Colchester United have released seven former Town players, among them ex-skipper Luke Chambers, Tommy Smith and long-serving U’s man Tom Eastman.

Cole Skuse had already made his departure known with the midfielder having been appointed Bury Town’s new manager, while Alan Judge, who is currently sidelined having suffered a triple rupture in his left knee in December, Freddie Sears and Emyr Huws will also be leaving the League Two club.

Chambers, Skuse, Huws, Sears and Judge joined the U’s following their release by Town in the summer of 2021, while Smith signed in August 2020. Eastman had been with the North Essex side since May 2011, aside from a spell on loan at Harrogate in the second half of this season.

“I’d like to thank all the players that will be leaving us for their hard work and professionalism in their time here at Colchester United,” Colchester sporting director Dmitri Halajko told his club’s official website.

“We wish all these players the best of luck in the next part of their football journeys.

“Special mentions should go to Tom Eastman. Tom has been a magnificent servant to the club over the past 12 years and is firmly in the top ten of the club’s all-time highest appearance makers.

“The term ‘club legend’ is sometimes overused in football but I certainly see Tom in that light for the service he has given to the club.

“Tommy Smith and Luke Chambers have been captains for the club on and off the pitch and the leadership they have given the team during their time at the club deserves recognition alone with their footballing performances.

“Freddie Sears has also made a big contribution with Colchester United over the years scoring over 50 times for the club which is a great return.

“Although Cole and Luke have only been with us two years, they have shown a fantastic level of performance and professionalism on and off the pitch.

“We wish Cole the best of luck as he takes on his first managerial role at Bury Town after a long and illustrious playing career.

“Alan Judge is very unfortunate as his bad injury has kept him out of the second half of the season. However, he is working very hard with our medical team to get back playing.

“We will still be seeing plenty of him at the club while we help him back to full fitness.

“I’m sure every supporter of Colchester United will wish all the players leaving us the very best of luck and success in their future football careers.”

Photo: Matchday Images

RobsonWark added 23:00 - May 12 saxonblue you were just a happy clapper who could not see (and probably did not care ) the demise in our club with Captain Calamity - a club LEG - END!! The man who blamed every one else around him for ALL his mistakes.
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RobsonWark added 23:03 - May 12 Cadiar - We have had our disagreements in the past but you are totally spot on with your comment above!
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RobsonWark added 23:12 - May 12 NorthStandOracle added 22:28 - May 12 "The disrespect shown above is actually laughable. Fair enough aimed at Sears, Huws, Judge but Skuse and Chambers were extremely solid and dependable championship players for the vast majority of their careers and predominantly at Town. They seem to have got the blame for Evans useless regime and terrible managers toward the end of their Town careers (I.e. Lambert playing a 37 year old Chambers at full back all season and loaning Donacien out) but do not forget they led the team with distinction for many years. Skuse In his prime next to a Morsy or Luongo would absolutely piss League one and would probably make a formidable partnership at championship level. Fed up of town fans blaming solely those two for our demise" LOL!! No.4 and No.8 were amongst the worst players in the clubs history. They led us to division 1 and would have led us down to division 2 if Paul Cook had not got rid of them. It is laughable that you think either of them are in the same league as Morsy or Luongo. This is why supporters like you can not see what we got relegated.

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RobsonWark added 23:20 - May 12 Cadiar you are a wierd one. You mark me down and mark saxonblue up yet you comment exactly the same way as I feel. Which makes your comments pointless as you can not make your mind up which way you feel. Don't slag off former players then mark me down and up tick saxonblue for his comments.
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hyperbrit added 00:02 - May 13 don't look at the engine room when the ship runs aground look on the bridge (Evans ,Clegg et all). Bad captains hire bad crew members. I'm so glad we are moving on.
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Jugsy added 00:31 - May 13 Not sure why people feel the need to knock these guys when they're down. Some decent servants for the club, they don't deserve to be bad mouthed now they're out of work.
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ChrisFelix added 06:57 - May 13 Chambers & Skuses played for us during our worse years since the Milburn period. For those fans who think otherwise I ask the question would we have won promotion this year with ( a younger) captain calamity & Cole Xskuse in the side. They continued their decline at Col U , who luckily didn't get relegated
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bobble added 07:59 - May 13 the proof is in the pudding...they went from us to a division below and didnt set the world alight in that division.....the evidence is clear that they were not good enough to win us or colchester promotion in the 3rd and 4th divisions...doesnt mean they are bad people or bad players ....
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SpiritOfJohn added 08:28 - May 13 Time and tide wait for no man. Chambers has had an exceptional career in terms of longevity and it wouldn't surprise me if he found a new club. When I think back to the team we once had with Murphy and McGoldrick, Skuse, Chambers, Cresswell, Mings and Bart in goal it is a wonder we didn't get automatic promotion that year. If only we had had a manager like McKenna who tries to win every game!

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troyparrotsleftear added 08:46 - May 13 You have to feel sorry for colchester. Chambers and Skuse and Sears were solid town players and served the club well with Sears being played out of position most of the time. Judge never did much, Huws was never fit, Tommy Smith i always felt was underrated. Thise slagging off Chambers and Skuse should remember the crap they had around them.
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braveblue added 08:49 - May 13 Good luck to them all. But let's not pretend they were great players. When you look at Skuse as midfield focal point compared to Morsy it's clear how poor he was.
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62WasBest added 09:35 - May 13 Judge was a good player but past his best when he came to Town, where injuries plagued him.
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blues1 added 10:43 - May 13 Europablue. Agree with much of ur post. But if you really think we weren't in a relegation fight until after MM left, ur kidding urself. Just remember, in his last 2 seasons we weren't far from being relegated. In fact, in his penultimate season, had we not beaten newcastle and Burton over Easter, we would have been. Would almost certainly have gone down the season we did, regardless of who was the manager. The performance in the fa,cup replay at Lincoln was a sure sign it was almost inevitable.

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Linkboy13 added 12:06 - May 13 Sears was regarded as a prolific goal scorer but never really lived up to it. He went over thirty games without scoring and then was played in a wider role in which he performed reasonably well. I could never understand why people were calling for Smith to be resigned by the club he was so slow on the turn and didn't really set the world alight at Colchester.
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Eeyore added 12:35 - May 13 Just surprised that they haven't kept Chambers. He played nearly every match and probably held another dodgy team together against the odds.
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dirtydingusmagee added 12:57 - May 13 They moved on ,weve moved on, we are now happily in a better place. Those players have had their day ,i wish them all luck where ever they go from here.
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Burley4ever added 14:22 - May 13 Won't be at all surprised if Colchester get promotion next season although they haven't had a decent manager since Burley and we all know how that worked out!!!
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tractorboybig added 16:10 - May 13 robsonwark....you are a joke.
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Ipswichbusiness added 16:24 - May 13 I have nothing against any of them personally and I wish them all the best. The trouble was purely professional; they just weren't very good football players. We took too long to get rid of them. It just shows what Paul Lambert was struggling with; Marcus Evans at the top and this lot on the pitch!
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Oldozblue added 23:58 - May 14 Macaulay Bonne released by Charlton as well according to some reports - Phil to confirm?
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