Colchester Utd look back at 2004

It’s been a tumultuous year for the ladies team, with relegation from the national South East Combination League at the end of the 2004 season, to the summer appointment of new manager Steve Downey which has seen a complete turnaround of the ladies fortunes…

The U’s Ladies were in a very different position this time last year, with the traditional football forecast that the team at the bottom of the league at Christmas will usually face the drop come the end of the season.

The girls had their worst start to the season ever and December saw them end 2004 in the worst possible style. The injury stricken squad travelled to Crystal Palace for their final game of the year with the sorry record of just 13 fit players available, coupled with the awful statistic of 13 league losses in a row as well as the date of the match suspiciously set for the 13th December.

They had not yet managed to secure any points in the league and the Palace game at Selhurst Park was to prove no different as the ladies lost out 2-0.

NEW YEAR NEW BEGINNINGS…

The start of 2004 would eventually signal the final whistle on the U’s short two season stay in the combination league as they lost out 1-0 to the Hammers in a very evenly contested match. The rest of the season saw them lose all but two of their games and they eventually succumbed to the inevitable and were relegated to the Eastern Region Premier League once more.

SUMMER OF SIGNINGS…

The summer months saw the arrival of two new managers with Steve Downey taking up the reins of the first team and Nigel Walker in charge of the 2nd team. Marie Partner gave her endorsement to the club by becoming patron whilst the Community Sports Trust took over the administrative side and the Ladies Club became part of their hugely successful female football development programme.

With the new management came new players and the ladies are now reaping the benefits of the changeover.

Young rising players such as Kirsty Cammell, Mel Kinsalla, Kelly John, Leanne Cox, Jo Chase, Vicky Beales and Tora Guyon all make up the first intake of players to the Female Academy and began to play a part in this seasons successes.

The summer also saw the 2nd year Under 16 Centre of Excellence players looking to get their first experience of senior football, and young striker Kate Longhurst and midfielder Laura Guyon and a number of others looking to make an impact in the Eastern Region Squad.

NEW SEASON BEGINS...

The season started off in September and some familiar faces remained giving the side a good back bone of experience, Jane Swift, Nicky Bryan, Debbie Aylward, Krista Hultquist, Louise Murphy to name but a few continued to feature heavily in the Eastern Region fixtures and new signing Emma Wake from America (also know as Chelmsford), introduced a very athletic role model for the younger players to aspire to.

The ladies stormed through the league programme without losing a game and now sit in third place with some five games in hand on leaders Cambridge City, who they beat 2-1 for their final game of 2004...

A good FA Cup run saw them narrowly lose out 4-3 to higher placed Norwich City in the 3rd round and they are still in the Essex County Cup competition with a good chance of winning the elusive trophy this time around.

AND SO TO 2005…

The ladies now enter 2005 in a very strong position, and have their eyes set on winning the league, this would secure them a place in a three way play off and the chance once more to ply their trade in the South East Combination League.

The stage is set for the ladies to jump straight back to where they came from with the healthy mix of talent, youth & experience giving both managers plenty of welcome selection headaches.

We hope that the festive season is a good one for you all and the ladies should be back in action on 2nd January 2004, so make a new year’s resolution and get down to see the successful U’s Ladies at Wivenhoe Town FC....you will not be disappointed.