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Knees-up Mother Brown #23
at 14:35 17 Mar 2024

Following a disappointing result at Holker Street, exacerbated by yet more poor refereeing to deny us a clear penalty in the first half and award a non-existent free-kick to give the Bluebirds a first half lead (albeit the free-kick was an absolute blinder), and the inevitable postponement of the Donny game on Tuesday, the U’s now find themselves in the relegation zone. It is what it is, and with seven of our remaining 11 games at home, our destiny is still very much in our own hands – but everyone has to do their job, both on and off the (repurposed) pitch.
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Knees-up Mother Brown #23
at 14:19 16 Mar 2024

Following a disappointing result at Holker Street, exacerbated by yet more poor refereeing to deny us a clear penalty in the first half and award a non-existent free-kick to give the Bluebirds a first half lead (albeit the free-kick was an absolute blinder), and the inevitable postponement of the Donny game on Tuesday, the U’s now find themselves in the relegation zone. It is what it is, and with seven of our remaining 11 games at home, our destiny is still very much in our own hands – but everyone has to do their job, both on and off the (repurposed) pitch.


UP THE U’S!!!

The world outside U’s World
As an homage to the news that we’ve temporarily solved the problem of our atrocious pitch by moving it away from the East stand bog, whilst reducing its size to 102m by 64m, I’ve decided today’s blog would be an opportunity to reflect on a loosely related experience from the real world – a kind of “The world outside U’s World meets U’s World” I suppose. Incidentally, whilst finding a handy League 2 pitch size comparison table on t’interweb has proved elusive, from what I can see, the Bescot (for example) measures 100m by 66m, so slightly wider and slightly shorter.

My story begins early in my career as a field archaeologist for the company I still work for, as an aspiring Project Supervisor running a trial trench evaluation of the proposed route of a new wastewater sewer pipe installation in and around Deal in East Kent. This was back in the early 90s, somewhere around 1991 or 1992 I think, and the new sewer pipe (a massive 1.5-2m diameter construction) was in part designed to alleviate perennial flooding in Deal (which ironically, they still suffer from).

For the most part our work, on behalf of the water company delivering the scheme but coordinated by the council, focused on agricultural land on the outskirts of Deal. However, as we approached the end of the trial trench evaluation, we were required to investigate some green spaces within the town itself, these including the home of Deal Wanderers Rugby Football Club. So early one Thursday morning I set up the theodolite and set out the three trenches we were required to machine excavate.

I then double- and even triple-checked my measurements – this couldn’t be right, the line of the trenches was cutting right across one corner of their pitch, with noticeboards outside the ground advertising their next home game was on Saturday! I did as I should and phoned my manager. She double-checked her plans, that was where they should be she confirmed, so she went away to make further enquiries, whilst I rang our coordinator at the council. He was adamant, the trenches were in the right place, on the proposed alignment, and anyway, the council had written to Deal Wanderers RFC well in advance to notify them of the works – so we were ordered to proceed.

As you’d expect from a top quality sports pitch, the turf lifted beautiful in clean slabs when faced with a 360-degree tracked excavator, and in no time at all we had virtually finished the machine excavation of all three – when the approach of a blazered individual was brought to my attention. This it turned out was the club secretary and by the look of him (5’6” in his socks, neck wider than his head and barrel-chested), former tighthead prop.



I have never seen anyone more incandescent with rage before or since, nor do I wish to. He was literally purple, and struggling to find the words, any words, to demand what the bloody hell did we think we were doing. Self-preservation mode kicked in, as I, as patiently and politely as possible, tried to explain we’d checked the setting-out information several times, that these were we where we were told to put them, and that I’d even checked with the council…

That was a magic word – at the word “council” he went deathly calm, swivelled on his heels to march back to the clubhouse, whilst telling us in no uncertain terms to get our trenches “effing” backfilled immediately. In no time at all the site was besieged by officials from the water company, club and council whilst we, as diligently and carefully as we could set to backfilling and reinstating. It turned out that whilst the council should have written to Deal Wanderers, someone somewhere in County Hall forgot to do so, and they had a game in less than 48 hours.

However, all was not lost, one of the trenches was fortunately not actually on the pitch, one was only just, and we’d already done an excellent job through lots of shovel work in getting that one backfilled, so much so that the club secretary was happy the surface was good enough for the match to go ahead. That just left the final trench, and we were three-quarters through backfilling that one by the end of the day. Despite the monumental f’ck-up, everyone left that evening reasonably confident we could finish the top quality reinstatement work we’d been doing, and the match could go ahead.

Sadly, our plant operator, showing the sort of initiative you really don’t want to see, decided to rock up early the following morning with a JCB to finish off the reinstatement, rather than use the tracked excavator. When we arrived at 8am the site looked like Passchendaele. From almost non-existent marks left by the excavator tracks, the wheels of the JCB had left deep ruts everywhere, the back feet of the JCB had sunk deep holes into the turf all over the place, and without us and our trusty shovels in support, he’d managed to repeatedly rip large sections of turf off.

The site was an utter disaster when the great and the good arrived for a 9am inspection. Now wholly over a barrel because of their incompetence, the council had to go into overdrive in finding a creative solution, and thankfully one of their surveyors did. Noticing that there was considerable excess green space on the opposite side of the pitch, he worked out that if the pitch was both moved and rotated a bit, it could still fit within the grounds, just – and thus Operation Game On was borne, and by the end of Friday the entire pitch had been re-laid, posts and all, and the game went ahead the following afternoon.

We never worked with that plant firm again.

U’s World
So, new pitch, ‘nuff said.



Sanity has also prevailed and, given the intense use the JobServe pitch will have to sustain between now and the end of the season, the Essex Senior Cup final between the U’s and Redbridge FC next Tuesday has now been moved to Dagenham and Redbridge’s Chigwell Construction Stadium. Tickets can be purchased from the Daggers ticketing webpage, link below:

https://daggers.ktckts.com/event/dag2324escf/bbc-essex-senior-cup-final-colchest

Match of the Day
Carlisle United v Colchester United
20th April 1997
Auto Windscreens Shield (Final)
Attendance 45,077




Match of the Day for KMB23, and finally the random memorabilia match selector has picked our third appearance at Wembley, for the Auto Windscreens Shield final against Carlisle United. Although drawn as the ‘home’ side, Carlisle elected to play in their away shirt sponsored by Eddie Stobart, a decision no doubt influenced by the sponsor. Their kit was a fetching (Ed. retching, surely?) array of Stobart green, gold, red and white stripes, their supporters known as the deckchair army as a result. This allowed the U’s to play in traditional blue and white stripes for the match, which kicked off at 1.30pm on the Sunday afternoon and was also broadcast on Sky TV.

Carlisle, under the chairmanship of Michael “Keepy-Uppy” Knighton and new manager Mervyn Day, had been having a storming season at the top of the league, almost constantly in the top three, and looked destined to possibly achieve a league and cup double. Knighton being Knighton, it was revealed post-match that he’d threatened to pull Carlisle out of the final because he wanted a better share of the TV money. Calling his bluff, the Football League said if he did that, they’d kick Carlisle out of the league, and having put up, Knighton then demurely shut up.

It’s probably no coincidence that Carlisle’s up-turn in form under Day also coincided with former manager Mick “Bigger B’stard than Mick Wadsworth” Wadsworth moving to Norwich City – sorry Canaries. Mind you, under Steve Wignall, we weren’t doing too bad either, and despite a poor run of form late February to early April (losing seven of nine), we were hanging on to the play-offs by our fingernails.

