Colchester United’s season starts for real on Saturday, with Danny and the rest of the squad finally moving from pre-season into competitive football in the First Round of the Carabao Cup. Southampton are the visitors to the JobServe Community Stadium, and the match kicks off at 5.30pm.
It is the opening game of the 2026/27 campaign, and it comes with a home crowd that can already buy tickets, starting at £4.50 for U14s, £9 for U18s and £15 for adults. Sky Sports has chosen the fixture as one of its live games across the opening weekend, which gives the game a wider spotlight than a routine first-round tie usually gets.
That matters because this is not League Two action yet, but it is still Colchester United’s first competitive test after pre-season. The visitors arrive with a reputation that lifts the temperature around the tie, with Southampton described as one of the Championship favourites. For Colchester, it is the sort of early-season marker that tells supporters more than any friendly can.
There is, though, a detail that hangs over Southampton’s first outing since May. They are back in action for the first time since their expulsion from the Championship Play-Offs in May, a fact that raises the obvious question of how they reached that point and how they will respond now that the new campaign has begun. The answer will start to emerge under the lights on Saturday, but the first checkpoint is simpler: Colchester United have a live, home cup tie, Danny has his first competitive match of the season, and the waiting is almost over.
