1948–49 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1948–49 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Jimmy Allen (from July 1948)
Stadium	Layer Road
Southern League	4th
FA Cup	1st round (eliminated by Reading)
Southern League Cup	Runners-up
Top goalscorer	League: Arthur Turner (28) All: Arthur Turner (31)
Highest home attendance	19,072 v Reading, 27 November 1948[2]
Lowest home attendance	4,131 v Bedford Town, 21 October 1948[3]
Average home league attendance	8,476[4]
Biggest win	6–0 v Bedford Town, 21 October 1948
Biggest defeat	0–5 v Merthyr Tydfil, 22 April 1949; 1–6 v Gloucester City, 30 April 1949
Home colours
← 1947–48 1949–50 →

The 1948–49 season was Colchester United's seventh season in their history and their seventh in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and Southern League Cup. The club finished as runners-up in the Southern League Cup to Yeovil Town just ten days after losing the delayed 1947–48 season final to Merthyr Tydfil. The club exited the FA Cup in the first round to Reading, although the first encounter between the clubs was abandoned due to heavy fog. The match gathered a record Layer Road and Colchester United crowd of 19,072, before being abandoned with the scores at 1–1.

Season overview

Former Aston Villa and Portsmouth defender Jimmy Allen was tasked with taking Colchester United into the Football League when he stepped into the void left following Ted Fenton's departure for West Ham United during the simmer.

The ex-England international oversaw his side reach the final of the Southern League Cup for the second successive season. With the 1947–48 final held over from the previous season, Colchester first lost that final against Merthyr Tydfil 5–0, before losing the 1948–49 season final 3–0 to Yeovil Town ten days later. During these ten days, the club also played four league fixtures.

On the back of a successful FA Cup run across the 1947–48 season, much was expected of Colchester for their 1948–49 campaign. They drew Reading at home for their first-round fixture, but the game which drew a record Layer Road and Colchester United crowd of 19,072 was abandoned with the scores tied at 1–1 due to heavy fog. The rearranged match saw the U's crash out with a 4–2 defeat.

In the Southern League, Colchester once again finished in fourth position while Chelmsford City and Gillingham battled for the title, with the Kent side winning their second title in three years.^[5]

Players

As of match played 7 May 1949.^[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 Ken Whitehead GK George Wright GK Harry Wright DF Harry Bearryman DF Bill Bower DF George French DF Digger Kettle DF Alf Miller DF Wally Nunn DF Frank Stamper FW Bob Allen

No. Position Player FW Andy Brown FW Len Cater FW Bob Curry FW Fred Cutting FW Stan Foxall FW Norman George FW Dennis Hillman FW Vic Keeble FW Denis Maffey FW Ray Townrow FW Arthur Turner

Match details

Southern League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Promotion, qualification or relegation
2	Chelmsford City	42	27	7	8	115	64	1.80	61
3	Merthyr Tydfil	42	26	8	8	133	54	2.46	60
4	Colchester United	42	21	10	11	94	61	1.54	52
5	Worcester City	42	22	7	13	87	56	1.55	51
6	Dartford	42	21	9	12	73	53	1.38	51

