The 2009–10 season was Colchester United's 68th season in their history and second successive season in the third tier of English football, League One. Alongside competing in the League One, the club also participated in the FA Cup, the League Cup and the Football League Trophy.

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Colchester United

2009–10 season
Owner	Robbie Cowling
Chairman	Robbie Cowling
Manager	Paul Lambert (until 18 August) Joe Dunne (caretaker) (18 August until 1 September) Aidy Boothroyd (from 2 September)
Stadium	Colchester Community Stadium
League One	8th
FA Cup	3rd round (eliminated by Preston North End)
League Cup	1st round (eliminated by Leyton Orient)
Football League Trophy	1st round (southern section) (eliminated by Gillingham)
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin Lisbie (13) All: Kevin Lisbie (13)
Highest home attendance	10,064 v Norwich City, 16 January 2010[1]
Lowest home attendance	3,308 v Leyton Orient, 11 August 2009[2]
Average home league attendance	5,437[3]
Biggest win	7–1 v Norwich City, 8 August 2009
Biggest defeat	0–7 v Preston North End, 2 January 2010
Home colours Away colours
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

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Following a famous 7–1 opening day win at Norwich City, manager Paul Lambert left Colchester for the Canaries under a storm surrounding compensation. Aidy Boothroyd was later appointed Lambert's successor and the club spent most of the season in the play-off positions. A late season collapse in form meant the U's dropped out of the play-offs with seven games remaining, but were not able to return, eventually finishing in eighth, eight points shy of the play-offs. Eighth place was still the fourth best-ever league result in the club's history.

In the cups, Colchester were eliminated in the first rounds of the League Cup and Football League Trophy, but progressed to the third round of the FA Cup. After beating Bromley and then Hereford United, Colchester faced Preston North End but were beaten 7–0 at Deepdale following five second half goals.

Paul Lambert vowed he would have a mass clear out of players over the summer as each player was called in to meet him to discuss their future before May was over. He had identified his transfer targets with chairman Robbie Cowling willing to fund those ambitions. Incoming were Ashley Vincent, following a loan spell last season, as well as Lee Beevers, David Fox, Magnus Okuonghae and Ben Williams, all on permanent deals. Outgoing was Mark Yeates, last season's top scorer, who joined Middlesbrough for £450,000.

Lambert's contracted outcasts were consigned to training with the youth team and denied squad numbers and a place in the squad photo. Chris Coyne left the club to return to his native Australia, while Jamie Guy, Matt Heath, Philip Ifil, Johnnie Jackson, Matt Lockwood and John White were all among those affected by Lambert's managerial tactics. He then brought in Hamilton Academical forward Joël Thomas in a long protracted transfer deal for £125,000.

Three days prior to the season opener against Norwich City, the club announced the signing of former striker Kevin Lisbie on loan from Ipswich Town. He scored twice on his second debut for the club as Colchester thrashed Norwich 7–1 at Carrow Road. A week later, Colchester remained at the top of League One following a 2–1 win over Yeovil Town. Norwich City contacted Robbie Cowling following the game asking to approach Lambert regarding their vacant manager position after they had sacked Bryan Gunn following the U's famous victory. Cowling initially refused, but later relented with Lambert declaring his interest in joining City. Cowling offered Lambert the chance to talk to Norwich on the proviso no offer could be accepted until compensation was discussed and agreed between the two clubs. Compensation was never agreed and Lambert resigned with Colchester due to host Gillingham the same day. Lambert's assistants Ian Culverhouse and Gary Karsa also resigned the day after his appointment at Norwich.

Cowling vowed to take Norwich to a Football League tribunal. In the meantime, former Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd was unveiled on 3 September as Lambert's replacement. He enjoyed a nine game unbeaten run following his appointment, while making the loan signings of Danny Batth, Kayode Odejayi and John-Joe O'Toole. The latter two were then signed on a permanent basis in the January transfer window.

With the Lambert compensation issue still continuing into January, and with the U's set to host Lambert's Norwich in the league, Cowling refused to allocate additional tickets to the travelling Norwich fans for the fixture. Cowling claimed he would prefer the stadium have an empty seat than one occupied by another Norwich City fan. The game itself attracted a record attendance of 10,064, but Norwich gained revenge over the U's, winning 5–0 on the day.

At the end of February, Colchester's form took a negative turn, suffering an eight game winless run and dropped from third place to seventh and outside of the play-off places for only the second time this season. With seven games remaining, Colchester were unable to make a return to the play-off spots and would eventually finish eighth, eight points away from the play-offs, yet a result that was their fourth best-ever league result.

Colchester were eliminated from the League Cup in the first round by Leyton Orient, while Gillingham beat the U's following a penalty shoot-out in the Football League Trophy. In the FA Cup, the U's beat Bromley and Hereford United on their way to the third round, but were heavily beaten 7–0 at Deepdale by Preston North End in the game prior to their 5–0 home defeat by Norwich.^[4]

As of match played 8 May 2010.^[5][6][7]

More information No., Name ...

