1982–83 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1982–83 season
Chairman	Maurice Cadman
Manager	Allan Hunter; (Until 18 January 1983); Cyril Lea; (From 1 February 1983)
Fourth Division	6th
FA Cup	1st Round
Milk Cup	2nd Round
Group Cup	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Ian Allinson (22); All: ; Ian Allinson (26)
Highest home attendance	3,759 (Peterborough United)
Lowest home attendance	1,625 (Stockport County)
Average home league attendance	2,561
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1981–82 1983–84 →

The 1982–83 season was Colchester United's second consecutive season in the Football League Fourth Division.

Season Review

Former Ipswich centre-half Allan Hunter accepted a player-manager's role and introduced former Ipswich coach Cyril Lea as his assistant for 1982–83.

United led the table undefeated in seven games and earned a Second Round League Cup tie with Southampton. The first leg was drawn 0-0 at Layer Road with England goalkeeper Peter Shilton in inspired form. The U's could not repeat their heroics at The Dell of 1974 though, and lost the second leg 4-2.

The season then turned in the most tragic of circumstances. John Lyons committed suicide at his Layer de la Haye home in November 1982, just hours after turning out at Layer Road against Chester. On the back of having to give up his own playing career through injury and the Lyons incident, Hunter resigned in January 1982 with United in seventh place. Lea took over until the end of the campaign and won 8 of his first eleven games. Four defeats in 17 days during April cost U's and again they finished sixth just two points away from promotion.

Ian Allinson top scored with 26 League and Cup goals with youth product Tony Adcock netting 17 times. Goalkeeper Mike Walker, who had missed just nine games in ten seasons, announced his retirement.^[2]

Squad

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
––	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain
––	GK	WAL	Mike Walker
––	DF	ENG	Phil Coleman
––	DF	ENG	Micky Cook
––	DF	ENG	Mick Packer
––	DF	ENG	Wayne Ward
––	DF	ENG	Steve Wignall
––	MF	ENG	Ian Allinson


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
––	MF	ENG	Perry Groves
––	MF	ENG	Jeff Hull
––	MF	ENG	Steve Leslie
––	MF	ENG	Roger Osborne
––	FW	ENG	Tony Adcock
––	FW	WAL	Keith Bowen
––	FW	ENG	Roy McDonough

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Mike Walker	Colwyn Bay	28 November 1945	Watford	25 August 1973	£4,000
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	Micky Cook	Enfield	9 April 1951	Leyton Orient	6 October 1969	Free
DF	Mick Packer	Willesden	20 April 1950	Watford	25 August 1973	Free
DF	Wayne Ward	Colchester	28 April 1964	Youth Team	1 August 1981	Free
DF	Steve Wignall	Liverpool	17 September 1954	Doncaster Rovers	13 September 1977	£5,000
MF	Ian Allinson	Hitchin	1 October 1957	Youth Team	1 August 1974	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	Steve Leslie	Hornsey	4 September 1952	Youth Team	1 August 1970	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	Roy McDonough	Solihull	16 October 1958	Chelsea	14 February 1981	£15,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
17 August 1982	DF	Kevin Beattie	Ipswich Town	Free
17 December 1982	MF	Jeff Hull	Basildon United	Free
1 January 1983	DF	Adrian Keith	West Ham United	Free
3 January 1983	GK	Alec Chamberlain	Ipswich Town	Free
25 March 1983	FW	Keith Bowen	Brentford	£10,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
7 May 1982	DF	Steve Wright	HJK Helsinki	Free
19 October 1982	DF	Kevin Beattie	Middlesbrough	Free
9 November 1982	FW	John Lyons	Retired	Free	Player committed suicide
11 December 1982	DF	Allan Hunter	Retired	Free	Also resigned as manager
28 December 1982	FW	Kevin Bremner	Millwall	£25,000
31 January 1983	DF	Adrian Keith	Haverhill Rovers	Free
31 January 1983	MF	Dennis Longhorn	Chelmsford City	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
14 January 1983	FW	John Linford	Ipswich Town	1 March 1983
12 March 1983	FW	Keith Bowen	Brentford	19 March 1983

