Lincoln and Darlington had both returned to the League at the first attempt from the Conference and the onus was on new Player Manager Ian Atkins to achieve the same.
United remained full-time and wearing a navy and white striped kit enjoyed a 100% record from their first six home games.
Layer Road was sold back to the Council for £1.2m to help clear debts with the club leasing for a maximum of three seasons.
Barnet and Kettering were U's main challengers and it took until April for U's to hit top spot.
United faced the ignominy of having to compete in the FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round and had a shock home defeat to Witton Albion in the FA Trophy Quarter Finals after beating neighbours Wivenhoe Town.
Facing late challengers Altrincham drew a Layer Road crowd of 7,221, but a draw and Barnet's matching form meant that Colchester finished runners-up by two points.
Crisp fumed: "To come second with a fully professional squad in a part-time League is a bloody disgrace."
He soon left the club, a wiser if not poorer man, as did Atkins who joined Birmingham as coach.
New chairman James Bowdidge appointed Roy McDonough in a playing role. At just 34, McDonough had been Atkins' assistant and vowed to go for goals abandoning Atkins' stoic sweeper system.
McDonough equalled the club record scoring four at Slough on August 26th 1991, but couldn't have planned the astonishing goal that gave U's victory at sole rivals Wycombe.
In the dying moments, goalkeeper Scott Barrett's long punt down field skidded up off the greasy surface into the net to give Colchester a priceless 2-1 win, and U's completed the double soon after winning 3-0 at Layer Road.
Colchester Borough Council identified ten sites that might house a new stadium. Each would be investigated.
The U's became the first team in history to be knocked out of the FA Cup without conceding a goal.
Twice they drew 0-0 with Exeter only to lose on penalties; the consolation was that they led Wycombe by seven points as 1992 dawned.
The Football League decreed that all clubs must have at least 10 years lease on their stadium. Fortunately, the Council extended their arrangement.
Sixteen home wins on the bounce failed to shake off their shadows from Buckinghamshire.
A dreadful 4-1 defeat at Welling and a lackadaisical 4-4 draw at Macclesfield threatened to derail U's surge back to the League.
United's focus wasn't solely on the Conference they progressed to the Wembley Final of the FA Trophy having knocked out Kingstonian, Merthyr, Morecambe, Telford and Macclesfield on the way.
At just 34, McDonough had delivered his promise. He himself had netted 29 times with Steve McGavin (26) and Gary Bennett (18) part of the 98 goal League haul. as Wycombe trailed by eight goals going into the last game.
United annihilated Barrow 5-0 with a Mike Masters hat trick to claim the Championship.
A week later 32,254 roared United, in their first-ever Wembley appearance, to a famous non-League double gaining revenge over Witton Albion with Masters, McGavin and Nicky Smith scoring in a 3-1 win.
Thousands packed the High Street a few days later as United paraded their trophies to the town. Colchester were back in the Football League
GM Vauxhall Conference Champions: 1991/2
Runners-up: 1990/1
FA Trophy Winners: 1991/2
The advent of the Premier League meant that Colchester jumped two Leagues, in name, to Division Three.
Bowdidge stepped down because of business commitments handing over the Chair to former reserve player Gordon Parker.
United lost Masters, an American, because of work permit problems and Barrett to a richer contract. U's lost four of their first five games and sunk to the bottom, they also suffered a hefty FA fine for their indiscipline on the field with McDonough one of the main culprits.
The attacking approach was not as effective against League teams and United concede a 7, a 5 and 4 goals on six occasions.
Despite this they rallied, with a young Mark Kinsella blossoming and finished just four points shy of a play-off place.
With 79 bookings and three red cards it was apt that their new blue shirts had an upward pointing repeating arrow which many fans, upset at the loss of striped shirts, dubbed the 'jailbird' kit.
The first eight games of 1993/4 yielded 40 goals - 18 in the wrong net. United just could not defend and McDonough, having used six goalkeepers in the wake of Barrett's departure, found himself in goal at Hereford in October 1993.
Amazingly both John Keeley and sub Nathan Munson were sent off for professional fouls. Needless to say U's lost 5-0.
Fans fury continued unabated as United fought back manfully to 3-3 at home to non-League Sutton in the FA Cup, only to concede searching for an injury time winner.
Things got worse. United used six keepers again and McGavin moved to Birmingham for £150,000 in January with no funds made available.
It took a consortium of local businessmen to raise £10,000 to buy Steve Whitton on deadline day to fill the gap.
On the last day of a disappointing campaign, where gates had dropped to 2,865, McDonough received a silver salver from Chairman Parker in recognition of his 500th career appearance.
Three days later it was Parker, his father-in-law, that told McDonough he was sacked.
Few, if any, listed the name of former Ipswich full-back George Burley as a candidate but the Scotsman was duly appointed in July 1994.
Six straight defeats was not an ideal baptism, Burley dug out his boots, brought in new faces and called upon Dale Roberts as coach.
The turn around was immediate as United suffered just one defeat in the next 20 League and Cup matches. Few fans arriving for the Boxing Day clash with Northampton knew that Burley had resigned on Christmas Eve.
Tapped up by Ipswich, who had been refused permission to speak to him, Burley walked out on fifth placed Colchester leaving a sour taste for years to come.
Roberts became Caretaker for United's first-ever encounter with a Premiership side.
