1949–50 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1949–50 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Jimmy Allen
Stadium	Layer Road
Southern League	2nd Elected to The Football League
FA Cup	4th qualifying round (eliminated by Wealdstone)
Southern League Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Vic Keeble (42) All: Vic Keeble (46)
Highest home attendance	14,718 v Chelmsford City, 17 September 1949[2]
Lowest home attendance	5,352 v Cheltenham Town, 23 March 1950[3]
Average home league attendance	8,639[4]
Biggest win	8–0 v Kidderminster Harriers, 19 November 1949
Biggest defeat	0–5 v Merthyr Tydfil, 26 April 1950; 1–6 v Gillingham, 29 April 1950
Home colours
← 1948–49 1950–51 →

The 1949–50 season was Colchester United's eighth season in their history and their eighth and final season 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 runner-up to Merthyr Tydfil in the league, but despite this Colchester were elected to The Football League at the end of the campaign with the expansion of the League from 88 to 92 clubs.^[5] The club won the Southern League Cup 6–4 on aggregate, while they exited the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage following a 1–0 defeat by Wealdstone.

Season overview

Layer Road suffered storm damage ahead of the 1949–50 season, and owing to a shortage of steel, re-construction work was not complete as the season commenced. Manager Jimmy Allen strengthened his defence with the signing of Reg Stewart from Sheffield Wednesday and Bill Layton from Bradford Park Avenue, and by Christmas 1949, Colchester had lost just three of their 28 games played, one of which was the 1–0 FA Cup fourth qualifying round defeat to Wealdstone. The game was one of the first FA Cup ties to be broadcast on television, but on this occasion it was the U's who were on the receiving end of a cup shock.

Colchester had topped the table all season until a fixture-congested April, which saw them held to home draws by Torquay United Reserves and Gravesend & Northfleet, while suffering 5–0 and 6–1 defeats at main title rivals Merthyr Tydfil and Gillingham in the space of three days. Between those defeats, the U's had recovered some pride with a 3–0 Southern League Cup final first-leg win over Bath City. Competing in their fourth match in just five days, a weary Colchester side allowed Bath to lead the second-leg 4–1, meaning the tie would go to extra time. Vic Keeble and Dennis Hillman scored in the added 30-minutes, helping Colchester lift the trophy for the second time.

With Gillingham having defeated Merthyr Tydfil during midweek, all Colchester needed to do in their final fixture was to win at Barry Town to secure the title. However, they were held to a goalless draw and Merthyr Tydfil took the title on goal average. Despite this, Vic Keeble had been the club's top scorer with 46 goals, a record which remains intact. Supplementing this were Fred Cutting's 24 goal haul and Bob Curry's 22, while fellow forward Arthur Turner had spent the majority of the season out injured with cartilage damage.

On 3 June 1950, only Everton and West Bromwich Albion opposed the expansion of the Football League from 88 to 92 clubs by expanding the Third Division North and South, instead preferring another regional league. Of the applications for Third Division South election, Gillingham polled 44 votes, Colchester 28, Worcester City 11, Chelmsford City 8, Peterborough United 5 and Merthyr Tydfil and Yeovil Town just one vote each. Colchester United were elected to the Football League with a Supporters Club membership of over 16,000 and an average gate of over 8,500.^[6]

Players

As of match played 6 May 1950.^[7]

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 DF Doug Beach DF Harry Bearryman DF George French DF Digger Kettle DF Bill Layton DF John Moore DF Ronnie Sales DF Reg Stewart

No. Position Player FW Bob Allen FW Bob Curry FW Fred Cutting FW Stan Foxall FW José Gallego FW Dennis Hillman FW Vic Keeble FW Denis Maffey FW Arthur Turner

Match details

Southern League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Merthyr Tydfil	46	34	3	9	143	62	2.31	71	Southern League champions, no promotion
2	Colchester United (P)	46	31	9	6	109	51	2.14	71	Elected to Third Division South
3	Yeovil Town	46	29	7	10	104	45	2.31	65
4	Chelmsford City	46	26	9	11	121	64	1.89	61
5	Gillingham (P)	46	23	9	14	92	61	1.51	55	Elected to Third Division South

