Colchester United 1955–56 football season
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 [ ]
As of match played 28 April 1956. [6]
Name
Position
Nationality
Place of birth
Date of birth
Apps
Goals
Signed from
Date signed
Fee
Goalkeepers
Percy Ames
GK
Plymouth
(1931-12-13 ) 13 December 1931 (aged 23)
0
0
Tottenham Hotspur
1 May 1955
Free transfer
George Wright
GK
Plymouth
(1919-10-10 ) 10 October 1919 (aged 35)
219
0
Plymouth Argyle
May 1949
£1,000
John Wright
GK
Aldershot
(1933-08-13 ) 13 August 1933 (aged 21)
2
0
Colchester Casuals
23 May 1952
Free transfer
Defenders
Brian Dobson
CB
Colchester
(1934-03-01 ) 1 March 1934 (aged 21)
0
0
Amateur
January 1956
Free transfer
George Fisher
FB
Bermondsey
(1925-06-19 ) 19 June 1925 (aged 29)
0
0
Fulham
1 September 1955
£1,000
John Fowler
FB
Leith
(1933-10-17 ) 17 October 1933 (aged 21)
0
0
Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic
20 August 1955[a]
Free transfer
George French
FB
Colchester
(1926-11-10 ) 10 November 1926 (aged 28)
3
0
West Ham United
February 1949
Free transfer
John Harrison
FB
Leicester
(1927-09-27 ) 27 September 1927 (aged 27)
205
0
Aston Villa
30 September 1950[a]
Nominal
Billy Hunt
CB
Colchester
(1934-11-25 ) 25 November 1934 (aged 20)
0
0
Amateur
August 1953
Free transfer
Reg Stewart
CB
Sheffield
(1925-10-30 ) 30 October 1925 (aged 29)
265
1
Sheffield Wednesday
20 August 1949[a]
£1,000
Midfielders
Bob Dale
WH
Irlam
(1931-10-31 ) 31 October 1931 (aged 23)
55
8
Bury
24 December 1953
£1,500
Benny Fenton
WH
West Ham
(1918-10-10 ) 10 October 1918 (aged 36)
11
2
Charlton Athletic
5 March 1955[a]
£500
Trevor Harris
WH
Colchester
(1936-02-06 ) 6 February 1936 (aged 19)
1
0
Amateur
July 1951
Free transfer
Bert Hill
WH
West Ham
(1930-03-08 ) 8 March 1930 (aged 25)
38
1
Chelsea
September 1952
£300
Ron Hunt
WH
Colchester
(1933-09-26 ) 26 September 1933 (aged 21)
31
0
Amateur
October 1951
Free transfer
Forwards
Russell Blake
WG
Colchester
(1935-07-24 ) 24 July 1935 (aged 19)
0
0
Dedham Old Boys
8 September 1955[a]
Free transfer
Bobby Hill
IF
Edinburgh
(1938-06-09 ) 9 June 1938 (aged 16)
0
0
Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare
9 June 1955
Free transfer
Martyn King
CF
Birmingham
(1937-08-23 ) 23 August 1937 (aged 17)
0
0
Amateur
Summer 1955
Free transfer
Kevin McCurley
CF
Consett
(1926-04-02 ) 2 April 1926 (aged 29)
110
35
Liverpool
June 1951
£750
Sammy McLeod
IF
Glasgow
(1934-01-04 ) 4 January 1934 (aged 21)
0
0
Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare
20 August 1955[a]
Free transfer
Alfred Noble
IF
Hackney
(1924-09-18 ) 18 September 1924 (aged 30)
0
0
Briggs Sports
September 1955
Free transfer
Ken Plant
CF
Nuneaton
(1925-08-15 ) 15 August 1925 (aged 29)
59
19
Bury
January 1954
Undisclosed
Peter Wright
WG
Colchester
(1934-01-26 ) 26 January 1934 (aged 21)
67
13
Amateur
November 1951
Free transfer
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club
Transfers [ ]
In [ ]
Total spending: ~ £1,000
^ Jump up to: a b c Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club
Out [ ]
Total incoming: ~ £9,000
^ Jump up to: a b c Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club
Match details [ ]
Third Division South [ ]
Results round by round [ ]
Round 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 Ground A A H H A A H H A AH H H A A H A H A H H A H A H A H A A H H H H A A H A H A H H A A H A A H Result D L L W L L L W D D L D W W W L W W W D L W L D L W D D W W L W D W W L W L D L D L W L L W Position 13 19 22 19 20 22 23 20 21 21 22 21 20 18 14 16 14 13 12 13 13 11 12 12 14 12 12 12 9 9 11 10 11 9 8 9 7 9 8 9 9 10 9 9 11 12
Source:
11v11.com A = Away;
H = Home;
W = Win;
D = Draw;
L = Loss
League table [ ]
10
Gillingham
46
19
10
17
69
71
0.972
48
11
Northampton Town
46
20
7
19
67
71
0.944
47
12
Colchester United
46
18
11
17
76
81
0.938
47
13
Shrewsbury Town
46
17
12
17
69
66
1.045
46
14
Southampton
46
18
8
20
91
81
1.123
44
Source:[citation needed ]
Matches [ ]
Coventry City v Colchester United
3 September 1955 (1955-09-03 ) 5 Coventry City 2–0 Colchester United show Coventry
Unknown goalscorer Own goal o.g.'