And that really was the prize we wanted – as much as trips to Wembley are fantastic for supporters and club alike, we really needed the promotion out of the basement that Wignall’s U’s were promising. Arguably, our dip in form leading up to this game was in part caused by this cup run. But let’s not sound ungracious, getting to Wembley is always a fantastic occasion, and one that on this day just under 20,000 U’s fans came along to enjoy.

Steve Wignall’s U’s lined up that afternoon as follows:

1….Carl Emberson
2….Joe Dunne
3….Paul Gibbs (12. Chris Fry 105’)
4….David Gregory (13. Adam Locke 85’)
5….David Greene
6….Peter Cawley
7….Richard Wilkins
8….Mark Sale
9….Steve Whitton
10..Tony Adcock
11..Paul Abrahams (14. Karl Duguid 91’)

For such a big occasion for both sets of supporters, it wasn’t really that good a game, certainly not to begin with. I used to have a video of the match (my brother-in-law had Sky, so taped it for me as a memento), and in a cautious first half both sides largely sparred with each other, without really landing any blows of note. Incidentally, not anticipating the possibility of extra time and penalties, he set the video to shut off at the end of the original scheduled broadcast, so my video missed the final moments of extra time and the penalty shootout (fortunately I suppose?).

Albeit from a slightly negative viewpoint, perhaps the brightest news for the U’s was the early injury substitution of goal scorer Allan Smart for the Cumbrians. Carlisle were definitely the more dominant side in the first half, with Stephane Pounewatchy and Warren Aspinall in particular causing problems, in a side which also includes quality players like Tony Caig in goal, Rory Delap in defence and Lee Peacock up front.

Slowly though, into the second half, the U’s got more and more into the game, although still without either side really carving out any really clear-cut chances. The second half started brightly for both sets of supporters, after Rory Delap attempted to fire over a cross, and managing to destroy the corner flag in the process. Of course, the Wembley staff had a spare readily available – oh no, hang on, they didn’t – and it took a full five minutes before an official emerged sprinting from the tunnel with a new flag held aloft a la Braveheart, to easily the biggest cheer of the match so far.



That moment lifted both spirits and the game, and the second half was a much-improved spectacle. Master of shithousery Warren Aspinall and Steve Whitton went close at opposite ends, but it was Joe Dunne who should have won it. With just 15 seconds on the clock, and the U’s really ratcheting up the pressure, Mark Sale swung in a deep cross that managed to reach Joe. With a bit of composure it was a certain goal, but Joe leant back and managed to blaze the best chance of the afternoon over the bar.

And so to extra time, and with Adam Locke already on for a tiring David Gregory, our own master of shithousery Karl Duguid replaced Paul Abrahams – whose golden goal in the second leg semi against Posh had taken us to the final. Five minutes into extra time Carlisle had their own clear cut chance to win it, with Rod Thomas and Warren Aspinall combining well to put through captain Steve Hayward, but he slipped at the crucial moment and the chance went begging.

That was Thomas’s last contribution to the game, and after coming on as a substitute for the injures Allan Smart, he was then substituted by Matt Jansen. The second half of extra time saw the introduction of Chris Fry for Paul Gibbs, but still produced few clear cut chances, although Mark Sale went close with a header in the dying seconds.

Penalties it was then – usually a barren source of amusement for long-suffering U’s fans. However, even with the kicks being taken at the Carlisle end of the pitch, we had some hope. Wilkins scored first for the U’s, with Conway replying followed by Adcock with the second for the U’s to give us a 2-1 lead. Up stepped Archdeacon, but his soft effort to Emberson’s right was easily stopped, and with the U’s supporters still celebrating like crazy, Greene calmly gave the U’s a 3-1 lead.

Walling pulled one back to make it 3-2 to the U’s after three each, and then the contest pivoted, largely at the hands of one man, Carlisle keeper Tony Caig. Guessing correctly, he kept out the penalties from young Karl Duguid and towering Peter Cawley, and with Aspinall already levelling the scores, it was down to Steven Hayward to narrowly squeeze the last one past the dive of Emberson and win the trophy for the Cumbrians.

Carlisle 0 Colchester United 0 (aet, penalties 4-3)

As heart-breaking as it was, you had to be proud of the U’s in the face of adversity. Karl Duguid was in floods of tears on the pitch and had to be consoled just to get him up the steps to receive his runners-up medal. In an interview reflecting on his career and the game, Tony Caig said “I've come across Karl a few times over the years, played against him and actually coached with him as well. He was on Colchester's coaching staff a few years ago and after the game we were having a chat about it. He said it took him a good while to get over it. He was 18 when he took that penalty. He'd just turned pro. That's a big ask for a young lad, isn't it? But he must have put his hand up, and fair play to him”.

In a case of after the Lord Mayor’s show, Carlisle lost 2-0 at Cardiff the following weekend, the result costing them the title, albeit they were still promoted in third place. The U’s drew at home 0-0 to Northampton the following Saturday, which similarly cost us our play-off spot, missing out by one point to the aforementioned Cardiff City.

However, 12 months later Steve Wignall’s U’s would return to Wembley in the Play-Off final, making no mistake this time – ironically thanks to a David Gregory penalty.

Up the U’s!
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Tonight elsewhere
at 19:51 12 Mar 2024

U's currently in the relegation zone as it stands, after FGR take a 1st minute lead at Bradford City. Time for my alma mater to step up and do their job!
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Knees-up Mother Brown #22
at 14:16 10 Mar 2024

Thanks to a combination of postponements and a trip to Sutton following the U’s, it has been three weeks since the last blog, as the U’s prepare to face a very tricky opponent in Barrow AFC. Since they were voted out of the football league in 1972 (arguably thanks to Ronnie Radford’s screamer against Newcastle in the Edgar Street mud), the Bluebirds spent 48 years in the non-league wilderness before their return following the Covid-19 curtailment to the 2019/20 season. Some are surprised at how well they’re doing this season, but probably shouldn’t be – under new manager Pete Wild they finished a very respectable 9th last season and are clearly aiming to improve on that this time around. Mind you, we’ve got our own new management team in place too, and whilst wins are proving elusive right now, we’re certainly making ourselves a team hard to beat.
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Knees-up Mother Brown #22
at 14:16 9 Mar 2024

Thanks to a combination of postponements and a trip to Sutton following the U’s, it has been three weeks since the last blog, as the U’s prepare to face a very tricky opponent in Barrow AFC. Since they were voted out of the football league in 1972 (arguably thanks to Ronnie Radford’s screamer against Newcastle in the Edgar Street mud), the Bluebirds spent 48 years in the non-league wilderness before their return following the Covid-19 curtailment to the 2019/20 season. Some are surprised at how well they’re doing this season, but probably shouldn’t be – under new manager Pete Wild they finished a very respectable 9th last season and are clearly aiming to improve on that this time around. Mind you, we’ve got our own new management team in place too, and whilst wins are proving elusive right now, we’re certainly making ourselves a team hard to beat.


Worth the entry fee alone…

The world outside U’s World
The unmitigated horror that is the Gaza conflict continues, despite mounting international pressure for a lasting ceasefire to allow essential humanitarian aid to reach a population that is literally starving to death. Hamas held ceasefire talks with mediators this week, but with Israel absent (because Hamas had rejected their demand for a list of hostage names), the talks are unlikely to succeed. Last Thursday an aid convoy carrying flour was swarmed by starving Palestinians, prompting panicked Israeli troops to open fire on the crowd. 115 were killed, and another 750 injured, many as a result of the stampede but a significant proportion from gunshot wounds. The US has now reverted to air dropping supplies into Gaza, but that alone cannot achieve the volume necessary to avert the crisis.

