1953–54 Colchester United F.C. season

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Colchester United
1953–54 season
Chairman Bill Allen[1]
Manager Ron Meades
(11 June to 15 June)
Jack Butler
(from 16 June)
Stadium Layer Road
Third Division South 23rd
FA Cup 1st round
(eliminated by
Millwall)
Top goalscorer League:
Bert Barlow (10)
All:
Bert Barlow (10)
Highest home attendance 10,316
v Ipswich Town, 19 December 1953[2]
Lowest home attendance 6,035
v Southend United, 29 April 1954[3]
Average home league attendance 7,797[4]
Biggest win 5–0
v Queens Park Rangers, 25 December 1953
Biggest defeat 0–4
v Millwall, 23 November 1953
Home colours
← 1952–53 1954–55 →

The 1953–54 season was Colchester United's twelfth season in their history and their fourth 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. Colchester were knocked out in the first round of the cup by Millwall following a replay. The club struggled in the league for the second successive season, eventually finishing 23rd of 24 teams under new manager Jack Butler. The club had to apply for re-election at the end of the season for the first of three occasions in it's history. All four clubs applying for re-election were successful, with Colchester receiving 45 votes, behind Chester by three votes but ahead of both Walsall (32 votes) and Halifax Town (28 votes).[5]

Season overview

Following Jimmy Allen's resignation at the end of the previous season, the Colchester United board shortlisted three names for the vacant managerial position, and in-line with their cost reduction policy, appointed Ron Meades as player-manager. Meades had claimed to have been with Cardiff City, and more recently manager of Western League side Wadebridge Town. Jouralist Arthur Wood investigated into Meades' background and revealed that Meades was a fraud, and after just four days in charge, Meades was asked to leave by the club.

Colchester hurriedly appointed a new manager in Jack Butler, a former Arsenal player and England international. He had coached in Belgium, initially with Royal Daring Club Molenbeek and had been in charge of the Belgium national team between 1935 and 1940, leading them to the 1938 World Cup finals. More recently, he had managed Torquay United and Crystal Palace, but Butler had little time to prepare his side ahead of the new season, and a 13-game winless run in late 1953 saw Colchester slump to 23rd position in the league.

With the crowd average falling season-on-season to 7,797, the club were required to apply for re-election after finishing the campaign ten points adrift of safety. Colchester earned 45 votes, enough to ensure another season in the Football League, but having been prolific goalscorers earlier in their history, the club had scored only 50 league goals this season.[6]

Players

As of match played 29 April 1954.[7]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
England GK Frank Coombs
England GK George Wright
England GK John Wright
England DF Harry Bearryman
England DF Roy Bicknell
England DF Bob Dale
England DF Brian Dobson
Republic of Ireland DF Austin Dunne
Scotland DF Jimmy Elder
England DF George French
England DF Trevor Harris
England DF John Harrison
England DF Bertie Hill
England DF Billy Hunt
No. Position Player
England DF Ron Hunt
England DF Doug Keene
England DF Digger Kettle
England DF Fred Lewis
England DF Reg Stewart
England FW Peter Aitchison
England FW Russell Blake
England FW John Church
England FW Mike Grice
England FW Kevin McCurley
Scotland FW Johnny McKim
England FW Ken Plant
England FW Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division South

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Main article: 1953–54 Football League

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 H A A H H A A H H A A H H A H A H A H A A H H H A A H H A H A H A H A H A H A H H A A A A H
Result W L W W L L L W L L L D L L L L D L D L L W L W D W D L L D W W L L L L L D L D W L D L D L
Position 2 15 9 6 8 13 14 10 13 16 18 20 20 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 22 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 23

Last updated: 29 February 2016.
Source: [1]
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

      Win       Draw       Loss

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv1 Pts2 Promotion, qualification or relegation
20 Swindon Town 46 15 10 21 67 70 0.957 40
21 Shrewsbury Town 46 14 12 20 65 76 0.855 40
22 Crystal Palace 46 14 12 20 60 86 0.698 40
23 Colchester United 46 10 10 26 50 78 0.641 30 Re-elected to Third Division South
24 Walsall 46 9 8 29 40 87 0.460 26

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Number of goals scored

(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated.

