2009–10 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

2009–10 season
Chairman	Robbie Cowling
Manager	Paul Lambert (Until 18 August 2009) Joe Dunne (Caretaker) (18 August to 1 September 2009) Aidy Boothroyd (2 September 2009 to 20 May 2010)
League One	8th
FA Cup	3rd Round
League Cup	1st Round
Football League Trophy	1st Round
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Lisbie (13) All: Kevin Lisbie (13)
Highest home attendance	10,064 (Norwich City)
Lowest home attendance	3,601 (MK Dons)
Average home league attendance	5,529
Home colours Away colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The 2009–10 season was Colchester United's second consecutive season in the third tier of English football.

Season Review

Manager Paul Lambert brought in a number of targets identified to chairman Robbie Cowling during pre-season, and so in came David Fox, Ashley Vincent, Alan Maybury, Lee Beevers, Ben Williams and Magnus Okuonghae all on permanent deals with Mark Yeates, leading scorer in that first WHCS season, joining Middlesbrough for a reported £350,000.

On the down side Lambert's outcasts were cruelly consigned to training with the Youth team and denied squad numbers and a place in the squad photo, whilst the manager poured scorn on being linked to the vacant job at Motherwell. With Chris Coyne leaving for Australia, Scott Vernon being touted as a transfer makeweight and John White, Jamie Guy, Matt Lockwood, Phil Ifil, Matt Heath and Johnnie Jackson feeling the backlash, Lambert turned his attention to Shrewsbury's leading marksman Grant Holt. Failing on that deal Lambert tied up a deal to sign Hamilton duo Richard Offiong and Joël Thomas for a combined fee of £225,000. Offiong pulled out at the last minute whilst Thomas signed for £125,000. Rumours also suggested that Lambert's ex-Celtic colleague Henrik Larsson could sign in the Swedish off-season.

To add to its growing reputation the WHCS staged it second international on 16 July 2009 when England Ladies hosted Iceland Ladies before 4,170 fans.

Lambert saved his best transfer news until three days before the season opener at Norwich when he secured U's old boy Kevin Lisbie on a season-long loan after the striker refused to move to within 30 minutes of Ipswich as demanded by Town manager Roy Keane. Lisbie responded in magnificent fashion as United walloped their Norfolk neighbours in a truly sensational 7-1 thrashing at Carrow Road. A week later U's confirmed top spot in League One with a 2-1 win over Yeovil but amazingly Norwich contacted Robbie Cowling after the game wanting to appoint Lambert as their new manager following their sacking of 7-1 fall-guy Bryan Gunn. Cowling refused at first, but then relented when it became clear Lambert's mind was made up despite no official approach by Norwich. He offered Lambert the chance to talk to Norwich on the proviso that no position could be accepted until compensation was discussed and agreed between the two clubs. Compensation was never agreed and so Lambert resigned, on a match day with U's due to host Gillingham, taking assistant Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa with him, both of whom resigned the day after Lambert's appointment.

Robbie Cowling and Steve Bradshaw both came out fighting vowing to take Norwich to a Football League tribunal and declaring that the next U's manager would be of Premier League quality and better than Lambert. They did not go against their words as former Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd was unveiled on 3 September 2009.

Boothroyd's U's banished the home hoodoo with 7 wins from 8 League games to the end of the year and he enjoyed 9 games without defeat after his appointment. He signed John-Joe O'Toole, Kayode Odejayi and Danny Batth on loan with the first named pair agreeing to join permanently ahead of the January transfer window. With the Lambert compensation saga set to run on and on, Robbie Cowling refused Norwich fans additional tickets over and above their normal allocation for the return match in January 2010 saying he would rather have an empty seat than one occupied by extra City fans.

The decade ended with United consolidated in a promising top four position after a 2-1 home win over Southampton in front of 8,514. Cowling's determination had inspired the Colchester public and a new ground record of 10,064 was recorded for the visit of Norwich.