No.	Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
1	Ben Williams	GK		Manchester	(1982-08-27)27 August 1982 (aged 26)	0	0	Carlisle United	10 July 2009	Undisclosed
12	Mark Cousins	GK		Chelmsford	(1987-01-09)9 January 1987 (aged 22)	15	0	Youth team	1 August 2004	Free transfer
Defenders
2	Alan Maybury	FB		Dublin	(1978-08-08)8 August 1978 (aged 30)	26	0	Leicester City	12 December 2008	Free transfer
3	Lee Beevers	RB		Doncaster	(1983-12-04)4 December 1983 (aged 25)	0	0	Lincoln City	26 June 2009	Free transfer
4	Magnus Okuonghae	CB		Lagos	(1986-02-16)16 February 1986 (aged 23)	0	0	Dagenham & Redbridge	1 July 2009	£60,000
5	Pat Baldwin	CB		City of London	(1982-11-12)12 November 1982 (aged 26)	215	1	Chelsea	16 August 2002	Free transfer
6	Paul Reid	CB		Carlisle	(1982-02-18)18 February 1982 (aged 27)	29	1	Barnsley	2 July 2008	Free transfer
23	Marc Tierney	FB		Prestwich	(1985-08-23)23 August 1985 (aged 23)	26	1	Shrewsbury Town	2 January 2009	Undisclosed
25	John White	FB		Colchester	(1986-07-26)26 July 1986 (aged 22)	137	0	Youth team	1 July 2003	Free transfer
27	Matt Lockwood	LB		Rochford	(1976-10-17)17 October 1976 (aged 32)	5	0	Nottingham Forest	3 June 2008	Free transfer
28	Matt Heath	CB		Leicester	(1981-11-01)1 November 1981 (aged 27)	26	1	Leeds United	13 May 2008	Free transfer
30	Morten Knudsen	DF			(1986-10-27)27 October 1986 (aged 22)	0	0	Notodden	20 January 2010	Undisclosed
31	Philip Ifil	RB		Willesden	(1986-01-18)18 January 1986 (aged 23)	30	0	Tottenham Hotspur	10 January 2008	Undisclosed
34	Tom Bender	CB		Harlow	(1993-01-19)19 January 1993 (aged 16)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2009	Free transfer
36	Bradley Hamilton	DF		Newham	(1992-08-30)30 August 1992 (aged 16)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2009	Free transfer
Midfielders
8	John-Joe O'Toole	MF		Harrow	(1988-09-30)30 September 1988 (aged 20)	19	2	Watford	1 January 2010	Undisclosed
10	Kemal Izzet	MF		Whitechapel	(1980-09-29)29 September 1980 (aged 28)	335	21	Charlton Athletic	13 April 2001	Free transfer
14	David Fox	MF		Leek	(1983-12-13)13 December 1983 (aged 25)	0	0	Blackpool	1 July 2009	Free transfer
17	David Perkins	MF		Heysham	(1982-06-21)21 June 1982 (aged 26)	43	6	Rochdale	8 July 2008	Undisclosed
22	Anthony Wordsworth	MF		Camden Town	(1989-01-03)3 January 1989 (aged 20)	40	3	Youth team	1 July 2006	Free transfer
26	David Prutton	MF		Kingston upon Hull	(1981-09-12)12 September 1981 (aged 27)	1	1	Leeds United	1 February 2010	Free transfer
32	Sam Corcoran	MF		Enfield Town	(1991-02-05)5 February 1991 (aged 18)	1	0	Youth team	31 March 2009	Free transfer
Forwards
7	Ashley Vincent	WG		Oldbury	(1985-05-26)26 May 1985 (aged 24)	6	1	Cheltenham Town	1 July 2009	Free transfer
9	Clive Platt	FW		Wolverhampton	(1977-10-27)27 October 1977 (aged 31)	90	18	Milton Keynes Dons	3 July 2007	£300,000
11	Simon Hackney	WG		Manchester	(1984-02-05)5 February 1984 (aged 25)	17	0	Carlisle United	26 January 2009	£100,000
15	Kayode Odejayi	FW		Ibadan	(1982-02-21)21 February 1982 (aged 27)	17	7	Barnsley	1 January 2010	Undisclosed
16	Ian Henderson	FW/MF		Bury St Edmunds	(1985-01-24)24 January 1985 (aged 24)	0	0	Ankaragücü	7 January 2010	Free transfer
18	Steven Gillespie	FW		Liverpool	(1985-06-04)4 June 1985 (aged 23)	20	5	Cheltenham Town	7 July 2008	£400,000
19	Joël Thomas	FW		Caen	(1987-06-30)30 June 1987 (aged 21)	0	0	Hamilton Academical	21 July 2009	£125,000
29	Scott Vernon	FW		Manchester	(1983-12-13)13 December 1983 (aged 25)	64	10	Blackpool	31 January 2008	Undisclosed
33	Russell Malton	FW/MF		Colchester	(1990-11-14)14 November 1990 (aged 18)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2009	Free transfer
35	Craig Arnott	FW		Edgware	(1992-09-09)9 September 1992 (aged 16)	0	0	Youth team	1 July 2009	Free transfer
39	Medy Elito	WG		Kinshasa	(1990-03-20)20 March 1990 (aged 19)	19	1	Youth team	1 July 2007	Free transfer

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