Notes:

1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Matches

FA Cup

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Main article: 1953–54 FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[7][8]

No. Pos Nat Player Total Third Division
South		 FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Frank Coombs 7 0 7 0 0 0
GK England George Wright 41 0 39 0 2 0
DF England Harry Bearryman 39 2 37 2 2 0
DF England Roy Bicknell 21 0 19 0 2 0
DF England Bob Dale 21 4 21 4 0 0
DF Scotland Jimmy Elder 39 4 37 4 2 0
DF England George French 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF England John Harrison 42 0 41 0 1 0
DF England Bertie Hill 16 1 16 1 0 0
DF England Ron Hunt 2 0 2 0 0 0
DF England Doug Keene 24 1 22 1 2 0
DF England Digger Kettle 4 0 3 0 1 0
DF England Fred Lewis 48 0 46 0 2 0
DF England Reg Stewart 27 0 27 0 0 0
FW England John Church 7 0 6 0 1 0
FW England Mike Grice 18 2 18 2 0 0
FW England Kevin McCurley 34 9 32 8 2 1
DF Scotland Johnny McKim 19 6 19 6 0 0
FW England Ken Plant 17 6 17 6 0 0
FW England Peter Wright 23 2 22 2 1 0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
FW England Bert Barlow 34 10 32 10 2 0
FW England Dick Cullum 1 0 1 0 0 0
FW England Tommy Harris 3 0 3 0 0 0
FW England Augie Scott 39 4 37 4 2 0

Goalscorers

[8]

Place Nation Position Name Third Division South FA Cup Total
1 England FW Bert Barlow 10 0 10
2 England FW Kevin McCurley 8 1 9
3 Scotland FW Johnny McKim 6 0 6
England FW Ken Plant 6 0 6
5 England DF Bob Dale 4 0 4
Scotland DF Jimmy Elder 4 0 4
England FW Augie Scott 4 0 4
8 England DF Harry Bearryman 2 0 2
England FW Mike Grice 2 0 2
England FW Peter Wright 2 0 2
11 England DF Bertie Hill 1 0 1
England DF Doug Keene 1 0 1
Own goals 0 0 0
TOTALS 51 1 52

Disciplinary record

[9]

Nationality Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Booked Red card Booked Red card Booked Red card
TOTALS 0 0 0 0 0 0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.[10]

Place Nation Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Not recorded
 46 2 48

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[11]

Position Player Date Opponent Ground Notes
DF England Doug Keene 20 August 1953 Torquay United Layer Road
DF England Fred Lewis 20 August 1953 Torquay United Layer Road
FW England Tommy Harris 10 October 1953 Coventry City Layer Road
DF England Bob Dale 2 January 1954 Crystal Palace Selhurst Park
FW England Ken Plant 6 February 1954 Swindon Town Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date Pos Player From Fee Ref
1 June 1953 DF England Fred Lewis England Chelsea Free transfer [12]
1 June 1953 FW England Tommy Harris England Leyton Orient Swap with Stan Edwards [13]
1 July 1953 FW England Russell Blake England Dedham Old Boys Free transfer [14]
20 August 1953 DF England Doug Keene England Brighton & Hove Albion £1,000 [15]
1 October 1953 DF Republic of Ireland Austin Dunne Republic of Ireland Limerick Free transfer [16]
24 December 1953 DF England Bob Dale England Bury £1,500 [17]
1 January 1954 FW England Ken Plant England Bury Undisclosed [18]

Out

Date Pos Player To Fee Ref
2 May 1953 DF England Phil Rookes England Chichester City Manager [19]
1 June 1953 FW England Stan Edwards England Leyton Orient Swap with Tommy Harris [20]
22 August 1953 DF Wales Trevor Rowlands England Great Yarmouth Town Free transfer [21]
5 December 1953 FW England Tommy Harris England Tonbridge Free transfer [13]
23 January 1954 FW England Dick Cullum England Sittingbourne Free transfer [22]
13 March 1954 FW England Bert Barlow Retired Retired [23]
17 April 1954 FW England Augie Scott England Chelmsford City Player-manager [24]

See also

References

General

Books

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Websites

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Specific

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