Jobserve Community Stadium

Colchester United 0-1 Stockport County

11th March 2023 

I am old enough to remember watching the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme Grandstand, as they followed the ebb and flow of that amazing 1971 FA Cup tie between Colchester United and Leeds United.  No internet or mobile phones back in those days - to keep up to date with what was happening, if you were not actually there, one had to wait for infrequent updates on the TV (or radio), then wait for the final score to pop up on that bizarre teleprinter thingy.  Which would often stop for an agonising few seconds midway through typing out a result, as if maliciously jacking up the tension. 

As an aside, it is a little remembered fact Leeds had almost come a cropper against lower league opposition in the competition just a few weeks earlier.  For Rotherham United had led Leeds 2-1 at half-time in a third round replay, before the First Division side had rallied to win 3-2.  

Layer Road, where that memorable Colchester United defeat of Leeds United took place, is long gone of course.  The stadium was closed in 2008, the ground steadily decomposing for a full four years, before it was finally demolished to make way for, inevitably, housing.

At least, unlike at many other sites, someone had the foresight to commemorate the fact a football club had played on the site for over seventy years.  For where the playing surface lay, or at least a significant portion of it did, has been created a grassy  rea which houses a modest little statue of a footballer, with a plaque stating.......well, you can read it below.

The site of Colchester United's former ground Layer Road.

The housing development is, rather neatly, called Turnstile Square.

Colchester United's present home, currently groaning under the cumbersome moniker of The Jobserve Community Stadium was opened in 2008.  The venue seats just over 10,000 and is sited on the northern edge of the town, viewable from the adjacent A12.

The Jobserve Community Stadium

 

 

This particular match saw Colchester, if not quite mired in a relegation dog-fight, then certainly anxiously glancing at the clubs below them.

For the U's had made a pretty dreadful start to season 2022/23, to the extent a home draw with Stevenage on the last Saturday of October, saw the club drop to the foot of the league.  Subsequent defeats at Barrow and Crewe appeared to simply cement the club's position in the drop zone.  Fortunately Matt Bloomfield had taken over from Wayne Brown as manager by this point and, although it took him a bit of time to work his magic, five wins and three draws in an nine match stretch from New Year to Valentine's Day had hauled the club nine points and seven positions clear of the drop zone.

All very well and good, until Wycombe Wanderers came a-calling for the highly regarded Bloomfield.  And going into this match, Colchester's form had badly dipped, and the club had lost their previous three matches, failing to score in any.  

Former Charlton Athletic manager Ben Garner was the chap charged with the task of halting this alarming slide; this afternoon's match being his first in charge.

And the size of Garner's task was made abundantly clear to him this afternoon, as his new charges tamely capitulated to a fourth consecutive defeat without scoring - indeed the (occasionally accurate) BBC match stats suggested the Us failed to even get a single shot on target.  I certainly could remember none.

Panorama of the Jobserve Community Stadium.

Connor Wood probably came closest to scoring for United, around the hour mark.  But his first time attempt from Junior Tchamadeu's cut back flew past, from his perspective, the wrong side of the post.

The match was won by Kyle WOOTON's 37th minute header.  A corner from the visitors' right soared over everyone, before being headed back across goal by Ryan Johnstone, leaving Wooten with the simplest of finishes.  It did have the look of a training ground move, but it was Wooten's movement which made the goal.  For as pretty much every home defender followed the ball, Wooten intelligently drifted into the area where he was fairly sure the ball would end up.  As indeed it did.

It was well-deserved lead for the visitors I felt, who had been unfortunate when a couple of instances of six-yard box pinball had seen the ball refuse to enter the net, with home defenders often knowing little about things on both occasions.

This win put Stockport right back into the promotion mix - for the visitors had endured a minor slump of their own of late.  As for Colchester and Ben Garner - the defeat dropped the club a further league placing closer to the chasing pair of Hartlepool and Crawley.  (Rochdale are pretty much already gone, I would suggest).

And next up for United was a trip to runaway league leaders Leyton Orient.

 

Colchester v Stockport (March 2023)