Sky Blues On The Road- Colchester United

WHO ARE THEY?
Formed in 1937 by supporters of Colchester Town FC who wanted to take their club to being a professional concern and a limited liability company.

The amateur club has been playing at Layer Road since 1909 and the new Colchester United opted to carry on playing there and have done ever since.

The U's first game in the Football League was in 1950 with a 0-0 draw against Gillingham in a Division Three South game. They lost their place in the Football League in 1990 and needed two seasons to get back into the league winning the Conference in season 1991/92.

They have never played top flight football and have only reached the sixth round of the FA Cup once and the fifth round of the League Cup once.

Former Sky Blues Mick Mills and Steve Whitton have managed Colchester and their current manager is Geraint Williams who took over when Phil Parkinson left for Hull City in the summer. Former Sky Blue Mick Harford is assiatant to Geraint Williams.
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THEIR OFFICAL WEBSITE
http://www.cu-fc.premiumtv.co.uk
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LAST MATCH
Coventry beat Hull City 2-0 whilst Colchester lost 5-1 at Derby County.

This is the 25th league and cup game between the two sides. The Sky Blues have won on eleven occasions with six draws.

Back in October, the Sky Blues won 2-1 at the Arena with goals from Stern John and Michael Doyle.

City's last trip to Layer Road was on February 3rd 2004 when the Sky Blues lost 3-1 in an FA Cup tie. Julian Joachim scored for City but Rowan Vine hit a hat-trick in a rare low spot for Eric Black's side.

You have to go back to 25th April 1964 for the last time City played at Colchester in a League game. The game saw a 1-0 win for City with George Hudson scoring the winning goal.

Coventry are 16th in the table with Colchester 10th
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TEAM NEWS
Don Hutchison,David McNamee and Kevin Thornton are all out. Kevin Kyle and Andy Whing are suspended but Robert Page has served his suspension and is available. Colin Cameron could also be available after turning out for the reserves at Leicester in midweek.
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ON THE GAME
Stephen Hughes told the club website: "They have a great home record,obviously last week they lost 5-1 away at Derby, but they are a different proposition at home so I'm sure they will come out all guns blazing against us hoping to put that right. But we're under no illusions, it's a very tough game and Colchester have done fantastic this season after only coming up last year. "We'll go into the game with confidence high after our last three games and will be out to dent their record at home. "

Iain Dowie said: "It is a tight little ground and if we can get a good following on Saturday it will give us a great chance of going down there and getting something. "I want the fans to be as supportive as they have ever been and I would like to take a big following to Colchester because I think it is very important. They have got a great home record.

"Geraint Williams has done a fantastic job and big Mick Harford is a very good friend of mine. "Iwelumo and Cureton have sparked and there are some other good players like Kem Izzet and Karl Duguid, Kevin Watson who plays in midfield. "They are one of the success stories this year for me and Geraint has done brilliantly well to keep it going after Phil Parkinson left.

"They are a good football side who knock it about and it is a tough place to go, but we are looking forward to it. "It should be a good game - they will be smarting after their 5-1 defeat at Derby and we will be buoyed by our win but, at the same time, we need exactly the same effort level.
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MATCH OFFICIALS
The currently appointed referee is K.Stroud. His assistants are S.W.Tinknall & I.J.Woodward with J.Rowbury the fourth official.
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MATCH DETAILS
Kick off is at 3pm. Standing: Adults £19; concession £12; Seating: Adults £23, concession £15 Allocation: 875 standing, 138 seated in a temporary covered stand.
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WEATHER FORECAST
A sunny day is forecast with a high of thirteen degrees
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HOW TO GET THERE
By Coach Adults £11, Senior Citizens/Junior £9, Adult Season Ticket holder £8.50,Concession Season Ticket holders/JSB/Disabled £5.50. Coach departs Ricoh Arena Car Park C at 10am

By Car
M6/M1 and A14 to Ipswich then A12 south to Colchester. Exit the A12 at the A134 turn off and follow to Town Centre. Then follow signs to Layer (B1026) into Layer Road.

Or Leave the A14 and then join the M11. Come off the M11 at J8 (Stansted Airport/A120) and follow the A120 towards Braintree & Colchester. The A120 joins the A12 and you then come off at the next junction (26), and take the A1124 towards Colchester West/Halstead. At top of the slip road turn left at the roundabout towards Colchester/Mersea and continue along Essex Yeomanry Way and then onto the London Road towards the town centre. Proceed for just over 3/4 mile to traffic lights (MFI store on your right). Turn right at lights and follow this road until you reach it's end where a pub (Leather Bottle) is on left. Turn left and follow until traffic lights at Boadecia Way, 3/4 mile, where you turn right. Go to its end and then turn left; this is Layer Rd and the ground is about 1/4 mile further down on left.

From London,
Leave the A12 at Stanway (signposted the A1124), and get into the right hand lane, turning right at the next roundabout. Take the exit into London Road (signposted Mersea/Stanway), Go over the mini-roundabout and travel one mile to a set of traffic lights. At the traffic lights, you need to be in the right hand lane (with MFI on the right). Turn right into Straight Road. Follow that road right to the end (you should see the Leather Bottle public house on your left): At that roundabout, turn left and then take a sharp right into the right hand lane. Turn right into Gosbecks Road. Straight over the first roundabout and at the second roundabout turn left (Kent Blaxhill factory on the left). You are now in Layer Road. The ground is on the left, with the training ground half a mile before.

Parking is a nightmare with street parking only

By Train, nearest station is Colchester North which is two miles away. Colchester Town station which is around a 25 minute walk away. .Please note that the football ground marked on the map outside this station is a recreation ground not Layer Road.

Colchester recommend the following pub saying " If you're a Coventry City fan making your way down to Layer Road on Saturday, why not visit our Official Away Pub before the game?

The Maypole pub, which is run by Ali and Tina Voy, has been the U's Official Away Pub for the past couple of seasons and they have once again held that title this campaign for the U's first ever tilt at Championship football. .The pub is an ideal venue for visiting fans to have a beer before the game and they have Sky Sports on site for the lunchtime kick offs which generally take place on a Saturday. .It is also a venue that has appeared elsewhere in print recently - the pub was used for the "And Another Thing?" in March's edition of FourFourTwo magazine." Mysteriously, the club dont mention the address of the pub.

The nearest pub to Layer Road is the the Drury pub at the top of Layer Road, which is generally ok for away fans. Home and away supporters are segregated in the pub.