1968–69 Colchester United F.C. season explained

Club:	Colchester United
Season:	1968–69
Chairman:	Arthur Neville^[1]
Manager:	Dick Graham
Stadium:	Layer Road
League:	Fourth Division
League Result:	6th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	2nd round (eliminated by Exeter City)
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	2nd round (eliminated by Workington)
League Topscorer:	Danny Light (12)
Season Topscorer:	Danny Light (14)
Highest Attendance:	10,604 v Southend United, 29 November 1968^[2]
Lowest Attendance:	3,199 v Doncaster Rovers, 31 August 1968^[3]
Average Attendance:	6,048^[4]
Largest Win:	5–0 v Chesham United, 16 November 1968
Largest Loss:	0–4 v Brentford, 10 August 1968 v Scunthorpe United, 26 August 1968 v Rochdale, 8 March 1969 1–5 v Chester, 24 August 1968
Pattern Name1:	Home
Pattern La1:	_linesonwhite
Pattern B1:	_4thinstripesonwhite
Pattern Ra1:	_linesonwhite
Pattern Sh1:	_white border
Pattern So1:	_color_2_stripes_blue
Leftarm1:	0000FF
Body1:	0000FF
Rightarm1:	0000FF
Shorts1:	0000FF
Socks1:	FFFFFF
Alt1:	Football kit (white jersey with thin, blue, vertical stripes; blue shorts with white sides; and white socks with two blue, horizontal hoops).
Prevseason:	1967–68
Nextseason:	1969–70

The 1968–69 season was Colchester United's 27th season in their history and their first season back in the fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division following relegation the previous season. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

In a transitional season under new manager Dick Graham, Colchester missed an instant return to the third tier by four points, finishing the season in sixth place. The U's were eliminated at the second round of both FA and League Cups.

Season overview

Colchester appointed former Crystal Palace manager Dick Graham to replace Neil Franklin. Having guided Palace from the Fourth Division to the Second Division, Graham intended to emulate his work at Selhurst Park.

Seven games into the season, with his side earning just one point, Graham cleared out the squad, ousting six players and sold Duncan Forbes and Derek Trevis for a combined fee of £19,000. He brought in a number of players, including goalkeeper Tony Macedo and former Tottenham Hotspur double-winner Terry Dyson. Colchester's form drastically improved, earning 33 points from a possible 42 to propel up the table into fourth position and the promotion places. However, after a poor Easter period, earning just two points against promotion-rivals Bradford City, Halifax Town and Swansea Town saw the U's slip back into sixth place and four points short of promotion.^[5]

Players

^[6]

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Ernie Adams	GK		Hackney	June 1, 1968	50	0	Arsenal	1 July 1967	Free transfer
Tony Macedo	GK		Gibraltar	June 1, 1968	0	0	Fulham	2 November 1968	£6,000
Ron Willis	GK		Romford	June 1, 1968	0	0	Charlton Athletic	October 1968	£1,500
Defenders
Dave Bickles	CB		West Ham	June 1, 1968	0	0	Crystal Palace	28 September 1968	Free transfer
Micky Cook	FB		Enfield	June 1, 1968	0	0	Orient	1 March 1969	Free transfer
Alan Dennis	CB		Colchester	June 1, 1968	0	0	Apprentice	April 1967	Free transfer
Brian Hall	LB		Burbage	June 1, 1968	154	16	Mansfield Town	March 1965	Free transfer
Brian Honeywood	CB		Chelmsford	June 1, 1968	0	0	Ipswich Town	August 1968	Free transfer
Bobby Howlett	CB		West Ham	June 1, 1968	0	0	Southend United	Summer 1968	Free transfer
Dennis Mochan	FB		Falkirk	June 1, 1968	81	2	Nottingham Forest	24 September 1966	Free transfer
Owen Simpson	FB		Mickley	June 1, 1968	0	0	Orient	10 August 1968	£3,500
Adrian Webster	DF		Colchester	June 1, 1968	0	0	Apprentice	July 1968	Free transfer
Brian Wood	CB		Hamworthy	June 1, 1968	0	0	Orient	14 September 1968	£4,000
Midfielders
Roger Joslyn	MF		Colchester	June 1, 1968	12	0	Apprentice	23 December 1967	Free transfer
Forwards
Micky Brown	WG		Farnham Common	June 1, 1968	0	0	Luton Town	26 October 1968	£3,000
Terry Dyson	WG		Malton	June 1, 1968	0	0	Fulham	24 August 1968	Free transfer
Brian Gibbs	FW		Gillingham	June 1, 1968	0	0	Gillingham	September 1968	£8,000
Danny Light	FW		Chiswick	June 1, 1968	0	0	Crystal Palace	August 1968	£4,000
Johnny Martin	WG		Ashington	June 1, 1968	80	11	Aston Villa	20 August 1966	Free transfer
Jim Oliver	FW		Falkirk	June 1, 1968	15	0	Brighton & Hove Albion	January 1968	£2,000
Terry Price	WG		Colchester	June 1, 1968	39	3	Orient	16 September 1967	£2,000

