Following the end of the 2022/23 season, Colchester United can confirm the players who will be retained or released as they come to the end of their contracts this summer.
The club has taken up options on two of this season’s bright young stars, Noah Chilvers and Ossama Ashley, who will remain contracted at the U’s for next season.
A number of first team players will be leaving the club following the expiration of their contracts this summer, and Sporting Director Dmitri Halajko paid tribute to them following the retain/release list being finalised.
“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. 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 twelve 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 fifty times for the club which is a great return.
“Ryan has been with the U’s since he was a young boy, and risen through the whole Academy, through the U21s/U23s all the way into the first team which is a great achievement. We will be keeping a close eye on his development and hope he continues to grow his career.
“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.
“Kieran has made some match winning saves this season and has always worked hard on the training pitch.
“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.”
First Team/U21 Players Under Contract For 23/24
- Sam Hornby
- Will Greenidge
- Tom Dallison
- Fiacre Kelleher
- Arthur Read
- Alex Newby
- Matt Jay
- Gene Kennedy
- Junior Tchamadeu
- John Akinde
- Tom Hopper
- Connor Hall
- Donell Thomas
- Jake Hutchinson
- Samson Tovide
- Ryan Lowe
- Frankie Terry
- Ted Collins
- Oscar Thorn
First Team/U21 Players To Be Retained/Club Option Exercised
- Noah Chilvers
- Ossama Ashley
- Al-Amin Kazeem
- Marley Marshall Miranda
- Chay Cooper
- Jayden Fevrier
- Harry Beadle
- Kaan Bennett
- Bradley Ihionvien
First Team/U21 Players To Be Released
- Ryan Clampin
- Luke Chambers
- Tommy Smith
- Luke Hannant
- Cole Skuse
- Alan Judge
- Freddie Sears
- Kieran O’Hara
- Tom Eastman
- Lordon Akolbire
- Emyr Huws
- Billy Cracknell
- Harvey Sayer
- Lion Bello
- Benedict Bioletti
Loan Players Returning To Parent Clubs
- Kwesi Appiah
- Tom Smith
- Connor Wood
Scholars To Be Retained
- Bayan Aman
- T’iazo Marcel-Dilaver
- Matt Yates - contract offer made
Scholars To Be Released
- Sean Brown
- Bradley Chakawa
- Jaiden Drakes-Thomas
- Kacy Parish
- Freddie Price
- Kai Redgrave
- Jaime Tedaldi