Ahead of Saturday's final scheduled home game at St James Park, we take a look at five famous faces who have played for both the Grecians and the U's.
In total, Paul Buckle made over 200 appearances for the Grecians in four different spells with the club. The defender scored 15 times and was the assistant manager to Paul Tisdale during the 2006/07 campaign where the Grecians narrowly missed out on promotion to League Two. Buckle joined Colchester from Wycombe Wanderers back in 1996 and made 105 appearances in three years for the U’s, scoring seven times before leaving to re-join the Grecians in what was his third spell.
Peter Cawley will best be known by the U’s faithful. The defender spent six years at the club after signing from Barnet in 1992 and made over 180 league appearances, scoring twice. Cawley did miss a penalty in Colchester’s 1997 Football League Trophy Final shootout defeat against Carlisle United. Before his time with Colchester, Cawley had a brief spell with the Grecians back in 1990, where the defender made seven appearances.
Veteran striker Clinton Morrison joined Colchester from Sheffield Wednesday in 2012. The forward didn’t have the best time in front of goal at Colchester, scoring four times in 65 games. Grecians’ boss Paul Tisdale secured Morrison’s services in 2014 from non-league side Long Eaton United, with Morrison scoring once for the club. The striker scored a spectacular overhead kick in front of the Big Bank against Stevenage in a 3-3 draw and left the club in 2016 after playing 50 times.
Defender Christian Ribeiro became a fans favourite during his two seasons at St James Park after signing from Scunthorpe United. The powerful Welsh international made 78 appearances for the Grecians, scoring six times. Ribeiro made five appearances for Colchester during a loan spell from Bristol City in 2010, the same year he received his first Wales cap. The versatile defender unfortunately had to retire in 2017 due to a knee problem.
Patrick Baldwin spent 10 successful years with Colchester between 2002-2012. The defender picked up all of the player of the year awards for the 2004/05 campaign, and then helped the club to promotion to the Championship the following year. In total, Baldwin made 209 appearances for the U’s, scoring once for the club in a 3-0 win over rivals Southend United. Baldwin originally signed for the Grecians on loan from Southend in 2012 and made his move permanent to St James Park that summer, spending three years with the club, making 89 appearances in the process.