To no one’s surprise at all, President Biden and his ‘predecessor’ both sailed through the Super Tuesday primaries last week, to become the automatic nominations for the Democrat and Republican parties in the November general election. Biden immediately went on the presidential campaign offensive in providing his State of the Union Address on Thursday, delivering a fiery impassioned hour-long speech which belied the Republican jibes about his age and mental acuity. Never once referring to him by name, Biden tore into Donald Trump (as his predecessor) repeatedly, in what many consider one of the best State of the Union Addresses in recent times. Will it be enough – I certainly hope so, because the ramifications of Trump as president again will impact on all of us.

Back home, the first part of the Angiolini Inquiry into the death of Sarah Everard at the hands of Wayne Couzens has been released. It is a damning indictment of the police, citing a catalogue of frankly unbelievable mistakes, oversights and indifference despite the huge volume of evidence that they had a serious sexual predator in their ranks. These include eight women who reported him for sexual assault, but he was never once arrested in connection with any of them, being let off without any action after being identified as the individual driving around Dover naked from the waist down and failing to trace him after masturbating fully naked in front of a female cyclist, despite her full description of him and providing a partial number plate. He was even reported for indecent exposure just five days before abducting Sarah Everard. Elish Angiolini blames a toxic mix of apathy and misogyny for the police’s failure to identify what she rightly describes as a “monster in their midst”.

…and finally, and appropriately given yesterday was International Women’s Day, for those with aspirations of stardom, the tale of 1980s electro pop girl band Zenana should give you all hope. Formed in 1983, they struggled to break into the music scene, before giving up on their dreams and disbanding in 1987. Fast forward to 2022, and Bristolian DJ Kiernan Abbott finds a copy of their only single Witches in a second-hand shop in Cornwall. Liking the track, he reached out to the trio to say just that, and he and others started playing it in clubs in Los Angeles, Paris and themed 1980s discos anywhere they could. The publicity caught the attention of DJ Antalheitlager, managing director of Rush Hour records, who coincidentally had been playing Witches at his own festivals, who promptly signed the now near-70 year olds to his music label.


Well done ladies!

U’s World
As it’s been three weeks since the last blog, much that has been happening at the JobServe since then is now pretty much old news. However, probably of note for several reasons, it’s definitely worth going bang up to date with the U21s storming 6-2 victory over Championship side Bristol City yesterday evening. Noteworthy in itself as a very impressive performance, but also because it saw the return of Matty Etherington and Liam Bailey to the management of the U21s. Now, this news will probably receive a mixed reception amongst the fanbase, but nevertheless it does again show how fiercely loyal Robbie Cowling can be to the team he builds around him.

Following victory over Hashtag United in the semi-final, the U’s will now face Redbridge in the Essex Senior Cup Final at the JobServe on Tuesday 19th March. The U’s will be looking to win the trophy for only the second time in their history, and the club are clearly hoping the U’s supporters will turn up to cheer them on, even opening a portion of the South stand in anticipation of a big crowd, despite increasing ticket prices from £5 to £15 for paying adults.

That is a bit of a hike if I’m honest but given it’s a chance for some silverware in what has been otherwise a difficult season following the U’s, I do hope the young (and not so young) lads get a decent crowd turn up. It would be nice if there was a streaming option for exiles too, but if not, I’ll have to make do with the club’s twitter feed.

On the subject of International Women’s Day, another massive shout out for the Colchester United Women (again!) who demolished third place Rayleigh Ladies 13-0 last Sunday. Twelve matches in, eight to go, and the CUFC Women are way out ahead ten points clear at the top of the League 2 table, winning all 12 games and with a goal difference of +83. It will come as no surprise that of the top ten scorers in the division, seven of them are U’s players! Magnificent stuff, and I sincerely hope the club do something special to celebrate their inaugural season when it is concluded.

Match of the Day
Stockport County v Colchester United
13th February 2010
Coca-Cola Football League One (Tier 3)
Attendance 3,642



No programme, for good reason, so thanks to ColUData as ever

Match of the Day for KMB22, and a bit of an oddity – in that the game is on my calendar and therefore in my memorabilia archive, I clearly planned to be there, but know with absolute certainly in the end I wasn’t. My first and only trip to Edgeley Park was this season, and given where they are in the league, it’s likely to remain the case for at least one more season. I can’t for the life of me remember why I didn’t travel, but it was the weekend before Sam’s birthday, which might have had something to do with it.

So, today’s account will have to rely on my own records and online reporting, including as always Graeson’s excellent ColUData website. There’s also a strong element of déjà vu here too, as this match was just two weeks prior to the Bristol Rovers game featured in the previous Knees Up Mother Brown #21 blog. I will endeavour to find some new material to liven things up a bit.

The U’s, under Aidy Boothroyd, went into this game facing a run of six games, four of which were against sides in the bottom half of the table, and three of those were in the bottom six. In the week leading up to the match Aidy highlighted just how important these were if the U’s wanted to maintain their promotion challenge, likening them to six cup finals in pure football cliché terms.

Aidy’s U’s lined up that afternoon as follows:

1….Ben Williams
25..John White
4….Magnus Okuonghae (captain)
28..Matt Heath
23..Marc Tierney
26..David Prutton
10..Kemi Izzet
8….John-Joe O'Toole
22..Anthony Wordsworth
9….Clive Platt (16. Ian Henderson 69’)
15..Kayode Odejayi

Stockport, managed by Gary Ablett, were not only rock-bottom of the league, but even in February looked near certainties to still be in that position at the end of the season. They’d been bottom of the league since mid-November, without a win since October, and whoever the long-suffering supporter was who had been updating their 2009/10 season Wikipedia page, they clearly gave it up as a lost cause around Christmas 2009. With good reason, the U’s were hopeful that back to back wins at home to Carlisle and Southend could be followed up with another three points at Edgeley Park.

And it didn’t really take long to see those expectations were justified. Playing a poor Stockport County bereft of any confidence or self-belief, the U’s raced into a two goal early lead. It started with what looked like an innocuous 10th minute long range free-kick from David Prutton. Whether Stockport keeper Owain Fon Williams was anticipating someone getting on the end of it or not, it’s unclear, but as nobody did, he found himself wrong-footed as the ball rolled into an unguarded net.

If the first was fortuitous, the second was sublime. Again, Prutton was involved, leading the charge from midfield before laying off to Anthony Wordsworth, whose piledriver from the edge of the box found the top corner with Fon Williams well-beaten. Two nil up after less than 20 minutes, everything was looking good for an easy three points, that is until former U’s Jabo Ibehre took the game by the scruff of the neck. Ibehre, alongside four other MK Dons players, had joined Stockport on loan in January, at the same time as U’s player David Perkins (bafflingly out of favour with Aidy Boothroyd) was loaned to the Hatters – though Perkins wasn’t in the matchday squad for this game, presumably the standard agreement about loan players not playing against their parent club.

Barely four minutes later, with the U’s still buzzing, the Islington Assassin pounced on what was a fine block from Ben Williams to keep out a sharp effort from George Donnelly, lifting the ball over the keeper and into the net. Bugger – that took the wind out of the U’s sails somewhat, but before too long normal service was resumed with the U’s largely controlling the game, though this time a bit more wary of Stockport County, and particularly Jabo.

If the first half had shown, by and large, considerable promise from the U’s, the second half was a spectacular disappointment. Dominating possession and territory in the first, we found ourselves on the receiving end from a newly invigorated Stockport County throughout most of the second. Worse still, there didn’t seem to be anything we could do about, and even when we got hold of the ball, we made poor decisions about what to do with it to alleviate the pressure.

