 White rose through the youth ranks at hometown club, Colchester United, having joined the U's at the age of eleven.He was eventually handed his first team debut by Phil Parkinson in a League Cup tie at home to Cheltenham in August 2004, before retaining his place for his Football League debut four days later in a 4–1 win over Doncaster.He went on to make 24 appearances for the U's during the remainder of the 2004–05 season and displayed his versatility by covering a number of positions, proving to be particularly effective in a man-marking role that had been assigned to him by Parkinson.