1955–56 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1955–56 season
Chairman Bill Allen[1]
Manager Benny Fenton
Stadium Layer Road
Third Division South 12th
FA Cup 1st round
(eliminated by
Torquay United)
Top goalscorer League:
Kevin McCurley (29)
All:
Kevin McCurley (29)
Highest home attendance 13,176
v Ipswich Town, 26 December 1955[2]
Lowest home attendance 4,811
v Millwall, 11 February 1956[3]
Average home league attendance 7,668[4]
Biggest win 5–0
v Swindon Town, 3 March 1956
Biggest defeat 0–6
v Leyton Orient, 8 September 1955
Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; white shorts;; and blue socks with white, horizontal hoops).
Home colours
← 1954–55 1956–57 →

The 1955–56 season was Colchester United's 14th season in their history and their sixth season in the Third Division South, the third tier of English football. Alongside competing in the Third Division South, the club also participated in the FA Cup in which the club were eliminated by Torquay United in the first round. The season was Benny Fenton's first full campaign in charge, and after building his own squad over the summer, he led Colchester to their highest position since the 1951–52 season with a 12th-placed finish. This came on the back of two consecutive seasons of successful re-election applications.

Season overview

Manager Benny Fenton assembled his own squad for the 1955–56 season, bringing in goalkeeper Percy Ames from Tottenham Hotspur, while also signing a number of players from Scottish junior football including John Fowler, Bobby Hill and Sammy McLeod.

Fenton's side played an exciting attacking game. They scored 76 goals in the league, with Kevin McCurley scoring a club Football League best total of 29 goals, and strike partner Ken Plant scoring 17. Both players notched two hat-tricks each during the season as the club safely finished the campaign in 12th-place.

Colchester played their first game under floodlights on 28 February 1955 when they beat Reading 3–1 at Elm Park. While Layer Road was still bereft of floodlighting, lighting had been installed for training purposes at the ground.[5]

Players

As of match played 28 April 1956.[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England GK Percy Ames
England GK John Wright
England DF Bob Dale
England DF Brian Dobson
England DF Benny Fenton
England DF George Fisher
Scotland DF John Fowler
England DF George French
England DF Trevor Harris
England DF John Harrison
England DF Bertie Hill
No. Position Player
England DF Billy Hunt
England DF Ron Hunt
England DF Reg Stewart
England FW Russell Blake
Scotland FW Bobby Hill
England FW Martyn King
England FW Kevin McCurley
Scotland FW Sammy McLeod
England FW Alfred Noble
England FW Ken Plant
England FW Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division South

Third Division South results round by round

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
GroundAAHHAAHHAAHHHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHHHHAAHAHAHHAAHAAH
Result D L L W L L L W D D L D W W W L W W W D L W L D L W D D W W L W D W W L W L D L D L W L L W
Position 13 19 22 19 20 22 23 20 21 21 22 21 20 18 14 16 14 13 12 13 13 11 12 12 14 12 12 12 9 9 11 10 11 9 8 9 7 9 8 9 9 10 9 9 11 12

Last updated: 14 March 2016.
Source:
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

  Win   Draw   Loss

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGAv1Pts2Promotion, qualification or relegation
10Gillingham4619101769710.97248
11Northampton Town462071967710.94447
12Colchester United4618111776810.93847
13Shrewsbury Town4617121769661.04546
14Southampton461882091811.12344

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Number of goals scored

(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated.

Notes:

1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Matches

FA Cup

Main article: 1955–56 FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[6][7]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalThird Division
South 		FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Percy Ames 45 0 44 0 1 0
GK England John Wright 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF England Bob Dale 40 2 39 2 1 0
DF England Brian Dobson 6 0 6 0 0 0
DF England Benny Fenton 33 2 32 2 1 0
DF England George Fisher 43 1 42 1 1 0
DF Scotland John Fowler 16 2 16 2 0 0
DF England Trevor Harris 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF England John Harrison 41 1 40 1 1 0
DF England Bertie Hill 22 1 22 1 0 0
DF England Billy Hunt 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF England Ron Hunt 3 0 3 0 0 0
DF England Reg Stewart 42 1 41 1 1 0
FW England Russell Blake 5 0 5 0 0 0
FW Scotland Bobby Hill 4 1 4 1 0 0
FW England Kevin McCurley 47 29 46 29 1 0
FW Scotland Sammy McLeod 43 2 42 2 1 0
FW England Alfred Noble 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW England Ken Plant 37 17 36 17 1 0
FW England Peter Wright 46 9 45 9 1 0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
FW England Mike Grice 38 6 37 6 1 0