It really came as no surprise that Stockport County would eventually get the equaliser they deserved, and also no surprise that it would be Ibehre who’d get it. The bounce of a long clearance from Paul Huntingdon completely caught out Matt Heath, and there was Jabo again to nip in and drill home with 12 minutes to go. Sadly inevitable, though the U’s did rally somewhat following the goal to try and get the three points back, and Ian Henderson was unlucky when his injury time effort crashed off the underside of the bar and bounced away to safety. So the U’s had to be content with a point that really should have been all three.

Stockport County 2 (Ibehre 22’, 77’) Colchester United 2 (Prutton 10’; Wordsworth 18’)

In the previous blog I highlighted that in his post-match interview, Aidy Boothroyd’s “disappointment was palpable” – it was more or less the same following this game (a pattern developing perhaps?). To be fair, Aidy did emphasise that to keep things in perspective it was still an away point in our bid for promotion, but conceded it should have been more, stating “it's an away point gained but our defending was really bad….that can't happen for a team as good as ours that is pushing for promotion”.

Stockport County couldn’t avoid the inevitable, and finished bottom of the league with just 25 points, and it would be 12 more years and a spell in non-league before our paths crossed again at the start of last season. Incidentally, they’ve won all three matches since then, just the rearranged fixture on 9th April standing between them and a clean sweep of four out of four.

With Aidy moving on to Coventry in the summer, new manager John Ward recalled David Perkins from his exile, and he would go on to make 40 appearances in his final season with the U’s, netting the Player of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year, and CUSA Home and Away Player of the Year awards. We tried to extend his contract, but understandably he decided to move to Championship Barnsley.


I know Perkins was short, but that bloke behind him must be a fecking giant!

Perhaps with memories of this game, Ibehre was signed on loan literally on the first day of his appointment by new manager Joe Dunne in 2012, scoring a brace on his debut against Hartlepool United. He finished that season alongside Freddie Sears as joint top scorer and winning the Player of the Season award in the process. The following season he netted ten goals in 39 matches but following a knee injury and yet to make an appearance under new manager Tony Hume in 2013/14, Jabo asked to leave to pursue his career elsewhere, eventually ending up for two very successful seasons at Carlisle United.

Up the U’s!
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Knees-up Mother Brown #21
at 14:08 17 Feb 2024

Today represents a rare opportunity for the U’s, a chance to register our first (and possibly only) double of the season, against Accrington Stanley. There are precious few more chances to come, just Salford, Tranmere, Grimsby and of course Notts County, and whilst Grimsby and Salford would be most welcome, the other two look like longshots at the moment. Still, we can only beat who we’re up against, so one game at a time right now. The Manager of the Month curse seems to have been set with a long fuse, after Harrogate dodged a bullet and snatched all three points against the U’s last Saturday. But it completely blew up in their face midweek as Mansfield battered them 9-2 – a record league win for the Scabs. And that there is the story, take your chances and you’ll be okay, don’t and you usually won’t be.


Exactly!

The world outside U’s World
Opposition leader and outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin and his authoritarian regime, Alexei Navalny, has died in a Siberian gulag, serving time on various trumped up charges brought by the Russian judiciary system, and obviously at the behest of Putin. Whilst this probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone, it does underline in a perverse way just how tenuous Putin’s grip on power must be, that he feels the need to murder an imprisoned opponent. Russia has a long history of ‘disappearing’ leaders when the mood takes them, and Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine probably doesn’t help him sleep easy in his bed. The Russian state’s repeated attempts to keep Navalny silent and deny him his political voice are numerous and transparent, including poisoning him with Novichok in 2020, so it looks like they’ve finally succeeded.

Across the pond, Donald Trump’s legal and financial woes just keep mounting. Trump and his two sons had already been found guilty of massive and systematic fraud, vastly inflating his wealth in financial statements to get preferential loans, whilst significantly under-inflating the figures when it came to property tax etc. The big question was what would be the fine that Judge Arthur Engoron handed down in the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James? On Friday we found out - $350 million, which with interest accrued is now already $464 million. Add to that the two fines imposed in the E Jean Carroll cases, and Trump is in the hole for a whopping $551 million – and none of it he can dismiss if he were to become president.

Engoron also ruled that Trump cannot conduct business in New York State for three years, and two years for sons Eric and Don Jr. Trump has already appealed the first E Jean Carroll decision and handed the $5 million dollar fine as collateral. If he wants to appeal the other two, he has to do the same, so some way or another he’s going to have to find a small fortune that most commentators don’t think he actually has – at least not without liquidating assets. And he’s sitting on a ticking time bomb too – every week that goes by, the interest accrued (and that he’s therefore liable for) clicks up by another $1 million.

Something that our gallic U’sualites might appreciate, the residents of Seine-Port village in France have voted to restrict the use of smartphones in public. People are no longer allowed to scroll through their devices in the street, in shops, restaurants or parks, even at school gates collecting their children. However, there’s no actually penalty for doing so, it’s more of a public health service announcement really. The mayor commented that phone addiction was a “public health problem…we have to help them”. Anyone reading this blog on their device – shame on you 😊!

…and finally, in a fitting tribute from a classy football club to a classy man, Liverpool FC have announced that Sven-Göran Eriksson will form part of the management team for a “Legends” game to be played at Anfield on 23rd March. Former England manager Eriksson sadly has terminal cancer, and Liverpool’s announcement follows an interview with Eriksson in which he stated that he had always wanted the opportunity to manage Liverpool. God-willing, Eriksson will be in the dugout on 23rd March to realise his dying wish.


Bravo Liverpool, Bravo!

U’s World
Further questions have been raised throughout social media about the quality (or lack of) of the JobServe playing surface, following the late postponement of the Grimsby game on Tuesday night. Never a particularly well-draining part of town up there, and with the incessant rain that the area has been receiving in recent weeks, the ground was literally saturated and simply couldn’t cope with yet one more downpour on matchday.

From the pictures I’ve seen, it clearly was the right call, but very hard on supporters already on their way to or even at the ground – particularly the Grimsby Town supporters. It remains to be seen what, if anything, will be done about the drainage issues during the close-season, and whether after the departure of long-term groundsman Dave Blacknall, the club will now invest in a full-time replacement.

In a move designed to get him some sustained game-time, talented attacking midfielder Chay Cooper has gone out on a short-term loan deal to National League side Hartlepool. Despite strong competition in midfield, Chay has still made 15 appearances and scored three goals for the U’s this season, even though most of these were from the bench. It’s probably no coincide that he goes to the side where he scored an absolute belter for his first ever professional goal back in 2022.


Always worth watching again.

The EFL and official match ball sponsors PUMA are marking LGBTQ+ History Month by releasing the very first Rainbow match ball, which will be in use today at the JobServe. Putting their money where their mouth is, for every goal that is scored across all three EFL divisions using the Rainbow ball, PUMA will make a donation to an LGBTQ+ Fans for Diversity fund. Whilst numerous wags have commented to the effect of “hope it floats”, it has of course prompted a small minority of gammons, seemingly threatened by colours on a ball and what they represent, to get their knickers in a right old twist…


…Good!

Match of the Day
Bristol Rovers v Colchester United
27th February 2010
Coca-Cola Football League One (Tier 3)
Attendance 6,023



No programme, just the usual calendar entry

Match of the Day for KMB21, and the random memorabilia match selector has gone back almost exactly fourteen years, and the U’s visit to Bristol Rovers’ Memorial Stadium when we were both plying our trade in League 1. Em was working a double shift at Odstock on the day, so an opportunity for Dad and Alfie to have an awayday on the train. Fortunately, living in Warminster at the time, this was always going to be one of our easier trips that season. By coincidence, our previous match against Brentford had also been postponed, also a Tuesday night home game, also called off at short notice, and also for a waterlogged pitch – and this was at the billiard-table surface that was Layer Road. Mind you, Magnus Okuonghae wasn’t complaining, as it gave him a few more days to recover from a shoulder injury picked up in training.

