EFL club’s former stadium now housing estate with tiny strip of grass remaining from where old centre-circle once stood
A FOOTBALL stadium site that once played host to one of the EFL’s longest-reigning clubs is now a housing estate.
But council developers ensured to keep a small strip of grass where the centre-circle once stood to remember the old ground by.
From the highs of promotions to the agony of relegation, the ground witnessed plenty of ups and downs.
Built in 1907, Layer Road stood for 101 years before it was closed in 2008 and pulled down in 2012.
In its pomp it was even able to house 19,000 passionate supporters.
But capacity had dropped to just 6,320 by the time of its July 2008 closure for safety reasons, following closure of parts of the ground.
It was current League Two strugglers Colchester United’s home for 71 years.
In it’s early days, the ground was first used by the British Army and Colchester Town, an amateur side until 1937.
But Colchester United moved in two years before the Second World War began.
In 1948, 19,072 fans packed into a record capacity at Layer Road for an FA Cup tie against Reading, with the match later abandoned due to fog.
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The following decades saw Colchester United float between Division Three and Four, with club debt mounting.
As early as 1981, the club’s chairman Maurice Cadman announced that Layer Road was in need of £280,000 of basic safety improvements to meet legislation.
With the club struggling financially, sections of the ground were closed off, reducing the capacity to 4,500.
And in 1990-91, Colchester United was forced to sell Layer Road back to the Borough Council for £1.2m to help clear club debts.
The council began started to identify potential sites for a new stadium, with Colchester briefly relegated from the Football League between 1989 and 1991.
But anyone visiting the spot where it once stood these days will be greeted by a much-different sight – a cosy housing estate.
The last first team match at Layer Road took place on 26 April 2008, when Colchester lost 1–0 to promotion chasers Stoke City.
Richard Cresswell scored the last professional goal at the stadium.
The U’s had made it all the way to the Championship by 2008, but suffered relegation in their final season at Layer Road.
In 2011, Colchester Borough Council sold the 3.63 acre stadium site to developer Abbey New Homes in a deal worth around £1.5 million.
Planning permission was subsequently granted to build 58 homes on the site, a mixture of flats and houses, with a central open grassed space to be left to reflect its history as a football ground.
And as a mark of respect to supporters who had their ashes scattered on the pitch as an expression of their love for the club.
In mid-2012, Layer Road was demolished with the construction of houses commencing immediately.
In 2015 a bronze statue of Colchester United’s ‘Player of the Century’, Peter Wright was unveiled.
Wright joined the club in 1951, making over 400 appearances and scoring 93 goals over a 13 year spell.
The inscription below the statue reads: “ON THIS SITE Football was played 1907-2008. This was the home of Colchester United FC from its birth in 1937 until 26th April 2008.”
The square and approach road from Layer Road is known as Turnstile Square.