| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1956–57 |
| Chairman: | Bill Allen[1] |
| Manager: | Benny Fenton |
| Stadium: | Layer Road |
| League: | Third Division South |
| League Result: | 3rd |
| Cup1: | FA Cup |
| Cup1 Result: | 1st round (eliminated by Southend United) |
| League Topscorer: | Ken Plant (24) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ken Plant (24) |
| Highest Attendance: | 18,559 v Ipswich Town, 16 February 1957[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 5,899 v Northampton Town, 22 December 1956[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 9,351[4] |
| Largest Win: | 6–0 v Shrewsbury Town, 29 September 1956 |
| Largest Loss: | 1–4 v Southend United, 17 November 1956; 1–4 v Swindon Town, 27 April 1957 |
| Pattern Name1: | Home |
| Pattern La1: | _white_stripes |
| Pattern B1: | _whitestripes3 |
| 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: | 1955–56 |
| Nextseason: | 1957–58 |
The 1956–57 season was Colchester United's 15th season in their history and their seventh 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 Southend United in the first round in the first Essex derby in a cup competition. The season would be Colchester United's highest league finish for 50 years by ending their campaign in third position. It has only been bettered on three occasions; the 2005–06 season, 2006–07 season and the 2007–08 season.
The 1956–57 season proved to be Colchester United's best finish in their history, ending the season in third position in the third tier with a result that was not bettered until 2006. For the majority of the season, Colchester were favourites for promotion, during which time they went 20 league games unbeaten between December 1956 and Easter 1957.
Colchester and rivals Ipswich Town vied for the top spot for much of the season. Colchester were seven-points ahead of their third-placed rivals when the two sides met at Layer Road on 16 February 1957. A record crowd of 18,559 witnessed the 0–0 draw, with over 4,000 fans turned away and over 100 spectators witnessing the action from the roof of the Popular Side stand. Player-manager Benny Fenton missed a 21st-minute penalty during the match, which was saved by Ipswich goalkeeper Roy Bailey.
A 2–1 win over second-placed Torquay United, who trailed by four points as a result, improved Colchester's title credentials. However, the loss of influential players to injury including Bob Dale and Chic Milligan damaged Colchester's hopes. Three consecutive draws in late March and early April allowed Torquay to close the gap to just one point, with Ipswich five points adrift. Over Easter 1957, Colchester lost three consecutive away games at Millwall, Walsall and Swindon Town, but won their final game of the season 2–0 against Watford to put them back at the top of the table, but both Ipswich and Torquay's final matches were 24 hours later. Both sides won their final games, with Colchester slipping to third position in the table and Ipswich were promoted as champions, level on points with Torquay but with a better goal average, while they finished one point ahead of Colchester. Colchester played the entire season unbeaten at Layer Road.[5]
| Name | Position | Nationality | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||||||||
| Percy Ames | GK | Plymouth | June 1, 1956 | 45 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 May 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| John Wright | GK | Aldershot | June 1, 1956 | 4 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 23 May 1952 | Free transfer | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Brian Dobson | CB | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 6 | 0 | Amateur | January 1956 | Free transfer | |||
| George Fisher | FB | Bermondsey | June 1, 1956 | 43 | 1 | Fulham | 1 September 1955 | £1,000 | |||
| John Fowler | FB | Leith | June 1, 1956 | 16 | 2 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Chic Milligan | CB | Ardrossan | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | Ardrossan Winton Rovers | 18 August 1956 | £1,000 | |||
| Reg Stewart | CB | Sheffield | June 1, 1956 | 307 | 2 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 August 1949 | £1,000 | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Benny Fenton | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1956 | 44 | 4 | Charlton Athletic | 5 March 1955 | £500 | |||
| Trevor Harris | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 3 | 0 | Amateur | July 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Bert Hill | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1956 | 60 | 2 | Chelsea | September 1952 | £300 | |||
| Ron Hunt | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 34 | 0 | Amateur | October 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Derek Parker | WH | Wivenhoe | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | March 1957 | £2,500 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Les Barrell | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | Lexden Wanderers | Summer 1956 | Free transfer | |||
| Russell Blake | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 5 | 0 | Dedham Old Boys | 8 September 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Bobby Hill | IF | Edinburgh | June 1, 1956 | 4 | 1 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 9 June 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Martyn King | CF | Birmingham | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | Amateur | Summer 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Kevin McCurley | CF | Consett | June 1, 1956 | 157 | 64 | Liverpool | June 1951 | £750 | |||
| Sammy McLeod | IF | Glasgow | June 1, 1956 | 43 | 2 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Ken Plant | CF | Nuneaton | June 1, 1956 | 96 | 36 | Bury | January 1954 | Undisclosed | |||
| Eddie Smith | IF | Marylebone | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | Northampton Town | June 1956 | Undisclosed | |||
| Tommy Williams | WG | Battersea | June 1, 1956 | 0 | 0 | Carshalton Athletic | September 1956 | Free transfer | |||
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1956 | 113 | 22 | Amateur | November 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summer 1956 | WG | Les Barrell | Lexden Wanderers | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| June 1956 | IF | Eddie Smith | Northampton Town | Undisclosed | [8] | ||
| 18 August 1956 | CB | Chic Milligan | Ardrossan Winton Rovers | £1,000 | [9] | ||
| September 1956 | WG | Tommy Williams | Carshalton Athletic | Free transfer | [10] | ||
| March 1957 | WH | Derek Parker | West Ham United | £2,500 | [11] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of season | GK | George Wright | Sudbury Town | Free transfer | [12] | ||
| End of season | IF | Alfred Noble | Leytonstone | Free transfer | [13] | ||
| Summer 1956 | CB | Billy Hunt | Sudbury Town | Released | [14] | ||
| September 1956 | FB | John Harrison | Free agent | Retired | [15] | ||
| 16 February 1957 | WH | Bob Dale | Free agent | Retired | [16] | ||
| March 1957 | FB | George French | Retired | Retired | [17] |
See main article: 1956–57 Football League.
See main article: 1956–57 FA Cup.
[6] [18] |-!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 | 24 | 0 | 24 | ||
| 2 | IF | Eddie Smith | 13 | 0 | 13 | ||
| 3 | CF | Kevin McCurley | 9 | 1 | 10 | ||
| 4 | WH | Benny Fenton | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
| WG | Peter Wright | 8 | 0 | 8 | |||
| 6 | IF | Bobby Hill | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 7 | WG | Tommy Williams | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 8 | WH | Bob Dale | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| FB | George Fisher | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
| IF | Sammy McLeod | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 11 | FB | John Fowler | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| WH | Bert Hill | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| CB | Chic Milligan | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| WG | Les Barrell | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| CF | Martyn King | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||
| TOTALS | 83 | 1 | 84 | ||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[19]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Percy Ames | 13 | 0 | 13 | ||
| TOTALS | 13 | 0 | 13 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[20]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | Chic Milligan | 18 August 1956 | Southend United | Layer Road | |||
| WG | Les Barrell | 18 August 1956 | Southend United | Layer Road | |||
| IF | Eddie Smith | 18 August 1956 | Southend United | Layer Road | |||
| CF | Martyn King | 27 August 1956 | Crystal Palace | Layer Road | |||
| WG | Tommy Williams | 24 November 1956 | Brentford | Layer Road | |||
| WH | Derek Parker | 13 April 1957 | Aldershot | Layer Road |
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