Following a tumultuous start to the season (i.e. Norwich, Lambert, Dunne etc.), Aidy Boothroyd had been appointed as the new U’s manager on 2nd September. Since then he’d kept the U’s right in the promotion mix, and we went into this game in 3rd place, on a five game unbeaten run, and very much considered favourites against a Bristol Rovers side managed by Paul Trollope who still had strong promotion ambitions of their own.

With Magnus regaining sufficient fitness to make it to the bench, Aidy’s U’s lined up:

1….Ben Williams
21..Danny Batth (20. Kevin Lisbie 89’)
23..Marc Tierney
25..John White
28..Matt Heath
31..Phil Ifil (7. Ashley Vincent 71’)
8….John-Joe O'Toole
22..Anthony Wordsworth
26..David Prutton
9….Clive Platt (captain)
18..Steven Gillespie (15. Kayode Odejayi 71’)

In the opening exchanges the U’s were living up to their billing as favourites, with neat passing moves mostly originating from Marc Tierney at the back causing the Gas problems, and a decent following from Essex expecting great things. Rovers keeper Mikkel Andersen did well to palm away Gillespie’s header, and injury-prone Gillespie should have buried a cross from Ifil, only to fire it into the side-netting.

Still, the signs were good, so it came as a bit of surprise when Bristol Rovers opened the scoring on 16 minutes. Heffernan laid the ball off to Dominic Blizzard, who let fly from all of 30 yards. I thought Ben Williams should have done better, but he failed to get a hand to the long-range effort, and it flew into the net to give the Gas an ill-deserved 1-0 lead.

Fortunately though, it didn’t stay that way for long, and after five more minutes we were level again. From a Marc Tierney throw-in, Phil Ifil’s speculative effort certainly looked to be going wide, but for ‘headband hero’ JJ O’Toole, who managed to get his aforementioned headbanded head to the shot, glance it past a helpless Andersen and into the net. This was JJ’s first goal for the U’s since he converted his loan spell into a permanent move in January, and didn’t we celebrate it.

The remainder of the first half was much more even encounter, with Rovers growing into the game. Decent chances for both sides could have been converted, with Heffernan shooting wide when well-placed, and Gillespie guilty again when he failed to convert a good pass from Prutton, so we had to be content with 1-1 to go with our pasty and Bovril half-time. Plenty to play for though second half.

Again the U’s started strongly, with Rovers very much reliant on breakaways as their main threat for the opening 20 minutes or so, but that threat was always there, and the U’s had to be alert to it. Sadly, one momentary lapse in concentration on 67 minutes wiped out all of our concentration up to that point. Stuart Campbell had already fired a warning shot, shooting narrowly wide, and a minute or so later Heffernan flicked the ball into the area, the U’s defence were caught napping, and in came Jo Kuffour to finish past Williams from close range.

As intensely frustrating as it was, still the U’s came back, showing they had the ability to get something from the game, and Andersen did exceptionally well to prevent Clive Platt from immediately bringing the score level again. Throwing caution to the wind, Boothroyd bought on strikers Kayode Odejayi and Ashley Vincent to try and rescue something from the game, sacrificing Ifil and Gillespie in the process.

It looked like it might work too, with the U’s throwing the kitchen sink at Bristol Rovers – but wouldn’t you know it, for all of our dominance, it was the Pirates who would deliver the hammer blow. With barely ten minutes to go Kuffour managed to hook the ball back into the area when it seemed destined to be a U’s goal kick, and with the defence napping again, there was Chris Lines to finish from close range to give Rovers a seemingly unassailable 3-1 lead.

Still the U’s came back though, and after Andersen did well to keep out another Platt effort, Odejayi was unlucky to see his follow-up effort hit the post. So close, but in the final minute we went closer, with Odejayi finally blasting home from a Platt lay-off. Roared on by the travelling faithful, and with Kevin Lisbie coming on for the final seconds, we laid siege to the Rovers goal in added time, but just couldn’t find the equaliser that our performance deserved.

Bristol Rovers 3 (Blizzard 16’; Kuffour 67’; Lines 79’) Colchester United 2 (O’Toole 21’; Odejayi 89’)

In his post-match interview, Aidy Boothroyd’s disappointment was palpable, quite rightly highlighting our lack of concentration in defence and failure to take chances in attack the cause of our downfall. Aidy said “I can’t remember being as annoyed as I am since I’ve been here. People talk about football in great detail but it’s what you do in the two boxes that really counts”.

What he didn’t know at the time, none of us did, was the Memorial Stadium defeat would herald a terrible drop in form for the U’s. We would win just two more games all season, and whilst on paper an 8th place finish might not have looked too bad, in reality it was a disaster. As a result, and although this would turn out to be our best league finish since relegation from the Championship, no one (I certainly wasn’t) was too bothered when Boothroyd moved on to Coventry in the summer.

Since this encounter, whilst the U’s would be relegated to League 2 just the once six years later, Bristol Rovers would slip all the way down into non-league, back up to League 1, back down to League 2 and last season back up to League 1 again. Who said following a lower league football club could be boring…

Up the U’s!
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The Cowley's five games in
at 19:59 12 Feb 2024

So here's my not very scientific view on the first five games, measured against some pretty basic criteria.



No doubt some will disagree with my highly subjective assessments on a match by match basis, and I have no doubt the Cowley's are all over this anyway (this isn't meant as a criticism btw). However, only once have we dominated the first half, we're generally much better in the second half. Three times out of five it could be argued we've taken at least some of our chances, and likewise shut the opposition out in the final few minutes. Worryingly, for four out of the five we've had to come from behind, albeit in three of those games we did at least rescue a point.

The Cowley's will be demanding five out of five, will we see that tomorrow night?
Blog
Knees-up Mother Brown #20
at 14:09 11 Feb 2024

Bill Shankly once said that form is temporary, class is permanent. He was of course correct, but let’s hope never more so than today’s visit to Wetherby Road to take on the form side of League 2, Harrogate Town. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the Sulfurites have defied the expectations of most pundits, many tipping them to be in another relegation scrap this season. But, long-standing manager (and former player) Simon Weaver has turned things around, and they currently sit just two places and two points outside the play-offs. Weaver was rightly awarded the Sky Bet League 2 Manager of the Month for January – hope he looks after it, because it’ll be Danny’s soon.
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Knees-up Mother Brown #20
at 14:08 10 Feb 2024

Bill Shankly once said that form is temporary, class is permanent. He was of course correct, but let’s hope never more so than today’s visit to Wetherby Road to take on the form side of League 2, Harrogate Town. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the Sulfurites have defied the expectations of most pundits, many tipping them to be in another relegation scrap this season. But, long-standing manager (and former player) Simon Weaver has turned things around, and they currently sit just two places and two points outside the play-offs. Weaver was rightly awarded the Sky Bet League 2 Manager of the Month for January – hope he looks after it, because it’ll be Danny’s soon.


”Oh Mr Weaver…don’t forget your complimentary curse as well…”

The world outside U’s World
I recall mentioning this several years ago in a previous blog, but it is worth highlighting that a power-sharing devolved government has finally returned to Northern Ireland after nearly two years of impasse. The DUP has finally ended their long-standing boycott in protest at the British Government’s Brexit agreement, ratifying the “Windsor Framework” and thus signing in Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill as the first Irish nationalist First Minister – a move that would have been unthinkable for the DUP until recently. The move unlocks a much needed £3.3 billion in UK government funding and allows the region to benefit from its unique position with direct access to both the UK and EU markets.

