The 2005–06 season was Colchester United's 64th season in their history and their eighth successive season in the third tier of English football, League One. Alongside competing in League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

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Colchester United

2005–06 season
Chairman	Peter Heard[1]
Manager	Phil Parkinson
Stadium	Layer Road
League One	2nd (promoted)
FA Cup	5th round (eliminated by Chelsea)
League Cup	1st round (eliminated by Cardiff City)
Football League Trophy	Area final (southern section) (eliminated by Swansea City)
Top goalscorer	League: Chris Iwelumo (17) All: Chris Iwelumo (19)
Highest home attendance	5,933 v Derby County, 28 January 2006[2]
Lowest home attendance	1,719 v Northampton Town, 23 November 2005[3]
Average home league attendance	3,843[4]
Biggest win	9–1 v Leamington, 5 November 2005
Biggest defeat	0–3 v Southend United, 4 March 2006
Home colours
← 2004–05 2006–07 →

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The season was hugely successful for the U's as they achieved their first-ever promotion to the second tier of English football by finishing second in League One. They finished runners-up to Essex derby rivals Southend United by three points. Southend were successful in beating Colchester home and away across the season.

Colchester had another long set of cup runs, reaching the fifth round of the FA Cup where they were defeated 3–1 by Premier League champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. They had beaten Leamington, Shrewsbury Town, Sheffield United and Derby County en route to the tie with Chelsea. They also embarked on a Football League Trophy run, once more reaching the area final but lost 3–1 on aggregate to eventual winners Swansea City.

Colchester started the new season poorly. At the end of August after six games, they found themselves in the relegation zone with one win and two draws. Phil Parkinson had made a number of changes to his playing staff over the summer with numerous outgoings. He had signed Chris Iwelumo from Alemannia Aachen on a permanent basis and brought in Mark Yeates on loan from Tottenham Hotspur. It wasn't until Jamie Cureton arrived on loan from Swindon Town that the U's had an upturn in form as they earned five consecutive wins and went eight matches unbeaten.

By Christmas, Colchester were in the top four but their unbeaten run was ended by Swindon on Boxing Day. They recovered from this setback to embark on another winning streak, earning seven wins on the bounce, ten matches including cup ties and sat top of the table by the end of January. Their form fell away in mid February and through March into April when they picked up just one win in 10 games, dropping from the automatic promotion places to the play-off spots.

Meanwhile, in the FA Cup, Colchester had progressed to the fifth round to set up a tie with Premier League champions Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. The club equalled a 44-year-old record by beating Leamington 9–1 in the first round, and then saw off the challenge of Shrewsbury Town, and then Championship sides Sheffield United and Derby County.

José Mourinho's Chelsea side had been assembled for around £225m, while Colchester United's squad had a value of approximately £150,000. More than 6,000 U's fans travelled to the game and were given an early treat when the underdogs took the lead through a Ricardo Carvalho own goal in the 28th minute. Paulo Ferreira equalised ten minutes later as the sides went into half time with the score level. At half time, Mourinho made two changes, introducing star players Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. He then sent on Hernán Crespo with the score still level up until the 79th minute when Cole struck to give Chelsea the lead. He added a second in the final minute of the game to hand the hosts a 3–1 victory.

The U's again reached the area final of the Football League Trophy, but lost over two legs to eventual winners Swansea City.

In the closing stages of the season, Colchester returned to winning ways and to the automatic promotion places with four games remaining. Wins against AFC Bournemouth and Rotherham United meant United only had to secure a draw in their final game of the season at Yeovil Town. The U's nervously held on to a 0–0 draw to gain promotion to the Championship, finishing the campaign behind leaders and rivals Southend United. Southend had beaten Colchester twice over the course of the season as they finished three points shy of the title.^[5]

As of match played 6 May 2006.^[6][7][8]

More information No., Name ...