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1968	CB		Bobby Howlett	Southend United	Free transfer	^[7]
Summer 1968	FB		Gerry Perryman	Northampton Town	Free transfer	^[8]
July 1968	CB		Colin Moughton	Queens Park Rangers	Trial	^[9]
July 1968	DF		Adrian Webster	Apprentice	Free transfer	^[10]
August 1968	CB		Brian Honeywood	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	^[11]
August 1968	FW		Danny Light	Crystal Palace	£4,000	^[12]
10 August 1968	FB		Owen Simpson	Orient	£3,500	^[13]
24 August 1968	WG		Terry Dyson	Fulham	Free transfer	^[14]
September 1968	FW		Brian Gibbs	Gillingham	£8,000	^[15]
14 September 1968	CB		Brian Wood	Orient	£4,000	^[16]
28 September 1968	CB		Dave Bickles	Crystal Palace	Free transfer	^[17]
October 1968	GK		Ron Willis	Charlton Athletic	£1,500	^[18]
26 October 1968	WG		Micky Brown	Luton Town	£3,000	^[19]
2 November 1968	GK		Tony Macedo	Fulham	£6,000	^[20]
16 November 1968	FW		Ken O'Rourke	Arsenal	Trial	^[21]
November 1968	WG		Barry Rowan	Dallas Tornado	Free transfer	^[22]
1 March 1969	FB		Micky Cook	Orient	Free transfer	^[23]

• Total spending: ~ £30,000

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	CB		Bob Walker	Bedford Town	Free transfer	^[24]
End of season	WG		Alan Shires	Chelmsford City	Released	^[25]
Summer 1968	WH		David Buck	Halstead Town	Released	^[26]
Summer 1968	CB		Mick Loughton	Brentwood Town	Released	^[27]
Summer 1968	MF		Bobby Blackwood	Hawick Royal Albert	Player-manager	^[28]
Summer 1968	FW		Peter Bullock	Exeter City	Free transfer	^[29]
Summer 1968	FW		Reg Stratton	Brentwood Town	Free transfer	^[30]
26 August 1968	GK		Alan Buck	Poole Town	Released	^[31]
26 August 1968	CB		Colin Moughton	Bedford Town	End of trial
September 1968	CB		Duncan Forbes	Norwich City	£10,000	^[32]
4 September 1968	FB		Gerry Perryman	Corby Town	Free transfer
4 September 1968	MF		John Mansfield	Brentwood Town	Free transfer	^[33]
20 September 1968	MF		Derek Trevis	Walsall	£11,000	^[34]
23 November 1968	FW		Ken O'Rourke	Bedford Town	End of trial
January 1969	WG		Barry Rowan	Durban United	Released
February 1969	FW		Peter Barlow	Workington	Free transfer	^[35]
28 February 1969	FW		Ken Hodgson	Poole Town	Released	^[36]

• Total incoming: ~ £21,000

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
31 August 1968	CB		Brian Wood	Orient	7 September 1968
7 September 1968	GK		Tony Macedo	Fulham	26 October 1968

Loans out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	End date	Ref.
Early 1969	FW		Ken Hodgson	Chelmsford City	February 1969
January 1969	WG		Johnny Martin	Chelmsford City	January 1969	^[37]

Match details

Fourth Division

See main article: 1968–69 Football League.

Matches

League Cup

See main article: 1968–69 Football League Cup.

FA Cup

See main article: 1968–69 FA Cup.

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^{[6] [38]} |-!colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}

Goalscorers

^[38]

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		FW	Danny Light	12	2	0	14
2		FW	Brian Gibbs	11	0	0	11
3		FW	Jim Oliver	9	0	1	10
4		LB	Brian Hall	3	2	1	6
5		FB	Owen Simpson	4	0	0	4
6		CB	Dave Bickles	3	0	0	3
		WG	Micky Brown	3	0	0	3
		WG	Terry Dyson	3	0	0	3
		MF	Roger Joslyn	3	0	0	3
		WG	Terry Price	2	1	0	3
11		MF	Derek Trevis	1	0	0	1
		CB	Brian Wood	1	0	0	1
			Own goals	2	0	0	2
			TOTALS	57	5	2	64

Disciplinary record

^[39]

Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division		FA Cup		League 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"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"
	FB	Owen Simpson	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	WG	Terry Dyson	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	CB	Duncan Forbes	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
	FW	Jim Oliver	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	MF	Derek Trevis	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
		TOTALS	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[40]

