Bobby Roberts kept the faith in his squad for their second season in the Third Division, but an injury to Eddie Rowles forced him into the transfer market.

A strong season in the league saw the club finish one position higher than the previous campaign in seventh, narrowly falling short of the promotion places – nine points behind third-placed Swansea City.

In the final game of the season, Colchester recorded their then highest-ever away league victory with a 5–1 win at Tranmere Rovers, less than a month after they had stunned champions-elect Watford 3–0 at Vicarage Road on Good Friday.

Colchester had a productive run in the FA Cup, where they disposed of Oxford United 4–2 with Bobby Gough netting a hat-trick.

After the fixture was called off from its original Saturday date, the crowd of 13,171 saw the U's come four minutes within an Old Trafford replay after Jimmy Greenhoff finally broke the deadlock after 86-minutes to send Colchester out.