1955–56 Colchester United F.C. season explained

Club:Colchester United
Season:1955–56
Chairman:Bill Allen[1]
Manager:Benny Fenton
Stadium:Layer Road
League:Third Division South
League Result:12th
Cup1:FA Cup
Cup1 Result:1st round
(eliminated by
Torquay United)
League Topscorer:
Kevin McCurley (29)
Season Topscorer:
Kevin McCurley (29)
Highest Attendance:13,176
v Ipswich Town, 26 December 1955[2]
Lowest Attendance:4,811
v Millwall, 11 February 1956[3]
Average Attendance:7,668[4]
Largest Win:5–0
v Swindon Town, 3 March 1956
Largest Loss:0–6
v Leyton Orient, 8 September 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:1954–55
Nextseason:1956–57

The 1955–56 season was Colchester United's 14th season in their history and their sixth 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 in which the club were eliminated by Torquay United in the first round. The season was Benny Fenton's first full campaign in charge, and after building his own squad over the summer, he led Colchester to their highest position since the 1951–52 season with a 12th-placed finish. This came on the back of two consecutive seasons of successful re-election applications.

Season overview

Manager Benny Fenton assembled his own squad for the 1955–56 season, bringing in goalkeeper Percy Ames from Tottenham Hotspur, while also signing a number of players from Scottish junior football including John Fowler, Bobby Hill and Sammy McLeod.

Fenton's side played an exciting attacking game. They scored 76 goals in the league, with Kevin McCurley scoring a club Football League best total of 29 goals, and strike partner Ken Plant scoring 17. Both players notched two hat-tricks each during the season as the club safely finished the campaign in 12th-place.

Colchester played their first game under floodlights on 28 February 1955 when they beat Reading 3–1 at Elm Park. While Layer Road was still bereft of floodlighting, lighting had been installed for training purposes at the ground.[5]

Players

[6]

NamePositionNationalityPlace of birthDate of birthAppsGoalsSigned fromDate signedFee
Goalkeepers
Percy AmesGKPlymouthJune 1, 195500 Tottenham Hotspur1 May 1955Free transfer
George WrightGKPlymouthJune 1, 19552190 Plymouth ArgyleMay 1949£1,000
John WrightGKAldershotJune 1, 195520 Colchester Casuals23 May 1952Free transfer
Defenders
Brian DobsonCBColchesterJune 1, 195500AmateurJanuary 1956Free transfer
George FisherFBBermondseyJune 1, 195500 Fulham1 September 1955£1,000
John FowlerFBLeithJune 1, 195500 Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic20 August 1955Free transfer
George FrenchFBColchesterJune 1, 195530 West Ham UnitedFebruary 1949Free transfer
John HarrisonFBLeicesterJune 1, 19552050 Aston Villa30 September 1950Nominal
Billy HuntCBColchesterJune 1, 195500AmateurAugust 1953Free transfer
Reg StewartCBSheffieldJune 1, 19552651 Sheffield Wednesday20 August 1949£1,000
Midfielders
Bob DaleWHIrlamJune 1, 1955558 Bury24 December 1953£1,500
Benny FentonWHWest HamJune 1, 1955112 Charlton Athletic5 March 1955£500
Trevor HarrisWHColchesterJune 1, 195510AmateurJuly 1951Free transfer
Bert HillWHWest HamJune 1, 1955381 ChelseaSeptember 1952£300
Ron HuntWHColchesterJune 1, 1955310AmateurOctober 1951Free transfer
Forwards
Russell BlakeWGColchesterJune 1, 195500 Dedham Old Boys8 September 1955Free transfer
Bobby HillIFEdinburghJune 1, 195500 Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare9 June 1955Free transfer
Martyn KingCFBirminghamJune 1, 195500AmateurSummer 1955Free transfer
Kevin McCurleyCFConsettJune 1, 195511035 LiverpoolJune 1951£750
Sammy McLeodIFGlasgowJune 1, 195500 Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare20 August 1955Free transfer
Alfred NobleIFHackneyJune 1, 195500 Briggs SportsSeptember 1955Free transfer
Ken PlantCFNuneatonJune 1, 19555919 BuryJanuary 1954Undisclosed
Peter WrightWGColchesterJune 1, 19556713AmateurNovember 1951Free transfer

