1974–75 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1974–75 season
Chairman	Robert Jackson (until November 1974) Jack Rippingale (from November 1974)[1]
Manager	Jim Smith (Until 20 June 1975)
Third Division	11th
FA Cup	2nd Round
League Cup	Quarter-final
Top goalscorer	League: Bobby Svarc (24) All: Bobby Svarc (25)
Highest home attendance	7,790 (Peterborough United)
Lowest home attendance	3,202 (Bury)
Average home league attendance	4,967
Home colours
← 1973–74 1975–76 →

The 1974–75 season was Colchester United's first season back in the Football League Third Division after a seven-year absence.

Season Review

United were back in the Third Division but the board warned that a break-even gate of 9,200 was required and that players would be sold if gates didn't reach 7,500.

Manager Jim Smith returned to his old club Boston and signed Bobby Svarc's old strike partner John Froggatt. The pair rekindled their partnership with Svarc netting 24 in the League with 16 coming from Froggatt. Crowds fell way short of the board's ambitions with an average of 4,941 clicking the Layer Road turnstiles as United finished in a steady eleventh position.

Having reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup only four seasons previously, United emulated that achievement in the League Cup. Beating Oxford and Southend, the U's hosted First Division Carlisle beating the Cumbrians 2-0 to earn a home tie with Southampton. A 0-0 draw at Layer Road led to an amazing 1-0 replay win at The Dell, courtesy of a Barry Dominey goal, setting up a Quarter Final tie with Aston Villa. The Midlanders proved just a shade too strong for United winning 2-1 before an expectant 11,812 crowd. Whilst United's focus had been on the League Cup they were knocked out of the FA Cup by non-League minnows Leatherhead.

Out of the cups, fifth placed U's could concentrate on achieving Second Division football. Just one win in seven from New Year's Day onwards saw U's fall to mid-table and they never recovered.^[2]

Squad

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

No. Position Player –– GK Mike Walker –– DF Micky Cook –– DF Barry Dominey –– DF Ray Harford –– DF Mick Packer –– DF Lindsay Smith –– MF Ian Allinson –– MF Ray Bunkell

No. Position Player –– MF Steve Foley –– MF Steve Leslie –– MF Jimmy Lindsay –– MF Bobby Roberts –– MF Colwyn Rowe –– MF Phil Thomas –– FW John Froggatt –– FW Bobby Svarc

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Mike Walker	Colwyn Bay	28 November 1945	Watford	25 August 1973	£4,000
DF	Micky Cook	Enfield	9 April 1951	Leyton Orient	6 October 1969	Free
DF	Barry Dominey	Edmonton	21 October 1955	Enfield	16 April 1974	Free
DF	Ray Harford	Halifax	1 June 1945	Port Vale	3 February 1973	Free
DF	Mick Packer	Willesden	20 April 1950	Watford	25 August 1973	Free
DF	Lindsay Smith	Enfield	18 September 1954	Youth Team	1 August 1970	Free
MF	Ian Allinson	Hitchin	1 October 1957	Youth Team	1 August 1974	Free
MF	Ray Bunkell	Edmonton	18 September 1949	Swindon Town	8 December 1973	£5,000
MF	Steve Foley	Clacton-on-Sea	21 June 1953	Youth Team	1 August 1971	Free
MF	Steve Leslie	Hornsey	4 September 1952	Youth Team	1 August 1970	Free
MF	Jimmy Lindsay	Hamilton	12 July 1949	Watford	17 August 1974	Free
MF	Bobby Roberts	Edinburgh	2 September 1940	Coventry City	16 March 1973	Free
MF	Colwyn Rowe	Ipswich	22 March 1956	Youth Team	1 August 1973	Free
MF	Phil Thomas	Sherborne	14 December 1952	Bournemouth	19 August 1972	Free
FW	John Froggatt	Stanton Hill	13 December 1945	Boston United	17 August 1974	£6,000
FW	Bobby Svarc	Leicester	8 February 1946	Boston United	29 December 1972	£6,000

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1974	MF	Ian Allinson	Youth Team	Free
17 August 1974	MF	Jimmy Lindsay	Watford	Free
17 August 1974	FW	John Froggatt	Boston United	£6,000