Steve Bradshaw, who had been in the team fighting for the U's new £2m training ground at Tiptree which was finally approved at its third appeal hearing, resigned from his position, whilst ex-Newcastle star and Peruvian International Nolberto Solano was training with the U's.^[1]

Early results under Aidy Boothroyd's management were promising, but the team fell apart in the final two months and blew their chance of promotion.^[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 1 GK Ben Williams 2 DF Alan Maybury 3 DF Lee Beevers 4 DF Magnus Okuonghae (captain) 5 DF Pat Baldwin 6 DF Paul Reid 7 MF Ashley Vincent 8 MF John-Joe O'Toole 9 FW Clive Platt 10 MF Kemal Izzet 11 MF Simon Hackney 12 GK Mark Cousins 14 MF David Fox 15 FW Kayode Odejayi 16 MF Ian Henderson 17 MF David Perkins

No. Position Player 18 FW Steven Gillespie 19 FW Joël Thomas 22 DF Anthony Wordsworth 23 DF Marc Tierney 25 DF John White 26 MF David Prutton 27 DF Matt Lockwood 28 DF Matt Heath 29 FW Scott Vernon 30 DF Morten Knudsen 31 DF Philip Ifil 32 MF Sam Corcoran 33 FW Russell Malton 34 DF Thomas Bender 39 MF Medy Elito

Player Info

No.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
1	Ben Williams	Manchester	27 August 1982	Carlisle United	10 July 2009	£60,000
2	Alan Maybury	Dublin	8 August 1978	Leicester City	12 December 2008	Free
3	Lee Beevers	Doncaster	4 December 1983	Lincoln City	29 June 2009	Free
4	Magnus Okuonghae	Croydon	16 February 1986	Dagenham & Redbridge	1 July 2009	£65,000
5	Pat Baldwin	London	12 November 1982	Chelsea	31 August 2002	Free
6	Paul Reid	Carlisle	18 February 1982	Barnsley	2 July 2008	Free
7	Ashley Vincent	Birmingham	26 May 1985	Cheltenham Town	1 July 2009	Free
8	John-Joe O'Toole	Harrow	30 September 1988	Watford	1 January 2010	£275,000
9	Clive Platt	Wolverhampton	27 October 1977	MK Dons	3 July 2007	£300,000
10	Kemal Izzet	Whitechapel	29 September 1980	Charlton Athletic	13 April 2001	Free
11	Simon Hackney	Manchester	5 February 1984	Carlisle United	26 January 2009	£100,000
12	Mark Cousins	Chelmsford	9 January 1987	Youth Team	1 July 2004	Free
14	David Fox	Stoke-on-Trent	13 December 1983	Blackpool	1 July 2009	Free
15	Kayode Odejayi	Ibadan	21 February 1982	Barnsley	1 January 2010	Undisclosed
16	Ian Henderson	Thetford	24 January 1985	Ankaragücü	6 January 2010	Free
17	David Perkins	Heysham	21 June 1982	Rochdale	8 July 2008	£150,000
18	Steven Gillespie	Liverpool	4 June 1985	Cheltenham Town	7 July 2008	£400,000
19	Joël Thomas	Caen	30 June 1987	Hamilton Academical	21 July 2009	£125,000
22	Anthony Wordsworth	Camden	3 January 1989	Youth Team	1 July 2006	Free
23	Marc Tierney	Prestwich	23 August 1985	Shrewsbury Town	2 January 2009	£100,000
25	John White	Colchester	26 July 1986	Youth Team	1 July 2003	Free
26	David Prutton	Hull	12 September 1981	Leeds United	1 February 2010	Free
27	Matthew Lockwood	Rochford	17 October 1976	Nottingham Forest	3 June 2008	£100,000
28	Matt Heath	Leicester	1 November 1981	Leeds United	13 May 2008	Free
29	Scott Vernon	Manchester	13 December 1983	Blackpool	31 January 2008	£100,000
30	Morten Knudsen	Notodden	27 October 1986	Notodden FK	19 January 2010	Free
31	Philip Ifil	Willesden	18 November 1986	Tottenham Hotspur	10 January 2008	£100,000
32	Sam Corcoran	Enfield	5 February 1991	Youth Team	1 July 2008	Free
33	Russell Malton	Colchester	14 November 1990	Youth Team	1 July 2009	Free
34	Thomas Bender	Harlow	19 January 1993	Youth Team	1 July 2009	Free
39	Medy Elito	Kinshasa	20 March 1990	Youth Team	1 July 2007	Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
29 June 2009	DF	Lee Beevers	Lincoln City	Football League Two	Free
1 July 2009	DF	Thomas Bender	Youth Team	N/A	Free
1 July 2009	DF	Magnus Okuonghae	Dagenham & Redbridge	Football League Two	£65,000
1 July 2009	MF	David Fox	Blackpool	Football League Championship	Free
1 July 2009	MF	Ashley Vincent	Cheltenham Town	Football League Two	Free
1 July 2009	FW	Russell Malton	Youth Team	N/A	Free
10 July 2009	GK	Ben Williams	Carlisle United	Football League One	£60,000
21 July 2009	FW	Joël Thomas	Hamilton Academical	Scottish Premier League	£125,000
1 January 2010	MF	John-Joe O'Toole	Watford	Football League Championship	£275,000
1 January 2010	FW	Kayode Odejayi	Barnsley	Football League Championship	Undisclosed
6 January 2010	MF	Ian Henderson	Ankaragücü	Süper Lig	Free
19 January 2010	DF	Morten Knudsen	Notodden FK	Norwegian Second Division	Free
1 February 2010	MF	David Prutton	Leeds United	Football League One	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Transfer Fee	Notes
31 May 2009	DF	Chris Coyne	Perth Glory	A-League	Free
31 May 2009	FW	Akanni-Sunday Wasiu	Floriana	Maltese Premier League	Free
1 July 2009	GK	Dean Gerken	Bristol City	Football League Championship	Undisclosed
1 July 2009	MF	Mark Yeates	Middlesbrough	Football League Championship	£450,000
17 August 2009	MF	Johnnie Jackson	Notts County	Football League Two	Undisclosed
20 August 2009	MF	Dean Hammond	Southampton	Football League One	£400,000
20 January 2010	FW	Jamie Guy	Grays Athletic	Conference National	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
3 August 2009	FW	Kevin Lisbie	Ipswich Town	Football League Championship	1 June 2010
1 September 2009	MF	John-Joe O'Toole	Watford	Football League Championship	31 December 2009
18 September 2009	DF	Danny Batth	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Premier League	31 May 2010
18 September 2009	FW	Kayode Odejayi	Barnsley	Football League Championship	31 December 2009
22 October 2009	DF	Josh Payne	West Ham United	Premier League	20 November 2009
22 January 2010	DF	Christian Ribeiro	Bristol City	Football League Championship	27 January 2010
25 January 2010	MF	David Prutton	Leeds United	Football League One	31 January 2010
25 March 2010	DF	Franck Queudrue	Birmingham City	Premier League	1 June 2010

