'Not everything was right' - Cowling on failed sale

Robbie Cowling has owned Colchester United since 2006

Colchester United owner Robbie Cowling says someone with "deeper pockets" is needed to take the League Two club forward.

A proposed takeover by a US-based consortium fell through on Monday but the group's leader Tim Foley says they are still hopeful of coming to an agreement.

"Everything is in place, but I'm no longer committed to give the sort of finances that clubs need nowadays," Cowling told BBC Essex.

"There's no point in me handing over unless everything is right. I'm not saying they couldn't take it forward, they maybe could have.

"It's going to be my last decision at Colchester United and hopefully it's going to be my best one."

'I don't want to waste time'

Cowling had signed a 100-day exclusivity agreement with Foley, who heads up the Lightwell Sport Group, but that timeframe has now expired.

"I would never say never," Cowling added. "We couldn't have gone on forever without informing the fans where we are at, and the interested parties.

"At the end of the 100 days we weren't close enough. I don't want to waste my time or the club's time when there is an opportunity to look at other people."

The U's finished 10th in League Two last season, just three points off the play-off places, and Cowling said manager Danny Cowley will have a smaller transfer budget for the coming campaign.

"It's a competitive budget but it's not quite as good as it was last year," he added. "We had to dig deeper into the budget because we were coming off the back of a number of seasons, and the squad really needed work doing to it."

Cowling hopes the way he is budgeting will help attract more takeover enquires.

"If, this year, we are competing in the middle of the league and we are really financially sound, that's going to be much more attractive than a club that's competing a little bit higher but is in a financial mess," he added.

"If everybody gets behind the club at this time, the better the club looks, then the better the buyer I will be able to find us."

Colchester start their 2025-26 season at home to Tranmere Rovers on Saturday, 2 August before a trip to newly-promoted Oldham Athletic seven days later.

"I know talking to Danny (Cowley) that his aim is automatic promotion, not play-offs," Cowling said. "Now, that's really bold of him as I don't think I'm giving him the budget to do that. So, credit to him if he achieves that."

Robbie Cowling was speaking to BBC Essex's Sonia Watson. You can listen to the full interview here.