1961–62 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1961–62 season
Chairman Bill Allen[1]
Manager Benny Fenton
Stadium Layer Road
Fourth Division 2nd (promoted)
FA Cup 1st round
(eliminated by
Peterborough United)
League Cup 1st round
(eliminated by
Crewe Alexandra)
Top goalscorer League:
Bobby Hunt (38)
All:
Bobby Hunt (40)
Highest home attendance 10,653
v Peterborough United, 6 November 1961[2]
Lowest home attendance 3,782
v Oldham Athletic, 23 December 1961[3]
Average home league attendance 5,532[4]
Biggest win 9–1
v Bradford City, 30 December 1961
Biggest defeat 0–5
v York City, 7 October 1961
Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; white shorts; and white socks with two blue, horizontal hoops).
Home colours
← 1960–61 1962–63 →

The 1961–62 season was Colchester United's 20th season in their history and their first-ever season in the fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Colchester bounced back to the Third Division at the first time of asking, earning their first promotion in the club's history by finishing as runners-up. By the end of the campaign, Colchester trailed Millwall by just one point, winning 23 games and scoring 104 league goals with Bobby Hunt the division's top scorer. The club experienced their record victory during the season when they beat Bradford City 9–1 on 30 December.

In the cup competitions, first-round exits were experienced in both FA and League cups. Colchester were beaten at home to Crewe Alexandra in September in the League Cup, while it took Peterborough United three attempts to overcome Colchester in the FA Cup first round following a second replay.

Season overview

At the end of a very disappointing 1960–61 season, manager Benny Fenton cut his playing squad by ten players, with players including Neil Langman, Chic Milligan and Tommy Williams all released. The club was over £3,300 in debt, and so a fresh start required for the new season with a new, slimline squad. Just 17 players would be used in the new campaign, with eight of those playing over 40 of the 44 league games possible.

The season started well for Colchester, unbeaten in their first nine league games and scoring 31 goals in the first eight home games to top the Fourth Division table.

During Colchester's heaviest defeat of the season, a 5–0 reverse at York City, the 20-month old son of full-back Tommy Millar drowned in a garden pond accident while Millar was playing in the game. This tragedy would also spell the end of Millar's Colchester career when he left to return to Scotland in early 1962. This coincided with a poor run of form and the club slipped to third in the table.

On the back of a 4–1 Boxing Day defeat to Bradford City, Colchester set their record club victory in the return fixture at Layer Road on 30 December. Both Bobby Hunt and strike-partner Martyn King scored four goals each, with Bobby Hill scoring the other as Colchester ran out 9–1 winners. A 4–0 victory at Accrington Stanley saw United regain the top spot from Wrexham, but just a few weeks later, Accrington folded and Colchester's 3–2 and 4–0 wins were expunged.

Defeats to Millwall and Wrexham cost Colchester the championship. Millwall took the title by one point as United finished runners-up with eleven away defeats proving costly. Of the record 104 goals scored in the league during the season, 78 came at home, while Martyn King broke his seasonal record by scoring 31 league goals only to be surpassed by Bobby Hunt with 38, a new club record. Hunt scored three hat-tricks on his way to his tally of 38 with two of those four goal hauls.[5]

Players

As of match played 30 April 1962.[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
Scotland GK George Ramage
England DF Brian Abrey
Scotland DF John Brown
Scotland DF Duncan Forbes
Scotland DF John Fowler
England DF Richie Griffiths
England DF Trevor Harris
England DF Ron Hunt
England DF Mick Loughton
England DF Alf Marshall
England DF Edgar Rumney
No. Position Player
England FW John Baines
England FW David Coleman
England FW Mike Foster
Scotland FW Bobby Hill
England FW Tony Howe
England FW Bobby Hunt
England FW Martyn King
England FW Colin Lundstrum
Scotland FW Sammy McLeod
England FW Tony Miller
England FW Peter Wright

Match details

Fourth Division

Fourth Division results round by round

Round1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344
GroundHHAAAAHAAHHHAAHAHHAAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH
Result W W D D W W W W L W W W L D D L D D W W L W W L W L W W D W L W L W L W L D L W W L D W
Position 6 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 3 3 2 3 3 2

Last updated: 28 April 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
1Millwall (C, P)4423101187621.40356Promoted to Third Division
2Colchester United (P)4423912104711.46555
3Wrexham (P)442291396561.71453
4Carlisle United (P)442281464631.01652
5Bradford City442191494861.09351