The net closes in on Donald Trump, with a federal appeals court in the DC circuit denying his claim for absolute presidential immunity from 91 indictments he’s currently facing. They didn’t just deny it either, they categorically and systematically tore apart all his ludicrous grounds for immunity in a ruling that won’t be easy reading for Trump and his legal team. In a unanimous verdict, the three-judge panel (two democrat, one republican) wrote “We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a President has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralize the most fundamental check on executive power…We cannot accept that the office of the Presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter”. Trump has until Monday to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, but if you’ll pardon the pun, the jury is out on whether they’ll even take the case, given they’ve already declined the opportunity once already.

With the Six Nations in full swing, a report by academics that claim children’s rugby could be considered a form of child abuse is no doubt going to get many hot under the collar, and certainly divide opinion. The Times reports that the experts conclude that given the high risk of concussive injuries to developing children, the game should effectively be banned among under-18s. Eric Anderson, a professor of sport at Winchester University went as far as to state “cultural perception is that striking a child outside sport is abuse…striking a child in sport is somehow socially acceptable”. There have already been many who are denouncing the report, not least former England international Will Greenwood. In a Telegraph article, Greenwood admitted that in the past young players were not protected as much as they should have been, but those days were “long gone”, and choosing a somewhat unfortunate metaphor, “so there’s no need to throw the baby out with the bath water”.

U’s World
It was good to see during the week a couple of our younger players going out on one month loans – Frankie Terry goes to South Essex side Aveley FC, whilst Ronnie Nelson travels a little further, all the way down to the English Riviera at Torquay United. Both Aveley and Torquay sit just outside the National League South play-offs, and whilst I bear Aveley no ill will whatsoever, it would be nice to see Torquay (along with table-topping Yeovil Town) at least get back to the National League level.

Slightly higher up the first team pecking order, now that Al-Amin Kazeem has recovered from injury, he too has gone out on loan for the rest of the season, playing for League of Ireland Premier Division side Galway United. Their league kicks off next week, and I expect Al-Amin will go straight into the starting XI. Good luck to all our loanees, I’m sure you’ll do us proud.

Two managerial appointments to also mention, Lorenzo Dolcetti joins as First Team Analyst, reuniting with Danny and Nicky following time together when they were all at Pompey, and Simon King taking over as the Head Coach for the rampant Colchester United Women’s team. As has been mentioned elsewhere already, Lorenzo is son to Aldo, now Assistant Manager at Juventus and a former Serie A footballer. Speculation that this might be a useful connection for the club has been inevitable – I could cope with the idea of Colchester United being a nursery for Juventus if I’m honest.

The U’s Women’s game at Stones Ladies was postponed last Sunday as the opposition couldn’t field a team, and with second place Sudbury Sports Women only drawing their game in hand at Barking Women Reserves, the U’s are now seven points clear at the top. Simon King’s first game in charge tomorrow will be a bit of a baptism of fire, at third place Premier League side Romford Ladies in the League Cup. Still, with the ladies seemingly unstoppable in their bid for immediate promotion, it will be a useful measure to see how they compare against one of the top women’s sides in the county.

…and finally, and deservedly, Arthur Read’s sublime free-kick at Morecambe has not only won the Colchester United Goal of the Month, but it also made the shortlist for the Sky Bet League 2 Goal of the Month competition too. Ready has already won the November award, for his superb solo effort goal against Sutton United, and whilst he’s facing some tough opposition this time around, no reason why he couldn’t pick up another trophy for his cabinet. Voting closes at 5pm on Monday 12th, and the link is below if you haven’t yet voted.

https://www.efl.com/news/2024/february/09/cast-your-vote-for-january-s-sky-bet-g


Always worth another watch, a goal that even Platini would be proud of

Match of the Day
Peterborough United v Colchester United
25th March 2005
Coca-Cola Football League One (Tier 3)
Attendance 4,084




Match of the Day for KMB20, and the random memorabilia match selector has selected another of my collection of U’sual fanzines, this one for March 2005. As a result, I’ve just chosen a U’s game from that month, and what better than our Good Friday visit to London Road to face auld enemy Peterborough United. The fanzine, as ever, is an entertaining read, Blackpool and Blackburn (the “Aidan divot” incident) awayday recollections from Geoffrey Squire, an update on the Cuckoo Farm stadium campaign, and a Q&A with Pat ‘Rio’ Baldwin. Daniel was even gracious enough to include my own “MK No Way” piece – a take on the recent formation of MK Dons, and the demise of Wimbledon Football Club as a result.

I’m pretty certain I wasn’t at London Road for this game, or if I was, I certainly can’t remember it, so today’s Match of the Day will have to rely entirely on what I can glean from t’internet. I don’t know exactly when the U’sual #10 was published, but given it highlights our upcoming U18 game against Ipswich in the FA Youth Cup, it must have been before 16th of March, so there’s nothing in there I can rely on for the Posh match. Incidentally, another factoid about the game was that it was refereed by Uriah Rennie, a regular Premier League referee, and the first black referee to officiate a Premier league game.

This was Phil Parkinson’s first full season in charge of the U’s, and after a thorough clear out in the summer, a much-changed U’s had started the season strongly. By mid-October we were still in the play-offs, but a dip in form from there saw the U’s slip alarmingly down the table. Never quite so much that there were genuine concerns about relegation, but certainly getting a little too close for comfort when you start to look for the point that you’re mathematically safe. However, a draw at Port Vale, win at Stockport and draw at home to Sheff Wed leading up to this game had calmed a few nerves, with Parky naming the following line-up for the London Road visit.

1….Aidan Davison
2….Greg Halford
4….Gavin Johnson (23. John White 45’)
5….Wayne Brown (captain)
6….Kevin Watson
9….Marino Keith
26..Neil Danns (8. Gareth Williams 85’)
12..Pat Baldwin
18..Liam Chilvers
20..Marc Goodfellow (14. Stephen Hunt 80’)
25..Sam Stockley

Peterborough United, with Barry Fry as manager, were having a terrible season, coming into this game with just two wins in the last four months, and already looking a dead certainty for relegation. Parky’s U’s would have been cautiously optimistic, but as we all know, London Road is never an easy place to visit. Plus, and whilst good news financially, the sale of leading goal-scorer Craig Fagan at the end of February was also a massive disappointment, with great expectations placed on the shoulders of incoming Marino Keith to fill the goal-scoring gap.

Considering Peterborough’s perilous position, most of the first half was a cagey tense affair, with neither side gaining complete control, and precious little to get a fairly poor attendance of just over 4,000 excited about. That is until just before half-time, when Sam Stockley caught a perfect volley that Mark Tyler did will to fingertip it over his bar. Kevin Watson whipped in one of his trademark corner kicks which was only partially cleared, and there was loanee Marc Goodfellow on the edge of the box to drill home through a forest of legs to give the U’s a 1-0 lead, and his first goal in a U’s shirt.

Peterborough had posed little threat going forward for most of the first half, so Barry Fry was forced to change things around for the second half, bringing on Wayne Purser and Mark Coulson for Ryan Semple and Craig Ireland. Parky also chose to make a change, withdrawing Gavin Johnson for the ever-dependable John White, to put a bit more steel into the defence. Golden rule, if you’re going to struggle to score, just make sure you don’t concede first.