Results

Fourth Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
5	Bury	46	23	12	11	74	46	+28	81
6	Colchester United	46	24	9	13	75	55	+20	81
7	York City	46	22	13	11	88	58	+30	79

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
28/08/1982	Halifax Town	H	1-0	2,610	McDonough
04/09/1982	Hereford United	A	0-0	2,465
06/09/1982	Port Vale	A	0-0	2,877
10/09/1982	Rochdale	H	4-1	2,836	Allinson (pen.), Wignall, Lyons (2)
17/09/1982	Crewe Alexandra	A	1-0	2,539	Lyons
25/09/1982	Blackpool	H	4-1	2,918	Lyons, Leslie, Groves, Allinson
28/09/1982	Hull City	H	0-0	3,071
02/10/1982	Scunthorpe United	A	1-2	2,616	Osborne
10/10/1982	Swindon Town	A	0-3	4,473
15/10/1982	Darlington	H	2-2	2,547	Allinson, McDonough
19/10/1982	Northampton Town	A	1-2	1,955	Allinson
30/10/1982	Bury	A	0-1	2,653
02/11/1982	Wimbledon	H	3-0	2,219	Allinson, McDonough (2)
06/11/1982	Mansfield Town	H	2-0	2,009	John Lyons (2)
09/11/1982	Chester City	H	1-0	2,362	Wignall
13/11/1982	Tranmere Rovers	A	4-2	1,410	McDonough, Allinson (2), Adcock
27/11/1982	Bristol City	A	2-0	4,310	Bremner, Allinson
03/12/1982	York City	H	0-0	2,214
11/12/1982	Hull City	A	0-3	4,323
17/12/1982	Stockport County	H	3-0	1,625	Allinson (2), McDonough
27/12/1982	Peterborough United	A	1-2	4,235	Bremner
28/12/1982	Aldershot	H	0-0	2,463
01/01/1983	Torquay United	A	0-2	2,758
03/01/1983	Hartlepool United	H	4-1	2,239	Allinson, Adcock (2), Wignall
07/01/1983	Hereford United	H	3-2	2,216	Allinson (2) (pen.), Adcock
14/01/1983	Halifax Town	A	0-4	1,863
21/01/1983	Crewe Alexandra	H	4-3	2,221	Adcock (3), Allinson (pen.)
05/02/1983	Blackpool	A	2-1	1,747	Adcock, Hull
15/02/1983	Wimbledon	A	1-2	1,753	Adcock
18/02/1983	Swindon Town	H	1-0	2,386	Cook
26/02/1983	Darlington	A	3-1	1,089	McDonough, Adcock (2)
01/03/1983	Northampton Town	H	3-1	2,501	Allinson (pen.), Hull, Adcock
05/03/1983	Chester City	A	1-1	1,136	Adcock
12/03/1983	Bury	H	2-1	3,357	Allinson, Bowen
19/03/1983	Mansfield Town	A	1-1	2,371	Hull
25/03/1983	Tranmere Rovers	H	3-3	2,547	Osborne, Bowen, Adcock
01/04/1983	Peterborough United	H	1-0	3,759	Allinson
02/04/1983	Aldershot	A	1-0	1,670	Hull
09/04/1983	York City	A	0-3	2,538
12/04/1983	Port Vale	H	1-2	3,275	Adcock
15/04/1983	Scunthorpe United	H	5-1	3,155	Adcock (2), Allinson (2) (pen.), Bowen
22/04/1983	Stockport County	A	0-3	1,733
26/04/1983	Rochdale	A	1-2	1,219	Allinson
29/04/1983	Bristol City	H	3-1	2,196	Allinson (pen.), Bowen, McDonough
02/05/1983	Hartlepool United	A	4-1	804	Allinson, Coleman (2), Groves
13/05/1983	Torquay United	H	1-0	2,181	Wignall

Source: 1982-83 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
31/08/1982	R1 (L1)	Aldershot	H	2-0	1,665	Wignall, Groves
14/09/1982	R1 (L2)	Aldershot	A	1-0	1,680	Allinson
06/10/1982	R2 (L1)	Southampton	H	0-0	7,679
26/10/1982	R2 (L2)	Southampton	A	2-4	––	Allinson (pen.), Lyons

