1938–39 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1938–39 season
Chairman	Maurice Pye[1]
Manager	Ted Davis
Stadium	Layer Road
Southern League	Winners
Southern League Mid-Week Section	Runners-up
FA Cup	1st round (eliminated by Folkestone)
Southern League Cup	Semi-final (competition not completed)
Top goalscorer	League: Arthur Pritchard (34) All: Arthur Pritchard (44)
Highest home attendance	13,000 (estimate) v Guildford City, 7 April 1939[2]
Lowest home attendance	4,000 (estimate) v Barry Town, 31 December 1938[3]
Average home league attendance	8,307[4]
Biggest win	8–0 v Dartford, 16 March 1939
Biggest defeat	0–3 v Cardiff City Reserves, 18 March 1939
Home colours
← 1937–38 1939–40 →

The 1938–39 season was Colchester United's second season in their history and their second in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the Southern League Mid-Week Section and Southern League Cup. Colchester won the Southern League title after beating local rivals Chelmsford City to the top of the league by one point. They also reached the 1st round of the FA Cup, where they were eliminated by Folkestone, and finished as runners-up to Tunbridge Wells Rangers in the Mid-Week Section. They reached the semi-final of the Southern League Cup, but the competition could not be completed due to fixture congestion.

Season overview

Manager Ted Davis began strengthening his squad ready for a push to reach the Football League over the summer period. The public responded by turning out in force for a game against Gillingham, with 8,142 in attendance, and a week later, a visit from Arsenal 'A' saw 10,129 watch Colchester beat their counterparts 2–0. However, Davis securing a number of high-profile players came at a cost. Many were still contracted to the Football League clubs that they were signed from, meaning that if Colchester were to gain election to the Football League, the club would have very few contracted players.

Colchester made their first FA Cup outing during the 1938–39 season. They saw off Ilford 4–1 at Layer Road, but were defeated in the first round proper by Folkestone, watched by 8,160.

In a very successful season for the club, Colchester claimed the Southern League title by one point over Guildford City, scoring 110 goals in 44 games. They finished second in the Mid-Week Section, and reached the semi-final of the Southern League Cup, although due to fixture congestion, the game could not be played during the regular season and was postponed until the 1939–40 campaign.

Overall, Colchester scored 161 goals, with Arthur Pritchard netting 44 goals, George Wallis 24, and Alec Cheyne and Len Astill scoring 21 apiece.

The case for Football League election was presented to Football League members on 23 May 1938 by club director Walter Clark. With high hopes for election following a successful season, Colchester United failed to secure a single vote from the members, put down to the fact that there were so many League-registered players on the books that Davis had signed for Colchester.

Despite the League setback, the ownership of the Layer Road ground was passed to Colchester Borough Council, with club chairman Maurice Pye declaring:

“

Every lover of football, will I'm sure, welcome this as a move in the right direction, for whatever happens, this fine open space will always belong to the town, and be for the benefit of Colcestrians and their love of football.[5]

”

Players

As of match played 6 May 1938.^[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 Ronnie Dunn GK Billy Light GK Don Youngs DF Cecil Allan DF Jimmy Baker DF Joe Birch DF Syd Fieldus DF Ian Haley DF George Leslie (captain) DF Robert Morris DF George Ritchie DF George Smith DF Alf Worton

No. Position Player FW Len Astill FW Alec Cheyne FW George Crisp FW Jack Hodge FW Ernie Matthews FW George Merritt FW Robert Murray FW Arthur Pritchard FW Sam Simnett FW Ivan Thacker FW George Wallis FW George Williams

Match details

Friendlies

Southern League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Colchester United (C)	44	31	5	8	110	37	2.97	67	Southern League champions, no promotion
2	Guildford City	44	30	6	8	126	52	2.42	66
3	Gillingham	44	29	6	9	104	57	1.82	64
4	Plymouth Argyle Reserves	44	26	5	13	128	63	2.03	57
5	Yeovil & Petters United	44	22	10	12	85	70	1.21	54

^{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

Southern League Mid-Week Section

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Tunbridge Wells Rangers (C)	16	8	7	1	37	18	2.06	23	Southern League Midweek Section champions
2	Colchester United	16	9	2	5	36	21	1.71	20
3	Norwich City Reserves	16	7	4	5	40	26	1.54	18
4	Millwall Reserves	16	7	4	5	33	23	1.43	18
5	Portsmouth 'A'	16	5	4	7	21	29	0.72	14