Transfers

In

DatePositionNationalityNameFromFeeRef.
Summer 1955CFMartyn KingAmateurFree transfer[7]
1 May 1955GKPercy Ames Tottenham HotspurFree transfer[8]
9 June 1955IFBobby Hill Easthouses Lily Miners WelfareFree transfer[9]
20 August 1955FBJohn Fowler Bonnyrigg Rose AthleticFree transfer[10]
20 August 1955IFSammy McLeod Easthouses Lily Miners WelfareFree transfer[11]
September 1955IFAlfred Noble Briggs SportsFree transfer[12]
1 September 1955FBGeorge Fisher Fulham£1,000[13]
8 September 1955WGRussell Blake Dedham Old BoysFree transfer[14]
January 1956CBBrian DobsonAmateurFree transfer[15]

Out

DatePositionNationalityNameToFeeRef.
End of seasonWHAustin Dunne TonbridgeReleased[16]
Summer 1955FBDigger Kettle Sudbury TownFree transfer[17]
4 May 1955WHJimmy Elder Yeovil TownReleased[18]
4 May 1955FBFred Lewis Headington UnitedReleased[19]
4 May 1955WGCliff Birch Great Yarmouth TownFree transfer[20]
July 1955IFPaddy Leonard TonbridgeFree transfer[21]
August 1955IFJohnny McKim Clacton TownReleased[22]
September 1955CBRoy BicknellRetiredRetired[23]
March 1956WGMike Grice West Ham United£9,000[24]

Match details

Third Division South

See main article: 1955–56 Football League.

Matches

FA Cup

See main article: 1955–56 FA Cup.

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[6] [25] |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}

Goalscorers

[25]

PlaceNationalityPositionNameThird Division SouthFA CupTotal
1CFKevin McCurley29029
2CFKen Plant17017
3WGPeter Wright909
4WGMike Grice606
5WHBob Dale202
WHBenny Fenton202
FBJohn Fowler202
IFSammy McLeod202
9FBGeorge Fisher101
FBJohn Harrison101
WHBert Hill101
IFBobby Hill101
CBReg Stewart101
Own goals202
TOTALS76076

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[26]

PlaceNationalityPlayerThird Division SouthFA CupTotal
1Percy Ames10010
2John Wright101
TOTALS11011

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[27]

PositionNationalityPlayerDateOpponentGroundNotes
GKPercy Ames20 August 1955Exeter CitySt James Park
FBJohn Fowler20 August 1955Exeter CitySt James Park
IFSammy McLeod20 August 1955Exeter CitySt James Park
CBBilly Hunt27 August 1955Southend UnitedLayer Road
FBGeorge Fisher1 September 1955Bournemouth & Boscombe AthleticLayer Road
WGRussell Blake8 September 1955Leyton OrientBrisbane Road
IFAlfred Noble27 December 1955Ipswich TownPortman Road
CBBrian Dobson24 March 1956AldershotRecreation Ground
IFBobby Hill2 April 1956WalsallFellows Park

See also

References

General

Books

Websites

Specific

Notes and References

  1. 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 . 278.
  2. Web site: Colchester Utd 3–3 Ipswich Town . Coludata.co.uk . 8 March 2016 .
  3. Web site: Colchester Utd 1–2 Millwall . Coludata.co.uk . 8 March 2016 .
  4. Web site: Average Attendance Figures Per Season . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 8 March 2016 . 26 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626124236/http://coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Club%20Stats/LeagueAveragesAttendance.html . dead .
  5. Web site: The 1950s and 1960s . Hudson . Matt . 11 July 2012 . Colchester United FC . 20 May 2011 .
  6. Web site: Appearances . Coludata.co.uk . 9 March 2016 .
  7. Web site: Martyn King . Coludata.co.uk . 14 March 2016 .
  8. Web site: Percy Ames . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  9. Web site: Bobby Hill . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  10. Web site: John Fowler . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  11. Web site: Sammy McLeod . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  12. Web site: Alfred Noble . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  13. Web site: George Fisher . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  14. Web site: Russell Blake . Coludata.co.uk . 9 March 2016 .
  15. Web site: Brian Dobson . Coludata.co.uk . 11 February 2016 .
  16. Web site: Austin Dunne . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  17. Web site: Digger Kettle . Coludata.co.uk . 8 March 2016 .
  18. Web site: Jimmy Elder . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  19. Web site: Fred Lewis . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  20. Web site: Cliff Birch . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  21. Web site: Paddy Leonard . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  22. Web site: Johnny McKim . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  23. Web site: Roy Bicknell . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  24. Web site: Mike Grice . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  25. Web site: Goals . Coludata.co.uk . 13 March 2016 .
  26. Web site: Clean sheets (1st team) . Coludata.co.uk . 22 June 2017 .
  27. Web site: Alltime- List of Debuts . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 13 March 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626101319/http://coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Player%20Stats/PlayersDebuts/Alldebut.html . 26 June 2015 .

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