^{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

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[7][8]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Southern League		Southern League Cup		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		George Wright	52	0	46	0	5	0	1	0
	DF		Doug Beach	35	0	30	0	4	0	1	0
	DF		Harry Bearryman	52	4	46	3	5	1	1	0
	DF		Digger Kettle	44	0	39	0	4	0	1	0
	DF		Bill Layton	43	7	37	7	5	0	1	0
	DF		John Moore	13	0	13	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Ronnie Sales	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Reg Stewart	51	0	45	0	5	0	1	0
	FW		Bob Allen	17	3	16	3	1	0	0	0
	FW		Bob Curry	42	22	37	20	4	2	1	0
	FW		Fred Cutting	52	24	46	21	5	3	1	0
	FW		Stan Foxall	51	5	45	5	5	0	1	0
	FW		José Gallego	8	1	8	1	0	0	0	0
	FW		Dennis Hillman	41	6	35	4	5	2	1	0
	FW		Vic Keeble	51	46	45	42	5	4	1	0
	FW		Denis Maffey	6	0	5	0	1	0	0	0
	FW		Arthur Turner	6	0	5	0	1	0	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	DF		Bill Bower	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Len Cater	4	0	4	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		John Sharpe	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[8]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Southern League	Southern League Cup	FA Cup	Total
1		FW	Vic Keeble	42	4	0	46
2		FW	Fred Cutting	21	3	0	24
3		FW	Bob Curry	20	2	0	22
4		DF	Bill Layton	7	0	0	7
5		FW	Dennis Hillman	4	2	0	6
6		FW	Stan Foxall	5	0	0	5
7		DF	Harry Bearryman	3	1	0	4
8		FW	Bob Allen	3	0	0	3
9		FW	José Gallego	1	0	0	1
			Own goals	3	0	0	3
			TOTALS	109	12	0	121

Disciplinary record

^[9]

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.^[10]

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Southern League	Southern League Cup	FA Cup	Total
			Not recorded	46	5	1	52

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[11]

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
DF	Bill Layton	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
DF	Reg Stewart	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
FW	José Gallego	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
DF	John Moore	8 September 1949	Chingford Town	Newgate Street
DF	Doug Beach	8 October 1949	Chelmsford City	Layer Road	[lower-alpha 1]
DF	Ronnie Sales	20 October 1949	Lovell's Athletic	Rexville
FW	John Sharpe	22 October 1949	Yeovil Town	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 July 1949	FW	José Gallego	Southampton	Free transfer	[12]
20 August 1949	DF	Bill Layton	Bradford Park Avenue	£800	[13]
20 August 1949	DF	Reg Stewart	Sheffield Wednesday	£1,000	[14]
8 September 1949	DF	John Moore	Brentford	£1,000	[15]
8 October 1949	DF	Doug Beach	Southend United	Free transfer	[16]
20 October 1949	DF	Ronnie Sales	Leyton Orient	Free transfer	[17]
22 October 1949	FW	John Sharpe	Southampton	Free transfer	[18]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
7 May 1949	DF	Frank Stamper	Hartlepools United	Undisclosed	[19]
31 May 1949	GK	Harry Wright	Guildford City	Coach	[20]
31 May 1949	DF	Alf Miller	Colchester United	Coaching staff	[21]
31 May 1949	DF	Wally Nunn	Guildford City	Free transfer	[22]
31 May 1949	FW	Andy Brown	Kidderminster Harriers	Free transfer	[23]
31 May 1949	FW	Norman George	Free agent	Released	[24]
31 May 1949	FW	Ray Townrow	Clacton Town	Free transfer	[25]
10 September 1949	FW	Len Cater	Clacton Town	Free transfer	[26]
1 October 1949	DF	Bill Bower	Sudbury Town	Free transfer	[27]
22 October 1949	FW	John Sharpe	Free agent	Released	[18]

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