No.	Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
1	Aidan Davison	GK		Sedgefield	(1968-05-11)11 May 1968 (aged 37)	39	0	Grimsby Town	5 July 2004	Free transfer
13	Dean Gerken	GK		Southend-on-Sea	(1985-05-22)22 May 1985 (aged 20)	17	0	Youth team	1 August 2002	Free transfer
23	Mark Cousins	GK		Chelmsford	(1987-01-09)9 January 1987 (aged 18)	0	0	Youth team	1 August 2004	Free transfer
Defenders
2	Greg Halford	FB/MF		Chelmsford	(1984-12-08)8 December 1984 (aged 20)	78	13	Youth team	1 August 2002	Free transfer
3	Stephen Hunt	FB		Southampton	(1984-11-11)11 November 1984 (aged 20)	25	1	Southampton	5 July 2004	Free transfer
5	Wayne Brown	CB		Barking	(1977-08-20)20 August 1977 (aged 27)	66	1	Watford	8 July 2004	Free transfer
12	Pat Baldwin	CB		City of London	(1982-11-12)12 November 1982 (aged 22)	75	0	Chelsea	16 August 2002	Free transfer
16	George Elokobi	FB/CB		Mamfe	(1986-01-31)31 January 1986 (aged 19)	0	0	Dulwich Hamlet	1 August 2004	Free transfer
18	Liam Chilvers	CB		Chelmsford	(1981-11-06)6 November 1981 (aged 23)	99	1	Arsenal	10 June 2004	Free transfer
17	John White	FB		Colchester	(1986-07-26)26 July 1986 (aged 18)	24	0	Youth team	1 July 2003	Free transfer
19	Garry Richards	CB		Romford	(1986-06-11)11 June 1986 (aged 18)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2004	Free transfer
25	Sam Stockley	FB		Tiverton	(1977-09-05)5 September 1977 (aged 27)	137	2	Oxford United	31 October 2002	Free transfer
30	Matthew Paine	DF		Sidcup	(1987-12-22)22 December 1987 (aged 17)	0	0	Youth team	18 December 2005	Free transfer
Midfielders
4	Neil Danns	MF		Liverpool	(1982-11-23)23 November 1982 (aged 22)	36	12	Blackburn Rovers	23 December 2004	Nominal
6	Kevin Watson	MF		Hackney	(1974-01-03)3 January 1974 (aged 31)	53	2	Reading	5 July 2004	Free transfer
7	Karl Duguid	MF		Letchworth	(1978-03-21)21 March 1978 (aged 27)	308	39	Youth team	9 December 1995[lower-alpha 1]	Free transfer
10	Kemal Izzet	MF		Whitechapel	(1980-09-29)29 September 1980 (aged 24)	159	18	Charlton Athletic	13 April 2001	Free transfer
21	Robbie King	MF		Chelmsford	(1986-10-01)1 October 1986 (aged 18)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2004	Free transfer
22	Russell Pond	MF		Leytonstone	(1987-01-27)27 January 1987 (aged 18)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2005	Free transfer
28	Richard Garcia	MF		Perth	(1981-09-04)4 September 1981 (aged 23)	30	6	West Ham United	3 September 2004	Nominal
Forwards
8	Gareth Williams	FW		Cardiff	(1982-09-10)10 September 1982 (aged 22)	49	13	Crystal Palace	31 August 2004	Part-exchange
9	Marino Keith	FW		Peterhead	(1974-12-16)16 December 1974 (aged 30)	12	4	Plymouth Argyle	1 March 2005	Free transfer
11	Chris Iwelumo	FW		Coatbridge	(1978-08-01)1 August 1978 (aged 26)	0	0	Alemannia Aachen	6 July 2005	Free transfer
15	Jamie Guy	FW		Barking	(1987-08-01)1 August 1987 (aged 17)	2	0	Youth team	1 July 2004	Free transfer
26	Tony Thorpe	FW		Leicester	(1974-04-10)10 April 1974 (aged 31)	0	0	Swindon Town	11 January 2006	Free transfer
27	Craig Hughes	FW		Canterbury	(1987-11-26)26 November 1987 (aged 17)	0	0	Youth team	24 January 2006	Free transfer

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• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons