1954–55 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1954–55 season
Chairman	Bill Allen
Manager	Jack Butler; (until 14 January); Alf Miller & Claude Orrin; (January to March); Benny Fenton; (from March)
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	24th (re-elected)
FA Cup	1st round; (eliminated by; Reading)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Ken Plant (13); All: ; Ken Plant (13)
Highest home attendance	10,809; v Southend United, 8 April 1955
Lowest home attendance	3,517; v Torquay United, 31 March 1955
Average home league attendance	7,284
Biggest win	4–1; v Northampton Town, 4 September 1954
Biggest defeat	1–6; v Northampton Town, 18 April 1955
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1953–54 1955–56 →

The 1954–55 season was Colchester United's 13th season in their history and their fifth 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. Following a replay, Colchester were knocked out of the FA Cup in the first round by Reading. Meanwhile, in the league, Colchester's poor run of form had Jack Butler allowed indefinite leave following a bout of ill health. After resigning in January 1955, Colchester appointed Benny Fenton as his replacement, and despite an upturn in form, a run of defeats at the end of the season meant Colchester needed to apply for re-election for the second successive season. Once more, all clubs applying for re-election were successful, with Colchester receiving 44 votes, behind Third Division North clubs Grimsby Town (49 votes) and Chester City (47 votes), but eleven votes ahead of division rivals Walsall.^[5]

Season overview

Eight successive league defeats from October to December saw Colchester bottom of the league for Christmas Day, and the plight of the club had begun to have an effect on the health of manager Jack Butler. After falling ill in November, Butler was handed indefinite leave until by the club until the end of his contract in 1956. Suffering from a mental breakdown, Butler eventually resigned on 14 January 1955, while club secretary Claude Orrin was charged with finding a new manager.

During this transitional period, Orrin and Alf Miller took charge of the first-team, before appointing Benny Fenton as manager after attracting 48 applications for the vacancy. Despite a brief boost in on-field fortunes in March and early April, performances tailed off as Colchester picked up just one point in the final eight games of the campaign. The club finished bottom of the Football League and were again required to seek re-election, in which they were successful.^[6]

Players

As of match played 4 May 1955.^[7]

Name	Position	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
George Wright	GK	Plymouth	(1919-10-10)10 October 1919 (aged 34)	205	0	Plymouth Argyle	May 1949	£1,000
John Wright	GK	Aldershot	(1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 20)	0	0	Colchester Casuals	23 May 1952	Free transfer
Defenders
Roy Bicknell	CB	Doncaster	(1926-02-19)19 February 1926 (aged 28)	29	0	Gravesend & Northfleet	June 1952	£1,000
George French	FB	Colchester	(1926-11-10)10 November 1926 (aged 27)	3	0	West Ham United	February 1949	Free transfer
John Harrison	FB	Leicester	(1927-09-27)27 September 1927 (aged 26)	170	0	Aston Villa	30 September 1950^[a]	Nominal
Billy Hunt	CB	Colchester	(1934-11-25)25 November 1934 (aged 19)	0	0	Amateur	August 1953	Free transfer
Digger Kettle	FB	Colchester	(1922-06-03)3 June 1922 (aged 31)	172	1	Arclight Sports	September 1946	Free transfer
Fred Lewis	FB	Broughton Gifford	(1923-07-26)26 July 1923 (aged 30)	48	0	Chelsea	Summer 1953	Free transfer
Reg Stewart	CB	Sheffield	(1925-10-30)30 October 1925 (aged 28)	218	0	Sheffield Wednesday	20 August 1949^[a]	£1,000
Midfielders
Bob Dale	WH	Irlam	(1931-10-31)31 October 1931 (aged 22)	21	4	Bury	24 December 1953	£1,500
Austin Dunne	WH	Limerick	(1934-07-31)31 July 1934 (aged 19)	0	0	Limerick	October 1953	Free transfer
Jimmy Elder	WH	Scone	(1928-03-05)5 March 1928 (aged 26)	182	14	Portsmouth	19 August 1950^[a]	£1,000
Benny Fenton	WH	West Ham	(1918-10-10)10 October 1918 (aged 35)	0	0	Charlton Athletic	5 March 1955^[a]	£500
Trevor Harris	WH	Colchester	(1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 18)	0	0	Amateur	July 1951	Free transfer
Bert Hill	WH	West Ham	(1930-03-08)8 March 1930 (aged 24)	17	1	Chelsea	September 1952	£300
Ron Hunt	WH	Colchester	(1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 20)	5	0	Amateur	October 1951	Free transfer
Forwards
Cliff Birch	WG	Newport	(1928-09-01)1 September 1928 (aged 25)	0	0	Newport County	June 1954	£1,000
Mike Grice	WG	Woking	(1931-11-03)3 November 1931 (aged 22)	31	3	Lowestoft Town	Summer 1952	£25
Paddy Leonard	IF	Dublin	(1929-07-25)25 July 1929 (aged 24)	0	0	Bristol Rovers	July 1954	Free transfer
Kevin McCurley	CF	Consett	(1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 28)	92	34	Liverpool	June 1951	£750
Johnny McKim	IF	Greenock	(1926-01-22)22 January 1926 (aged 28)	103	39	Chelsea	19 August 1950^[a]	£1,000
Ken Plant	CF	Nuneaton	(1925-08-15)15 August 1925 (aged 28)	17	6	Bury	January 1954	Undisclosed
Peter Wright	WG	Colchester	(1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 20)	44	4	Amateur	November 1951	Free transfer

