| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1948–49 |
| Chairman: | Bill Allen[1] |
| Manager: | Jimmy Allen (from July 1948) |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Southern League |
| League Result: | 4th |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Reading) |
| Cup2: | Southern League Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Runners-up |
| League Topscorer: | Arthur Turner (28) |
| Season Topscorer: | Arthur Turner (31) |
| Highest Attendance: | 19,072 v Reading, 27 November 1948[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,131 v Bedford Town, 21 October 1948[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 8,476[4] |
| Largest Win: | 6–0 v Bedford Town, 21 October 1948 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–5 v Merthyr Tydfil, 22 April 1949; 1–6 v Gloucester City, 30 April 1949 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _whitestripes |
| Pattern Ra1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern So1: | _3whitehoops |
| Leftarm1: | 0000FF |
| Body1: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm1: | 0000FF |
| Shorts1: | FFFFFF |
| Socks1: | 0000FF |
| Alt1: | Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; white shorts;; and blue socks with white, horizontal hoops). |
| Prevseason: | 1947–48 |
| Nextseason: | 1949–50 |
The 1948–49 season was Colchester United's seventh season in their history and their seventh in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and Southern League Cup. The club finished as runners–up in the Southern League Cup to Yeovil Town just ten days after losing the delayed 1947–48 season final to Merthyr Tydfil. The club exited the FA Cup in the first round to Reading, although the first encounter between the clubs was abandoned due to heavy fog. The match gathered a record Layer Road and Colchester United crowd of 19,072, before being abandoned with the scores at 1–1.
Former Aston Villa and Portsmouth defender Jimmy Allen was tasked with taking Colchester United into the Football League when he stepped into the void left following Ted Fenton's departure for West Ham United during the simmer.
The ex-England international oversaw his side reach the final of the Southern League Cup for the second successive season. With the 1947–48 final held over from the previous season, Colchester first lost that final against Merthyr Tydfil 5–0, before losing the 1948–49 season final 3–0 to Yeovil Town ten days later. During these ten days, the club also played four league fixtures.
On the back of a successful FA Cup run across the 1947–48 season, much was expected of Colchester for their 1948–49 campaign. They drew Reading at home for their first–round fixture, but the game which drew a record Layer Road and Colchester United crowd of 19,072 was abandoned with the scores tied at 1–1 due to heavy fog. The rearranged match saw the U's crash out with a 4–2 defeat.
In the Southern League, Colchester once again finished in fourth position while Chelmsford City and Gillingham battled for the title, with the Kent side winning their second title in three years.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Ken Whitehead | GK | 0 | 0 | Clacton Town | May 1948 | Free transfer | |||||
| George Wright | GK | Plymouth | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | May 1949 | £1,000 | |||
| Harry Wright | GK | Tottenham | June 1, 1948 | 64 | 0 | Chelmsford City | 11 July 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Bill Bower | FB | Wrexham | June 1, 1948 | 73 | 1 | Millwall | 28 November 1945 | Free transfer | |||
| George French | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | February 1949 | Free transfer | |||
| Digger Kettle | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1948 | 60 | 1 | Arclight Sports | September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Harry Bearryman | WH | Wandsworth | June 1, 1948 | 46 | 5 | Chelsea | 4 July 1947 | Free transfer | |||
| Alf Miller | WH | Portsmouth | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | August 1948 | Free transfer | |||
| Wally Nunn | WH | Deptford | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | Swindon Town | June 1948 | Free transfer | |||
| Frank Stamper | WH/IR | Hartlepool | June 1, 1948 | 8 | 0 | Colchester Garrison Army Fire Fighting Centre | 3 March 1947 | Free transfer | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Bob Allen | WG | Bromley-by-Bow | June 1, 1948 | 44 | 0 | Gainsborough Trinity | 13 June 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Andy Brown | IF | Coatbridge | June 1, 1948 | 42 | 3 | Torquay United | 17 June 1947 | Free transfer | |||
| Len Cater | CF | Colchester | 76 | 26 | Free agent | 6 June 1946 | Free transfer | ||||
| Bob Curry | IF | Gateshead | June 1, 1948 | 83 | 49 | Northampton Town | 13 June 1947 | Free transfer | |||
| Fred Cutting | IF | North Walsham | June 1, 1948 | 31 | 15 | Norwich City | 6 December 1947 | Free transfer | |||
| Stan Foxall | WG | Crowle | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | June 1948 | Free transfer | |||