With a 1-0 lead and still little if any threat from Posh, the second half started reasonably comfortably for the U’s. The Posh defence weren’t having a good day, and on 70 minutes another poor clearance went straight to Sam Stockley. This time Sam had the vision to slip the ball through to Neil Danns, who made no mistake from close range to give the U’s a comfortable two goal cushion. The U’s control continued, and Goodfellow was unlucky not to get second a few minutes later, with an effort that went just wide with Tyler beaten.

Throwing caution to the wind, Barry Fry brought on towering Nigerian striker Fola Onibuje with just under 15 minutes to go. 6’ 5” in his socks, but in truth he rarely threatened Aidan’s goal. With ten minutes to go Goodfellow had run his race and was replaced by Stephen Hunt to batten down the hatches and make sure we left London Road with the points we deserved.

We needn’t have worried though, as three minutes later Uriah Rennie pointed to the spot for the U’s. I can’t find who fouled who, or what caused the incident, but what I do know is that Marino Keith made no mistake from the spot, and the U’s easily saw out the remaining minutes for a surprisingly comfortable 3-0 win at Peterborough United.

Peterborough United 0 Colchester United 3 (Goodfellow 45’; Danns 70’; Keith 83’p)

The win, and a fourth game unbeaten, effectively ensured we were mathematically safe from relegation. In fact, going unbeaten from there through to the end of the season, a run of 11 consecutive games, saw the U’s finish in 15th place. Plenty therefore to be optimistic about for the upcoming 2005/06 season.

Peterborough were indeed relegated, alongside Torquay, Wrexham and Stockport County. When you consider the other three all ended up in non-league, I suppose Posh can consider themselves fortunate they didn’t suffer the same fate?

Marc Goodfellow rejoined his parent club Bristol City at the end of the season, his goal at London Road his only one whilst with us.

Up the U’s!
Prediction
Prediction Logged by at 10:11:50
Harrogate Town v Colchester United prediction logged
Blog
Knees-up Mother Brown #19
at 14:18 4 Feb 2024

February, and the U’s enter the most pivotal month of the season. Six games in just four weeks, with four of them against sides also in the bottom six. By March we should be either well clear of danger, or even deeper in the sh*t. With Danny Cowley’s U’s still unbeaten, and looking stronger game on game, I’m sure it’ll be the former, but first we have to do our bit to consign Steve ‘Sour Grapes’ Cotterill’s FGR back to non-league. After our shambolic 5-0 defeat at New Lawn, nothing would give me greater pleasure, even if it meant losing one of my closest awaydays in the process. What’s the excuse going to be today Steve – shocking pitch, faking head injuries, Mexican banditry or some other bit of sour-grapery bullsh*t?
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Knees-up Mother Brown #19
at 14:17 3 Feb 2024

February, and the U’s enter the most pivotal month of the season. Six games in just four weeks, with four of them against sides also in the bottom six. By March we should be either well clear of danger, or even deeper in the sh*t. With Danny Cowley’s U’s still unbeaten, and looking stronger game on game, I’m sure it’ll be the former, but first we have to do our bit to consign Steve ‘Sour Grapes’ Cotterill’s FGR back to non-league. After our shambolic 5-0 defeat at New Lawn, nothing would give me greater pleasure, even if it meant losing one of my closest awaydays in the process. What’s the excuse going to be today Steve – shocking pitch, faking head injuries, Mexican banditry or some other bit of sour-grapery bullsh*t?



The world outside U’s World
In Gaza there is renewed hope for a ceasefire and hostage exchange, with Majed al-Ansari, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson confirming “both sides have agreed to the substance that could guide the coming humanitarian ceasefire and we hope it will be concluded within weeks”. The deal on the table is reported to comprise the return of all remaining hostages in exchange for a 40-day ceasefire. Although Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has always maintained the war cannot end without Hamas removed from power, he is coming under increasing pressure, particularly from the US, to reconsider his tactics to bring the war (and appalling civilian casualties) to an end.

The MAGA republican party is never too far from institutional misogyny, so when the news broke that music juggernaut Taylor Swift’s endorsement was being courted by the Biden campaign, you can imagine the meltdown it caused. They are understandably fearful of the tremendous influence she has with an estimated 272 million followers, given when she encouraged her fans to register to vote back in September, 35,000 new registrations appeared literally overnight. Their conspiracy theories have been off the charts as a result, including that Taylor Swift is a Pentagon psy-op “asset”, put there to first rig the Super Bowl (her boyfriend Travis Kelce plays for Super Bowl finalists Kansas City Chiefs), before then endorsing Biden to “steal” the presidential election.

Rishi Sunak is facing a plot from within his inner sanctum to remove him ahead of the next General Election, with a poll allegedly financed by anonymous Tory donors, indicating it will be a labour landslide as things stand. Although Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, widely tipped as a likely successor to Sunak, urged colleagues to “stop messing around” and back the PM, it was later reported that she herself was a member of a WhatsApp group called “Evil Plotters”. However, John Rentoul in the Independent reported “if it was a serious attempt to dislodge the PM, it was an unusually cackhanded one”. Their cunning plan was a poll that asked respondents if they'd prefer Labour's Keir Starmer or an "imaginary" new Tory PM who'd cut taxes, get NHS waiting lists down, and tackle the small boats crisis. Not a lot of wriggle room in that for alternative options…

U’s World
Although they knew they were already out of the Premier League Cup competition, the U21s put on a fantastic performance yesterday evening to win 2-0 at Kenilworth Road. Both goals came in the first half, a sensational strike from Chay Cooper on 28 minutes, followed by an injury time second from Hakeem Sandah showing excellent ball control to drill a half-volley through the hands of Hatters goalkeeper and Welsh U19 international Oliver Camis. Annoyingly, I only discovered the match was broadcast live on the Luton Town YouTube channel this morning – shame, I probably would have watched that.

The transfer window closed yesterday, with everyone breathing a huge sigh of relief that there were no more departures, apart of course for Ross Embleton. Much has already been said here and elsewhere about the unexpected announcement that he will leave the U’s later this month “taking up an opportunity that he wants to do”. U’s Sporting Director Dmitri Halajko was quick to express his disappointment about the decision (not in Ross), setting out just how much more than just Head of Recruitment Ross has contributed to the U’s in his time at the club. That included of course his spell as caretaker Head Coach during the transition from Matt Bloomfield to Ben Garner. Dmitri also confirmed the club were already looking for “a quality replacement…as soon as possible”.


Thanks and best wishes for the future Ross

Colchester United Women’s dominance in the Essex County Women’s Division 2 continues, following a thumping 10-1 home win over 5th place Hedingham United Ladies last Sunday. The U’s have won all ten of their league games and are currently 8pts clear at the top with a +73 goal difference. Tomorrow, they travel to 4th place Stones Ladies, who are based in Ingatestone, which will be their first match of the second half of the season. It will come as little surprise that four of the five top goal scorers are U’s, with Ruby Greenleaf top of the group with 18 goals from just seven appearances.

It was great to see the club include U’s Women midfielder Jamie Newstead, along with Conor Hall, in an interview with Mid & North East Essex Mind CEO Ginny Idehen last week. In combination with the club and Workhorse Generation, this is part of a new campaign to encourage Colchester United supporters to start a conversation about mental health. Expect to see plenty of activities around this taking place at the JobServe this afternoon, as well as food and clothes bank collection points as part of a combined Colchester United and Forest Green Rovers contribution towards Green Football Weekend. All donations will be split 50:50 between the two clubs, and then redistributed to those most in need via local food banks.

