Layer Road was the home of Colchester Town (1907-1937) and Colchester United (1937-2008) for 101 years.
The record attendance at Layer Road came on 27th November 1948 in a 2-4 loss to Reading in an FA Cup 1st round tie. 19,072 spectators packed into the ground for that FA Cup game but by the time of its closure, Layer Road had a capacity of just 6,320.
The Clock End was an all-seater stand on the northwest end of the ground and the most modern part of the stadium. On the southwest side was the Main Stand, which was unusual in that it had a seated area in the middle and terracing on either side of it.
On the southeast side of the ground was the Layer Road End, low covered terrace that was usually for the away fans but could also be split if the away following was small. Away fans were also allocated a small 143-seat temporary stand adjacent to the away end but situated on the northeast side of the ground. However, the majority of the northeast side of the ground was taken up by the terraced Barside Stand
The last game played at Layer Road was a 0-1 Championship defeat to Stoke City on 26th April 2008. Stoke City went on to get promoted to the Premier League a week later, while Colchester were already relegated to League One at this point.
Layer Road was demolished in 2012 and is now a housing area with a small grassy area and a bronze statue where the pitch was.