Final Pictures of Layer Road

My first ever trip to Layer Road was with my dad and brother to see Colchester United take on the might of Derby County in a 4^th round FA Cup tie. I stood on top of an upturned milk crate on the Clock End terrace that afternoon as the Us battled for a well-earned draw. I made a few more visits after that, but didn’t really get hooked until after the infamous 8 - nil drubbing in October 1988 by Leyton Orient that saw manager Roger Brown sacked and replaced with the legendary Jock Wallace, and coach Alan Ball. Amazingly they managed to steer the club, who were languishing at the bottom of the old 4th Division, to league safety in an epic race for points with Darlington and saved us from the dreaded drop into the GM Vauxhall Conference. Well, for that season at least.

I was immediately hooked, and for several years rarely missed a game. Home or away. The Barside terrace was my second home... after a catching up with friends over a couple of pints at the nearby Drury Arms of course. It was a place to enjoy the terrace chants, the banter, a cup of Bovril and a meat pie at half-time, and of course cheer on the 11 players on the pitch through thick and thin. We had laughs aplenty, and crushing disappointment in equal measure. Such was life on the terraces.

The Barside and Layer Road End terraces as seen from the Main Stand.

The clink of the turnstiles, the terrace chants with the guys at the back often banging along in time on the corrugated iron wall behind, the shower of rust when the ball hit the roof, shouting at an evening game for the lights above our heads to be turned off again after half-time so we could see the game, the queue at the pie hut, scrambling over the wall to get onto that hallowed turf when the referee blew the whistle at the end of the final home game of the season and so much more are now just memories. The Us have long since vacated the ground we all loved and moved up the road to the shiny new Weston Homes Community Stadium  to the north of the town, but it’s only recently that the bulldozers have finally moved in. We might all have known for many years that to survive and have any chance of success in the modern day game Colchester United needed a stadium worthy of their ambitions, and with facilities to boost their income, but to see Layer Road disappearing forever was heart breaking when I made the trip over there this morning with my camera for one last look before it is gone forever.

All that remains of the ticket office and the back of the Layer Road End terrace.

Making easy work of demolishing the Main Stand.

The steps up to the Layer Road End terrace now go nowhere.

Not a sight I ever thought I'd see.

The supporters club bar still stands. For now.

The Club Shop canopy lies abandoned in front of the exits from the turnstiles having miraculously survived intact.

All that remains of the club shop. A changing room mirror now reflects the overgrown pitch instead of a proud Us fan trying on the new season's shirt.

How many thousands of corners must have taken from this spot? In the background the trees that were once hidden from view by the Main Stand.

All that remains of my beloved Barside. A pile of rubble.

Once the bulldozers are gone Layer Road will be the site of 58new homes, with all traces of the football ground eradicated forever. Except in the memories of generations of Us fans.

Goodbye Layer Road, gone but not forgotten.