Colchester Community Stadium: Colchester United 0-2 Cheltenham Town

Monday 2 March 2020

Colchester United 0-2 Cheltenham Town

Aerial shot of the Colchester Community Stadium (cu-fc.com)

Ratings

Overall Ground Quality : 8/10

Ease of getting there : 8/10

Atmosphere : 5/10

Programme : 8/10

View of Action : 7/10

Quality of the game : 5/10

The "football" feeling : 4/10

Chances of coming here for a random game : 2/10

Legroom : 9/10

Surrounding area : 1/10

Overall : 57/100

Programme - Free (included with admission)

West Stand

South Stand

East Stand

South Stand

North Stand

South Stand

The stadium's surrounding area...

West Stand

North Stand

East Stand

Taking shelter under the stand from the elements wasn't enough

West Stand

North Stand

East Stand

West Stand

East Stand

North Stand

West Stand and North Stand

A rainbow appearing behind the North Stand and the East Stand

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Colchester United 0-2 Cheltenham Town

A Leap Year happens every 4 years, however a visit to Colchester for myself (Ross) and Adrian only occurs every 12 years. With a weekend spare, we began to look at the fixtures so we could plan a visit somewhere whilst Storm Jorge battered the UK. The storm was affecting the west side of the country more than the east. With that in mind, we decided to visit the JobServe Community Stadium for a League Two play-off clash between Colchester United and Cheltenham Town. This would be my first ever match on 29th February (Leap Day).

With a cluster of Essex non-league grounds to visit on the way, we set off at 7am making our way down the M1 and around the M25 as the rain pelted on the car windscreen. Our first stop was Basildon United who play at Gardiners Close (also known as The Cousins Car Wash & Valeting Centre Stadium) which was sadly locked up making photo access somewhat challenging.

A short drive across Basildon saw us arrive at Bowers & Pitsea's Len Salmon Stadium situated in the middle of a 1960's housing estate. With a 3G pitch installed meant that youth teams can utilise the facilities on Saturday mornings.

We continued our trail of Essex non-league grounds with a stop at Hullbridge Sports' Lower Road ground which has been their home since the early 1980's.

With an FA Cup appearance live on the BBC this season and managed by former Leicester City defender Wayne Brown, Maldon & Tiptree's Park Drive was our next stop who upon our arrival had postponed their home match against Coggeshall Town (who we were set to visit later on).

After navigating our way out the lovely looking town of Maldon, just a short drive away in the next town was Heybridge Swifts who play at Scraley Road (also known as The Aspen Waite Stadium) who's match was still on away at AFC Sudbury with the help of a 3G pitch.

Our second to last non-league stop was Witham Town who play at Spa Road (also known as The Simarco Stadium). Witham Town have clearly been struggling with their waterlogged pitch recently which was evident during our visit. The last three consecutive weekends consisted of three different named storms (Ciara, Dennis & Jorge) has near enough drowned their pitch and will take some time to dry out.

A short drive to the pleasant town of Coggeshall where Coggeshall Town play at West Street and have a celebrity director on their board, non other than Olly Murs who is a former player.

With all seven of our non-league grounds complete and the sun beginning to appear from the clouds, we set off towards Colchester. We parked the car off Nayland Road (avoiding the dangerous bus gate with cameras). From here the ground was only a 10 minute walk.

When we arrived at the stadium, Adrian and I were surprised how little the area had changed since our last visit 12 years ago with so much surrounding wasteland.

Wih lack of facilities around the ground, we ventured over the A12 to a McDonalds for a hot drink and to shelter from the bitterly cold wind until around 2.15pm before walking back towards the stadium.

The U's moved to the Colchester Community Stadium in August 2008 leaving their Layer Road ground which was only 2 years short of its centenary year being built in 1910. Colchester Community Stadium (or JobServe Community Stadium at the time of writing this) has a capacity of 10,105 consisting of 4 identical stands. The current record attendance is 10,064 which was set in 2010 when Norwich City visited during a League One clash. Colchester Community Stadium cost £14 million to construct and is owned by Colchester Borough Council.