^{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

Southern League Cup

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Southern League		FA Cup		Southern League Mid-Week Section		Southern League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Ronnie Dunn	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0
	GK		Billy Light	42	0	26	0	2	0	12	0	2	0
	GK		Don Youngs	20	0	17	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
	DF		Cecil Allan	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0
	DF		Jimmy Baker	21	1	14	1	2	0	5	0	0	0
	DF		Joe Birch	62	1	44	1	2	0	13	0	3	0
	DF		Syd Fieldus	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF		Ian Haley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	DF		George Leslie	58	1	40	0	2	1	13	0	3	0
	DF		Robert Morris	65	5	44	4	2	0	16	1	3	0
	DF		George Ritchie	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	DF		Alf Worton	64	0	44	0	2	0	15	0	3	0
	FW		Len Astill	41	21	27	12	0	0	12	6	2	3
	FW		Alec Cheyne	40	21	29	14	2	0	6	5	3	2
	FW		George Crisp	31	11	20	7	2	1	8	3	1	0
	FW		Jack Hodge	60	17	42	12	2	1	13	3	3	1
	FW		Ernie Matthews	7	4	6	3	0	0	1	1	0	0
	FW		George Merritt	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
	FW		Robert Murray	29	6	21	4	0	0	8	2	0	0
	FW		Arthur Pritchard	59	44	40	34	2	1	14	6	3	3
	FW		Ivan Thacker	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0
	FW		George Wallis	63	24	43	16	2	1	15	6	3	1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	DF		George Smith	36	1	21	0	0	0	13	1	2	0
	FW		Ken Mayes	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Southern League	FA Cup	Southern League Mid-Week Section	Southern League Cup	Total
1		FW	Arthur Pritchard	34	1	6	3	44
2		FW	George Wallis	16	1	6	1	24
3		FW	Len Astill	12	0	6	3	21
		FW	Alec Cheyne	14	0	5	2	21
5		FW	Jack Hodge	12	1	3	1	17
6		FW	George Crisp	7	1	3	0	11
7		FW	Robert Murray	4	0	2	0	6
8		DF	Robert Morris	4	0	1	0	5
9		FW	Ernie Matthews	3	0	1	0	4
10		DF	Jimmy Baker	1	0	0	0	1
		DF	Joe Birch	1	0	0	0	1
		DF	George Leslie	0	1	0	0	1
		DF	George Smith	0	0	1	0	1
		FW	Ivan Thacker	0	0	1	0	1
			Own goals	2	0	1	0	3
			TOTALS	110	5	36	10	161

Disciplinary record

^[8]

Nationality	Position	Player	Southern League		FA Cup		Southern League Mid-Week Section		Southern League Cup		Total
		TOTALS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Captains

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

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Southern League	FA Cup	Southern League Mid-Week Section	Southern League Cup	Total
1		DF	George Leslie	38	2	12	2	54
			Not recorded	6	0	4	1	11

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
GK	Billy Light	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
DF	Joe Birch	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
DF	Robert Morris	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
DF	Alf Worton	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
FW	Len Astill	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
FW	Ernie Matthews	28 August 1938	Gillingham	Layer Road
DF	Cecil Allan	22 September 1938	Norwich City Reserves	Carrow Road
FW	George Merritt	8 October 1938	Aldershot Reserves	Recreation Ground
FW	Robert Murray	2 February 1939	Folkestone	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
20 May 1938	FW	Len Astill	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	[11]
26 May 1938	FW	Ernie Matthews	Sheffield Wednesday	£2,500	[12]
27 May 1938	DF	Cecil Allan	Chelsea	£2,000	[13]
3 June 1938	DF	Alf Worton	Norwich City	Free transfer	[14]
17 June 1938	GK	Billy Light	West Bromwich Albion	£1,500	[15]
24 June 1938	DF	Joe Birch	Fulham	£750	[16]
22 July 1938	DF	Robert Morris	Norwich City	£500	[17]
30 September 1938	FW	George Merritt	Derby County	Free transfer	[18]
24 January 1939	FW	Robert Murray	Bath City	£800	[19]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
14 May 1938	DF	Jimmy Collins	Free agent	Released	[20]
14 May 1938	FW	Bill Barraclough	Doncaster Rovers	Free transfer	[21]
31 May 1938	DF	Cliff Fairchild	Arsenal	£500	[22]
31 May 1938	FW	Bill Pendergast	Chester	Free transfer	[23]
23 June 1938	DF	Alexander Wood	Chelmsford City	Free transfer	[24]
30 September 1938	FW	Albert Bennett	Free agent	Released	[25]
12 January 1939	FW	Ken Mayes	Chelmsford City	Free transfer	[26]

See also

• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons

References

General

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. 

Specific