Relegation Candidates to Promotion Pushers

Colchester United headed into a 19th season without promotion last August, the two seasons spent in the second tier between 2006 and 2008 seemed like a distant memory. The 2024/25 campaign was the U’s ninth straight in EFL League Two and after finishing 20th, 15th, and 20th in the previous three seasons, the Essex side hit rock bottom in 2023/24 finishing 22nd just three points from relegation out of the football league for the first time in over three decades.

Colchester kicked off 2025 by losing to back-to-back games. They were 16th and they had only won five league games all season. 📉

Since then, Col U are 13 games unbeaten (W9 D4) and they’ve won their last five. They’re now 7th in League Two. 📈#ColU #EFL pic.twitter.com/qrCF4FXHvU

— 72cast (@weare72cast) March 15, 2025

The Story So Far...

Coming off the back of their lowest league finish since 1991/92, it looked like Colchester’s misery was going to continue. By the end of October, Danny Cowley’s squad had played 13 games and were placed 21st with two wins, six draws and five losses to their name. That’s when things first started to change, Colchester did not lose a single game before the year came to an end and by January 4th they had moved up to 16th with five wins, 12 draws and seven losses.

Since their two losses to welcome the new year Colchester have been the best team in the entire division and arguably EFL. Picking up 31 points in the 13 league games that have commenced since the club’s insane form has rocketed them up the table. When the final whistle blew at the Colchester Community Stadium last weekend Cowley’s team had hit a huge milestone for the season. Colchester United had broken into the playoff places. Their 3-0 thumping of Fleetwood had led them to 7th place after 37 games with 14 wins, 16 draws and seven losses.

W. W. W. W. W. #ColU | #WeAreUnited pic.twitter.com/tEzZ1dNvfV

— Colchester United FC (@ColU_Official) March 15, 2025

‘Col U’ are now five points off automatic promotion to EFL League Two and after recently stealing points off of many teams around them in the table, look to be storming their way up the Football League for the first time in decades. Which leaves the question, how has this turnaround happened?

The Cowley Brothers

Danny and Nicky Cowley had one goal when they were appointed head and assistant coach in January 2024, keep Colchester up. The club were on a streak of eight losses in nine games when the brothers were appointed, and instantly saw an uptick in form going on to lose two of their next 13 matches. The duo have been in the management game since their early thirties, first taking over local team Concord Rangers in 2008. Now back in Essex for the first time since they left Braintree Town in 2016, the brothers needed to prove themselves again after failing to get Portsmouth promoted in 2023.

With over 800 games managed at all levels of the footballing pyramid, the Cowleys have been here before, leading Lincoln City to an EFL League Two title in 2019. Often starting well at the clubs they take the helm of, it felt an all too familiar story when Colchester started the season poorly. However, their expertise has had a huge impact on the U’s dramatic rise in recent months.

Inspirational Individuals

Colchester have made 13 free signings this season, not trying to break the bank on player fees which often is the case at this level. The team have not relied on huge goal hauls to see them over the line, often winning by a scoreline of 1-0, however, seasoned pros Lyle Taylor and Jack Payne are the club's two top contributors.

Taylor has 10 league goals this season and has undergone a rejuvenation in Essex after a poor 2023/24 campaign scoring-wise. Payne has seven strikes and nine assists many of which have produced game-winning moments such as his goal against MK Dons and assist against Chesterfield, Payne previously played six games for Lincoln under the Cowley brothers just before they left for Huddersfield and has clearly been looking for a chance to play under them since. The attacking duo have played at multiple clubs at this level and have stepped up when needed this season.

🔑 Most key passes in League Two this season:

8⃣1⃣: 🔓JACK PAYNE🔓, Denver Hume
7⃣6⃣: Luke Molyneux
6⃣0⃣: James Tilley
5⃣3⃣: Matt Palmer, Phoenix Patterson#ColU @ColU_Official pic.twitter.com/aypthaB2Y2

— playmakerstats (@playmaker_EN) March 17, 2025

21-year-old Samson Tovide is also having a stellar season at the club he has played for since he was a teenager, with 13 goal contributions in 23 appearances, if it wasn’t for injuries keeping him sidelined for periods of the season who knows the heights the forward could’ve reached.

An Inability to Lose

Colchester have lost just 13 of the 57 league games Cowley has overseen and have the joint-lowest total of losses in League Two this season. Despite drawing a game too many at times, the U’s will not accept defeat easily with even table toppers Walsall and Bradford City being on the wrong end of a scoreline more frequently than them.

This mentality from Cowley was something developed during his earlier years at Concord, Braintree and Lincoln losing 156 in all competitions during a spell of 618 games across 11 seasons. Getting a side to perform in the irregularity of the ninth tier is one thing, but to be able to discipline a second-tier outfit tier as well is another (i.e. when he won the EFL Championship Manager of the Month Award for October 2019).

A Strong Defence

Colchester United have the third-best defence in the division after Bradford and Wimbledon but have shipped just five goals in their last 13 games. This magnificent run of form has been built on a stonewall backline, leading to them keeping eight clean sheets in the same time frame, never conceding more than one goal in a game.

A tight back four does not gel overnight though, Ellis Iandolo, Mandela Egbo and captain Tom Flanagan have all appeared in every game available with both Iandolo and Egbo making it onto the pitch in 36 of Colchester’s 37 league games. The trio have been joined by Fiacre Kelleher, whose arrival back into the first team coincided with the U’s results improvement.

Behind the defence is longtime Arsenal servant Matt Macey, another player with experience at this level. The keeper has finally found first-team football again and made the most of it, playing every single minute of Colchester’s league campaign, keeping 17 clean sheets along the way, giving him a great shot at winning the first Golden Glove Award of his career at 30. Notably all five players that have made up the U’s frightening defence are all at least 27 years of age, proving that you don’t always have to rely on youth to bring life to a defence but instead trusted stalwarts.

Matt Macey has prevented more goals than any other keeper in League Two this season!

The Great Wall of Colchester 🧱🧤#ColU | #EFL pic.twitter.com/913UVcIWfp

— Midas Sports (@Midassports) March 18, 2025

After Colchester United finished 10th in the 2006/07 EFL Championship, they officially became the best team in East Anglia for one season after placing above geographical opponents Norwich City and Ipswich Town. Finishing anywhere near those clubs now seems unthinkable, yet is this finally the run of form that sees Colchester rise back up the divisions? A pivotal match against second-placed Bradford City this weekend will test the U’s to see what they’re really made of…