COLCHESTER United are now building for next season, with the club busy in their pursuit of new signings.
The 2023-24 campaign was a largely disappointing one for the U’s, with them battling against relegation from League Two until the final day.
With thanks to whoscored.com, The Gazette looks at some of the numbers behind the season, both for Colchester and for the whole of League Two.
COLCHESTER United may have finished just above the League Two relegation zone.
But they ended up in the top half of the table when it came to scoring goals from open play.
The U’s hit the 44 times in this way, the tenth highest in the division.
The leading team in League Two for goals scored from open play was Notts County, who scored an impressive 66 times, in this way.
Colchester were mid-table when it came to conceding goals in this way too, letting in 44 goals in open play.
Sutton United conceded the most times in this manner, shipping 58 goals.
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Similarly, Colchester were middle of the road in the division when it came to scoring goals on the counter attack.
They ranked 12th in the division in that area with four goals, with Tranmere Rovers and Morecambe topping that category with seven.
MK Dons conceded the most goals on the counter attack (nine), with the U’s shipping five in that manner (fifth).
Colchester’s set piece statistics for the season are particularly revealing.
They scored just 11 times from dead-ball situations (20th in the division), with champions Stockport County scoring the most goals in this category (24).
Conversely, Colchester let in the most goals from set pieces in League Two along with Harrogate Town, with both teams conceding 21 times from dead-ball situations.
Colchester missed all three of their penalties, this season, leaving them bottom of the table when it came to spot-kicks scored.
Accrington Stanley netted the most penalties, scoring ten goals from 12 yards.
At the other end, Colchester conceded five goals from penalties, leaving them eighth in the rankings.
Notts County conceded the most goals from penalties (13).
The own goal category was also particularly telling for Colchester, in the 2023-24 season.
Colchester did not benefit from any own goals with MK Dons top of the category, with four.
At the other end of the pitch, Colchester conceded the joint most amount of own goals along with Doncaster Rovers, after putting through their own net five times, in total.
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On an individual basis, U’s Player of the Season Arthur Read had more game time than any other Colchester player, clocking up 3,609 minutes on the pitch.
The leading minute maker in League Two was Crawley Town goalkeeper Rio Adebisi, who played for 4,388 minutes including in his side’s three play-off games that led to their promotion to League One.
Colchester’s leading scorer was Joe Taylor with 11 goals, despite only playing for the U’s for half a season after returning to parent club Luton Town, in January.
League Two’s top scorer overall was Notts County’s Macauley Langstaff, with 28 goals.
Read was Colchester’s top assist maker with six, with Notts County’s Jodi Jones leading the way in League Two with 24.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Taylor and Cameron McGeehan had the highest average number of shots per game for Colchester (2.3), compared to the division’s joint highest in that section, Langstaff (Notts County) and Ali Al Hamadi (AFC Wimbledon), with 3.7.
Langstaff had the highest total number of shots in League Two (172), with McGeehan leading the category for Colchester (85).
Sutton United’s Matt Smith. playing for Salford City, recorded the league’s most number of aerial challenges won per match with 12.8, with defender Nico Lawrence the leading Colchester player in this section per game with 4.3.
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In the disciplinary stakes, McGeehan totted up ten yellow cards over the course of the season, the joint 15th highest in the division.
Crawley Town’s Jay Williams topped that category, after collecting 15 cautions over the course of the season.
McGeehan picked up the joint highest number of red cards in the division, after being dismissed twice along with Brad Hills (Accrington), Harry Smith (Sutton), Jordan Turnbull (Tranmere), Ryan Inniss (Forest Green Rovers), Theo Vassell (Salford City) and William Boyle (Wrexham).
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