Unfortunately it was Wimbledon, 1-0 winners, and half the 6,903 crowd at Selhurst Park were from Colchester.
Again the Colchester board defied speculation and appointed stalwart ex-defender Steve Wignall as new manager in January 1995.
Well-placed for a play-off berth United gained just two points from the last four games and finished 12 points adrift.
Crowds increased, to 3,277, helped by an interesting promotion when all 6,055 were admitted free to the clash with Darlington on March 4th 1995.
Kinsella, like Adcock before, harboured ambitions of and deserved the big time. Wignall allowed him to play on a week to week contract and re-signed the now much travelled Adcock.
Colchester's proud mantle as Cup fighters took another dent when humiliated 2-1 at non-League Gravesend & Northfleet preceding eight winless games.
The loan signing of Scot McGleish rejuvenated United's season and a Joe Dunne injury time winner at Mansfield left U's needing to beat Doncaster in their last fixture to reach the play-offs.
Paul Gibbs' cross-cum-shot sealed a narrow win to send the 5,083 crowd into delirium.
Neil Warnock's Plymouth stood in United's way of a second trip to Wembley. Mark Kinsella's long ranger sealed a 1-0 first leg lead and rammed Warnock's words down his throat.
He taunted: "Little teams like Colchester shouldn't even be on the same pitch as big clubs like Plymouth."
His side, assembled for over £1m, quickly moved in front at Home Park against a U's side costing £2,000, but Kinsella pulled the score back level and more with a vital away goal.
Five minutes from time U's hearts were broken when Plymouth added a third.
A fresh looking Layer Road welcomed in the 1996/7 season with the Clock End all-seated and covered.
Kinsella finally got the move his talents deserved. A bargain £150,000 took him to Charlton and there was early League Cup cheer when U's turned a 3-2 deficit with a 3-1 victory at First Division West Bromwich Albion.
All the more noteworthy as striker Whitton played the entire second half in goal.
Paul Buckle scored Colchester's first ever Golden Goal against Millwall in the Auto Windscreen Shield on January 9th 1997 and wins over Brentford and Northampton set up a Southern Final with Peterborough.
All looked lost with a 2-0 first leg defeat but Paul Abrahams' glorious Golden Goal sent United to Wembley.
Unfortunately six defeats in eight League games had seen United slip to 13th.
Wignall declared: "I won't be happy until I have guided this club to promotion. All I ask of the fans is trust me with your club."
The Wembley Final against Carlisle, played on April 20th 1997 in front of 45,077, ended in a 0-0 draw after extra time.
Peter Cawley and a young Karl Duguid missed from the spot leaving the Cumbrians to hoist the trophy in the cruellest of manners.
Three wins and a draw after Wembley meant that United missed out on the play-offs by just one point. A season of so much promise ended in just memories.
Colchester, once famed giantkillers, again lost to a non-League side when Hereford won a1997/8 replay at Edgar Street on penalties. The FA Cup was truly Wignall's Achilles Heel.
Meanwhile, the club was vindicated in the Courts when the Burley case was settled at £300,000 and, with the lease on Layer Road due to expire in 2002, Kirklees McAlpine were commissioned as consultants for the new stadium.
Wignall broke the club's transfer record spending £50,000 on Neil Gregory.
The dividend was paid when U's won 10 of their last 15 missing automatic promotion by one point, but more importantly qualifying for the play-offs.
Barnet held a 1-0 lead but in a powder-keg Layer Road atmosphere, a brace from David Gregory, the second in extra time, turned the tie in U's favour and earned a third trip to Wembley in six years.
Disappointingly moved to a Friday night to accommodate a meaningless England v Saudi Arabia friendly match, the Play-Off Final with Torquay attracted just 19,486 with live TV coverage another factor.
David Gregory's 22nd minute penalty was enough to fire U's back to the third tier after 17 years away. Once again the streets of Colchester thronged to an open-top bus parade.
Wignall was under no illusions as to the task his side had. Division Two boasted fallen giants in Manchester City and Stoke and Kevin Keegan led the Al-Fayed revolution at Fulham.
A preferred site was found for the new stadium and, better still, Cuckoo Farm was owned by the Council.
From the magnificent stage of Maine Road and a loyal 25,000 home crowd, Wignall faced his FA Cup nemesis at the tiny Northumberland outpost of Bedlington.
The Terriers walloped United 4-1 the most embarrassing defeat in the club's history.
U's won just one of the next nine including a 5-1 home defeat to Gillingham in the AutoWindscreen Shield. In January 1999, seven days after unleashing a raw Lomana Tresor Lua Lua into the first team.
Wignall quit citing that he had taken his team as far as he could and was frustrated at the role agents were playing in transfer deals he was trying to set up.
Steve Whitton his assistant became Caretaker before Mick Wadsworth, recently of Scarborough, fought off the challenge of Cheltenham's Steve Cotterill to become the new manager.
He kept Whitton on and brought in a number of foreign players including Brazilian Fumaca and Frenchmen Pounewatchy and Richard.
He appointed Warren Aspinall captain and together they staved off relegation by two points.
Fumaca's Colchester career lasted 14 minutes after being pole-axed.
Crowds rose to 4,479 but the seasons end brought swingeing cuts to the playing staff. Nine were axed including Joe Dunne and Tony Adcock, who fell tantalisingly four goals short of Martyn King's club record of 131 career goals.