^{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

Southern League Cup

1947–48 season fixture

1948–49 season fixtures

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Southern League		Southern League Cup		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Ken Whitehead	38	0	34	0	3	0	1	0
	GK		George Wright	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	GK		Harry Wright	5	0	3	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		Harry Bearryman	48	0	41	0	6	0	1	0
	DF		Digger Kettle	46	0	39	0	6	0	1	0
	DF		Alf Miller	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Wally Nunn	12	0	10	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		Frank Stamper	43	0	37	0	5	0	1	0
	FW		Bob Allen	28	3	23	3	4	0	1	0
	FW		Andy Brown	34	0	29	0	4	0	1	0
	FW		Len Cater	36	8	31	5	4	1	1	2
	FW		Bob Curry	47	19	40	17	6	2	1	0
	FW		Fred Cutting	42	16	35	13	6	3	1	0
	FW		Stan Foxall	35	11	30	7	4	4	1	0
	FW		Norman George	5	1	5	1	0	0	0	0
	FW		Dennis Hillman	23	8	20	6	3	2	0	0
	FW		Vic Keeble	15	8	12	8	3	0	0	0
	FW		Denis Maffey	31	1	28	1	3	0	0	0
	FW		Ray Townrow	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Arthur Turner	36	32	31	29	4	3	1	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	GK		Graham Davies	3	0	2	0	1	0	0	0
	DF		Peter Hildyard	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Harry Cranfield	6	0	6	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Southern League	Southern League Cup	FA Cup	Total
1		FW	Arthur Turner	29	3	0	32
2		FW	Bob Curry	17	2	0	19
3		FW	Fred Cutting	13	3	0	16
4		FW	Stan Foxall	7	4	0	11
5		FW	Len Cater	5	1	2	8
		FW	Dennis Hillman	6	2	0	8
		FW	Vic Keeble	8	0	0	8
8		FW	Bob Allen	3	0	0	3
9		FW	Norman George	1	0	0	1
		FW	Denis Maffey	1	0	0	1
			Unknown goalscorer	3	1	0	4
			Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	94	16	2	112

Disciplinary record

^[8]

Nationality	Position	Player	Southern League		Southern League Cup		FA Cup		Total
		TOTALS	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Captains

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

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Southern League	Southern League Cup	FA Cup	Total
			Not recorded	42	6	1	49

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
DF	Wally Nunn	21 August 1948	Cheltenham Town	Whaddon Road
FW	Harry Cranfield	21 August 1948	Cheltenham Town	Whaddon Road
FW	Stan Foxall	21 August 1948	Cheltenham Town	Whaddon Road
DF	Alf Miller	1 September 1948	Chelmsford City	New Writtle Street
GK	Ken Whitehead	4 September 1948	Barry Town	Jenner Park Stadium
FW	Denis Maffey	11 December 1948	Chelmsford City	New Writtle Street
FW	Norman George	15 April 1949	Guildford City	Layer Road
GK	Graham Davies	28 April 1949	Worcester City	Layer Road
GK	George Wright	5 May 1949	Hereford United	Layer Road
DF	Peter Hildyard	5 May 1949	Hereford United	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
31 May 1948	FW	Denis Maffey	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	[11]
30 June 1948	DF	Wally Nunn	Swindon Town	Free transfer	[12]
30 June 1948	FW	Stan Foxall	West Ham United	Free transfer	[13]
21 August 1948	FW	Harry Cranfield	Bristol Rovers	Free transfer	[14]
31 August 1948	DF	Alf Miller	Plymouth Argyle	Free transfer	[15]
4 September 1948	GK	Ken Whitehead	Clacton Town	Free transfer	[16]
4 September 1948	FW	Norman George	Unknown	Free transfer	[17]
1 February 1949	DF	George French	West Ham United	Free transfer	[18]
23 April 1949	GK	Graham Davies	Watford	Free transfer	[19]
5 May 1949	GK	George Wright	Plymouth Argyle	£1,000	[20]
5 May 1949	DF	Peter Hildyard	Leyton Orient	Trial	[21]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
1 May 1948	GK	Ernest Setchell	Free agent	Released	[22]
31 May 1948	FW	Ian Gillespie	Free agent	Released	[23]
1 June 1948	DF	Ted Fenton	West Ham United	Assistant manager	[24]
1 January 1949	GK	John Le Mare	West Ham United	Free transfer	[25]
2 April 1949	FW	Harry Cranfield	King's Lynn	Free transfer	[14]
2 May 1949	GK	Graham Davies	Hereford United	Free transfer	[19]
5 May 1949	DF	Peter Hildyard	Leyton Orient	End of trial	[21]

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