In the last of Vital Colchester`s countdown, today, we look at the club`s top five rivalries including Hull City, Norwich, Ipswich and Southend.
5) Hull City
Hate-o-metre: 7/10
Nothing to do with distance, this one: Colchester United dislike Hull City because of their persistent poaching of some star players in recent years.
Wayne Brown, Craig Fagan and Richard Garcia all left United for Hull, and the Tigers were even interested in making a bid for Jamie Cureton before he chose to return to Norwich.
Garcia and Brown were also a key part of the team that won Hull promotion, even if the latter didn`t play for City again after making an appalling mistake as Wigan thrashed them 5-0 last season.
The Phil Parkinson debacle, which lead after his resignation at the U`s following their surprise 2005/6 promotion, resulted in bitterness and a high profile year-long transfer embargo which banned the former U`s boss from buying any of his former club`s players.
United got sweet revenge however when the U`s hit top form and Chris Iwleumo became the first striker to four goals in a game as the won 5-1. Parkinson lost his job five days later.
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Hate-o-metre: 6.5/10
This is a rivalry born of proximity and perhaps a false sense of obligation: both know that the U`s detest Soothed and Canaries dislike Ipswich far more, in the East Anglian square of teams.
That the man who became the first player to hit over 20 goals for the U`s in Jamie Cureton signed for Norwich in 2007 made matters worse; Cureton returned to goad fans a season later when he netted a hat-trick against the U`s to virtually seal their relegation in 2007-8.
The two sides will meet again on the opening day of next season.
3) Wycombe
Hate-o-metre: 8/10
This isn`t a rivalry about geography, either, with the U`s in Essex and Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.
At the end of the 1989/1990 season, Colchester United were vying for a return to the Football League; the U`s took just one point from two games against Wycombe and failed to make the return they wanted after one season away.
The following year, United were racing Wonders for the Conference and won it on goal difference, also beating them home and away – both sides were some thirty-odd points clear at the top, going for a single spot.
Boss between 1990 – 1995, Aston Villa`s Martin O`Neil, also made on several occasions complains about the U`s after meetings between the sides.
There was also a really firey clash between the two teams (1997/1998) in Division Two, where Wonders sides were reduced to nine men, and on another occasion a brawl broke out and both were fined by the Football Association. (November 2000). The actual game was a 0-0 draw.
This rivalry will be renewed next season in League One, as Peter Taylor`s side have secured promotion.
2) Ipswich
Hate-o-metre: 7.5/10
There are fifteen miles separating the two teams, and although both regularly do transfer business, there is bitterness there.
In is a widely held theory by U`s that Colchester`s capitulation in the second half of a derby game between the sides in October 2007 caused the U`s season to fall apart. In 2007- 2008 they were relegated, a downward spiral started by this game. Colchester went a goal up thought Clive Platt but Ipswich mounted a storming comeback to win 3-1 after Mark Yeates missed a penalty.
The rather grainy footage came be reviewed, on Youtue, here
Colchester sold that season`s top scorer Kevin Lisbie to the club for around £750,000 and he returned to haunt them by scoring a great goal in a surprise early Carling Cup game.
United`s Kal Duguid also scored twice against Town in both fixtures of the 2006-7 golden Championship season.
1) Southend United
Hate-o-metre: 10/10
Southend is a famous sea-side resort area; Colchester is a town full of Roman remains: they contest the true Essex Derby.
Recent games between the sides have ended in fiery circumstances – a pre-season friendly some years ago was denounced as an awful idea by then skipper, Karl Duguid.
There was a squeamish between him and another ex-skipper, Kevin Maher, which lead to the Shrimper getting sent off in 2006 amid accusations that Duguid dived.
Colchester did the double over Southend that season, with Jamie Cureton scoring his ninth professional hat-trick at Roots Hall.
In a highly-tense LDV Vans game a few years either, former Colchester defender Sam Stockley was also reported to have mooed at Southend supporters at the end of the match.
Who is the biggest Essex rivalry between? Read about it here.
Do you agree with the list?
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Yeah, I’ve never experienced a Wycombe game but seems like a lot of U’s followers hate them more than Southend. Up the U’s!
Amazing assist by Wayne Brown for Wigan… sorry, Hull…!!
I can’t believe we made a list of your 5 most hated clubs, you boys must be really easily upset, dear me.
It’s not that, as such. It was a week of features designed to promote the site and show that we can produce our own news: tomorow, we’ll count the whole lot down. Thanks for reading! The reason I chose today to finish with this is that we have about five rivals and I wasnted something to finish off the week! Evey football club has the teams that they don’t get on with…!
Also A) It’s about enouraging debate B) The hate-o-metre is light-hearted and C) I’m quite young, in football terms, so I can only draw on what looks like recent history, even if my re-telling of some of it may seem baised!