1957–58 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1957–58 season
Chairman	Bill Allen
Manager	Benny Fenton
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	12th
FA Cup	1st round; (eliminated by; Wisbech Town)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Ken Plant (19); All: ; Ken Plant (19)
Highest home attendance	11,077; v Norwich City, 14 September 1957
Lowest home attendance	4,391; v Northampton Town, 30 September 1957
Average home league attendance	10,891
Biggest win	4–0; v Watford, 26 December 1957
Biggest defeat	0–7; v Reading, 18 September 1957
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1956–57 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.

Season overview

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]

Players

As of match played 1 May 1957.^[6]

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ENG	Percy Ames
—	GK	ENG	John Wright
—	DF	ENG	Brian Dobson
—	DF	ENG	Benny Fenton
—	DF	ENG	George Fisher
—	DF	SCO	John Fowler
—	DF	ENG	Trevor Harris
—	DF	ENG	Bertie Hill
—	DF	ENG	Ron Hunt
—	DF	ENG	John Laidlaw
—	DF	ENG	Alf Marshall
—	DF	SCO	Chic Milligan
—	DF	ENG	Derek Parker


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	ENG	Edgar Rumney
—	FW	ENG	Russell Blake
—	FW	ENG	John Evans
—	FW	SCO	Bobby Hill
—	FW	ENG	Martyn King
—	FW	ENG	Neil Langman
—	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley
—	FW	SCO	Sammy McLeod
—	FW	SCO	Hamish McNeill
—	FW	ENG	Ken Plant
—	FW	ENG	Tommy Williams
—	FW	ENG	Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division South

Third Division South results round by round

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Win Draw Loss

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Promotion, qualification or relegation
10	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	14	14	64	65	0.985	50
11	Newport County	46	17	14	15	73	67	1.090	48
12	Colchester United	46	17	13	16	77	79	0.975	47
13	Northampton Town	46	19	6	21	87	79	1.101	44	Moved to Fourth Division
14	Crystal Palace	46	15	13	18	70	72	0.972	43	Moved to Fourth Division

^{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

24 August 1957 (1957-08-24) 1	Colchester United	3–0	Torquay United	Colchester
	McCurley pen.' P. Wright	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,760

26 August 1957 (1957-08-26) 2	Queens Park Rangers	1–0	Colchester United	Shepherd's Bush
	Cameron	Report		Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 12,135

31 August 1957 (1957-08-31) 3	Brentford	3–3	Colchester United	Brentford
	Newcombe 1' Towers	Report	Parker P. Wright	Stadium: Griffin Park Attendance: 12,730

2 September 1957 (1957-09-02) 4	Colchester United	2–1	Queens Park Rangers	Colchester
	P. Wright 90' McCurley	Report	Finney	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,992

7 September 1957 (1957-09-07) 5	Southend United	2–3	Colchester United	Southend-on-Sea
	Crossan 17'	Report Report	Plant 6' P. Wright 12' McCurley 51' (pen.)	Stadium: Roots Hall Attendance: 18,125

9 September 1957 (1957-09-09) 6	Colchester United	1–3	Reading	Colchester
	McCurley	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,774

14 September 1957 (1957-09-14) 7	Colchester United	1–2	Norwich City	Colchester
	McCurley	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 11,077

18 September 1957 (1957-09-18) 8	Reading	7–0	Colchester United	Reading
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 13,811

21 September 1957 (1957-09-21) 9	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	1–1	Colchester United	Bournemouth
	Dowsett 46'	Report	McNeill 4'	Stadium: Dean Court Attendance: 16,057

26 September 1957 (1957-09-26) 10	Northampton Town	4–1	Colchester United	Northampton
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Plant	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 4,000

28 September 1957 (1957-09-28) 11	Colchester United	1–1	Walsall	Colchester
	P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,366

30 September 1957 (1957-09-30) 12	Colchester United	1–0	Northampton Town	Colchester
	P. Wright	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 4,391

5 October 1957 (1957-10-05) 13	Coventry City	1–0	Colchester United	Coventry
	Griffiths 40'	Report		Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 14,423

9 October 1957 (1957-10-09) 14	Plymouth Argyle	1–1	Colchester United	Plymouth
	Langman	Report Report	McLeod	Stadium: Home Park Attendance: 22,550

12 October 1957 (1957-10-12) 15	Colchester United	3–0	Exeter City	Colchester
	Plant McCurley	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,930

15 October 1957 (1957-10-15) 16	Watford	1–1	Colchester United	Watford
	Anderson	Report	P. Wright	Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 6,580

