The 2017–18 season was Colchester United's 81st season in their history and their second successive season competing in League Two. Along with competing in League Two, the club also participated in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and EFL Trophy.
A poor start to the new campaign meant that Colchester were chasing to catch up from the off. An upturn in form came about over the Christmas period, reaching a high of fifth in the table. Again, the U's were made to pay with a drop in late season form, where they eventually in the bottom-half of League Two. Finishing 13th, this was Colchester's worst league performance since the 1993–94 season when the U's finished 17th in the Third Division.
Colchester made a first round exit in the EFL Cup for the seventh consecutive season, narrowly losing out to Aston Villa, while in the FA Cup, they were eliminated by non-League outfit Oxford City in the first round. In the EFL Trophy, Colchester were knocked out at the group stage for the second season running.
Season overview Preseason Colchester United announced their retainer list on 10 May 2017. Left back Matthew Briggs and fellow defender Lloyd Doyley were both released after the club decided against offering them a new contract, while under-23 players Femi Akinwande, Callum Harrison, Brendan Ocran, Dexter Peter, Rhys Williams and Ben Wyatt were also not offered new deals. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Dean Brill, defenders Richard Brindley, Tom Eastman, George Elokobi, Lewis Kinsella and Kane Vincent-Young, midfielder Charley Edge, and forwards Diaz Wright, Drey Wright and Chris Porter were all offered new deals.
Two Academy players signed one year development contracts on 25 May. Central defender Josh Pollard and forward Eoin McKeown signed their first professional deals ahead of stepping up to the under-23 squad.
Last season's top goalscorer Chris Porter opted to leave the club on the expiry of his contract, instead signing a two-year deal at League Two rivals Crewe Alexandra on 31 May after turning down a new contract offer.
Tom Eastman became the first Colchester United out of contract first-team player to sign a new deal on 28 June, agreeing to a two-year extension. The following day, Drey Wright, Lewis Kinsella, and Kane Vincent-Young all agreed to one-year extensions to their existing contracts.
With Richard Brindley turning down Colchester's contract offer, the U's announced the signing of former Gillingham right-back Ryan Jackson on 30 June, with his contract set to begin on 1 July. George Elokobi also left Colchester after failing to agree on a new contract with the club. Goalkeeper Dean Brill opted not to sign a new contract after failing to break into the first team.
On 3 July, the club announced that Charley Edge, Decarrey Sheriff and Diaz Wright had all agreed to new one-year contracts.
A restructuring of the backroom coaching staff meant Ademola Bankole left after nine years as the club's goalkeeping coach, while former Watford goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin arrived as his replacement and to provide competition to Sam Walker and Dillon Barnes. Paul Smith arrived from Southend United as Head of Academy Goalkeeper Coaching, while former Wales midfielder Chris Llewellyn joined Colchester as under-18 lead coach.
Colchester played their first pre-season friendly on 8 July 2017. In their annual friendly match against Maldon & Tiptree, the U's earned a 2–0 victory with a goal from Doug Loft in the first half, and Louis Dunne in the second half. On 11 July, Colchester played their second pre-season match against Needham Market. Goals from Denny Johnstone, Tariq Issa and two from Sammie Szmodics sealed a 4–0 victory for the visitors.
Midfielder Tarryn Allarakhia signed a one-year development contract on 12 July, joining from Maldon & Tiptree.
On 14 July, Academy product Macauley Bonne left the club to join National League side Leyton Orient, signing for an undisclosed fee alongside former U's player George Elokobi. Colchester won their third successive friendly the same day, beating Llandudno 1–0 in north Wales courtesy of a Denny Johnstone goal.
Cole Kpekawa joined Colchester for a second spell on 17 July, signing a one-year deal from Barnsley for an undisclosed fee having featured on loan from Queens Park Rangers during the 2014–15 season. Meanwhile, injury-stricken Brennan Dickenson revealed that the serious knee injury he sustained in training in April 2017 would keep him out of first-team action until February 2018.
On 18 July, Colchester recorded their fourth consecutive pre-season victory with a 2–0 win against a West Ham United XI at the Colchester Community Stadium. Drey Wright and Denny Johnstone were the goalscorers.
Colchester signed Wigan Athletic forward Mikael Mandron on 21 July. He signed for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal. On 22 July, the U's claimed their fifth pre-season win with a 3–0 victory against Braintree Town. Sammie Szmodics scored twice and Louis Dunne added a third late on to secure the win.
On 24 July, United were hit by the news that club captain Luke Prosser would be ruled out of action for a further two months after undergoing a further operation on his injured knee.
Colchester suffered their first pre-season defeat on 25 July when they slipped to a 1–0 defeat to Ipswich Town at the Community Stadium. Another defeat followed against Gillingham on 28 July, falling to a 2–1 defeat. Colchester's goal was scored by Ryan Jackson against his former club. Colchester also confirmed the signing of defender Dan Jefferies from Swansea City who joined the under-23 side on 28 July, and midfielder Sam Warde joined the under-23s from Huddersfield Town on 31 July.
On 1 August, Colchester made two further under-23 additions, with the signing of Australian goalkeeper Dominic Kurasik from Brentford and former-Crystal Palace left-back Callum Sturgess on one-year contracts.