Place	Nationality	Player	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		Tony Macedo	15	1	0	16
2		Ernie Adams	1	0	1	2
3		Ron Willis	1	0	0	1
		TOTALS	17	1	1	19

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[41]

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
CB		Brian Honeywood	10 August 1968	Brentford	Griffin Park
CB		Colin Moughton	10 August 1968	Brentford	Griffin Park
FB		Owen Simpson	10 August 1968	Brentford	Griffin Park
FB		Gerry Perryman	24 August 1968	Chester	Sealand Road
WG		Terry Dyson	24 August 1968	Chester	Sealand Road
FW		Danny Light	24 August 1968	Chester	Sealand Road
CB		Brian Wood	31 August 1968	Doncaster Rovers	Layer Road
GK		Tony Macedo	7 September 1968	York City	Layer Road
CB		Brian Wood	14 September 1968	Bradford City	Valley Parade	^[42]
FW		Brian Gibbs	14 September 1968	Bradford City	Valley Parade
CB		Dave Bickles	28 September 1968	Exeter City	St James Park
WG		Micky Brown	26 October 1968	Lincoln City	Sincil Bank
GK		Tony Macedo	2 November 1968	Wrexham	Layer Road	^[43]
FW		Ken O'Rourke	16 November 1968	Chesham United	Layer Road
GK		Ron Willis	23 November 1958	Swansea Town	Vetch Field
WG		Barry Rowan	23 November 1958	Swansea Town	Vetch Field

See also

• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons

References

General

Books

• 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 .
• Book: White . Eric . 100 Years of Brentford . 1989 . Oldfield Press . Redditch . 0951526200.
• Book: Kent . Jeff . The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale . 1990 . Witan Books . Stafford . 0-9508981-4-7.
• Book: Ambrosen . Tony . Amber in the Blood: A History Of Newport County . 1993 . Yore Publications . Uxbridge . 978-1-874427-40-7.

Websites

• Web site: Colchester United football club match record: 1969 . 11v11.com . 1 February 2017 .
• Web site: Chester Fixtures 1968/69 . Chester FC . 1 February 2017 .

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 4–0 Southend United . Coludata.co.uk . 1 February 2017 .
3. Web site: Colchester Utd 1–2 Doncaster Rovers . Coludata.co.uk . 1 February 2017 .
4. Web site: Average Attendance Figures Per Season . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 1 February 2017 .
5. Web site: The 1950s and 1960s . Hudson . Matt . 11 July 2012 . Colchester United FC . 26 April 2011 .
6. Web site: Appearances . Coludata.co.uk . 1 February 2017 .
7. Web site: Bobby Howlett . Coludata.co.uk . 3 February 2017 .
8. Web site: Gerry Perryman . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
9. Web site: Colin Moughton . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
10. Web site: Catching up with NASL Sounder Adrian Webster . Falk . David . 29 December 2012 . GoalWA . 2 February 2017 .
11. Web site: Brian Honeywood . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
12. Web site: Danny Light . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
13. Web site: Owen Simpson . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
14. Web site: Terry Dyson . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
15. Web site: Brian Gibbs . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
16. Web site: Brian Wood . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
17. Web site: Dave Bickles . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
18. Web site: Ron Willis . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
19. Web site: Micky Brown . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
20. Web site: Tony Macedo . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
21. Web site: Ken O'Rourke . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
22. Web site: Barry Rowan . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
23. Web site: Micky Cook . Coludata.co.uk . 3 February 2017 .
24. Web site: Bob Walker . Coludata.co.uk . 1 February 2017 .
25. Web site: Alan Shires . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
26. Web site: David Buck . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
27. Web site: Mick Loughton . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
28. Web site: Bobby Blackwood . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
29. Web site: Peter Bullock . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
30. Web site: Reg Stratton . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
31. Web site: Alan Buck . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
32. Web site: Duncan Forbes . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
33. Web site: John Mansfield . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
34. Web site: Derek Trevis . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
35. Web site: Peter Barlow . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
36. Web site: Ken Hodgson . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
37. Web site: Johnny Martin . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
38. Web site: Goals . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
39. Web site: Discipline . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
40. Web site: Clean sheets (1st team) . Coludata.co.uk . 22 June 2017 .
41. Web site: Alltime- List of Debuts . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 2 February 2017 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626101319/http://coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Player%20Stats/PlayersDebuts/Alldebut.html . 26 June 2015 .
42. Web site: Bradford City 1–1 Colchester Utd . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .
43. Web site: Colchester Utd 2–1 Wrexham . Coludata.co.uk . 2 February 2017 .