HE lit up Layer Road with his exhilarating performances.

But on this day 21 years ago, Lomana Tresor Lua Lua bid a fond farewell to Colchester United.

After 67 league and cup appearances and 21 goals, the exciting attacker left the U's on September 22, 2000 to make a £2.25m move to Premier League outfit Newcastle United.

Lua Lua became a real cult hero during his brief but memorable time at Colchester.

Colchester legend and record appearance maker Micky Cook, in his role as the club's director of youth, played a pivotal role in nurturing Lua Lua's undoubted talent.

Working alongside the likes of Geoff Harrop and Adrian Webster, he helped identify a wonderfully skilful player turning out at Leyton College and duly set him on the road to stardom.

Lua Lua initially started out playing in midfield for the U's but was then tried up front and at the age of 18 years old, was eventually given his first-team debut by Steve Wignall in a match at Chesterfield in January, 1999.

He made an instant impact, scoring just four minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 3-1 defeat.

Lua Lua really caught the eye in the remainder of the season, featuring a further 12 times for the U's.

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But it was in the campaign that followed that he really dazzled, playing a total of 41 times for Colchester and scoring 12 times - with his trademark acrobatic celebration really coming to the fore.

Lua Lua played seven games for Colchester at the start of the 2000-01 season and it was not long before Sir Bobby Robson and Newcastle came knocking.

The fee Colchester received from the Magpies for Lua Lua 21 years ago remains the second highest they have been paid for one of their players.

It smashed their transfer record at the time but was surpassed when Greg Halford was sold to Reading for a fee of £2.5m in January, 2007.

Lua Lua, who celebrated his 40th birthday last year, started just 14 times for Newcastle but appeared as a substitute 45 times, scoring five times in the Premier League during his four-year spell with the Magpies.

He went on to play for the likes of Portsmouth, Olympiacos and Blackpool and also won 31 appearances for DR Congo, during his successful playing career.

In an interview with the Gazette back in 2009, Lua Lua would not rule out a return to Colchester.

“Every time I get a chance to come back to Colchester, I do," he said.

“I have some very happy memories of being here and that will never go away.

“Nothing is impossible - it would be a dream come true to play for Colchester again one day.

“I’m always looking to see how they’re getting on and I hope they can bounce back into the Championship.”

Lua Lua's most recent known club was Southern League Premier Division Central side Peterborough Sports and has been coaching at Spalding United.