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1954	GK	Jimmy Kirk	Bury	Free transfer	^[8]
Summer 1954	FB	Ron George	Crystal Palace	Free transfer	^[9]
June 1954	WH	Frank McCourt	Manchester City	Nominal	^[10]
June 1954	WG	Cliff Birch	Newport County	£1,000	^[11]
July 1954	IF	Paddy Leonard	Bristol Rovers	Free transfer	^[12]
5 March 1955	WH	Benny Fenton	Charlton Athletic	£500	^[13]^[a]

Total spending: ~ £1,500

^ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Out

Date	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1954	GK	Frank Coombs	Gravesend & Northfleet	Released	^[14]
Summer 1954	WH	Doug Keene	Dartford	Released	^[15]
Summer 1954	WG	John Church	Crittall Athletic	Released	^[16]
31 May 1954	WH	Harry Bearryman	Metropolitan Police	Free transfer	^[17]
6 November 1954	WG	Peter Aitchison	Sittingbourne	Free transfer	^[18]^[a]
5 February 1955	FB	Ron George	Sudbury Town	Free transfer	^[9]^[a]
19 February 1955	WH	Frank McCourt	Poole Town	Released	^[10]^[a]
28 April 1955	GK	Jimmy Kirk	Torquay United	Free transfer	^[8]^[a]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d 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	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A
Result	D	D	D	L	W	L	L	L	D	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	D	W	W	L	L	W	D	D	W	D	D	L	L	D	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L
Position	14	13	15	19	11	16	19	20	20	18	22	19	14	18	19	21	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	21	22	23	23	23	22	21	21	22	23	23	23	22	23	23	23	23	24	24	24	24

Source: 11v11.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
20	Crystal Palace	46	11	16	19	52	80	0.650	38
21	Swindon Town	46	11	15	20	46	64	0.719	37
22	Exeter City	46	11	15	20	47	73	0.644	37
23	Walsall	46	10	14	22	75	86	0.872	34	Re-elected
24	Colchester United	46	9	13	24	53	91	0.582	31	Re-elected

Source: rsssf.com

Matches

21 August 1954 (1954-08-21) 1	Colchester United	0–0	Swindon Town	Colchester
		Report Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,767

25 August 1954 (1954-08-25) 2	Exeter City	2–2	Colchester United	Exeter
	Houghton 1' Ellaway 25'	Report	Leonard 16' Grice 33'	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 9,320

28 August 1954 (1954-08-28) 3	Crystal Palace	0–0	Colchester United	Selhurst
		Report		Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 14,348

2 September 1954 (1954-09-02) 4	Colchester United	1–2	Exeter City	Colchester
	Plant	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,963

4 September 1954 (1954-09-04) 5	Colchester United	4–1	Northampton Town	Colchester
	Birch Plant	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,467

9 September 1954 (1954-09-09) 6	Colchester United	0–2	Bristol City	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,522

11 September 1954 (1954-09-11) 7	Watford	2–0	Colchester United	Watford
	Bowie Cook	Report		Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 13,794

14 September 1954 (1954-09-14) 8	Bristol City	4–0	Colchester United	Bristol
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium Attendance: 18,455

18 September 1954 (1954-09-18) 9	Colchester United	3–3	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Colchester
	Dale Plant Grice	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,801

23 September 1954 (1954-09-23) 10	Colchester United	1–0	Norwich City	Colchester
	Dale	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,506

25 September 1954 (1954-09-25) 11	Queens Park Rangers	4–1	Colchester United	Shepherd's Bush
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Birch	Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 11,738

29 September 1954 (1954-09-29) 12	Norwich City	0–2	Colchester United	Norwich
		Report	Dale Plant	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 15,672

2 October 1954 (1954-10-02) 13	Colchester United	1–0	Newport County	Colchester
	McKim	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,691

9 October 1954 (1954-10-09) 14	Colchester United	2–4	Brighton & Hove Albion	Colchester
	McKim Plant pen.'	Report	Foreman Gordon Mundy	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,334

16 October 1954 (1954-10-16) 15	Brentford	3–2	Colchester United	Brentford
	Robertson Stobbart Rainford	Report	McKim Grice	Stadium: Griffin Park Attendance: 10,218

23 October 1954 (1954-10-23) 16	Colchester United	0–1	Coventry City	Colchester
		Report	Capel	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,124

30 October 1954 (1954-10-30) 17	Walsall	3–1	Colchester United	Walsall
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	McKim	Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 11,117

6 November 1954 (1954-11-06) 18	Colchester United	0–2	Millwall	Colchester
		Report	Prior Pacey	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,551

13 November 1954 (1954-11-13) 19	Leyton Orient	2–0	Colchester United	Leyton
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 16,782

27 November 1954 (1954-11-27) 20	Reading	4–0	Colchester United	Reading
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 6,512

4 December 1954 (1954-12-04) 21	Colchester United	2–4	Shrewsbury Town	Colchester
	Plant P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,168

18 December 1954 (1954-12-18) 22	Swindon Town	1–1	Colchester United	Swindon
	McClelland	Report Report	Plant	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 5,254

25 December 1954 (1954-12-25) 23	Aldershot	2–2	Colchester United	Aldershot
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	McKim P. Wright	Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 5,123

27 December 1954 (1954-12-27) 24	Colchester United	1–1	Aldershot	Colchester
	P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,967

1 January 1955 (1955-01-01) 25	Colchester United	2–0	Crystal Palace	Colchester
	Plant P. Wright	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,806

8 January 1955 (1955-01-08) 26	Southampton	0–1	Colchester United	Southampton
		Report	Grice	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 12,449

22 January 1955 (1955-01-22) 27	Colchester United	1–3	Watford	Colchester
	Grice	Report	Adams Cook Paton	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,729

5 February 1955 (1955-02-05) 28	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	2–0	Colchester United	Bournemouth
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Dean Court Attendance: 7,417

12 February 1955 (1955-02-12) 29	Colchester United	1–0	Queens Park Rangers	Colchester
	Leonard	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,903

19 February 1955 (1955-02-19) 30	Newport County	0–0	Colchester United	Newport
		Report		Stadium: Somerton Park Attendance: 5,612

26 February 1955 (1955-02-26) 31	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	Colchester United	Hove
	Moore	Report	Dale	Stadium: Goldstone Ground Attendance: 11,074

5 March 1955 (1955-03-05) 32	Colchester United	3–2	Brentford	Colchester
	Elder pen.' Plant Leonard	Report	Francis Dudley	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,251

12 March 1955 (1955-03-12) 33	Coventry City	0–0	Colchester United	Coventry
		Report		Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 10,058

19 March 1955 (1955-03-19) 34	Colchester United	2–2	Walsall	Colchester
	Grice P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,361

26 March 1955 (1955-03-26) 35	Millwall	5–2	Colchester United	New Cross
	Summers Pacey Hazlett Short	Report	Leonard P. Wright	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 8,349

31 March 1955 (1955-03-31) 36	Colchester United	0–2	Torquay United	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 3,517

2 April 1955 (1955-04-02) 37	Colchester United	2–2	Leyton Orient	Colchester
	Fenton 39' Plant 58'	Report	Rees 6', 75'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,448

8 April 1955 (1955-04-08) 38	Colchester United	2–0	Southend United	Colchester
	Fenton 18' Stewart 23'	Report Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 10,809

9 April 1955 (1955-04-09) 39	Gillingham	2–1	Colchester United	Gillingham
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Elder pen.'	Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 11,002

11 April 1955 (1955-04-11) 40	Southend United	4–2	Colchester United	Southend-on-Sea
	Grant Hollis	Report Report	McKim Leonard	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 8,478

16 April 1955 (1955-04-16) 41	Colchester United	0–2	Reading	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,046

18 April 1955 (1955-04-18) 42	Northampton Town	6–1	Colchester United	Northampton
	Unknown goalscorer Elder o.g.' Harrison o.g.'	Report	McKim	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 3,198

23 April 1955 (1955-04-23) 43	Shrewsbury Town	2–0	Colchester United	Shrewsbury
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 6,735

28 April 1955 (1955-04-28) 44	Colchester United	2–2	Gillingham	Colchester
	P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 5,070

