The 2011–12 season was Colchester United's 70th season in their history and fourth successive season in the third tier of English football, League One. Alongside competing in the League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Football League Trophy. John Ward led his side to another tenth-place finish in League One this term, with few changes made to the squad of the previous season. Club stalwart

Karl Duguid Karl Anthony Duguid (born 21 March 1978) is an English former professional footballer. He spent the majority of his playing career with Colchester United where, over two stints, he made over 400 league appearances. He also played for Plymouth ...

returned to the club after three years at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, while another in Pat Baldwin left for Southend United. Youth team product

Anthony Wordsworth Anthony Daniel Wordsworth (born 3 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Maldon & Tiptree. He started his career at Colchester United where he graduated from the youth system to the first team, maki ...

blossomed in midfield, ending the season as the club's top scorer with 13 goals. The U's would finish the season 14 points shy of the play-off positions. In the cups, Colchester suffered early exits in the League Cup and Football League Trophy to Wycombe Wanderers and

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

respectively, while they reached the second round of the FA Cup but were beaten by Swindon Town.

Season overview

Colchester's campaign ran in a similar fashion to the previous season, ending in the same tenth position in the league and suffering early exits in the cup competitions. John Ward consolidated the U's position in League One while chairman Robbie Cowling was cutting back on first-team spending and investing in new youth facilities to ensure the long term future for the club. The season saw the emergence of Tom Eastman, a young Colchester-born centre back signed from Ipswich Town in the summer, while

continued his development in central midfield, ending the season as the club's top scorer. Colchester suffered some heavy defeats, including 5–1 and 6–1 home defeats by Milton Keynes Dons and

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

respectively, while they suffered 4–1 defeats on the road at Bury and Notts County, while Sheffield United put three past the U's at

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

. However, Colchester did earn big home victories over Bury and Notts County at home, while also beating

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

home and away.

Players

Transfers

In

* Total spending: ~ £0

Out

* Total incoming: ~ £0

Loans in

Loans out

Match details

Friendlies

League One

League table

Results round by round

Matches

Football League Cup

Football League Trophy

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

, - !colspan="16", ''Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season''

Goalscorers

Disciplinary record

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.

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

Specific

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colchester United F.C. Season 2011-12 2011-12 2011–12 Football League One by team