Born in Paddington, London, Warner was spotted by Colchester United during a friendly against his then-club Burnham Ramblers.
[2][3] Warner, scored another goal from the bench in a 3–2 home win against Halifax Town on 1 May, helping the U's to league safety for another season.
[2][4] Still on non-contract terms, Colchester wanted to sign Warner permanently and on a full-time basis, but could not offer the security or financially compete with the combination of his salary from Ford and payments from semi-professional football.
In this time, he made two further appearances for the U's, playing his final game for the club on 5 January 1990 in a 1–0 defeat at Layer Road to Stockport County.
[2][5] With Mick Mills taking the Colchester manager role, Warner was told that he could leave, as he subsequently joined Dagenham.