Loans Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	League	Date Returned	Notes
30 July 2009	DF	Matt Heath	Southend United	Football League One	30 August 2009
30 July 2009	DF	John White	Southend United	Football League One	30 August 2009
31 July 2009	FW	Jamie Guy	Port Vale	Football League Two	21 November 2009
2 October 2009	MF	David Perkins	Chesterfield	Football League Two	3 January 2010
10 October 2009	FW	Scott Vernon	Gillingham	Football League One	10 November 2009
30 October 2009	DF	Matt Lockwood	Dagenham & Redbridge	Football League Two	30 November 2009
20 November 2009	DF	Pat Baldwin	Bristol Rovers	Football League One	31 December 2009
19 January 2010	MF	David Perkins	Stockport County	Football League One	1 June 2010
22 January 2010	DF	Matt Lockwood	Barnet	Football League Two	1 June 2010
29 January 2010	DF	Pat Baldwin	Southend United	Football League One	1 June 2010
29 January 2010	FW	Joël Thomas	Hamilton Academical	Scottish Premier League	31 May 2010
29 January 2010	FW	Scott Vernon	Southend United	Football League One	1 June 2010
5 March 2010	MF	Medy Elito	Cheltenham Town	Football League Two	1 June 2010
10 March 2010	MF	Simon Hackney	Morecambe	Football League Two	14 April 2010

Results

League One Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
7	Southampton	46	23	14	9	85	47	+38	73
8	Colchester United	46	20	12	14	64	52	+12	72
9	Brentford	46	14	20	12	55	52	+3	62

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	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	W	W	W	L	L	D	D	W	D	W	W	W	D	W	L	D	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	D	W	W	L	D	L	L	D	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	W
Position	1	1	1	3	5	7	6	5	5	4	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	3	4	4	3	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4	4	5	6	6	6	6	7	7	7	7	8	8	8

