The 1989–90 season was Colchester United's 48th season in their history and ninth consecutive season in fourth tier of English football, the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, the League Cup and the

Associate Members' Cup The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

. Initially looking to build on

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Jock Wallace John Martin Bokas Wallace (6 September 1935 – 24 July 1996) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager. Wallace played as a goalkeeper, and has the unique distinction of being the only player ever to play in the English, Welsh and Sco ...

's influence towards the end of the 1988–89 season after five consecutive wins and unbeaten in eight, Colchester had a dreadful start to the new campaign, not registering a win until late September and then no further league wins until Boxing Day. By this time, Wallace had stepped aside from his role due to ill health, and after another caretaker spell for Steve Foley,

Mick Mills Michael Dennis Mills MBE (born 4 January 1949) is an English former footballer who played for Ipswich Town, Southampton and Stoke City. He managed Stoke City, Colchester United and Birmingham City. During his career he achieved Ipswich Town's ...

was tasked with keeping Colchester in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. Aside from a four match unbeaten run in February and early March, Mills ultimately failed as the U's finished bottom of the entire Football League and relegated to the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

. Only one win was registered in the cups, with a 1–0 FA Cup first round win over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

the only highlight prior to elimination by

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in the second round. Southend United won an

Essex derby In English football, the Essex derby is the local derby between the two professional teams in the English county of Essex – Colchester United and Southend United. The first Essex derby match that took place was a 4–2 victory for Southend ...

League Cup first round over two legs, and the U's failed to reach the knockout phase of the Associate Members' Cup.

Season overview

began his first full season in charge with winless run stretching eight games at the start of the season, and only two league wins were registered before the turn of the decade. Assistant manager Alan Ball left the club to join

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

and ahead of Christmas, Wallace stepped aside due to ill health and the onset of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. Steve Foley was once again placed in temporary charge of the U's first-team, but declined the offer of the role full-time instead preferring his youth team duties. Chairman Jonathan Crisp brought in former

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

defender

as new

having recently been dismissed by Stoke City. Mills' appointment initially had a positive effect on the team, and they won three and drew one of four league games in late February and early March, but a defeat at nearest rivals

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

in late March, after twice leading before succumbing to a 3–2 defeat, summed up the remainder of the season. Despite having enough time to potentially improve their situation, six defeats in the final eight games of the season left Colchester bottom of the

and so relegated to the

. By now, the club were over £1m in debt, and plans for a new stadium at Wick Lane, Ardleigh had also been refused. Jonathan Crisp's initial hope of achieving

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

football within five years of his appointment in 1985 now seemed very distant with the club out of the

for the first time in 40 years.

Players

Transfers

In

* Total spending: ~ £8,000

Out

* Total incoming: ~ £250,000

Loans in

Loans out

Match details

Fourth Division

Results round by round

League table

Matches

League Cup

Associate Members' Cup

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

, - !colspan="14", ''Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season''

Goalscorers

Disciplinary record

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

Player debuts

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

References

General

Books * Websites *

Specific

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colchester United F.C. Season 1989-90 1989-90 English football clubs 1989–90 season 1989–90 Football League Fourth Division by team