Coach Joe Dunne has returned to Colchester United after leaving his position at Gillingham.
Dunne was the youth team manager at the Gills but announced his decision to leave in early January. He replaces Eddie Keen as Colchester’s under-18 lead coach.
As a player, Dunne started his career with the Gills and made over 100 appearances for the club, but then had two spells at Colchester, playing almost 200 games for them, in between a short period where he played for Dover Athletic.
He first went into coaching at Colchester, starting out as a youth coach before working his way up to the senior side, where he ended up managing the U’s in the Football League.
In 2015, having ended a long association with Colchester, Dunne went onto manage Cambridge United, was a coach at Bristol Rovers and assistant manager at Mansfield Town.
He returned to Colchester in 2021 as part of the first-team management team before then working as assistant manager at Newport County.
Dunne moved to the Gills in November 2024, back where his career began.
Commenting on his latest return to Colchester, as the club’s under-18 lead coach, Dunne said: “It’s good to be back. I want to bring my experience to Category Two. The main thing is to help the young players develop, using the experience I’ve gained from working at first-team level.
“I want the challenge. There are a lot of boxes this role ticks for me. I’m a Colchester lad, if you like, and it’s nice to be back in an environment I’ve been used to for many years.”
Gillingham invited applicants for the under-18 manager role when announcing Dunne’s departure but have yet to confirm his replacement.
