| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1954–55 |
| Chairman: | Bill Allen[1] |
| Manager: | Jack Butler (until 14 January) Alf Miller & Claude Orrin (January to March) Benny Fenton (from March) |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Third Division South |
| League Result: | 24th (re-elected) |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Reading) |
| League Topscorer: | Ken Plant (13) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ken Plant (13) |
| Highest Attendance: | 10,809 v Southend United, 8 April 1955[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 3,517 v Torquay United, 31 March 1955[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 7,284[4] |
| Largest Win: | 4–1 v Northampton Town, 4 September 1954 |
| Largest Loss: | 1–6 v Northampton Town, 18 April 1955 |
| 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: | 1953–54 |
| Nextseason: | 1955–56 |
The 1954–55 season was Colchester United's 13th season in their history and their fifth 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. Following a replay, Colchester were knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round by Reading. Meanwhile, in the league, Colchester's poor run of form had Jack Butler allowed indefinite leave following a bout of ill health. After resigning in January 1955, Colchester appointed Benny Fenton as his replacement, and despite an upturn in form, a run of defeats at the end of the season meant Colchester needed to apply for re-election for the second successive season. Once more, all clubs applying for re-election were successful, with Colchester receiving 44 votes, behind Third Division North clubs Grimsby Town (49 votes) and Chester City (47 votes), but eleven votes ahead of division rivals Walsall.[5]
Eight successive league defeats from October to December saw Colchester bottom of the league for Christmas Day, and the plight of the club had begun to have an effect on the health of manager Jack Butler. After falling ill in November, Butler was handed indefinite leave until by the club until the end of his contract in 1956. Suffering from a mental breakdown, Butler eventually resigned on 14 January 1955, while club secretary Claude Orrin was charged with finding a new manager.
During this transitional period, Orrin and Alf Miller took charge of the first-team, before appointing Benny Fenton as manager after attracting 48 applications for the vacancy. Despite a brief boost in on-field fortunes in March and early April, performances tailed off as Colchester picked up just one point in the final eight games of the campaign. The club finished bottom of the Football League and were again required to seek re-election, in which they were successful.[6]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| George Wright | GK | Plymouth | June 1, 1954 | 205 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | May 1949 | £1,000 | |||
| John Wright | GK | Aldershot | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 23 May 1952 | Free transfer | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Roy Bicknell | CB | Doncaster | June 1, 1954 | 29 | 0 | Gravesend & Northfleet | June 1952 | £1,000 | |||
| George French | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 3 | 0 | West Ham United | February 1949 | Free transfer | |||
| John Harrison | FB | Leicester | June 1, 1954 | 170 | 0 | Aston Villa | 30 September 1950 | Nominal | |||
| Billy Hunt | CB | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Amateur | August 1953 | Free transfer | |||
| Digger Kettle | FB | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 172 | 1 | Arclight Sports | September 1946 | Free transfer | |||
| Fred Lewis | FB | Broughton Gifford | June 1, 1954 | 48 | 0 | Chelsea | Summer 1953 | Free transfer | |||
| Reg Stewart | CB | Sheffield | June 1, 1954 | 218 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 August 1949 | £1,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Bob Dale | WH | Irlam | June 1, 1954 | 21 | 4 | Bury | 24 December 1953 | £1,500 | |||
| Austin Dunne | WH |  | Limerick | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Limerick | October 1953 | Free transfer | ||
| Jimmy Elder | WH | Scone | June 1, 1954 | 182 | 14 | Portsmouth | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 | |||
| Benny Fenton | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Charlton Athletic | 5 March 1955 | £500 | |||
| Trevor Harris | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Amateur | July 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Bert Hill | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1954 | 17 | 1 | Chelsea | September 1952 | £300 | |||
| Ron Hunt | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 5 | 0 | Amateur | October 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Cliff Birch | WG | Newport | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Newport County | June 1954 | £1,000 | |||
| Mike Grice | WG | Woking | June 1, 1954 | 31 | 3 | Lowestoft Town | Summer 1952 | £25 | |||
| Paddy Leonard | IF | | Dublin | June 1, 1954 | 0 | 0 | Bristol Rovers | July 1954 | Free transfer | ||
| Kevin McCurley | CF | Consett | June 1, 1954 | 92 | 34 | Liverpool | June 1951 | £750 | |||
| Johnny McKim | IF | Greenock | June 1, 1954 | 103 | 39 | Chelsea | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 | |||
| Ken Plant | CF | Nuneaton | June 1, 1954 | 17 | 6 | Bury | January 1954 | Undisclosed | |||
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1954 | 44 | 4 | Amateur | November 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1954 | GK | Jimmy Kirk | Bury | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| Summer 1954 | FB | Ron George | Crystal Palace | Free transfer | [9] | ||
| June 1954 | WH | Frank McCourt | Manchester City | Nominal | [10] | ||
| June 1954 | WG | Cliff Birch | Newport County | £1,000 | [11] | ||
| July 1954 | IF | Paddy Leonard | Bristol Rovers | Free transfer | [12] | ||
| 5 March 1955 | WH | Benny Fenton | Charlton Athletic | £500 | [13] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1954 | GK | Frank Coombs | Gravesend & Northfleet | Released | [14] | ||
| Summer 1954 | WH | Doug Keene | Dartford | Released | [15] | ||
| Summer 1954 | WG | John Church | Crittall Athletic | Released | [16] | ||
| 31 May 1954 | WH | Harry Bearryman | Metropolitan Police | Free transfer | [17] | ||
| 6 November 1954 | WG | Peter Aitchison | Sittingbourne | Free transfer | [18] | ||
| 5 February 1955 | FB | Ron George | Sudbury Town | Free transfer | |||
| 19 February 1955 | WH | Frank McCourt | Poole Town | Released | |||
| 28 April 1955 | GK | Jimmy Kirk | Torquay United | Free transfer |
See main article: 1954–55 Football League.
See main article: 1954–55 FA Cup.
[7] [19] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CF | Ken Plant | 13 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 2 | WG | Peter Wright | 9 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 3 | IF | Johnny McKim | 7 | 1 | 8 | ||
| 4 | WG | Mike Grice | 6 | 1 | 7 | ||
| 5 | IF | Paddy Leonard | 5 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 6 | WG | Cliff Birch | 3 | 1 | 4 | ||
| WH | Bob Dale | 4 | 0 | 4 | |||
| 8 | WH | Jimmy Elder | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 9 | WH | Benny Fenton | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| 10 | CF | Kevin McCurley | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| CB | Reg Stewart | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 53 | 4 | 57 | ||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[20]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jimmy Kirk | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 2 | George Wright | 4 | 0 | 4 | ||
| TOTALS | 11 | 0 | 11 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[21]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GK | Jimmy Kirk | 21 August 1954 | Swindon Town | Layer Road | |||
| WH | Frank McCourt | 21 August 1954 | Swindon Town | Layer Road | |||
| WG | Cliff Birch | 21 August 1954 | Swindon Town | Layer Road | |||
| IF | | Paddy Leonard | 21 August 1954 | Swindon Town | Layer Road | ||
| FB | Ron George | 16 October 1954 | Brentford | Griffin Park | |||
| WH | Benny Fenton | 5 March 1955 | Brentford | Layer Road | |||
| WH | | Austin Dunne | 9 April 1955 | Gillingham | Priestfield | ||
| WH | Trevor Harris | 18 April 1955 | Northampton Town | County Ground | |||
| GK | John Wright | 30 April 1955 | Southampton | Layer Road |
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