1951–52 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1951–52 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Jimmy Allen
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	10th
FA Cup	3rd round (eliminated by Barnsley)
Top goalscorer	League: Vic Keeble (16) All: Vic Keeble (17)
Highest home attendance	15,175 v Ipswich Town, 1 March 1952[2]
Lowest home attendance	6,128 v Watford, 3 May 1952[3]
Average home league attendance	9,429[4]
Biggest win	4–1 v Bristol City, 20 October 1951; 4–1 v Reading, 3 April 1952
Biggest defeat	0–7 v Leyton Orient, 5 January 1952
Home colours
← 1950–51 1952–53 →

The 1951–52 season was Colchester United's tenth season in their history and their second 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 before being knocked out by Second Division side Barnsley. In the league, they bettered the previous season's 16th-placed finish by finishing 10th.

Season overview

Colchester's 1951–52 season began poorly, with six defeats in the opening seven games due to an injury-ravaged squad. Rooted to the foot of the table, a mid-season revival including a double over local rivals Ipswich Town eventually saw the U's finish the season 10th in the final standings.

Vic Keeble became Colchester's first export that commanded a high transfer fee when he moved to First Division Newcastle United for a £15,000 fee in January 1952. Despite his mid-season sale, Keeble remained the top scorer for the U's with 17 goals. Manager Jimmy Allen signed Kevin McCurley from Liverpool for £750 as a replacement for Keeble in March 1952. He scored six times in eleven games during the final two months of the campaign.^[5]

Players

As of match played 3 May 1952.^[6]

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

No. Position Player GK Frank Coombs GK George Wright DF Harry Bearryman DF Brian Dobson DF Jimmy Elder DF George French DF Trevor Harris DF John Harrison DF Ron Hunt DF Len Jones DF Digger Kettle DF John Moore DF Phil Rookes

No. Position Player DF Trevor Rowlands DF Reg Stewart DF Harry Wilkinson FW Peter Aitchison FW John Church FW Dick Cullum FW Adam Davidson FW Jack McClelland FW Kevin McCurley FW Johnny McKim FW Augie Scott FW Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division South

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	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	H
Result	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	D	D	D	W	W	D	L	L	W	D	D	D	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	W	L	L	D	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	D	D	W
Position	20	20	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	23	22	22	20	18	16	19	20	17	19	16	17	14	13	13	14	14	11	13	11	12	13	13	11	12	12	13	11	10	10	9	9	10	11	10	11	10

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

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Promotion, qualification or relegation
8	Northampton Town	46	22	5	19	93	74	1.257	49
9	Southend United	46	19	10	17	75	66	1.136	48
10	Colchester United	46	17	12	17	56	77	0.727	46
11	Torquay United	46	17	10	19	86	98	0.878	44
12	Aldershot	46	18	8	20	78	89	0.876	44

^{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

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Frank Coombs	13	0	13	0	0	0
	DF		George Wright	36	0	33	0	3	0
	DF		Harry Bearryman	49	0	46	0	3	0
	DF		Jimmy Elder	47	3	44	2	3	1
	DF		John Harrison	44	0	41	0	3	0
	DF		Ron Hunt	3	0	3	0	0	0
	DF		Len Jones	18	1	17	1	1	0
	DF		Digger Kettle	3	0	3	0	0	0
	DF		John Moore	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		Phil Rookes	28	0	25	0	3	0
	DF		Trevor Rowlands	26	1	26	1	0	0
	DF		Reg Stewart	47	0	44	0	3	0
	FW		Peter Aitchison	9	2	9	2	0	0
	FW		John Church	41	3	38	3	3	0
	FW		Adam Davidson	21	1	19	0	2	1
	FW		Kevin McCurley	11	6	11	6	0	0
	FW		Johnny McKim	27	10	26	10	1	0
	FW		Augie Scott	48	6	45	4	3	2
	FW		Peter Wright	9	0	9	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	FW		Fred Cutting	20	9	18	9	2	0
	FW		Vic Keeble	28	17	25	16	3	1
	FW		Arthur Turner	9	2	9	2	0	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1		FW	Vic Keeble	16	1	17
2		FW	Johnny McKim	10	0	10
3		FW	Fred Cutting	9	0	9
4		FW	Kevin McCurley	6	0	6
		FW	Augie Scott	4	2	6
6		FW	John Church	3	0	3
		DF	Jimmy Elder	2	1	3
8		FW	Peter Aitchison	2	0	2
		FW	Arthur Turner	2	0	2
10		FW	Adam Davidson	0	1	1
		DF	Len Jones	1	0	1
		DF	Trevor Rowlands	1	0	1
			Own goals	0	0	0
			TOTALS	56	5	61

Disciplinary record

^[8]

Nationality	Position	Player	Third Division South		FA Cup		Total
	DF	Reg Stewart	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	3	49

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
DF	Phil Rookes	18 August 1951	Brighton & Hove Albion	Goldstone Ground
FW	Augie Scott	18 August 1951	Brighton & Hove Albion	Goldstone Ground
FW	Adam Davidson	13 September 1951	Plymouth Argyle	Layer Road
FW	Peter Aitchison	25 December 1951	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium
GK	Frank Coombs	8 March 1952	Bristol City	Ashton Gate Stadium
DF	Ron Hunt	15 March 1952	Port Vale	Layer Road
FW	Kevin McCurley	22 March 1952	Northampton Town	County Ground
FW	Peter Wright	22 March 1952	Northampton Town	County Ground

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 June 1951	DF	Harry Wilkinson	Exeter City	Free transfer	[11]
1 June 1951	FW	Jack McClelland	Apprentice	Free transfer	[12][13]
1 July 1951	DF	Brian Dobson	Apprentice	Free transfer	[14]
1 July 1951	DF	Trevor Harris	Apprentice	Free transfer	[15]
1 July 1951	DF	Phil Rookes	Portsmouth	£1,000	[16]
1 August 1951	FW	Adam Davidson	Sheffield Wednesday	Free transfer	[17]
18 August 1951	FW	Augie Scott	Southampton	£2,000	[18]
15 February 1952	DF	Ron Hunt	Apprentice	Free transfer	[19]
8 March 1952	GK	Frank Coombs	Southend United	£450	[20]
22 March 1952	FW	Kevin McCurley	Liverpool	£750	[21]
22 March 1952	FW	Peter Wright	Apprentice	Free transfer	[22]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
31 May 1951	DF	Bill Layton	Harwich & Parkeston	Player-manager	[23]
31 May 1951	FW	Bob Curry	Clacton Town	Player-manager	[24]
2 November 1951	FW	Dennis Hillman	Gillingham	Free transfer	[25]
26 January 1952	FW	Vic Keeble	Newcastle United	£15,000	[26]
23 February 1952	FW	Fred Cutting	Great Yarmouth Town	Free transfer	[27]
15 March 1952	FW	Arthur Turner	Headington United	Free transfer	[28]

See also

• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons

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: 1952". 11v11.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016. 
• "Statistics 1951/52". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 24 March 2016. 
• "1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Retrieved 24 March 2016. 

Specific