Source: 1982-83 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20/11/1982	R1	Torquay United	H	0-2	2,913

Source: 1982-83 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Group Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13/08/1982	R1 (Group)	Southend United	H	3-1	1,662	Coleman, Allinson, Lyons
17/08/1982	R1 (Group)	Watford	A	1-2	3,837	Allinson
21/08/1982	R1 (Group)	Leyton Orient	A	2-0	1,384	Lyons (2)

Source: 1982-83 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Four		FA Cup		League Cup		Group Cup
No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK	ENG	Alec Chamberlain	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK	WAL	Mike Walker	50	0	42	0	1	0	4	0	3	0
––	DF	ENG	Kevin Beattie	7	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
––	DF	ENG	Phil Coleman	45	3	37	2	1	0	4	0	3	1
––	DF	ENG	Micky Cook	48	1	41	1	0	0	4	0	3	0
––	DF	NIR	Allan Hunter	25	0	18	0	1	0	3	0	3	0
––	DF	ENG	Adrian Keith	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF	ENG	Mick Packer	12	0	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF	ENG	Wayne Ward	16	0	14	0	1	0	1	0	0	0
––	DF	ENG	Steve Wignall	52	5	44	4	1	0	4	1	3	0
––	MF	ENG	Ian Allinson	54	26	46	22	1	0	4	2	3	2
––	MF	ENG	Perry Groves	22	3	17	2	0	0	2	1	3	0
––	MF	ENG	Jeff Hull	27	4	27	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF	ENG	Steve Leslie	36	1	29	1	1	0	4	0	2	0
––	MF	ENG	Dennis Longhorn	29	0	28	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF	ENG	Roger Osborne	53	2	45	2	1	0	4	0	3	0
––	FW	ENG	Tony Adcock	34	17	30	17	1	0	1	0	2	0
––	FW	WAL	Keith Bowen	13	4	13	4	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW	SCO	Kevin Bremner	19	2	15	2	1	0	2	0	1	0
––	FW	ENG	John Linford	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW	WAL	John Lyons	22	10	15	6	0	0	4	1	3	3
––	FW	ENG	Roy McDonough	49	8	41	8	1	0	4	0	3	0

Scorers

^[4]

All

Scorer	Goals
Ian Allinson	26
Tony Adcock	17
John Lyons	10
Roy McDonough	8
Steve Wignall	5
Keith Bowen	4
Jeff Hull	4
Phil Coleman	3
Perry Groves	3
Kevin Bremner	2
Roger Osborne	2
Micky Cook	1
Steve Leslie	1

League

Scorer	Goals
Ian Allinson	22
Tony Adcock	17
Roy McDonough	8
John Lyons	6
Keith Bowen	4
Jeff Hull
Steve Wignall
Kevin Bremner	2
Phil Coleman
Perry Groves
Roger Osborne
Micky Cook	1
Steve Leslie	1

FA Cup

Scorer	Goals

League Cup

Scorer	Goals
Ian Allinson	2
Perry Groves	1
John Lyons
Steve Wignall

Group Cup

Scorer	Goals
John Lyons	3
Ian Allinson	2
Phil Coleman	1

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 4-4-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos.	Name	Apps.	Goals
GK	Mike Walker	42	0
DF	Steve Wignall	44	4
DF	Phil Coleman	37	2
DF	Allan Hunter	17	0
DF	Micky Cook	41	1
MF	Ian Allinson	46	22
MF	Dennis Longhorn	27	0
MF	Roger Osborne	45	2
MF	Jeff Hull	27	4
FW	Roy McDonough	38	8
FW	Tony Adcock	26	17

Walker

Wignall

Coleman

Hunter

Cook

Allinson

Longhorn

Osborne

Hull

McDonough

Adcock

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 7 April 2011.
^ "1982–83 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.
^ "1982–83 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.

[WWCU-1] 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.

[2] "The U's History: The 80s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 7 April 2011.

[3] "1982–83 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.

[4] "1982–83 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 7 April 2011.

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