Report
Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 23,171
Leyton Orient v Colchester United
Colchester United v Leyton Orient
Watford v Colchester United
Norwich City v Colchester United
21 September 1955 (1955-09-21 ) 10 Norwich City 1–1 Colchester United show Norwich
Coxon pen.'
Report
Plant
Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 13,555
Colchester United v Reading
24 September 1955 (1955-09-24 ) 11 Colchester United 0–3 Reading show Colchester
Report
Unknown goalscorer
Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,125
Colchester United v Gillingham
29 September 1955 (1955-09-29 ) 12 Colchester United 1–1 Gillingham show Colchester
Stewart
Report
Unknown goalscorer
Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,208
Millwall v Colchester United
1 October 1955 (1955-10-01 ) 13 Millwall 0–1 Colchester United show New Cross
Report
Grice
Stadium: The Den Attendance: 11,807
Swindon Town v Colchester United
Colchester United v Queens Park Rangers
29 October 1955 (1955-10-29 ) 17 Colchester United 4–1 Queens Park Rangers show Colchester
McCurley Grice
Report
Unknown goalscorer
Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,339
Northampton Town v Colchester United
Southampton v Colchester United
3 December 1955 (1955-12-03 ) 21 Southampton 3–0 Colchester United show Southampton
Hoskins Day Reeves
Report
Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 11,072
Colchester United v Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town v Colchester United
Colchester United v Coventry City
Crystal Palace v Colchester United
Colchester United v Watford
Colchester United v Shrewsbury Town
Colchester United v Millwall
Reading v Colchester United
27 February 1956 (1956-02-27 ) 34 Reading 1–3 Colchester United show Reading
Unknown goalscorer
Report
Dale McCurley P. Wright
Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 4,667
Colchester United v Swindon Town
Queens Park Rangers v Colchester United
Colchester United v Northampton Town
Colchester United v Crystal Palace
Walsall v Colchester United
2 April 1956 (1956-04-02 ) 41 Walsall 0–0 Colchester United show Walsall
Report
Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 15,179
Colchester United v Southampton
Shrewsbury Town v Colchester United
21 April 1956 (1956-04-21 ) 44 Shrewsbury Town 2–1 Colchester United show Shrewsbury
Unknown goalscorer
Report
Own goal
Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 6,967
Gillingham v Colchester United
Colchester United v Norwich City
FA Cup [ ]
Squad statistics [ ]
Appearances and goals [ ]
[6] [25]
Goalscorers [ ]
[25]
Clean sheets [ ]
Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet .[26]
Place
Nationality
Player
Third Division South
FA Cup
Total
1
Percy Ames
10
0
10
2
John Wright
1
0
1
TOTALS
11
0
11
Player debuts [ ]
Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[27]
See also [ ]
References [ ]
General [ ]
Books
Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3 .
Ambrosen, Tony (1993). Amber in the Blood: A History Of Newport County . Uxbridge: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1-874427-40-7 .
White, Eric (1989). 100 Years of Brentford . Redditch: Oldfield Press. ISBN 0951526200 .
Websites
Specific [ ]
show FA competitionsFootball League Lower leagues Related to national team