Cheltenham Town arrived in Essex and did a thoroughly professional job at lack lustre promotion rivals Colchester. In difficult weather conditions, sun, hail, rain and a strong wind, flowing football was at a premium, which maybe suited the visitors more. Cheltenham are managed by ex-Burnley coach Michael Duff and it seems the Dyche approach has been taken on board. The Robins were very well organised and bearing in mind they have one of the smallest budgets in the Football League, the fact that they are 4th in the table is a testament to, work rate, organisation and a system that suits what you have at your disposal. They aren’t particularly pretty or easy on the eye but everyone knows their role, 5 wins on the bounce and one of the meanest defences in League 2. At this level, this can get you a long way.

Colchester started well and were denied an early lead thanks to the young keeper Owen Evans in the Cheltenham goal. An excellent save to deny Ben Stevenson but despite plenty of the ball the U's were failing to get through a 5 man defensive wall and against the run of play the visitors took the lead in 37 mins. Chris Clements through ball found Alfie May who to everyone bar the linesman appeared to be offside, he strode forward to tuck the ball past Dean Gerken. Despite the protests from Colchester the goal stood. The home side were clearly rattled, and this seemed to affect their play, Pell did have a shot on target but suddenly it was Cheltenham asking the questions, Broom going close with a chip that dipped at the last minute just wide of the post.

In the second half, the determination of the Cheltenham backline was there for all to see and the keeper was hardly tested. Theo Robinson fired an effort wide when well, placed but a combination of sloppy passing, to slow in possession and wrong decision making was frustrating both players and fans alike . Cheltenham were very effective at stopping play, alleged injuries, substitutions, and generally appearing to take time at dead ball situations to disrupt play. It was effective for Lincoln City under their former manager so it can work to a degree. It was this type of situation that led to Cheltenham’s second goal. A corner taken short; Prosser then dived in conceding a free-kick. Chris Hussey then scored with a brilliant left-footed effort from the right to make it 0-2 with 12 mins left. There was no way back for Colchester despite forwards being thrown on to try and get a goal. Just to cap a miserable day for them a deliberate handball by centre back Omar Showunmi saw him sent off, but the referee was kind to him, rightly or wrongly. Not a straight red but a second yellow, which will probably mean a one-match ban rather than a three-match ban. Both these clubs are based on low budgets so it’s impressive how both are in the promotion shake-up.

The crowd of under 4,000 shows how there is little interest from the local area in its football team. Since their move 12 years ago to the out of town site against the A12, it seemed remarkable how there has been no development in the local vicinity. The stadium looks like an unloved facility on the edge of town that few people are interested in.

Following another shower, we made our way back to the car in the glorious sunshine with a cold breeze. We were soon enough making our way past the ground and back onto the A12 making the long journey back to Leicestershire getting home before 8pm.

Colchester United 0-2 Walsall

The Weston Homes Community Stadium, the new home of Colchester United was on our list to visit when Leicester City were in town. However an international break meant a rescheduled night game which neither of us could attend.

Instead we opted for a pleasant day out in mid November on a Saturday afternoon watching a neutral game against Walsall.
The garrison town of Colchester is a fair trek even from the East Midlands so we set off early using the M1, A14 and M11, stopping off for toilets at Birchanger Green services not far from Stansted Airport.
We then travelled across Essex bypassing Braintree arriving in Colchester in late morning. First stop on arrival was the U’s former home layer road, previously visited by Adrian many years back.
The ground was already partially demolished, we believe for new housing.
The WHCS (The Weston Homes Community Stadium) is situated on wasteland against the A12 on the outskirts of the town. Free shuttle buses run from the town centre or limited car parking is available for a price of £5.
With nonexistent facilities near the stadium upon our visit, we decided to bring our own sandwiches.
The stadium is a collection of four separate stands, almost box like in appearance. Similar to the likes of Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield, these new four sided grounds almost appear to be flat pack built in no time at all, on the cheap and seem to look almost identical to one another. The ground size appears to be perfect for the club, it has uninterrupted views and good legroom.
Prior to the game, we were accosted by the Essex library service in the concourse area. They were giving away new books in the vain hope that the average football fan would be persuaded to use his local library.
With Christmas approaching Adrian saw an excellent money saving opportunity.
We all had books for Christmas! And I seemed to be carrying all the heavy ones back to the car at the end of the game too!
As for the game, Colchester United were poor and visitors Walsall deserved their 2-0 win thanks to goals from Dwayne Mattis and Michael Ricketts.
With a long journey home we departed swiftly (book carrying) returning to the car and made good progress leaving town.
We stopped off at MacDonald’s near Stansted before finally returning to Leicestershire at approx 8.30.