Goalscorers

[7]

Place Nation Position Name Third Division South FA Cup Total
1 England FW Kevin McCurley 29 0 29
2 England FW Ken Plant 17 0 17
3 England FW Peter Wright 9 0 9
4 England FW Mike Grice 6 0 6
5 England DF Bob Dale 2 0 2
England DF Benny Fenton 2 0 2
Scotland DF John Fowler 2 0 2
Scotland FW Sammy McLeod 2 0 2
9 England DF George Fisher 1 0 1
England DF John Harrison 1 0 1
England DF Bertie Hill 1 0 1
Scotland FW Bobby Hill 1 0 1
England DF Reg Stewart 1 0 1
Own goals 2 0 2
TOTALS 76 0 76

Disciplinary record

[8]

Nationality Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Red card Red card Red card
TOTALS 0 0 0 0 0 0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.[9]

Place Nation Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Not recorded
 46 1 47

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[10]

Position Player Date Opponent Ground Notes
GK England Percy Ames 20 August 1955 Exeter City St James Park
DF Scotland John Fowler 20 August 1955 Exeter City St James Park
FW Scotland Sammy McLeod 20 August 1955 Exeter City St James Park
DF England Billy Hunt 27 August 1955 Southend United Layer Road
DF England George Fisher 1 September 1955 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Layer Road
FW England Russell Blake 8 September 1955 Leyton Orient Brisbane Road
FW England Alfred Noble 27 December 1955 Ipswich Town Portman Road
DF England Brian Dobson 24 March 1956 Aldershot Recreation Ground
FW Scotland Bobby Hill 2 April 1956 Walsall Fellows Park

    Transfers and contracts

    In

    Date Pos Player From Fee Ref
    1 May 1955 GK England Percy Ames England Tottenham Hotspur Free transfer [11]
    1 June 1955 FW England Martyn King Apprentice Free transfer [12]
    9 June 1955 FW Scotland Bobby Hill Scotland Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Free transfer [13]
    20 August 1955 DF Scotland John Fowler Scotland Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic Free transfer [14]
    20 August 1955 FW Scotland Sammy McLeod Scotland Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare Free transfer [15]
    1 September 1955 DF England George Fisher England Fulham £1,000 [16]
    1 September 1955 FW England Alfred Noble England Briggs Sports Free transfer [17]

    Out

    Date Pos Player To Fee Ref
    4 May 1955 DF Scotland Jimmy Elder England Yeovil Town Released [18]
    4 May 1955 DF England Fred Lewis England Headington United Free transfer [19]
    31 May 1955 DF Republic of Ireland Austin Dunne England Tonbridge Free transfer [20]
    31 May 1955 FW Wales Cliff Birch England Spalding United Free transfer [21]
    1 July 1955 FW Republic of Ireland Paddy Leonard England Tonbridge Free transfer [22]
    1 August 1955 FW Scotland Johnny McKim England Clacton Town Released [23]
    1 September 1955 DF England Roy Bicknell Retired Retired [24]
    1 February 1956 DF Northern Ireland Frank McCourt England Poole Town Released [25]
    17 March 1956 FW England Mike Grice England West Ham United £9,000 [26]

    See also

    References

    General

    Books

    Websites

    Specific

    1. ↑ Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
    2. ↑ "Colchester Utd 3–3 Ipswich Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
    3. ↑ "Colchester Utd 1–2 Millwall". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
    4. ↑ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
    5. ↑ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
    6. 1 2 "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
    7. 1 2 "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    8. ↑ "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    9. ↑ "All matches". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    10. ↑ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    11. ↑ "Percy Ames". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    12. ↑ "Martyn King". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
    13. ↑ "Bobby Hill". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    14. ↑ "John Fowler". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    15. ↑ "Sammy McLeod". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    16. ↑ "George Fisher". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    17. ↑ "Alfred Noble". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    18. ↑ "Jimmy Elder". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    19. ↑ "Fred Lewis". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    20. ↑ "Austin Dunne". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    21. ↑ "Cliff Birch". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    22. ↑ "Paddy Leonard". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    23. ↑ "Johnny McKim". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    24. ↑ "Roy Bicknell". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    25. ↑ "Frank McCourt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
    26. ↑ "Mike Grice". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 13 March 2016.
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