1953–54 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1953–54 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Ron Meades (11 June to 15 June) Jack Butler (from 16 June)
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	23rd
FA Cup	1st round (eliminated by Millwall)
Top goalscorer	League: Bert Barlow (10) All: Bert Barlow (10)
Highest home attendance	10,316 v Ipswich Town, 19 December 1953[2]
Lowest home attendance	6,035 v Southend United, 29 April 1954[3]
Average home league attendance	7,797[4]
Biggest win	5–0 v Queens Park Rangers, 25 December 1953
Biggest defeat	0–4 v Millwall, 23 November 1953
Home colours
← 1952–53 1954–55 →

The 1953–54 season was Colchester United's twelfth season in their history and their fourth 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 were knocked out in the first round of the cup by Millwall following a replay. The club struggled in the league for the second successive season, eventually finishing 23rd of 24 teams under new manager Jack Butler. The club had to apply for re-election at the end of the season for the first of three occasions in its history. All four clubs applying for re-election were successful, with Colchester receiving 45 votes, behind Chester by three votes but ahead of both Walsall (32 votes) and Halifax Town (28 votes).^[5]

Season overview

Following Jimmy Allen's resignation at the end of the previous season, the Colchester United board shortlisted three names for the vacant managerial position, and in-line with their cost reduction policy, appointed Ron Meades as player-manager. Meades had claimed to have been with Cardiff City, and more recently manager of Western League side Wadebridge Town. Jouralist Arthur Wood investigated into Meades' background and revealed that Meades was a fraud, and after just four days in charge, Meades was asked to leave by the club.

Colchester hurriedly appointed a new manager in Jack Butler, a former Arsenal player and England international. He had coached in Belgium, initially with Royal Daring Club Molenbeek and had been in charge of the Belgium national team between 1935 and 1940, leading them to the 1938 World Cup finals. More recently, he had managed Torquay United and Crystal Palace, but Butler had little time to prepare his side ahead of the new season, and a 13-game winless run in late 1953 saw Colchester slump to 23rd position in the league.

With the crowd average falling season-on-season to 7,797, the club were required to apply for re-election after finishing the campaign ten points adrift of safety. Colchester earned 45 votes, enough to ensure another season in the Football League, but having been prolific goalscorers earlier in their history, the club had scored only 50 league goals this season.^[6]

Players

As of match played 29 April 1954.^[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 Frank Coombs GK George Wright GK John Wright DF Harry Bearryman DF Roy Bicknell DF Bob Dale DF Brian Dobson DF Austin Dunne DF Jimmy Elder DF George French DF Trevor Harris DF John Harrison DF Bertie Hill DF Billy Hunt

No. Position Player DF Ron Hunt DF Doug Keene DF Digger Kettle DF Fred Lewis DF Reg Stewart FW Peter Aitchison FW Russell Blake FW John Church FW Mike Grice FW Kevin McCurley FW Johnny McKim FW Ken Plant 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	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	A	H
Result	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	L	D	L	L	W	L	W	D	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	D	L
Position	2	15	9	6	8	13	14	10	13	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23

Last updated: 29 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
20	Swindon Town	46	15	10	21	67	70	0.957	40
21	Shrewsbury Town	46	14	12	20	65	76	0.855	40
22	Crystal Palace	46	14	12	20	60	86	0.698	40
23	Colchester United	46	10	10	26	50	78	0.641	30	Re-elected to Third Division South
24	Walsall	46	9	8	29	40	87	0.460	26

^{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

^[7][8]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Frank Coombs	7	0	7	0	0	0
	GK		George Wright	41	0	39	0	2	0
	DF		Harry Bearryman	39	2	37	2	2	0
	DF		Roy Bicknell	21	0	19	0	2	0
	DF		Bob Dale	21	4	21	4	0	0
	DF		Jimmy Elder	39	4	37	4	2	0
	DF		George French	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		John Harrison	42	0	41	0	1	0
	DF		Bertie Hill	16	1	16	1	0	0
	DF		Ron Hunt	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		Doug Keene	24	1	22	1	2	0
	DF		Digger Kettle	4	0	3	0	1	0
	DF		Fred Lewis	48	0	46	0	2	0
	DF		Reg Stewart	27	0	27	0	0	0
	FW		John Church	7	0	6	0	1	0
	FW		Mike Grice	18	2	18	2	0	0
	FW		Kevin McCurley	34	9	32	8	2	1
	DF		Johnny McKim	19	6	19	6	0	0
	FW		Ken Plant	17	6	17	6	0	0
	FW		Peter Wright	23	2	22	2	1	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	FW		Bert Barlow	34	10	32	10	2	0
	FW		Dick Cullum	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW		Tommy Harris	3	0	3	0	0	0
	FW		Augie Scott	39	4	37	4	2	0

Goalscorers

^[8]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1		FW	Bert Barlow	10	0	10
2		FW	Kevin McCurley	8	1	9
3		FW	Johnny McKim	6	0	6
		FW	Ken Plant	6	0	6
5		DF	Bob Dale	4	0	4
		DF	Jimmy Elder	4	0	4
		FW	Augie Scott	4	0	4
8		DF	Harry Bearryman	2	0	2
		FW	Mike Grice	2	0	2
		FW	Peter Wright	2	0	2
11		DF	Bertie Hill	1	0	1
		DF	Doug Keene	1	0	1
			Own goals	0	0	0
			TOTALS	51	1	52

Disciplinary record

^[9]

Nationality	Position	Player	Third Division South		FA Cup		Total
		TOTALS	0	0	0	0	0	0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.^[10]

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
			Not recorded	46	2	48

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
DF	Doug Keene	20 August 1953	Torquay United	Layer Road
DF	Fred Lewis	20 August 1953	Torquay United	Layer Road
FW	Tommy Harris	10 October 1953	Coventry City	Layer Road
DF	Bob Dale	2 January 1954	Crystal Palace	Selhurst Park
FW	Ken Plant	6 February 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 June 1953	DF	Fred Lewis	Chelsea	Free transfer	[12]
1 June 1953	FW	Tommy Harris	Leyton Orient	Swap with Stan Edwards	[13]
1 July 1953	FW	Russell Blake	Dedham Old Boys	Free transfer	[14]
20 August 1953	DF	Doug Keene	Brighton & Hove Albion	£1,000	[15]
1 October 1953	DF	Austin Dunne	Limerick	Free transfer	[16]
24 December 1953	DF	Bob Dale	Bury	£1,500	[17]
1 January 1954	FW	Ken Plant	Bury	Undisclosed	[18]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
2 May 1953	DF	Phil Rookes	Chichester City	Manager	[19]
1 June 1953	FW	Stan Edwards	Leyton Orient	Swap with Tommy Harris	[20]
22 August 1953	DF	Trevor Rowlands	Great Yarmouth Town	Free transfer	[21]
5 December 1953	FW	Tommy Harris	Tonbridge	Free transfer	[13]
23 January 1954	FW	Dick Cullum	Sittingbourne	Free transfer	[22]
13 March 1954	FW	Bert Barlow	Retired	Retired	[23]
17 April 1954	FW	Augie Scott	Chelmsford City	Player-manager	[24]

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. 

Websites

• "Colchester United football club match record: 1954". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 
• "Statistics 1953/54". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 
• "1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 

Specific