Colchester United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Colchester, Essex. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.

Founded in 1937, the club spent its early years playing in the Southern Football League until they were elected to The Football League in 1950. Between 1950 and 1990, Colchester spent their time between the Third Division and Fourth Division, during which time they produced one of their most memorable results, a 3–2 victory in the fifth round of the FA Cup over Don Revie's Leeds United in 1971.

Colchester United were relegated to the Football Conference in 1990 following a decline in the late 1980s, but won the Conference title in 1992 to make a swift return to League football. They achieved promotion to the Second Division in 1998 following a 1–0 win against Torquay United in the play-off final. The club were again promoted in 2006, achieving second place in League One. The following season, they achieved their highest league finish in club history, ending the season 10th in the Championship ahead of East Anglian rivals Ipswich Town, Norwich City and also Essex rivals Southend United, despite having the division's lowest attendance. The club returned to League One in 2008 following relegation from the Championship.

A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.

Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a hypothetical team (such as a Dream Team or Team of the Century) and never play an actual match.

There are several varieties of football, notably Association football, Gridiron football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby league, and rugby union. The number of players selected for each team within these varieties and their associated codes can vary substantially. In some, use of the word "team" is sometimes limited to those who play on the field in a match and does not always include other players who may take part as replacements or emergency players. "Football squad" may be used to be inclusive of these support and reserve players.

The term football club is the most commonly used for a sports club which is an organised or incorporated body with a president, committee and a set of rules responsible for ensuring the continued playing existence of one or more teams which are selected for regular competition play (and which may participate in several different divisions or leagues). The oldest football clubs date back to the early 19th century. The words team and club are sometimes used interchangeably by supporters, although they typically refer to the team within the club playing in the highest division or competition.

Football club (short: FC) was a designation for the elite football teams in the GDR (German Democratic Republic, commonly East Germany). They were formed in the mid-1960s as centers of high-level football.

After World War II and the occupation of Germany by Allied forces, a separate football competition emerged in the Soviet-held eastern half of the country. The term "FC" continued to be used in its traditional sense in West Germany, but eventually became a specialized designation in the east.

Since the introduction of the Sportclub system in the mid-1950s their football departments had dominated play in the DDR-Oberliga. In late 1965 football was granted a special status in the East German elite sports, when the footballing departments were dissociated from the Sportclubs and - under the new designation of football club - were given the same rights as sport clubs.

This special status of the sports clubs and football clubs as the only centers of elite sports led to an establishment of a two-class society in the DDR-Oberliga: The heavily supported and largely professionalized clubs dominated play in every respect, the best Betriebssportgemeinschaften (BSG) were used as a talent pool. Their players were delegated to the big football clubs. After 1954, when the sportclubs were first established, there is just one instance when a BSG won the DDR-Oberliga: BSG Chemie Leipzig were crowned champions in 1964, however, the team had been formed from two dissolved sportclubs the year before. From 1968 to 1991 only football clubs finished in the top 3 of the DDR-Oberliga.

Coordinates: 51°53′30″N 0°54′11″E / 51.8917°N 0.903°E / 51.8917; 0.903

Colchester ⁱ/ˈkoʊltʃɛstər/ is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.

At the time of the census in 2011, it had a population of 121,859, marking a considerable rise from the previous census and with considerable development since 2001 and ongoing building plans; it has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the oldest recorded Roman town in Britain, Colchester is claimed to be the oldest town in Britain. It was for a time the capital of Roman Britain, and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network.

Colchester is 51.2 miles (82.4 km) northeast of London and is connected to the capital by the A12 road and the Great Eastern Main Line. It is seen as a popular town for commuters, and is less than 30 miles (48 km) away from Stansted Airport and 20 miles (32 km) from the passenger ferry port of Harwich.

Colchester is home to Colchester Castle and Colchester United Football Club. It has a Conservative Member of Parliament, Will Quince, who was elected in the 2015 General Election. The correct demonym is Colcestrian. The River Colne runs through the town.

The Borough of Colchester is a local government district and borough in Essex, England, named after its main town, Colchester. The borough covers an area of 125 square miles (320 km²) and stretches from Dedham Vale on the Suffolk border in the north to Mersea Island on the Colne Estuary in the south.

The borough was formed on 1 April 1974 by the merger of the former borough of Colchester, covering an area of around 17.7 square miles (46 km²), with the urban districts of West Mersea and Wivenhoe, along with Lexden and Winstree Rural District.

Demography

The Essex County Standard of September 4, 2009 said that "Government estimates" made Colchester the largest borough in the county: its officially acknowledged population is second highest among non-London boroughs, behind Northampton.

According to the Office for National Statistics as of 2008, Colchester had a population of approximately 181,000. Average life expectancy was 78.7 for males. and 83.3 for females.

Based on ethnic groups, predominantly of 92% of the population is White (87.5% British, 0.7% Irish and 3.8% Other White), Asians were the second largest making up 3.6% (0.8% Indian, 0.2% Pakistani, 0.2% Bangladeshi and 1% Chinese, other 1.4%), Black people constituted 1.4% (0.3% Caribbean, 1% African, 0.1% other), those of mixed race made up 1.8%, 0.6% were Arab and there were 0.4% from other ethnic groups.

Colchester is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 16,068 at the 2010 census. In 2010 Colchester became the first town in Connecticut, and the 36th in the country, to be certified with the National Wildlife Federation as a Community Wildlife Habitat.

Colchester is one of the fastest growing towns in Connecticut. The villages of Westchester and North Westchester are located within Colchester, as is the reservation of the state-recognized Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation. The town center village, which was previously incorporated as a borough, is a census-designated place, with a population of 4,781 at the 2010 census.

The Colchester Historical Society operates a local history museum in town.

History

The history of the town begins on October 1, 1692 when the area known as "Jerimiah's Farme" is confirmed unto Danial Mason, son of Major John Mason, acting on behalf of the Hartford Colony, by Owaneco. The original settlement known as Jerimiah's Farm was land given unto Jerimiah Adams, of Hartford, by Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan tribe.