Main Stand And Clock End
Popular Terrace
Layer Road End
Clock End
Layer Road External View
Layer Road End Away Fans Entrance
Colchester v Leeds United FA Cup 1971
Ground Opened: 1907
Ground Closed: 2008
Number of years ground open: 101*
Last Competitive Game Played: Colchester United 1 Stoke City 0, Division One, 26th April 2008, ?Attendance 6,300.
Record Attendance: 19,072 Colchester United 1 Reading 1 FA Cup 1st Round, November 27th, 1948**
Floodlights first used: v Grimsby Town, Division Three, 24th August 1959?
Club moved to the then called: Weston Homes Community Stadium in 2008
Distance from to new stadium: 4.5 miles
* The ground was originally used by the Army and then Colchester Town Football Club. Colchester United took over the ground in 1937.
** The match was abandoned on 35 minutes due to fog. Reading won the rearranged game on the 4th of December 4-2. The attendance for that match was 13,371.
Originally this end was called the Spion Kop as it was once a sizeable open terrace.
(See Colchester v Leeds footage in main image carousel above).
A closer look at the Clock End
And in case you wondered why it was called the Clock End:
The Layer Road End Originally Had A Wooden Terrace
Fans would bounce up and down in it!
A Closer Look
The fans were so close to the goal mouth you could almost reach out and touch the goal net.
This end was used to house away fans.
The Main Stand was built in 1933
Apart from a central seated area it also had a covered terrace area towards the Clock End
Plus another separate covered terrace at the other side towards the Layer Road End
A close up of the Main Stand seats
The Popular or Barside Terrace
A Closer Look
The ground was redeveloped for residential housing, called Turnstile Square. Formed around a central grassed area, in which a bronze statue is present of former Colchester United Player Peter Wright. Peter was voted in a poll run by the local Evening Gazette newspaper as the Club's 'Player of the Century.' The statue was unveiled in 2015. Below is a video produced by Chris Cowlin and made publicly available on YouTube, showing what is on the site including the Peter Wright statue:
If you possess photos of the old Layer Road ground, which you would be happy to share with others via this website, or if you have any general feedback about this page, then please e-mail me at: duncan@footballgroundguide.com.
Updated 16th March 2019