19 October 1957 (1957-10-19) 17	Gillingham	2–3	Colchester United	Gillingham
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	McCurley Williams	Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 8,535

26 October 1957 (1957-10-26) 18	Colchester United	2–1	Millwall	Colchester
	P. Wright 65' Plant 79'	Report	Shepherd 8'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,260

2 November 1957 (1957-11-02) 19	Swindon Town	4–0	Colchester United	Swindon
	Micklewright 26' Edwards 37' Skull 76' Richards 83'	Report Report		Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 14,198

9 November 1957 (1957-11-09) 20	Colchester United	1–1	Aldershot	Colchester
	Fenton 71'	Report	Lacey 83'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,569

23 November 1957 (1957-11-23) 21	Colchester United	2–1	Port Vale	Colchester
	Plant 5' Williams 45'	Report	Askey 79'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,106 Referee: C. Woan

30 November 1957 (1957-11-30) 22	Newport County	2–2	Colchester United	Newport
	Harris 17' Dixon 28'	Report	Langman 2' Plant 8'	Stadium: Somerton Park Attendance: 8,866

14 December 1957 (1957-12-14) 23	Brighton & Hove Albion	5–2	Colchester United	Hove
	Gordon 4', 76' Sexton Template:Goal20 Harburn 50' Howard 55'	Report	Fisher 16' (pen.) Williams 51'	Stadium: Goldstone Ground Attendance: 9,716

21 December 1957 (1957-12-21) 24	Torquay United	1–3	Colchester United	Torquay
	Northcott 80'	Report	P. Wright 20', 40' Evans	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 5,749

26 December 1957 (1957-12-26) 25	Colchester United	4–0	Watford	Colchester
	Plant Langman	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,379

28 December 1957 (1957-12-28) 26	Colchester United	1–1	Brentford	Colchester
	Langman	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,548

4 January 1958 (1958-01-04) 27	Shrewsbury Town	0–0	Colchester United	Shrewsbury
		Report		Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 5,600

11 January 1958 (1958-01-11) 28	Colchester United	1–0	Southend United	Colchester
	Williams 55'	Report Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,357

18 January 1958 (1958-01-18) 29	Norwich City	1–1	Colchester United	Norwich
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Plant	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 17,523

1 February 1958 (1958-02-01) 30	Colchester United	3–2	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Colchester
	Evans P. Wright	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,091

8 February 1958 (1958-02-08) 31	Walsall	3–0	Colchester United	Walsall
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 7,639

15 February 1958 (1958-02-15) 32	Colchester United	4–1	Coventry City	Colchester
	Fenton pen.' pen.' Plant	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,613

22 February 1958 (1958-02-22) 33	Exeter City	4–3	Colchester United	Exeter
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Evans Plant Langman	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 7,636

1 March 1958 (1958-03-01) 34	Colchester United	3–2	Gillingham	Colchester
	Plant Langman	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,158

8 March 1958 (1958-03-08) 35	Millwall	1–4	Colchester United	New Cross
	Johnson	Report	Plant Langman P. Wright	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 7,307

15 March 1958 (1958-03-15) 36	Colchester United	1–3	Swindon Town	Colchester
	Langman	Report Report	Edwards Richards Kelly	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,241

22 March 1958 (1958-03-22) 37	Port Vale	2–0	Colchester United	Burslem
	Steele Wilkinson	Report		Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 7,161

29 March 1958 (1958-03-29) 38	Colchester United	1–2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Colchester
	Evans	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,751

4 April 1958 (1958-04-04) 39	Crystal Palace	1–1	Colchester United	South Norwood
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Plant	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 17,787

7 April 1958 (1958-04-07) 40	Colchester United	1–1	Crystal Palace	Colchester
	Evans	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,528

12 April 1958 (1958-04-12) 41	Colchester United	1–1	Newport County	Colchester
	Langman	Report	Harris	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,472

16 April 1958 (1958-04-16) 42	Aldershot	2–1	Colchester United	Aldershot
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Plant	Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 2,630

19 April 1958 (1958-04-19) 43	Southampton	3–2	Colchester United	Southampton
	Roper Reeves Page	Report	McCurley	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 13,842

21 April 1958 (1958-04-21) 44	Colchester United	3–0	Shrewsbury Town	Colchester
	Evans McCurley P. Wright	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,092

26 April 1958 (1958-04-26) 45	Colchester United	1–2	Plymouth Argyle	Colchester
	Blake 1'	Report Report	Carter 56' (pen.) Baker 81'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,593

