1952–53 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1952–53 season
Chairman Bill Allen[1]
Manager Jimmy Allen
(until 2 May)
Stadium Layer Road
Third Division South 22nd
FA Cup 3rd round
(eliminated by
Rotherham United)
Top goalscorer League:
Kevin McCurley (16)
All:
Kevin McCurley (19)
Highest home attendance 14,674
v Ipswich Town, 23 August 1952[2]
Lowest home attendance 3,382
v Crystal Palace, 19 March 1953[3]
Average home league attendance 8,002[4]
Biggest win 6–1
v Walsall, 14 February 1953
Biggest defeat 0–4
v Southend United, 7 March 1953;
1–5
v Torquay United, 18 April 1953;
0–4
v Norwich City, 2 May 1953
Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; white shorts;; and blue socks with white, horizontal hoops).
Home colours
← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The 1952–53 season was Colchester United's eleventh season in their history and their third 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 reached the third round of the FA Cup for the second season running, but were knocked out by Second Division side Rotherham United after a replay. The club struggled in the league, eventually finishing 22nd of 24 teams which would ultimately cost manager Jimmy Allen his job.

Season overview

The season began with a Layer Road crowd of 14,674 witnessing a 0–0 draw with local rivals Ipswich Town, and in the early stages of the campaign, the club remained mid-table. In the FA Cup, Colchester disposed of Weymouth in the first round following a replay, and then Llanelli in the second round, before once again facing Second Division Yorkshire opposition in Rotherham United. After drawing 2–2 at Millmoor and forcing a replay, Colchester lost the Layer Road replay 2–0.

In the latter stages of the season, a poor run of just one point from six games saw United slip from 13th-position to 22nd, just one place and two points above the re-election positions. Meanwhile, forward Kevin McCurley had justified manager Jimmy Allen's £750 outlay with a return of 19 goals. However, with Allen's style of play criticised by supporters and his unwillingness to reduce the playing staff as requested by the board saw Allen tender his resignation on 2 May 1953.[5]

Players

As of match played 2 May 1953.[6]

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 Brian Dobson
Scotland DF Jimmy Elder
England DF George French
England DF Trevor Harris
England DF John Harrison
England DF Bertie Hill
England DF Billy Hunt
England DF Ron Hunt
England DF Digger Kettle
No. Position Player
England DF Phil Rookes
Wales DF Trevor Rowlands
England DF Reg Stewart
England FW Peter Aitchison
England FW Bert Barlow
England FW John Church
England FW Dick Cullum
England FW Stan Edwards
England FW Mike Grice
England FW Kevin McCurley
Scotland FW Johnny McKim
England FW Augie Scott
England FW Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division South

Third Division South results round by round

Round12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940414243444546
GroundHHAAHHAAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAAHHAHAHAHHAHHAAHAAHHAAH
Result D W D L W L L L W L W D L D L D W W W D L L W L D W L W D D L D W D D L L D W L L D L L L L
Position 13 5 5 13 10 14 17 17 17 17 14 18 20 19 19 19 18 17 15 15 15 18 17 17 17 15 17 16 16 15 17 17 11 12 10 14 16 16 13 16 17 17 21 21 22 22

Last updated: 28 February 2016.
Source:
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

      Win       Draw       Loss

League table

PosTeamPldWDLGFGAGAv1Pts2Notes
20Queens Park Rangers4612151961820.74439
21Gillingham4612151955740.74339
22Colchester United4612142059760.77638
23Shrewsbury Town4612122268910.74736Re-elected
24Walsall4671029561180.47524

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

Main article: 1952–53 FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[6][7]

No. Pos Nat Player TotalThird Division
South 		FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Frank Coombs 18 0 18 0 0 0
GK England George Wright 33 0 28 0 5 0
DF England Harry Bearryman 50 1 45 1 5 0
DF England Roy Bicknell 8 0 6 0 2 0
DF Scotland Jimmy Elder 50 3 45 3 5 0
DF England George French 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF England John Harrison 51 0 46 0 5 0
DF England Bertie Hill 1 0 1 0 0 0
DF England Phil Rookes 46 0 43 0 3 0
DF Wales Trevor Rowlands 5 2 5 2 0 0
DF England Reg Stewart 45 0 40 0 5 0
FW England Peter Aitchison 3 0 3 0 0 0
FW England Bert Barlow 33 7 28 6 5 1
FW England John Church 39 9 34 8 5 1
FW England Stan Edwards 19 7 16 5 3 2
FW England Mike Grice 13 1 13 1 0 0
FW England Kevin McCurley 47 19 42 16 5 3
FW Scotland Johnny McKim 33 15 28 13 5 2
FW England Augie Scott 40 2 38 2 2 0
FW England Peter Wright 12 2 12 2 0 0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
DF England Len Jones 13 0 13 0 0 0
DF England Harry Wilkinson 1 0 1 0 0 0

