| Club: | Colchester United |
| Season: | 1957–58 |
| 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 Wisbech Town) |
| League Topscorer: | Ken Plant (19) |
| Season Topscorer: | Ken Plant (19) |
| Highest Attendance: | 11,077 v Norwich City, 14 September 1957[2] |
| Lowest Attendance: | 4,391 v Northampton Town, 30 September 1957[3] |
| Average Attendance: | 10,891[4] |
| Largest Win: | 4–0 v Watford, 26 December 1957 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–7 v Reading, 18 September 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: | 1956–57 |
| Nextseason: | 1958–59 |
The 1957–58 season was Colchester United's 16th season in their history and their eighth 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. They were eliminated at the first round stage of the cup for the fifth successive season, on this occasion to non-league side Wisbech Town. In the league, with the division being restructured at the end of the season, Colchester managed to finish in the top half of the table by three points to avoid a move to the newly formed Fourth Division, instead remaining in the third tier.
With Football League reorganisation looming at the end of the season, Colchester's priority for the 1957–58 season was to finish in the top half of the table to join the top half of the Third Division North to form the new nationwide Third Division. The other teams would form the Fourth Division.
During the campaign, Benny Fenton's squad suffered from numerous call-ups for national service, and as such Fenton brought in reinforcements in November with Neil Langman arriving from Plymouth Argyle for £6,750 and John Evans for £4,000 from Liverpool. Meanwhile, Birmingham City offered Colchester £10,000 for winger Peter Wright, but he opted to remain as a part-time player.
Colchester secured their place in the third tier for another season in the final game of the season when they beat Southampton 4–2 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, 1957 | 92 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 May 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| John Wright | GK | Aldershot | June 1, 1957 | 4 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 23 May 1952 | Free transfer | |||
| Defenders | |||||||||||
| Brian Dobson | CB | Colchester | June 1, 1957 | 6 | 0 | Amateur | January 1956 | Free transfer | |||
| George Fisher | FB | Bermondsey | June 1, 1957 | 89 | 3 | Fulham | 1 September 1955 | £1,000 | |||
| John Fowler | FB | Leith | June 1, 1957 | 60 | 3 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| John Laidlaw | FB | Aldershot | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | June 1957 | Free transfer | |||
| Alf Marshall | FB | Dagenham | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Dagenham | 14 October 1957 | £25 | |||
| Chic Milligan | CB | Ardrossan | June 1, 1957 | 35 | 1 | Ardrossan Winton Rovers | 18 August 1956 | £1,000 | |||
| Edgar Rumney | FB | Abberton | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 1 May 1957 | Free transfer | |||
| Midfielders | |||||||||||
| Benny Fenton | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1957 | 83 | 12 | Charlton Athletic | 5 March 1955 | £500 | |||
| Trevor Harris | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1957 | 3 | 0 | Amateur | July 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Bert Hill | WH | West Ham | June 1, 1957 | 75 | 3 | Chelsea | September 1952 | £300 | |||
| Ron Hunt | WH | Colchester | June 1, 1957 | 34 | 0 | Amateur | October 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Derek Parker | WH | Wivenhoe | June 1, 1957 | 6 | 0 | West Ham United | March 1957 | £2,500 | |||
| Forwards | |||||||||||
| Russell Blake | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1957 | 7 | 0 | Dedham Old Boys | 8 September 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| John Evans | IF | Tilbury | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Liverpool | 23 November 1957 | £4,000 | |||
| Bobby Hill | IF | Edinburgh | June 1, 1957 | 43 | 8 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 9 June 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Martyn King | CF | Birmingham | June 1, 1957 | 3 | 1 | Amateur | Summer 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Neil Langman | CF | Bere Alston | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | November 1957 | £6,750 | |||
| Kevin McCurley | CF | Consett | June 1, 1957 | 189 | 74 | Liverpool | June 1951 | £750 | |||
| Sammy McLeod | IF | Glasgow | June 1, 1957 | 47 | 4 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer | |||
| Hamish McNeill | IF | Alva | June 1, 1957 | 0 | 0 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | August 1957 | £600 | |||
| Ken Plant | CF | Nuneaton | June 1, 1957 | 143 | 60 | Bury | January 1954 | Undisclosed | |||
| Tommy Williams | WG | Battersea | June 1, 1957 | 23 | 3 | Carshalton Athletic | September 1956 | Free transfer | |||
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | June 1, 1957 | 158 | 30 | Amateur | November 1951 | Free transfer | |||
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May 1957 | FB | Edgar Rumney | Colchester Casuals | Free transfer | [7] | ||
| June 1957 | FB | John Laidlaw | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | Free transfer | [8] | ||
| August 1957 | IF | Hamish McNeill | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | £600 | [9] | ||
| 14 October 1957 | FB | Alf Marshall | Dagenham | £25 | [10] | ||
| November 1957 | CF | Neil Langman | Plymouth Argyle | £6,750 | [11] | ||
| 23 November 1957 | IF | John Evans | Liverpool | £4,000 | [12] |
| Date | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 May 1957 | WG | Les Barrell | Clacton Town | Released | [13] | ||
| June 1957 | IF | Eddie Smith | Queens Park Rangers | £1,050 | [14] | ||
| July 1957 | CB | Reg Stewart | Hastings United | Free transfer | [15] |
See main article: 1957–58 Football League.
See main article: 1957–58 FA Cup.
| Place | Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CF | Ken Plant | 19 | 0 | 19 | ||
| 2 | WG | Peter Wright | 16 | 0 | 16 | ||
| 3 | CF | Kevin McCurley | 12 | 0 | 12 | ||
| 4 | CF | Neil Langman | 8 | 0 | 8 | ||
| 5 | IF | John Evans | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| 6 | WG | Tommy Williams | 5 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 7 | WH | Benny Fenton | 3 | 0 | 3 | ||
| 8 | WG | Russell Blake | 2 | 0 | 2 | ||
| IF | Sammy McLeod | 2 | 0 | 2 | |||
| 10 | FB | George Fisher | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||
| IF | Hamish McNeill | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| WH | Derek Parker | 1 | 0 | 1 | |||
| Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 77 | 0 | 77 | ||||
| Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" | width=60 style="background: #FF8888" | ||||||
| WH | Benny Fenton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| TOTALS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.[18]
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Percy Ames | 7 | 0 | 7 | ||
| TOTALS | 7 | 0 | 7 | |||
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[19]
| Position | Nationality | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FB | Edgar Rumney | 2 September 1957 | Queens Park Rangers | Layer Road | |||
| IF | Hamish McNeill | 21 September 1957 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | Dean Court | |||
| IF | John Evans | 23 November 1957 | Port Vale | Layer Road | |||
| CF | Neil Langman | 23 November 1957 | Port Vale | Layer Road |
Books
Websites