I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to visit Colchester United's Media Manager Matt Hudson at the Weston Homes Community Stadium for the Eagles' match against promotion-chasing Rochdale to discover what his job entailed, and how one goes about 'managing' the media in the modern game. Upon arrival, my first visit to Colchester's home since 2008, I was pleasantly surprised by the ground. It is a spacious, impressive site: the large stands wouldn't look out of place in the Championship. Unlike many grounds, the Community Stadium isn't packed in to a tiny space. There is space on every side for fans of both teams to mill around before kick-off, and on this sunny Saturday a local band had been given a small marquee to play a set. Such occurences are not rare, part of Colchester's ethos is a focus on community that goes beyond that of many modern football clubs. Mr. Hudson spoke at length about Colchester's desire to find even more local acts who wish to perform before games, in no doubt due to the palpable increased atmosphere yesterday's band provided.This sense of community was only added to by Matt's attitude towards the fans of the club. Walking around on the sun-drenched concourse outside the ground before the match, I lost count of the amount of supporters of all ages who came up to us and addressed Matt by name and warmly shook him by the hand. Any request made was not too much to ask, any enquiry immediately addressed. Put simply, the experience was an education in how to treat football fans, Mr. Hudson at one point even saying how much he disliked referring to them as 'customers'. This attitude strikes me as so refreshing in the modern game, where so often fans are left feeling like cattle being processed by the great machine of their club. Perhaps the ability of such an important figure at the club to amble around on matchday meeting fans is increased in the lower leagues, but nevertheless it clearly made an impression not just on me, but on the dozens of fans I saw enthusiastically greeting Matt Hudson.
Matt's colleague, David Gregory, served as a player at Colchester for 7 years and is now the Communications and PR Officer - emphasising The Eagle's eagerness for continuity after their move from the diminutive Layer Road in 2008. Gregory spoke to me about the advantage given by ex-playing staff remaining at their club's after they have retired in another capacity, a concept that I suspect is more seldom seen in the Premier League outside of a coaching role. He too was open and approachable, greeting fans as they came in to the ground. It strikes me as a great thing for fans, to be able to see faithful servants of the club not only being given the chance to stay around but mixing directly with supporters. This seems to sum up Colchester United - a truly supporter-driven club.
Inside the stadium itself, the corporate facilities are impressive for a League One team. Built during Colchester's brief stay in the Championship, during which they finished tenth, The Community Stadium was probably intended to be welcoming QPR, Middlesbrough and Cardiff rather than Yeovil, Tranmere and Walsall. The corridors around the stadium speak volumes for the direction Colchester want to be heading in: pictures of past greats and current players, trophies and achievements but with an emphasis on the history of the club. Matt Hudson spoke about the concerns Colchester had that an aspect of history would be lost with the move from Layer Road, and that gradually the Eagles seem to be regaining some of that sense of history now as more matches are played at their new home. One thing that might help this process along is a draw against a big club in either the F.A Cup or Carling Cup, something that Colchester are still waiting for. As it is, Colchester are struggling to get attendances of 4,000 (the attendance against Rochdale 4,052), less than half of the capacity of their impressive stadium. All of the backroom staff are hoping that Colchester will soon, ideally next season, start to challenge for promotion or experience a cup run that might kick-start a surge in attendances.
The game itself yesterday was a typical battling League One affair. Rochdale, placed 7th and vying for a play-off place before kick off, put in a performance of typical grit and physical strength, with striker Chris O'Grady particularly impressing. The home side struggled to string many passes together and their disjointed first half performance drew groans from a few supporters. In the second half, Colchester were able to play with more freedom, growing in to the game as Kemal Izzet exerted more influence. The Eagles had a goal disallowed before Izzet threaded a ball through the Rochdale defence to find substitue Ian Henderson, who managed to clip past goalkeeper fon Williams and the despairing Holness on the line to give Colchester the three points. With the win the home side climbed to 9th, just six points off the play-offs with five games to play, while Rochdale are still in 7th, two points behind Bournemouth with a game in hand.
Colchester certainly showed yesterday that they have what it takes to challenge the teams at the top of League One, fans and staff alike will hope that in fact they can do even more next season as they grow increasingly comfortable in their surroundings. Couple this ability with the community ethos that seems to direct the club in its relationship with supporters, and I personally believe that Colchester United could become a very healthy force in English football indeed.
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