Goalscorers

[7]

Place Nation Position Name Third Division South FA Cup Total
1 England FW Kevin McCurley 16 3 19
2 Scotland FW Johnny McKim 13 2 15
3 England FW John Church 8 1 9
4 England FW Bert Barlow 6 1 7
England FW Stan Edwards 5 2 7
6 Scotland DF Jimmy Elder 3 0 3
7 Wales DF Trevor Rowlands 2 0 2
England FW Augie Scott 2 0 2
England FW Peter Wright 2 0 2
10 England DF Harry Bearryman 1 0 1
England FW Mike Grice 1 0 1
Own goals 0 1 1
TOTALS 60 9 69

Disciplinary record

[8]

Nationality Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Red card Red card Red card
Scotland FW Johnny McKim 0 1 0 0 0 1
TOTALS 0 1 0 0 0 1

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.[9]

Place Nation Position Player Third Division South FA Cup Total
Not recorded
 46 5 51

Player debuts

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

Position Player Date Opponent Ground Notes
FW England Stan Edwards 6 September 1952 Swindon Town Layer Road
FW England Mike Grice 11 September 1952 Bristol Rovers Layer Road
FW England Bert Barlow 13 September 1952 Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road
DF England Roy Bicknell 4 October 1952 Gillingham Layer Road
DF England George French 4 October 1952 Gillingham Layer Road
DF England Harry Wilkinson 14 March 1953 Watford Layer Road
DF England Bertie Hill 11 April 1953 Bristol City Layer Road

    Transfers and contracts

    In

    Date Pos Player From Fee Ref
    23 May 1952 GK England John Wright England Colchester Casuals Free transfer [11]
    1 June 1952 DF England Roy Bicknell England Gravesend & Northfleet £1,000 [12]
    1 July 1952 DF England Billy Hunt Apprentice Free transfer [13]
    6 September 1952 FW England Stan Edwards England Chelsea £750 [14]
    11 September 1952 FW England Mike Grice England Lowestoft Town £25 [15]
    13 September 1952 FW England Bert Barlow England Leicester City £1,000 [16]
    30 September 1952 DF England Bertie Hill England Chelsea £300 [17]

    Out

    Date Pos Player To Fee Ref
    3 May 1952 FW Scotland Adam Davidson Scotland Carnoustie Panmure Released [18]
    31 May 1952 DF England John Moore England Staines Town Free transfer [19]
    31 May 1952 FW England Jack McClelland England Stoke City Undisclosed [20][21]
    14 March 1953 DF England Harry Wilkinson England Folkestone Town Released [22]
    4 April 1953 DF England Len Jones England Ipswich Town Released [23]

    See also

    References

    General

    Books

    Websites

    Specific

    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 0–0 Ipswich Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    3. ↑ "Colchester Utd 3–0 Crystal Palace". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    4. ↑ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    5. ↑ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
    6. 1 2 "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    7. 1 2 "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    8. ↑ "Discipline". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    9. ↑ "All matches". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    10. ↑ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    11. ↑ "John Wright". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
    12. ↑ "Roy Bicknell". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    13. ↑ "Billy Hunt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
    14. ↑ "Stan Edwards". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    15. ↑ "Mike Grice". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    16. ↑ "Bert Barlow". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    17. ↑ "Bert Hill". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    18. ↑ "Adam Davidson". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    19. ↑ "John Moore". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    20. ↑ "JOHNNY McCLELLAND". Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database. Retrieved 10 February 2016.
    21. ↑ Matthews, Tont (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City Football Club 1868 to 1994. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
    22. ↑ "Harry Wilkinson". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    23. ↑ "Len Jones". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.