Kinsella voted top U's man

By Carl Marston

MARK Kinsella was voted Colchester United's greatest-ever player by readers of the East Anglian Daily Times earlier in the season.

The Irishman finished ahead of nearest rivals Lomana Lua Lua, Micky Cook and Karl Duguid in the poll to find the top 100 U's players.

And Kinsella was at Layer Road on Sunday to receive his award. He was presented with a specially-engraved glass bowl by Carl Marston, who has been the Colchester United correspondent for the EADT and Green 'Un newspapers for the last 15 years.

Kinsella, who made more than 250 senior appearances for the U's during the 1990s, was also officially installed in the U's Hall of Fame, alongside Peter Wright, Cook, Brian Hall and Tony English.

The late Hall's relatives were on hand to pick up his award, while Wright, Cook, English and Kinsella were all present to receive their accolade during the half-time interval of the 2-0 defeat by Crystal Palace.

Dublin-born Kinsella, who also earned 48 international caps for the Republic of Ireland, starring in the World Cup of 2002, was delighted to be honoured with these two awards.

“I still live in Colchester and I get to as many games as I can,” revealed Kinsella.

“It's a pity that the team have not played that well today, but it's been a fantastic season. The players have been terrific.”

Kinsella, 34, eventually left Layer Road to join Charlton for a then-club record fee of £150,000 in 1996. He enjoyed two promotion campaigns with the Latics, playing 208 league games for the Londoners before moving on to Aston Villa, West Brom and Walsall.

After a spell as player-coach at Walsall, and two games as caretaker manager following Kevan Broadhurst's departure at the end of the 2005-06 season, he rejoined Charlton on the coaching staff last December.