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Colchester
United
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Colchester
United
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| Contents | |
| What's The
Ground Like? Future Developments External View (photo) What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? West And North Stands (photo) Where To Drink? East And North Stands (photo) How To Get There By Car & Where To Park Weston Homes Stand (photo) By Train West Stand (photo) Admission Prices Programme Price Local Rivals Ground Layout Disabled Facilities Fixtures 2011-2012 Record & Average Attendance Fans Ground Reviews Hotel Accommodation Location map of the stadium |
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| What's The Ground Like? | |
| In 2008 the
Club left their Layer Road ground, their home
for 71 years, and moved to a new stadium
on the edge of town. The new Weston Homes Community
Stadium as it has been named in a corporate
sponsorship deal, was built by Barr Construction at
a cost of around £14m. The cost was largely
met by Colchester Borough Council, who own the
stadium, with the football club as tenants. The stadium is functional and well presented, but as with a number of new stadiums built in recent years, it lacks character and is nothing 'out of the ordinary'. The ground is comprised of four separate stands. The Main (West) Stand on one side of the pitch is a little taller than the other three stands, which are the same height. All the stands are covered single tiered, all seated stands. The Main Stand has a row of executive boxes/corporate hospitality areas running across the top of it, whilst the others are simply seating areas. The Weston Homes Stand though, at the South end of the stadium, does have a Police Control Box incorporated into it, on one side beneath the roof. All the stands have translucent panels built into their roofs as well as a perspex strip just below them, which allows more light and facilitates pitch growth. |
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Alison Wells informs me; 'When the stadium was built the necessary foundations were put in place so that the capacity could be easily increased at a later date. This would include filling in the corners, which would increase the capacity to around 12,500. A second tier could also be added onto the ACJ (North), Weston Homes (South) and JobServe (East) stands, raising the total capacity still further to 18,000. There are no time scales as to when this may take place.' |
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| External View Of West And Weston Homes Stands | |
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| What Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? | |
| Away fans are normally
housed at the North end of the stadium in the ACJ
Stand, where up to 2,000 supporters can be
accommodated. For Clubs with a small travelling
support then part of the JobServe Stand (towards the
North End) is allocated instead. As you would expect
from a new stadium the facilities and view of the
playing action are good.
The stands are particularly steep, meaning
that fans are kept close to the pitch and resulting
in good sight lines. A varied range of food is
available on the concourses, including the Chicken Balti Pie' (£2.30), amongst other pies, sausage rolls
(£1.80) and burgers (£2.70). Adam Hodson
a visiting Stockport County fan tells me; 'The
ground is equipped with electronic turnstiles. The
stadium is very similar to Shrewsbury's New Meadow
with all 4 stands being of similar height'.
John
Hill a visiting Huddersfield Town fan adds; 'One
pleasing feature was that at 6'2", I was still
okay for leg room, which is not always the case at
some other grounds. We caught the shuttle bus from
the station and it worked surprisingly well. We
got to the ground easily, and afterwards they
let the buses out of the car park before cars,
which led to a fairly swift return to the
station and an easy getaway'. Peter Clark an
Ipswich Town fan adds; 'There appears to be no
facility to pay cash at the turnstiles,
so you have to buy your tickets from
the Ticket office if you haven't alreday bought
them in advance'. |
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West And ACJ Stands |
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| Where To Drink? | |
| The Club allow access to
the bar and toilets located on the concourse area
of the Weston Homes Stand, before each home game (12.15pm
for a 3.00pm Kick-Off). Drinks can
be taken back outside the stadium to enjoy the
pre-match entertainment such as live bands which are
often playing under the marquee. This
bar is available to both home and away supporters. With the stadium being on the very outskirts of Colchester, then there is little in the choice of pubs. David Prior informs me; 'The Dog and Pheasant on Nayland Road, is probably the closest to the stadium, although it is till around 3/4's of a mile away. However, it is only admitting home fans'. Audrey MacDonald a visiting Hartlepool United fan adds; 'We visited the Dog and Pheasant and were admitted okay, although we weren't wearing colours. The pub had a good choice of beer and did food too. To find the pub, go down to the end of United Way, then at the end turn left into Boxted Road and at the mini-roundabout go straight over into Nayland Road. The Dog and Pheasant is on the right next to a fish and chip shop'. About one and half miles away on the Ipswich Road (A1232, off A12/A120) is the Balkerne Gate pub, which is part of the Brewers Fayre chain. David Prior continues; 'If you are arriving at Colchester North Station then there are a few pubs within a five minute walk. Directly