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
10 January 1975	FW	Barry Dyson	Chelmsford City	Free
25 January 1975	DF	Stuart Morgan	Bournemouth	£4,000
1 February 1975	DF	Alex Smith	Halifax Town	Free

Loans In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Parent Club	Date Returned	Notes
4 January 1975	FW	John Sims	Derby County	10 January 1975
8 February 1975	DF	Danny Cameron	Sheffield Wednesday	4 March 1975
8 February 1975	MF	Ian McDonald	Liverpool	4 March 1975

Results

Third Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Av	Pts
10	Gillingham	46	17	14	15	65	60	1.083	48
11	Colchester United	46	17	13	16	70	63	1.111	47
12	Hereford United	46	16	14	16	64	66	0.970	46

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GAv = Goal average; Pts = Points

Third Division Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17/08/1974	Watford	H	1-1	5,715	Leslie
24/08/1974	Blackburn Rovers	A	2-3	8,390	Cook, Froggatt
31/08/1974	Bournemouth	H	1-0	4,930	Cook
07/09/1974	Chesterfield	A	1-1	3,474	Svarc
14/09/1974	Charlton Athletic	H	3-0	5,527	Leslie (pen.), Thomas, Svarc
17/09/1974	Plymouth Argyle	H	1-0	5,389	Packer
21/09/1974	Aldershot	A	1-0	3,539	Svarc
24/09/1974	Bury	A	0-0	5,223
28/09/1974	Walsall	H	1-2	4,877	Svarc
30/09/1974	Port Vale	A	2-2	3,722	Froggatt, Lindsay
05/10/1974	Gillingham	H	4-2	4,684	Froggatt (2), Svarc (2)
12/10/1974	Preston North End	A	2-0	10,259	Harford (2)
15/10/1974	Port Vale	H	2-0	5,184	Svarc (2)
23/10/1974	Hereford United	A	1-3	6,390	Thomas
26/10/1974	Halifax Town	A	1-1	1,935	Svarc
29/10/1974	Southend United	H	1-1	6,547	Lindsay (pen.)
02/11/1974	Wrexham	H	1-1	4,432	Svarc
06/11/1974	Hereford United	H	1-2	5,131	Svarc
09/11/1974	Huddersfield Town	A	2-3	5,233	Froggatt, Svarc
15/11/1974	Grimsby Town	H	5-0	4,489	Froggatt (3), Svarc (2)
30/11/1974	Swinon Town	A	1-4	10,072	Svarc
06/12/1974	Tranmere Rovers	H	2-1	4,554	L.Smith, Froggatt
20/12/1974	Crystal Palace	H	1-1	6,914	Leslie
28/12/1974	Peterborough United	H	4-1	7,790	Froggatt, Dominey, Cook, Bradley (o.g.)
01/01/1975	Charlton Athletic	A	1-4	15,246	Dyson
04/01/1975	Aldershot	H	0-0	5,096
10/01/1975	Tranmere Rovers	A	0-2	2,819
25/01/1975	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0-2	9,937
01/02/1975	Huddersfield Town	H	3-2	3,921	Froggatt (2), Dominey
08/02/1975	Wrexham	A	1-2	3,433	Lindsay
15/02/1975	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2-2	4,161	Svarc, McDonald
22/02/1975	Grimsby Town	H	1-1	5,608	McDonald
01/03/1975	Bournemouth	A	2-0	4,578	Froggatt, Foley
04/03/1975	Swindon Town	H	2-0	4,041	Svarc (2)
15/03/1975	Walsall	A	2-5	4,914	Foley, Lindsay
19/03/1975	Watford	A	2-1	3,941	Froggatt, Svarc
22/03/1975	Chesterfield	H	1-2	4,152	Lindsay
25/03/1975	Crystal Palace	A	1-2	16,851	Froggatt
28/03/1975	Peterborough United	A	0-1	7,559
04/04/1975	Halifax Town	H	2-0	3,501	Svarc, Rowe
12/04/1975	Gillingham	A	1-2	6,504	Rowe
15/04/1975	Plymouth Argyle	A	0-1	23,551
19/04/1975	Preston North End	H	2-2	5,228	Bunkell, Svarc
22/04/1975	Blackburn Rovers	H	2-0	4,138	Lindsay, Svarc
25/04/1975	Southend United	A	1-1	5,924	Foley
02/05/1975	Bury	H	3-2	3,202	Froggatt, Svarc (2)