1 May 1958 (1958-05-01) 46	Colchester United	4–2	Southampton	Colchester
	McCurley Blake McLeod Williams	Report	Mulgrew Reeves	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,914

FA Cup

16 November 1957 (1957-11-16) 1st round	Wisbech Town	1–0	Colchester United	Wisbech
	Pye 67'	Report		Stadium: Fenland Park Attendance: 9,552

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6]^[7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Percy Ames	47	0	46	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Brian Dobson	17	0	16	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Benny Fenton	23	3	23	3	0	0
	DF	ENG	George Fisher	46	1	45	1	1	0
	DF	SCO	John Fowler	46	0	46	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Trevor Harris	7	0	7	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Bertie Hill	32	0	31	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Ron Hunt	4	0	4	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Chic Milligan	27	0	26	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Derek Parker	30	1	29	1	1	0
	DF	ENG	Edgar Rumney	5	0	5	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Russell Blake	8	2	8	2	0	0
	FW	ENG	John Evans	24	7	24	7	0	0
	FW	SCO	Bobby Hill	11	0	11	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Neil Langman	23	8	23	8	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley	29	12	28	12	1	0
	FW	SCO	Sammy McLeod	16	2	15	2	1	0
	FW	SCO	Hamish McNeill	2	1	2	1	0	0
	FW	ENG	Ken Plant	45	19	44	19	1	0
	FW	ENG	Tommy Williams	29	5	28	5	1	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	46	16	45	16	1	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Position	Name	Third Division South	Total
1	FW	Ken Plant	19	19
2	FW	Peter Wright	16	16
3	FW	Kevin McCurley	12	12
4	FW	Neil Langman	8	8
5	FW	John Evans	7	7
6	FW	Tommy Williams	5	5
7	DF	Benny Fenton	3	3
8	FW	Russell Blake	2	2
8	FW	Sammy McLeod	2	2
10	DF	George Fisher	1	1
	FW	Hamish McNeill	1	1
	DF	Derek Parker	1	1
		Own goals	0	0
		TOTALS	77	77

Disciplinary record

^[8]

Nationality	Position	Player	Third Division South		FA Cup		Total
Nationality	Position	Player
	DF	Benny Fenton	1	0	0	0	1	0
		TOTALS	1	0	0	0	1	0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.^[9]

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
			Not recorded	46	1	47

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[10]

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
DF	Edgar Rumney	2 September 1957	Queens Park Rangers	Layer Road
FW	Hamish McNeill	21 September 1957	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Dean Court
FW	John Evans	23 November 1957	Port Vale	Layer Road
FW	Neil Langman	23 November 1957	Port Vale	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 May 1957	DF	Edgar Rumney	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	^[11]
1 June 1957	DF	John Laidlaw	Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare	Free transfer	^[12]
1 August 1957	FW	Hamish McNeill	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	£600	^[13]
14 October 1957	DF	Alf Marshall	Dagenham	£25	^[14]
23 November 1957	FW	John Evans	Liverpool	£4,000	^[15]
23 November 1957	FW	Neil Langman	Plymouth Argyle	£6,750	^[16]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
31 May 1957	FW	Les Barrell	Clacton Town	Released	^[17]
1 June 1957	FW	Eddie Smith	Queens Park Rangers	£1,050	^[18]
1 July 1957	DF	Reg Stewart	Hastings Town	Free transfer	^[19]

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.
Kent, Jeff (1990). The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Stafford: Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.

Websites

"Colchester United football club match record: 1958". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"Statistics 1957/58". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. 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 1–2 Norwich City". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^ "Colchester Utd 1–0 Northampton Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
^ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "All matches". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Edgar Rumney". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "John Laidlaw". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.
^ "Hamish McNeill". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Alf Marshall". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
^ "John Evans". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Neil Langman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Les Barrell". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Eddie Smith". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
^ "Reg Stewart". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[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 1–2 Norwich City". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.

[3] "Colchester Utd 1–0 Northampton Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.

[4] "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 17 March 2016.

[5] Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 15 May 2011.

[apps-6] "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2016.

[goals-7] "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[8] "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[9] "All matches". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[10] "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[11] "Edgar Rumney". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[12] "John Laidlaw". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2016.

[13] "Hamish McNeill". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[14] "Alf Marshall". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 March 2016.

[15] "John Evans". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[16] "Neil Langman". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[17] "Les Barrell". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[18] "Eddie Smith". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

[19] "Reg Stewart". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2016.

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