On the eve of the new league season, Alex Wynter had his contract cancelled by mutual consent and then immediately signed for National League side Maidstone United.
August Colchester's League Two campaign began at Accrington Stanley on 5 August. Ryan Jackson and Mikael Mandron made the starting eleven for their debuts, while Cole Kpekawa made his second debut for the club from the substitutes bench. Accrington took a ninth-minute lead through Kayden Jackson, and went 2–0 up through Billy Kee's 32nd-minute strike. The U's found themselves 3–0 down after the break when Omar Beckles scored, but pulled a late goal back from half-time substitute Sammie Szmodics.
On 7 August, Colchester signed Coventry City winger Kyel Reid on loan until January. Dillon Barnes joined National League South side Welling United for one month on 8 August.
Colchester hosted Championship side Aston Villa in the first round of the EFL Cup on 9 August. A mistake from goalkeeper Sam Walker allowed Scott Hogan to slot in an early opening goal for the visitors. Mikael Mandron missed a chance to equalise from the penalty spot when his effort was saved by Jed Steer, before an unfortunate Frankie Kent scored an own goal to double Villa's lead on 19 minutes. Kent redeemed himself six minutes before the interval to reduce Colchester's deficit at 2–1. However, the score remained the same through the second half as Colchester exited the competition at the first round stage for the seventh consecutive season.
The U's earned their first league point of the season on 12 August when they drew 1–1 with Stevenage at the Community Stadium. Stevenage took a second-half lead through Danny Newton, but Mikael Mandron equalised 15-minutes later to score his first competitive goal for the club.
On 15 August, Colchester offered new contracts to Brennan Dickenson, Kurtis Guthrie, Frankie Kent, Tom Lapslie and Drey Wright, while winger Dion Sembie-Ferris was released by mutual consent in search of first-team football. On 18 August, it was announced that goalkeeper Daniel Wilks had joined the under-23 squad on loan from Maldon & Tiptree until January 2018, while centre-back Josh Pollard, right-back George Keys, and left winger Ryan Clampin all joined Maldon & Tiptree on youth and work experience loans. Also joining the club was defender Will Wright who joined on a two-year contract from Hitchin Town.
The U's were defeated 3–0 at Luton Town on 19 August. A first-half injury time goal put the hosts ahead and Luton added a further two in the second half to leave Colchester in the relegation zone.
Denny Johnstone made a season-long loan move to St Johnstone on 24 August, while Louis Dunne also temporarily left the club on loan, joining National League South side Concord Rangers for one month.
Colchester earned their first win of the season on 26 August in their first-ever meeting with Forest Green Rovers. Kyel Reid scored his first U's goal after only four minutes of play, before Frankie Kent scored the second goal of the game and his second of the season. Forest Green scored two minutes later to make it 2–1. Sammie Szmodics scored 20-minutes into the second half, before Kane Vincent-Young became the second player of the day to score his first Colchester goal. Three minutes into injury time, Courtney Senior, making his first-team debut from the bench, scored to finalise a 5–1 win.
In the first group stage match of the EFL Trophy, Colchester hosted Reading U23 at the Community Stadium. Sammie Szmodics continued his goalscoring form inside five minutes, but Reading equalised through Josh Barrett before taking the lead through Ben House prior to half-time. Second-half substitute Eoin McKeown, making his first-team debut, equalised in the 87th minute to take the tie to a penalty shoot-out. The U's won 6–5, earning a bonus point for the win on penalties.
With the transfer window closing at 11pm on 31 August, Colchester made numerous deadline day signings, both on loan and permanent. First, Queens Park Rangers midfielder Brandon Comley signed on loan until January 2018. Young Charlton Athletic striker Brandon Hanlan also joined on loan until January, while free agent Sanmi Odelusi signed a permanent six-month contract after the forward had been training with the U's over the summer since his release by Wigan Athletic. Another striker followed suit in signing, with Portsmouth's Nicke Kabamba arriving on loan until January, while Crystal Palace centre-half Ryan Inniss signed on loan until the end of the season.
September Colchester started September with a defeat at Cambridge United. Naming an unchanged starting eleven from the side that beat Forest Green 5–1 the previous weekend, the U's fell to a 1–0 defeat on 2 September thanks to a second-half goal from Uche Ikpeazu.
Eli Phipps joined Dillon Barnes on loan at Welling United on 8 September, while Barnes' loan was extended until 8 November. Also heading out on loan was Charley Edge, who signed on a one-month deal at National League North side Leamington.
Colchester returned to winning ways with an impressive first-half performance against Crawley Town in a 3–1 win. Sammie Szmodics scored his fourth goal of the season before assisting Ryan Jackson's first goal for the club after 14-minutes. Mikael Mandron completed the home side's scoring after 38-minutes. In the second-half, Sam Walker saved a Mark Randall penalty, but Crawley did pull a goal back from Jimmy Smith on 66-minutes. They were then held to a 1–1 draw against Chesterfield on 12 September. Louis Reed scored for the visitors shortly before half-time but debutant Brandon Hanlan scored from the substitutes bench after 82-minutes.