1949 (aged 27) | 74 | 24 | Southport | January 1976 | £7,000 |
| Gary Harvey | FW | Colchester | (1961-11-19)19 November 1961 (aged 15) | 0 | 0 | Apprentice | March 1978 | Free transfer |

* 1 2 3 4 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

## Transfers

### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Summer 1977 | GK | Ian Cranstone | Tottenham Hotspur | Free transfer |
| Summer 1977 | GK | Bobby Hamilton | Unknown | Unknown |
| September 1977 | CB | Steve Wignall | Doncaster Rovers | £5,000 |
| 1 October 1977 | CB | Steve Wright | Woods Athletic | Free transfer |
| 26 October 1977 | MF | Russell Cotton | Apprentice | Free transfer |
| 26 December 1977 | MF | Eddie Rowles | Darlington | £15,000 |
| March 1978 | FW | Gary Harvey | Apprentice | Free transfer |
| 4 March 1978 | MF | Tony Evans | Apprentice | Free transfer |

* Total spending: ~ £20,000
* 1 2 Date of signing refers to the date of the player signing his first professional contract
* 1 2 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| October 1977 | CB | Lindsay Smith | Cambridge United | £12,000 |
| February 1978 | FW | John Froggatt | Port Vale | £10,000 |
| 4 March 1978 | FW | Colin Garwood | Portsmouth | £25,000 |

* Total incoming: ~ £52,000

### Loans out

| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | End date | Ref. |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Summer 1977 | CB | | Lindsay Smith | Charlton Athletic | October 1977 | |
| October 1977 | CB | | Lindsay Smith | Millwall | October 1977 | |

## Match details

### Third Division

**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 | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H |
| Result | W | W | W | L | W | D | L | D | L | W | D | D | D | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | D | W | D | L | D | D | D | L | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | L | W | D | D | D | W | D | D |
| Position | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 |

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 6 | Walsall | 46 | 18 | 17 | 11 | 61 | 50 | +11 | 53 |
| 7 | Gillingham | 46 | 15 | 20 | 11 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 50 |
| 8 | Colchester United | 46 | 15 | 18 | 13 | 55 | 44 | +11 | 48 |
| 9 | Chesterfield | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 48 |
| 10 | Swindon Town | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 67 | 60 | +7 | 48 |

## Squad statistics

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | WAL | Mike Walker | 55 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Micky Cook | 53 | 1 | 44 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Dowman | 52 | 7 | 43 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| | DF | ENG | Mick Packer | 52 | 2 | 44 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Wignall | 38 | 2 | 32+2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Johnny Williams | 35 | 1 | 26+1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Steve Wright | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ray Bunkell | 28 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Russell Cotton | 2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Paul Dyer | 32 | 0 | 21+9 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Tony Evans | 7 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Foley | 35 | 7 | 29+3 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Steve Leslie | 49 | 3 | 41 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Eddie Rowles | 9 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Ian Allinson | 54 | 7 | 45 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Bobby Gough | 51 | 17 | 42 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||||
| | FW | ENG | John Froggatt | 34 | 4 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Colin Garwood | 39 | 13 | 28+2 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 2 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | FW | Bobby Gough | 13 | 1 | 3 | 17 |
| 2 | FW | Colin Garwood | 8 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| 3 | WG | Ian Allinson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | CB | Steve Dowman | 5 | 1 | 1 | 7 |
| 3 | MF | Steve Foley | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | FW | John Froggatt | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 7 | MF | Steve Leslie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | Eddie Rowles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | FB | Mick Packer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | CB | Steve Wignall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | Ray Bunkell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FB | Micky Cook | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | FB | Johnny Williams | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| | | TOTALS | 55 | 5 | 10 | 70 |

### Disciplinary record

| Position | Name | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| MF | Steve Leslie | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| WG | Ian Allinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Colin Garwood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Bobby Gough | 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 | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Mike Walker | 17 | 1 | 1 | 19 |
| | | TOTALS | 17 | 1 | 1 | 19 |

### Player debuts

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

| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| CB | Steve Wignall | 13 September 1977 | Portsmouth | Fratton Park |
| MF | Eddie Rowles | 27 December 1977 | Bury | Gigg Lane |
| MF | Tony Evans | 4 March 1978 | Hereford United | Edgar Street |
| CB | Steve Wright | 8 April 1978 | Swindon Town | County Ground |
| MF | Russell Cotton | 24 April 1978 | Port Vale | Vale Park |
