Layer Road

About

Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was the home of Colchester United Football Club from its inception in 1937, up until the club relocated to Colchester Community Stadium in 2008, resulting in its closure. The stadium held 6,320 spectators by the time of its closure, and was built in 1907, originally for use by Colchester Town Football Club.

The record attendance at Layer Road is 19,072 for an FA Cup fixture against Reading in November 1948, a match that was abandoned due to fog. The ground was also used to host Sudbury Town's FA Cup match against Brentford in 1996, as their Priory Stadium was deemed unfit. One of the unusual features of the ground was at the Layer Road End, where the back of the goal and the netting actually cut back into the stand.

The most recent development to the ground was the construction of a small, temporary seating stand for housing away supporters. It held 143 supporters and was similar to the chocolate boxes at The Dell. The last first team match at Layer Road took place on 26 April 2008, when Colchester lost 1–0 to Stoke City, with Richard Cresswell scoring the last goal at the stadium.

Just three days after the first team...