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

First Round

Football League Trophy

First Round – Southern Section

FA Cup

First Round

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Second Round

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Third Round

Squad statistics

^[55]

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	49	0	46	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF		Alan Maybury	3	0	1+1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
3	DF		Lee Beevers	5	0	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
4	DF		Magnus Okuonghae	49	0	44	0	3	0	1	0	1	0
5	DF		Pat Baldwin	8	0	6+1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
6	DF		Paul Reid	14	0	10+2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF		Ashley Vincent	21	3	15+4	3	0	0	1	0	1	0
8	MF		John-Joe O'Toole	33	3	30+1	2	2	1	0	0	0	0
9	FW		Clive Platt	45	9	36+5	7	1+1	1	1	0	1	1
10	MF		Kemal Izzet	41	0	31+6	0	1+1	0	1	0	1	0
11	MF		Simon Hackney	21	3	9+7	1	3	1	1	1	1	0
12	GK		Mark Cousins	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
14	MF		David Fox	20	3	15+3	3	1	0	0	0	1	0
15	FW		Kayode Odejayi	31	10	19+9	9	3	1	0	0	0	0
16	MF		Ian Henderson	13	2	6+7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	MF		David Perkins	7	1	0+5	1	0	0	1	0	0+1	0
18	FW		Steven Gillespie	33	2	8+22	1	2+1	1	0	0	0	0
19	FW		Joël Thomas	7	0	0+4	0	0+2	0	0	0	0+1	0
20	FW		Kevin Lisbie	43	13	35+6	13	1	0	1	0	0	0
21	DF		Danny Batth	18	1	16+1	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF		Anthony Wordsworth	44	11	36+5	11	1+1	0	0	0	0+1	0
23	DF		Marc Tierney	44	0	41	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF		Franck Queudrue	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	DF		John White	43	0	38+1	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
26	MF		David Prutton	19	3	18+1	3	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	DF		Matt Lockwood	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
28	DF		Matt Heath	19	0	13+5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
29	FW		Scott Vernon	9	3	4+3	3	0	0	0+1	0	1	0
30	DF		Morten Knudsen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	DF		Phil Ifil	30	2	15+12	2	2+1	0	0	0	0	0
32	MF		Sam Corcoran	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	FW		Russell Malton	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	DF		Thomas Bender	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	MF		Medy Elito	4	0	0+3	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
8	MF		Dean Hammond	3	0	2	0	0	0	0+1	0	0	0
16	MF		Josh Payne	3	0	2+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	DF		Christian Ribeiro	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
30	FW		Jamie Guy	1	0	0+1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

Assists

^[57]

Assistant	League	Cup	Total
Kevin Lisbie	7	0	7
Clive Platt
Philip Ifil	4	0	4
John-Joe O'Toole
David Prutton
Kayode Odejayi	3	1
Anthony Wordsworth	2	1	3
David Fox	1	2
Steven Gillespie	2	0	2
Simon Hackney
Kemal Izzet
Scott Vernon	1	1
Marc Tierney		0	1
Ben Williams

Disciplinary record

^[58]

Pos.	Name	League		Cups		Total
DF	Danny Batth	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	David Fox	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Steven Gillespie	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Simon Hackney	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Ian Henderson	1	1	0	0	1	1
DF	Philip Ifil	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Kemal Izzet	8	1	2	0	10	1
FW	Kevin Lisbie	8	1	0	0	8	1
DF	Magnus Okuonghae	2	0	1	0	0	0
MF	John-Joe O'Toole	8	0	1	0	9	0
FW	Clive Platt	3	0	0	1	3	1
MF	David Prutton	7	1	0	0	7	1
DF	Paul Reid	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Marc Tierney	9	1	0	0	9	1
FW	Joël Thomas	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Ashley Vincent	3	0	0	0	3	0
DF	John White	5	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Anthony Wordsworth	8	0	1	0	9	0

End of season awards

Player of the Year Award	Ben Williams
Young Player of the Year Award	Anthony Wordsworth
Player's Player of the Year Award	Marc Tierney
Goal of the Season Award	David Prutton (vs. MK Dons)
Community Player of the Year Award	Simon Hackney
CUSA Home Player of the Year Award	Ben Williams
CUSA Away Player of the Year Award	Ben Williams

Most Frequent Starting XI

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

References