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Colchester United F.C. Under-23s and Academy
Full name	Colchester United Football Club Under-23s and Academy
Nickname(s)	The U's
Ground	Florence Park, Tiptree; Colchester Community Stadium
Capacity	10,105 (Colchester Community Stadium)
Chairman	Robbie Cowling
Lead coach	Richard Hall (under-23s); Liam Bailey (under-18s)
League	Professional U23 Development League League 2 South Division (under-23s); Professional U18 Development League League 2 South Division (under-18s)
2020–21	Professional U23 Development League 2 South Division, 9th (under-23s); Professional U18 Development League League 2 South Division, 7th (under-18s)

Colchester United Football Club Under-23s are the under-23 team of Colchester United Football Club. They play in the South Division of the Professional U21 Development League 2, the second tier of reserve football in England. The team mostly consists of the club's under-23 players, although senior players have occasionally made appearances for the side, for instance, during recovery from injury. The team are coached by Richard Hall.

Colchester United Football Club Academy are the youth team of Colchester United Football Club. They play in the South Division of the Professional U18 Development League 2, the second tier of youth football in England. The team are coached by Liam Bailey.

The under-23 team play their home games at either the Colchester Community Stadium or the club's training ground, Florence Park in Tiptree. The under-18's also use Florence Park for their home matches.

History

Under Colchester United chairman Robbie Cowling's stewardship, the club put forward a planning application for a nine-hectare site for a new training ground based in the nearby village of Tiptree in 2009. Planning permission was granted in 2010 for the centre which cost £3.5 million. It was built to house a new academy and provide training facilities for all teams within the club.^[1]

Under the new Elite Player Performance Plan development scheme, Colchester United were first granted Category Two status for their academy in July 2012. The new system allowed greater contact time between the young players within the academy and the club's coaching staff.^[2] However, in August 2013, the club fell short of the required standard set by the EPPP by three percent,^[3] but the club secured Category Two status once more in June 2014 after operating with an increased academy budget during the 2013–14 season.^[4] During the 2013–14 season, the Colchester United under-18 side secured a league and cup double by winning the Football League Youth Alliance South East division and the national Youth Alliance Cup.^[5]^[6]

Under-23 squad

As of 11 August 2021.^[7]^[8]

Colchester United players who are eligible by age to play for the under-23 development squad (born on or after 1 January 1998).^[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
3	DF	ENG	Ryan Clampin
6	MF	ENG	Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu
14	MF	ENG	Noah Chilvers
20	MF	POR	Diogo Freitas Gouveia
21	MF	ENG	Gene Kennedy
22	DF	ENG	Junior Tchamadeu
25	MF	ENG	Andre Hasanally
26	DF	ENG	Lordon Akolbire
29	GK	ENG	Shamal George
30	DF	ENG	Al-Amin Kazeem
31	MF	ENG	Donell Thomas


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
32	FW	ENG	Jake Hutchinson
33	MF	ENG	Marley Marshall-Miranda
34	FW	ENG	Samson Tovide
35	DF	ENG	Billy Cracknell
36	DF	ENG	Harvey Sayer
40	DF	ENG	Frankie Terry
41	MF	ENG	Sam Cornish
42	FW	ENG	Tom Stagg
43	DF	ENG	Harry Beadle
44	GK	ENG	Ted Collins

Staff

Current coaching and medical staff within the academy.^[10]

As of 7 August 2021

Under 23s lead coach: Richard Hall
Under-18s lead coach: Liam Bailey
Under-18s assistant coach: Adam Lewis
Academy goalkeeping coach: Paul Smith
Academy sports science: Kem Ismail, James Lee
Academy physio: Greg Barnes

Academy graduates

The following players are graduates of the Colchester United Academy who have played for the Colchester United first-team since the academy's first year with Category Two status in July 2012.^[11]

Players who are still with the club are marked in italics.

Honours

Football League Youth Alliance South East^[5]: Winners: 2013–14
Football League Youth Alliance Cup: Winners: 2013–14

References

^ "Colchester United granted approval for extra training time". BBC News. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ Hudson, Matt (20 July 2012). "Category Two Boost For U's". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ "Colchester United: Academy decision angers Joe Dunne". BBC Sport. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ Marston, Carl (16 June 2014). "Colchester United secure Academy Category Two status, but for how long?". East Anglian Daily Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Newsletter 34" (PDF). The Football League. 14 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ Marston, Carl (30 April 2014). "League-Cup double for super Colchester United Under-18s". East Anglian Daily Times. Ipswich. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
^ "First Team Profiles". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
^ "Colchester United". FootballSquads. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
^ "Professional Development League: Competition format explained". Premier League. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
^ "Who's Who & Contact Details". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
^ "Alltime List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 29 August 2020.