| Norman George | WG | 0 | 0 | 4 September 1948 | Free transfer | ||||||
| Dennis Hillman | WG | Southend-on-Sea | June 1, 1948 | 72 | 13 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 21 September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Vic Keeble | CF | Colchester | June 1, 1948 | 15 | 9 | King George Youth Club | 23 May 1947 | £10 | |||
| Denis Maffey | CF | Sunderland | June 1, 1948 | 0 | 0 | Ipswich Town | May 1948 | Free transfer | |||
| Bob Neville | OL | 7 | 2 | Rowhedge | October 1946 | Free transfer | |||||
| Ray Townrow | IR | West Ham | 11 | 5 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2 January 1948 | Free transfer | ||||
| Arthur Turner | CF | Poplar | June 1, 1948 | 75 | 51 | Charlton Athletic | September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1948 | GK | Ken Whitehead | Clacton Town | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| May 1948 | CF | Denis Maffey | Ipswich Town | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| June 1948 | WH | Wally Nunn | Swindon Town | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| June 1948 | WG | Stan Foxall | West Ham United | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| August 1948 | WH | Alf Miller | Plymouth Argyle | Free transfer | [11] | ||
| 21 August 1948 | WG | Harry Cranfield | Bristol Rovers | Free transfer | [12] | ||
| 4 September 1948 | WG | Norman George | Unknown | Free transfer | [13] | ||
| February 1949 | FB | George French | West Ham United | Free transfer | [14] | ||
| 23 April 1949 | GK | Graham Davies | Watford | Trial | [15] | ||
| May 1949 | GK | George Wright | Plymouth Argyle | £1,000 | [16] | ||
| 5 May 1949 | CH | Peter Hildyard | Leyton Orient | Trial | [17] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | FB | Albert Walker | Free agent | Retired | [18] | ||
| Summer 1948 | CB | Albert Page | Chingford Town | Free transfer | [19] | ||
| Summer 1948 | IF | Ian Gillespie | Leiston | Player-manager | [20] | ||
| 1 May 1948 | GK | Ernest Setchell | Free agent | Released | [21] | ||
| July 1948 | WH | Ted Fenton | West Ham United | Assistant manager | [22] | ||
| November 1948 | FB | Aubrey Darmody | Great Yarmouth Town | Free transfer | [23] | ||
| November 1948 | WH | Arthur Biggs | Vauxhall Motors | Free transfer | [24] | ||
| January 1949 | GK | John Le Mare | West Ham United | Free transfer | [25] | ||
| 2 April 1949 | WG | Harry Cranfield | King's Lynn | Free transfer | |||
| 2 May 1949 | GK | Graham Davies | Watford | End of trial | |||
| 5 May 1949 | CH | Peter Hildyard | Leyton Orient | End of trial |
See main article: 1948–49 Southern Football League.
See main article: 1948–49 FA Cup.
[6] [26] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Southern League | Southern League Cup | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CF | Arthur Turner | 29 | 3 | 0 | 32 | ||
| 2 | IF | Bob Curry | 17 | 2 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 3 | IF | Fred Cutting | 13 | 3 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 4 | WG | Stan Foxall | 7 | 4 | 0 | 11 | ||
| 5 | CF | Len Cater | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | ||
| WG | Dennis Hillman | 6 | 2 | 0 | 8 | |||
| CF | Vic Keeble | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | |||
| 8 | WG | Bob Allen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 9 | WG | Norman George | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| CF | Denis Maffey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Unknown goalscorer | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | ||||
| Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| TOTALS | 94 | 16 | 2 | 112 | ||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[27]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Southern League | Southern League Cup | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Whitehead | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 | ||
| 2 | Graham Davies | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| George Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||
| TOTALS | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[28]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WH | Wally Nunn | 21 August 1948 | Cheltenham Town | Whaddon Road | |||
| WG | Harry Cranfield | 21 August 1948 | Cheltenham Town | Whaddon Road | |||
| WG | Stan Foxall | 21 August 1948 | Cheltenham Town | Whaddon Road | |||
| WH | Alf Miller | 1 September 1948 | Chelmsford City | New Writtle Street | |||
| GK | Ken Whitehead | 4 September 1948 | Barry Town | Jenner Park Stadium | |||
| CF | Denis Maffey | 11 December 1948 | Chelmsford City | New Writtle Street | |||
| WG | Norman George | 15 April 1949 | Guildford City | Layer Road | |||
| GK | Graham Davies | 28 April 1949 | Worcester City | Layer Road | |||
| GK | George Wright | 5 May 1949 | Hereford United | Layer Road | |||
| CH | Peter Hildyard | 5 May 1949 | Hereford United | Layer Road |
Book: Whitehead . Jeff . Drury . Kevin . The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . 2008 . Breedon Books . Derby . 978-1-85983-629-3 .