30 April 1955 (1955-04-30) 45	Colchester United	3–5	Southampton	Colchester
	Plant McCurley P. Wright	Report	Brown Hoskins Mulgrew Day Walker	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,386

4 May 1955 (1955-05-04) 46	Torquay United	2–1	Colchester United	Torquay
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Birch	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 2,907

FA Cup

20 November 1954 (1954-11-20) 1st round	Reading	3–3	Colchester United	Reading
	Wheeler 36' Uphill 40' Hill o.g.'	Report	Birch 21' Grice 28' McKim 73'	Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 12,800

25 November 1954 (1954-11-25) 1st round replay	Colchester United	1–2	Reading	Colchester
	Elder pen.'	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,636

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[7]^[19]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	George Wright	14	0	12	0	2	0
	GK	ENG	John Wright	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	John Harrison	35	0	35	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Digger Kettle	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Fred Lewis	41	0	39	0	2	0
	DF	ENG	Reg Stewart	47	1	45	1	2	0
	MF	ENG	Bob Dale	34	4	34	4	0	0
	MF	IRL	Austin Dunne	1	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	SCO	Jimmy Elder	30	3	28	2	2	1
	MF	ENG	Benny Fenton	11	2	11	2	0	0
	MF	ENG	Trevor Harris	1	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Bert Hill	21	0	19	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Hunt	26	0	26	0	0	0
	FW	WAL	Cliff Birch	14	4	12	3	2	1
	FW	ENG	Mike Grice	40	7	38	6	2	1
	FW	IRL	Paddy Leonard	34	5	34	5	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley	18	1	16	1	2	0
	FW	SCO	Johnny McKim	34	8	32	7	2	1
	FW	ENG	Ken Plant	42	13	40	13	2	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	23	9	23	9	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	GK	SCO	Jimmy Kirk	32	0	32	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Ron George	8	0	6	0	2	0
	MF	NIR	Frank McCourt	12	0	12	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Aitchison	6	0	6	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[19]

Place	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	CF	Ken Plant	13	0	13
2	WG	Peter Wright	9	0	9
3	IF	Johnny McKim	7	1	8
4	WG	Mike Grice	6	1	7
5	IF	Paddy Leonard	5	0	5
6	WG	Cliff Birch	3	1	4
6	WH	Bob Dale	4	0	4
8	WH	Jimmy Elder	2	1	3
9	WH	Benny Fenton	2	0	2
10	CF	Kevin McCurley	1	0	1
10	CB	Reg Stewart	1	0	1
		Own goals	0	0	0
		TOTALS	53	4	57

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[20]

Place	Player	Third Division South	Total
1	Jimmy Kirk	7	7
2	George Wright	4	4
	TOTALS	11	11

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[21]

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
GK	Jimmy Kirk	21 August 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road
WH	Frank McCourt	21 August 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road
WG	Cliff Birch	21 August 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road
IF	Paddy Leonard	21 August 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road
FB	Ron George	16 October 1954	Brentford	Griffin Park
WH	Benny Fenton	5 March 1955	Brentford	Layer Road
WH	Austin Dunne	9 April 1955	Gillingham	Priestfield
WH	Trevor Harris	18 April 1955	Northampton Town	County Ground
GK	John Wright	30 April 1955	Southampton	Layer Road

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

"Colchester United football club match record: 1955". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"Statistics 1954/55". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

Specific

^ Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
^ "Colchester Utd 2–0 Southend United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
^ "Colchester Utd 0–2 Torquay United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
^ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
^ "A history of admission to the Football League". Nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
^ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Jimmy Kirk". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Ron George". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Frank McCourt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Cliff Birch". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Paddy Leonard". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Benny Fenton". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Frank Coombs". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Doug Keene". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "John Church". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Harry Bearryman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Peter Aitchison". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
^ "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
^ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[DG-8] Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

[DG-15] Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

[FG-21] Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

[WWCU-1] Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.

[2] "Colchester Utd 2–0 Southend United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

[3] "Colchester Utd 0–2 Torquay United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

[4] "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

[5] "A history of admission to the Football League". Nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 1 March 2016.

[6] Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 22 May 2011.

[apps-7] "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.

[Kirk-9] "Jimmy Kirk". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[George-10] "Ron George". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[McCourt-11] "Frank McCourt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[12] "Cliff Birch". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[13] "Paddy Leonard". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[14] "Benny Fenton". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[16] "Frank Coombs". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[17] "Doug Keene". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[18] "John Church". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[19] "Harry Bearryman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[20] "Peter Aitchison". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[goals-22] "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

[23] "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.

[24] "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

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