Match of the Day
Wycombe Wanderers v Colchester United
5th May 2001
Nationwide Football League Second Division (Tier 3)
Attendance 7,516



I only have a calendar entry for this one, so am indebted to ColUData for the programme cover

Match of the Day for KMB19, and the random memorabilia match selector goes back to the final day of the 2000/01 season and an always anticipated visit to Adams Park to face Wycombe Wanderers. Certainly one of the odder rivalries in English Football (100 miles or so apart by road), and I was reminded by a couple of Swindon fans of another one in the recent visit to the County Ground, the curious tale of the Swindon Town and Gillingham rivalry (131 miles apart by road).

The origin of that rivalry goes way back to 1979, and a fractious encounter at the Priestfield Stadium in March of that year. Swindon captain Ray McHale had been instrumental in winding up the Gillingham players and supporters alike all game. His persistent fouling eventually invoked a torrent of abuse from Gills’ Danny Westwood, who was astonished to promptly receive a red card from David Hutchinson for dissent. Tempers continued to flare on and off the pitch, which finished a fractious 2-2, including the referee being confronted on the pitch by a home supporter.


Danny Westwood’s red card

The return fixture, exactly 22 years before this Match of the Day, on 5th May 1979 was even more heated. Keen to see some retribution, McHale was the target for some ‘agricultural’ challenges all game, eventually resulting in a second yellow and red card for Gillingham player Terry Nichols. Gills boss Gerry Summers thought McHale had made a meal of an innocuous challenge, but then I suppose he would. Swindon won 3-1, but things really boiled over in the tunnel at the end of the game. Gills pair Ken Price and Dean White were arrested and charged with assault following the free-for-all and given conditional discharges in court. Things haven’t been right between the two sides since.

I was living in Salisbury at the time of the Wycombe game, so travelled up on the train for this one, to join an estimated 7-800 hundred to add to what would be Wycombe’s record attendance that season. Although any hope of the play-offs had perished several months earlier, and threat of relegation finally vanquished during April, we did have the target of our highest Second Division placing since promotion to aim for. Not that the vociferous U’s support needed any encouragement, this was after all, Wycombe Wanderers.

This was Steve Whitton’s first full season in charge, and for the final time that season lined the U’s up as follows:

29..Andy Woodman
19..Alan White
4….Gavin Johnson
5….Ross Johnson
2….Joe Dunne
20..Micky Stockwell (27. Dean Morgan 47’)
14..Chris Keeble (3. Joe Keith 80’)
15..Thomas Pinault
10..Steve McGavin (7. Karl Duguid 84’)
9….Scott McGleish
6….Simon Clark

The Chairboys were managed by Lawrie Sanchez back then, and like the U’s were playing out the season safe from either relegation or promotion. Their line-up included many of the names we’ve grown to know and hate – Steve Brown, Keith Ryan, Dannie Bulman, even Ceefax-man Roy Essandoh. Remarkable to think that Danny Bulman would still be playing and score Crawley’s consolation League Cup goal so recently.

For a game with nothing too much to play for, clearly nobody told the U’s, who started like a train and constantly battered Wycombe all game. Youngsters Pinault with his aggressive tenacious play and deft touches and Keeble’s probing runs, were both putting in fantastic performances, and McGavin and McGleish weren’t doing too bad either, for old lads. Andy Woodman was a virtual spectator all game, the only issue being that we were creating chance after chance, but just didn’t seem able to put one away. In just the first half, Mick Stockwell, McGavin (twice), McGleish and Keeble all went close, but despite the dominance it was somehow still 0-0 at half-time.

Sometimes my memory of what happened during which particular trip to Adams Park gets hazy, probably not surprising given I’ve been there so many times, and alcohol is often involved. However, it was either this visit or the year after when an enterprising lad decided to exercise his initiative and use the ladies loo rather than wait in the long queue for the men’s. The tongue-lashing he received when he emerged from one of our better known female supporters was hilarious – well, to everyone else at least.

Following an injury to ever-present Micky Stockwell, Deam Morgan came on just two minutes into the second half, which was the catalyst for finally breaking the deadlock. Four minutes later, with Steve McGavin’s initial free-kick cleared, Dean Morgan picked up the loose ball and pinged it straight back into the penalty area. Who else but spring-heeled McGleish would rise highest to drill a powerful header into the top corner of the net and send the away stand into raptures.

The U’s were rampant on and off the pitch, and how we didn’t extend our lead is beyond me. Not forgetting also, this was against the same Wycombe Wanderers side who had given Liverpool such a tough game in the FA Cup semi-final just a few weeks earlier. Perhaps they were already on the beach, or maybe the U’s were even better than Liverpool that afternoon?

But, you fail to take your chances at your peril, and wouldn’t you know it, in a rare foray up field Wycombe veteran Keith Ryan managed to get his toe to a loose ball in the box and poke home an ill-deserved equaliser for the Chairboys. Did that change the course of the game? Did it heck as like – the U’s resumed their dominance, and in the 79th minute looked certain to regain their lead.

With a defence splitting pass, McGleish put Keeble through on goal with only keeper Martin Taylor to beat. We were already celebrating our second when Keeble crumpled in a heap with no one near him, and a grateful Taylor gathered up the loose ball. Post-match Keeble reported that he’d experienced a stabbing sensation in his calf and was certain he’d been kicked from behind for a certain penalty; “I was so certain I had been fouled I even asked the referee who kicked me”.

Despite all of their dominance, in a match we should have won by three or four goals, it was Wycombe who went closest to breaking the deadlock in the final few minutes. A decent Chris Vinnicombe free-kick was deflected just wide for a corner, a Ross Johnson last ditch tackle denied Essandoh, and it took a fantastic diving save from Woody in injury-time to keep out a Michael Simpson effort.

Wycombe Wanderers 1 (Ryan 70’) Colchester United 1 (McGleish 51’)

Post-match the U’s supporters were kept back in the ground for ten minutes or so, which led to some fractious exchanges with police and stewards, and quite a bit of damage from what I could see to the exit gates. The U’s had finished in 17th place, two points behind Wycombe. Although it was frustrating to learn that with all three points the U’s would have finished in 12th place, this was still our best finish in the league since promotion.



This would be Steve McGavin’s last game in a U’s shirt, but he would continue his playing career for another five years in non-league at Dagenham & Redbridge, Harwich & Parkeston (including a brief spell as player-manager), Stanway Rovers, Clacton Town and Bury Town. Following retirement, he returned to the U’s for a while both in the commercial department and coaching at youth level, followed by spells at Ipswich, Norwich and Aston Villa as Head of Academy Recruitment. Steve’s son Brett currently plays for Torquay United.

Up the U’s!
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Sutton away 24th Feb
at 19:01 30 Jan 2024

Mindful that Sutton play their last game in hand tonight at home to Harrogate (Come on the Betty's!), just a heads-up that the line to West Sutton station right next to their ground appears to be closed on 24th Feb, presumably for engineering works? You can still get to the main Sutton station though, which is only just over a mile from the ground.
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Knees-up Mother Brown #18
at 14:17 28 Jan 2024

It’s the last Saturday of January, and thanks to a succession of games either not on a Saturday, postponed because of the weather, or me actually being there, this is only the second blog of the New Year. The upside of all that is that Danny and Nicky Cowley have had a full two weeks to continue to work on both the physical and mental agility/ resilience of the U’s squad. It will be interesting to see how they get on against a Morecambe side unbeaten in the league so far this year, their only defeat a 2-0 loss in the FA Cup against Championship side Swansea City. With a game in hand over most above them, and only six points below 7th place, the Shrimps will probably think they still have an outside chance of making the play-offs. I sincerely doubt it, but we’d willingly swap places if we had the chance.
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