opposite Bruff Close (where the shuttle bus runs from) is the Bricklayers, but this is for home fans only. If you turn right out of the station and cross at the pedestrian crossing and keep going straight on down North Station road, you will come to the Norfolk, which is a Greene King pub and offers a good selection of lagers and ales. A little further on is the 3rd option being the Albert, which is a Beefeater pub'. John Hill a visiting Huddersfield Town fan adds; 'The Norfolk Arms, which is less than five minutes walk away from the station car park was happy to admit away fans and seems to be the designated pub. It looks like that it has recently been refurbished, plus they serve hand-pulled real ale. Plus Sky Sports on screen & a new-looking pool table, so definitely recommended'. Alternatively you can take the short train ride from Colchester (North) mainline station to Colchester Town, around which there are plenty of pubs to be found. Ed Aitken adds; 'A decent bet for a pub near town station is the Odd One Out pub at the bottom of Mersea road (about a two minute walk). It is the most traditional real ale pub in Colchester, although swearing is banned!' A 5-10 minute walk away is the CAMRA listed pub, the Fox & Fiddler which serves a number of real ales. Also on St John's Street and almost next door is the Playhouse, which is a Wetherspoons outlet. This former theatre is a spectacular setting for a bar, as the original dress circle and stage of the theatre have been preserved and is well worth a visit. Alcohol is also available inside the stadium. |
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| How To Get There By Car & Where To Park | |
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At
long last the new junction on the A12 for access
to the stadium has been completed, which means
that the stadium is only a short drive from this
trunk road. From the South: |
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| By Train | |
| The nearest station to the ground is
Colchester North which is just under two miles away
from the stadium. Located near to the station at
Bruff Close is a free shuttle bus service that will
take you to the ground. It takes around 10 minutes
to reach the stadium. I have heard of some fans
paying to park at Colchester North Station,
where there is a fair sized car park (which
costs £2.10) and then taking the shuttle
bus. Apparently there is some street parking to
be had on Mile End Road near to the Bricklayers pub. Shuttle Bus to the Stadium: A shuttle bus operates from Bruff Close, which is close to Colchester North station (at the end of the station approach turn left and take the second exit at the roundabout, the buses park behind the "Big Yellow" storage facility that you can see from the station ). For 3pm kick offs it runs from 1pm, with the last bus returning from the stadium at 6pm. For 7.45pm kick offs, the service commences at 6pm with the last bus returning from the stadium at 10.15pm. The cost of the bus is £1.50 return, but it is free for OAP's, who can show a senior citizen bus pass. The journey time to the stadium is around 10 minutes. |
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| Admission Prices | |
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Like a number of
Clubs, Colchester United operate a
match category policy (A, B
& C) whereby the ticket prices
cost more for the most popular games (Category A).
Category A prices are shown below
with Categories (B & C) shown
in brackets: Away Fans*: *
The ticket prices above are for tickets purchased
prior to matchday. Tickets bought on the day of
the match can cost up to £2 more for Adults
and £1 for Concessions. |
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| Programme | |
| Official Programme £3 | |
| Local Rivals | |
| Ipswich Town, Southend United and from further away Wycombe. | |
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| Disabled Facilities | |
| For details of disabled facilities and club contact at the ground please visit the relevant page on the Level Playing Field website. Further information is also available on the official Colchester United website. | |
| Fixtures 2011-2012 | |
| Colchester United FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website) | |
| Record & Average Attendance | |
| 10,064 v Norwich City League One, January 16th 2010. At Layer Road: 19,072 v Reading FA Cup 1st Round, November 27th, 1948. Average Attendance: 2010-2011: 4,247 (League One) 2009-2010: 5,530 (League One) 2008-2009: 5,084 (League One) |
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| Fans Reviews | |
| Tino
Hernandez (Bournemouth) 14/1/11 John Hubble (Doing The 92) 28/9/10 Shaun Hush (Sheffield Wednesday) 14/8/10 Joe Myall (Wycombe Wanderers) 27/3/10 Adam Drake (Huddersfield Town) 3/10/09 All at Sea Fanzine Team (Southend United) 21/2/09 Greg Trumper (Mk Dons) 20/9/08 |
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| Hotel Accommodation | |
| If you require hotel accommodation in the area then first try a hotel booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced Apartments. Plus their booking system is straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book through them, but it will go to help with the running costs of keeping the Guide going. Access their Colchester Hotels and Guest Houses page. | |
| Map showing the location of the stadium, railway station and listed pubs | |
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Instructions for using
the map:
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| Feedback | |
| If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide. |
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