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Layer Road

Coordinates: 51°52′37.25″N 0°53′00.33″E / 51.8770139°N 0.8834250°E / 51.8770139; 0.8834250
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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 90.47.146.239 (talk) at 18:54, 30 January 2016 (Tidied up the last paragraph which didn't read well). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

51°52′37.25″N 0°53′00.33″E / 51.8770139°N 0.8834250°E / 51.8770139; 0.8834250

Layer Road
Layer Road in October 2005
Map
LocationLayer Road, Colchester
OwnerColchester United F.C.
Capacity6,320 (2,040 seated)
SurfaceGrass
Construction
Built1910
Opened1910
Closed2008
Demolished2012

Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held 6,320 spectators and was built in 1907, originally for use by Colchester Town Football Club. Layer Road has often had up to 17,000 packed into the ground, when Colchester had been on a good FA Cup run, before the capacity was reduced to 6,320. The record attendance at Layer Road is 19,072 for an FA Cup fixture against Reading in November 1948, a match that was abandoned. The ground was also used to host Sudbury Town's FA Cup match against Brentford in 1996,[1] as their Priory Stadium was deemed unfit.

The most recent development to the ground was the construction of a small, temporary seating stand for housing away supporters. It held 143 supporters and was similar to the chocolate boxes at The Dell.

The last match at Layer Road took place on 26 April 2008, when Colchester lost 1-0 to Stoke City, with Richard Cresswell scoring the last goal at the stadium.[2]

The stadium was locked for the last time on 17 July 2008 after 98 years in use (71 of them as the home of Colchester United), being demolished by the end of the year. In 2011 a deal was signed to build flats and houses on the site, with a central open grassed space to reflect its history as a football ground.[3] In mid-2012, Layer Road was demolished with the construction of houses commencing immediately. In 2015 a bronze statue of Peter Wright (Colchester United's Player of the Century) was unveiled by his widow Lindsey and Sir Bob Russell MP to commemorate Peter Wiright, the fact that the site was home to Colchester United for seventy years and the supporters' ashes which had been scattered on the pitch as an expression of their love for the club. The statue was made by local artist Mandy Pratt and cast at Butterfly Bronze Foundry in Romford by Will Hayes

References

  1. ^ Sudbury Town Football Club History Database
  2. ^ "Colchester 0-1 Stoke". BBC Sport. 26 April 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.
  3. ^ Colchester: Layer Road’s future finally announced East Anglian Daily Times, 30 July 2011
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