Club: | Colchester United |
Season: | 1950–51 |
Chairman: | Bill Allen[1] |
Manager: | Jimmy Allen |
Stadium: | Layer Road |
League: | Third Division South |
League Result: | 16th |
Cup1: | FA Cup |
Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic) |
League Topscorer: | Arthur Turner (13) |
Season Topscorer: | Arthur Turner (15) |
Highest Attendance: | 14,199 v Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, 7 September 1950[2] |
Lowest Attendance: | 6,941 v Gillingham, 16 December 1950[3] |
Average Attendance: | 10,571[4] |
Largest Win: | 7–1 v Woodford Town, 11 November 1950 |
Largest Loss: | 1–7 v Plymouth Argyle, 28 October 1950 |
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: | 1949–50 |
Nextseason: | 1951–52 |
The 1950–51 season was Colchester United's ninth season in their history and their first ever season in the Football League, competing 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. The club ended the league season in 16th-position, while they exited the FA Cup in the first round following a defeat to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.
Colchester's first–ever game in the Football League was against their old Southern League rivals Gillingham at Priestfield Stadium on 19 August 1950. A crowd of 19,542 witnessed the 0–0 draw between the sides. Five days later, Bob Curry scored the U's first–ever Football League goal during a 1–1 draw at Swindon Town, but it was not until 31 August that the Layer Road crowd were able to enjoy its first Football League goal for the home side. Arthur Turner, the season's top–scorer with 15 goals, struck five minutes into a 4–1 win in the return game with Swindon. Colchester remained unbeaten in their first seven games, a run that equalled a record for new clubs entering the Football League set by Aberdare Athletic in 1921–22.
After occupying second position in the Third Division South table, the U's suffered a slump in form, losing nine of the next ten games. They finished the season in 16th-position, averaging 10,571 through the Layer Road turnstiles. It would be the only season that Layer Road would host a five-figure season average.[5]
Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
George Wright | GK | Plymouth | June 1, 1950 | 54 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | May 1949 | £1,000 | |||
Defenders | |||||||||||
George French | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | February 1949 | Free transfer | |||
John Harrison | FB | Leicester | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Aston Villa | 30 September 1950 | Nominal | |||
Digger Kettle | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1950 | 150 | 1 | Arclight Sports | September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
Trevor Rowlands | FB | Wattstown | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Norwich City | 20 July 1950 | £1,000 | |||
Reg Stewart | CB | Sheffield | June 1, 1950 | 51 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 August 1949 | £1,000 | |||
Midfielders | |||||||||||
Harry Bearryman | WH | Wandsworth | June 1, 1950 | 146 | 9 | Chelsea | 4 July 1947 | Free transfer | |||
Jimmy Elder | WH | Scone | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Portsmouth | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 | |||
Len Jones | WH | Barnsley | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Southend United | 19 August 1950 | Undisclosed | |||
John Moore | WH | Chiswick | June 1, 1950 | 13 | 0 | Brentford | 8 September 1949 | £1,000 | |||
Forwards | |||||||||||
Bob Allen | WG | Bromley-by-Bow | June 1, 1950 | 89 | 6 | Gainsborough Trinity | 13 June 1946 | Free transfer | |||
Peter Aitchison | WG | Harlow | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Amateur | August 1950 | Free transfer | |||
John Church | WG | Lowestoft | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Norwich City | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 | |||
Dick Cullum | FW | Colchester | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Colchester Colts | 28 March 1951 | Free transfer | |||
Bob Curry | IF | Gateshead | June 1, 1950 | 172 | 90 | Northampton Town | 13 June 1947 | Free transfer | |||
Fred Cutting | IF | North Walsham | June 1, 1950 | 125 | 55 | Norwich City | 6 December 1947 | Free transfer | |||
Dennis Hillman | WG | Southend-on-Sea | June 1, 1950 | 136 | 27 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 21 September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
Vic Keeble | CF | Colchester | June 1, 1950 | 81 | 63 | King George Youth Club | 23 May 1947 | £10 | |||
Johnny McKim | IF | Greenock | June 1, 1950 | 0 | 0 | Chelsea | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 | |||
Arthur Turner | CF | Poplar | June 1, 1950 | 117 | 83 | Charlton Athletic | September 1946 | Free transfer |
Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
20 July 1950 | FB | Trevor Rowlands | Norwich City | £1,000 | [7] | ||
August 1950 | FB | Bill Rochford | Southampton | £1,000 | [8] | ||
August 1950 | WG | Peter Aitchison | Amateur | Free | [9] | ||
19 August 1950 | WH | Jimmy Elder | Portsmouth | £1,000 | [10] | ||
19 August 1950 | WH | Len Jones | Southend United | Undisclosed | [11] | ||
19 August 1950 | WG | John Church | Norwich City | £1,000 | [12] | ||
19 August 1950 | IF | Johnny McKim | Chelsea | £1,000 | [13] | ||
30 September 1950 | FB | John Harrison | Aston Villa | Nominal | [14] | ||
30 September 1950 | WH | Joe Locherty | Sheffield Wednesday | £1,000 | [15] | ||
17 February 1951 | GK | Barney Bircham | Grimsby Town | £800 | [16] | ||
26 March 1951 | FW | Dick Cullum | Colchester Colts | Free | [17] |
Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
End of season | GK | Ken Whitehead | Whitton United | Released | [18] | ||
End of season | WG | Stan Foxall | Chelmsford City | Released | [19] | ||
End of season | CF | Denis Maffey | Great Yarmouth Town | Free | [20] | ||
End of season | OL | Bob Neville | Clacton Town | Released | [21] | ||
6 May 1950 | FB | Doug Beach | Chelmsford City | Free | [22] | ||
20 January 1951 | WH | Joe Locherty | Scarborough | Released | |||
24 February 1951 | FB | Bill Rochford | Retired | Retired | |||
24 March 1951 | GK | Barney Bircham | Free agent | Released | |||
26 March 1951 | WG | José Gallego | Cambridge United | Released | [23] | ||
28 April 1951 | WH | Bill Layton | Harwich & Parkeston | Player-manager | [24] |
See main article: 1950–51 Football League.
See main article: 1950–51 FA Cup.
[6] [25] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | CF | Arthur Turner | 13 | 2 | 15 | ||
2 | IF | Bob Curry | 12 | 2 | 14 | ||
3 | WG | John Church | 10 | 0 | 10 | ||
4 | IF | Johnny McKim | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
5 | CF | Vic Keeble | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
6 | IF | Fred Cutting | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
WH | Jimmy Elder | 4 | 0 | 4 | |||
8 | WH | Len Jones | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
9 | WG | Bob Allen | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
FW | Dick Cullum | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
WH | Bill Layton | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
WH | Joe Locherty | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
FB | Trevor Rowlands | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
TOTALS | 63 | 7 | 70 |
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[26]
Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Wright | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
2 | Barney Bircham | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
TOTALS | 9 | 0 | 9 |
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[27]
Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WH | Jimmy Elder | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | |||
WH | Len Jones | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | |||
WG | John Church | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | |||
IF | Johnny McKim | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium | |||
FB | John Harrison | 30 September 1950 | Northampton Town | County Ground | |||
WH | Joe Locherty | 30 September 1950 | Northampton Town | County Ground | |||
GK | Barney Bircham | 17 February 1951 | Northampton Town | Layer Road | |||
FB | Bill Rochford | 17 February 1951 | Northampton Town | Layer Road | |||
FB | Trevor Rowlands | 3 March 1951 | Southend United | Layer Road | |||
FW | Dick Cullum | 26 March 1951 | Torquay United | Plainmoor |
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