Source: 1974-75 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20/08/1974	R1	Oxford United	H	1-0	4,609	Lindsay (pen.)
11/09/1974	R2	Southend United	A	2-0	7,856	Leslie (pen.) (2)
09/10/1974	R3	Carlisle United	H	2-0	7,842	Svarc, Leslie (pen.)
13/11/1974	R4	Southampton	H	0-0	9,515
25/11/1974	R4 (R)	Southampton	A	1-0	11,492	Dominey
03/12/1974	QF	Aston Villa	H	1-2	11,812	Froggatt

Source: 1974-75 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23/11/1974	R1	Watford	A	1-0	8,228	Froggatt
14/12/1974	R2	Leatherhead	A	0-1	3,500

Source: 1974-75 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Division Three		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Mike Walker	54	0	46	0	2	0	6	0
––	DF		Danny Cameron	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Micky Cook	54	3	46	3	2	0	6	0
––	DF		Barry Dominey	32	3	27	2	2	0	3	1
––	DF		Ray Harford	49	2	41	2	2	0	6	0
––	DF		Stuart Morgan	13	0	11	0	0	0	2	0
––	DF		Mick Packer	37	1	30	1	2	0	5	0
––	DF		Alex Smith	26	0	22	0	0	0	4	0
––	DF		Lindsay Smith	49	1	43	1	1	0	5	0
––	MF		Ian Allinson	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Ray Bunkell	34	1	29	1	2	0	3	0
––	MF		Steve Foley	18	3	18	3	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Steve Leslie	42	6	34	3	2	0	6	3
––	MF		Jimmy Lindsay	52	7	45	6	2	0	5	1
––	MF		Ian McDonald	5	2	5	2	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Bobby Roberts	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Colwyn Rowe	11	2	11	2	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Phil Thomas	35	2	27	2	2	0	6	0
––	FW		Barry Dyson	7	1	6	1	0	0	1	0
––	FW		John Froggatt	54	18	46	16	2	1	6	1
––	FW		John Sims	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Bobby Svarc	50	25	42	24	2	0	6	1

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Bobby Svarc 25 John Froggatt 18 Jimmy Lindsay 7 Steve Leslie 6 Micky Cook 3 Barry Dominey Steve Foley Ray Harford 2 Ian McDonald Colwyn Rowe Phil Thomas Ray Bunkell 1 Barry Dyson Mick Packer Lindsay Smith Own goal 1

League Scorer Goals Bobby Svarc 24 John Froggatt 16 Jimmy Lindsay 6 Micky Cook 3 Steve Foley Steve Leslie Barry Dominey 2 Ray Harford Ian McDonald Colwyn Rowe Phil Thomas Ray Bunkell 1 Barry Dyson Mick Packer Lindsay Smith Own goal 1

FA Cup Scorer Goals John Froggatt 1

League Cup Scorer Goals Steve Leslie 3 Barry Dominey 1 John Froggatt Jimmy Lindsay Bobby Svarc

Most Frequent Starting XI

This section shows players in a 4-4-2 formation with the most league starts during the season.

Pos. Name Apps. Goals GK Mike Walker 46 0 DF Ray Harford 40 2 DF Mick Packer 30 1 DF Lindsay Smith 38 1 DF Micky Cook 46 3 MF Jimmy Lindsay 37 2 MF Steve Leslie 32 3 MF Phil Thomas 26 2 MF Ray Bunkell 23 1 FW John Froggatt 46 16 FW Bobby Svarc 42 24

Walker Harford Packer L.Smith Cook Lindsay Leslie Thomas Bunkell Froggatt Svarc

References

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. "The U's History: The 70s". Colchester United F.C. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
3. "1974–75 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
4. "1974–75 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2011.