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

League Cup

FA Cup

Main article: 1961–62 FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[6][7]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalFourth Division FA Cup League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Percy Ames 48 0 44 0 3 0 1 0
DF England Brian Abrey 42 2 38 1 3 1 1 0\
DF Scotland Duncan Forbes 6 0 6 0 0 0 0 0
DF Scotland John Fowler 48 0 44 0 3 0 1 0
DF England Richie Griffiths 16 0 16 0 0 0 0 0
DF England Trevor Harris 47 4 43 4 3 0 1 0
DF England Ron Hunt 48 0 44 0 3 0 1 0
DF England Edgar Rumney 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
FW England David Coleman 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
FW England Mike Foster 40 8 36 8 3 0 1 0
FW Scotland Bobby Hill 44 3 40 3 3 0 1 0
FW England Bobby Hunt 47 40 43 38 3 2 1 0
FW England Martyn King 46 33 43 31 2 1 1 1
FW England Colin Lundstrum 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
FW Scotland Sammy McLeod 13 3 12 3 1 0 0 0
FW England Peter Wright 48 13 44 12 3 1 1 0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
DF Scotland Tommy Millar 31 4 27 4 3 0 1 0

Goalscorers

[7]

Place Nation Position Name Third Division FA Cup League Cup Total
1 England FW Bobby Hunt 38 2 0 40
2 England FW Martyn King 31 1 1 33
3 England FW Peter Wright 12 1 0 13
4 England FW Mike Foster 8 0 0 8
5 England DF Trevor Harris 4 0 0 4
Scotland DF Tommy Millar 4 0 0 4
7 Scotland FW Bobby Hill 3 0 0 3
Scotland FW Sammy McLeod 3 0 0 3
9 England DF Brian Abrey 1 1 0 2
Own goals 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 104 5 1 110

Disciplinary record

[8]

Nationality Position Player Fourth Division FA Cup League Cup Total
Red card Red card Red card Red card
England FW Martyn King 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
TOTALS 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.[9]

Place Nation Position Player Fourth Division FA Cup League Cup Total
Not recorded
 44 3 1 48

Player debuts

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

Position Player Date Opponent Ground Notes
DF England Brian Abrey 19 August 1961 Stockport County Layer Road
FW England Mike Foster 19 August 1961 Stockport County Layer Road
FW England David Coleman 18 November 1961 Rochdale Spotland Stadium
FW England Colin Lundstrum 15 January 1962 Mansfield Town Field Mill
DF England Richie Griffiths 3 February 1962 Hartlepools United Victoria Park
DF Scotland Duncan Forbes 14 April 1962 Crewe Alexandra Gresty Road

    Transfers and contracts

    In

    Date Pos Player From Fee Ref
    1 May 1961 DF England Brian Abrey England Chelsea Free transfer [11]
    1 May 1961 FW England Mike Foster England Leicester City Nominal [12]
    1 June 1961 GK Scotland George Ramage Scotland Third Lanark Nominal [13]
    1 June 1961 DF England Richie Griffiths England Colchester Casuals Free transfer [14]
    1 August 1961 DF England Mick Loughton Apprentice Free transfer [15]
    1 August 1961 FW England Colin Lundstrum England Ipswich Town Free transfer [16]
    4 September 1961 DF Scotland John Brown Scotland Dunbar United Nominal [17]
    4 September 1961 DF Scotland Duncan Forbes Scotland Musselburgh Athletic Nominal [18]
    18 November 1961 FW England David Coleman England Harwich & Parkeston Free transfer [19]

    Out

    Date Pos Player To Fee Ref
    31 May 1961 GK England John Wright England Great Bentley Released [20]
    31 May 1961 DF England Peter Carey England Aldershot Released [21]
    31 May 1961 DF England Alan Eagles England Queens Park Rangers Released [22]
    31 May 1961 DF England Cyril Hammond England Severalls Released [23]
    31 May 1961 DF England John Laidlaw England Clacton Town Released [24]
    31 May 1961 DF Scotland Chic Milligan England Clacton Town Released [25]
    31 May 1961 DF England Derek Parker England Stowmarket Town Player-manager [26]
    31 May 1961 FW England Neil Langman England Bath City Released [27]
    31 May 1961 FW England Tommy Williams England Watford Released [28]
    27 January 1962 DF Scotland Tommy Millar Scotland Dundee United Free transfer [29]

    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 2–2 Peterborough United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
    3. ↑ "Colchester Utd 5–1 Oldham Athletic". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
    4. ↑ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
    5. ↑ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
    6. 1 2 "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 April 2016.
    7. 1 2 "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    8. ↑ "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    9. ↑ "All matches". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    10. ↑ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    11. ↑ "Brian Abrey". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    12. ↑ "Mike Foster". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    13. ↑ "George Ramage". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
    14. ↑ "Richie Griffiths". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    15. ↑ "Mick Loughton". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
    16. ↑ "Colin Lundstrum". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    17. ↑ "John Brown". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
    18. ↑ "Duncan Forbes". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    19. ↑ "David J Coleman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    20. ↑ "John Wright". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    21. ↑ "Peter Carey". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    22. ↑ "Alan Eagles". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    23. ↑ "Cyril Hammond". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    24. ↑ "John Laidlaw". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    25. ↑ "Chic Milligan". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    26. ↑ "Derek Parker". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    27. ↑ "Neil Langman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    28. ↑ "Tommy Williams". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
    29. ↑ "Tommy Millar". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
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