1959–60 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1959–60 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Benny Fenton
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division	9th
FA Cup	1st round (eliminated by Queens Park Rangers)
Top goalscorer	League: Martyn King (30) All: Martyn King (30)
Highest home attendance	13,053 v Norwich City, 20 February 1960[2]
Lowest home attendance	5,215 v Accrington Stanley, 30 April 1960[3]
Average home league attendance	7,856[4]
Biggest win	4–0 v Tranmere Rovers, 5 March 1960; 5–1 v Accrington Stanley, 30 April 1960
Biggest defeat	1–4 v Grimsby Town, 1 September 1959; 1–4 v Shrewsbury Town, 19 September 1959
Home colours
← 1958–59 1960–61 →

The 1959–60 season was Colchester United's 18th season in their history and their tenth season in the third tier of English football, the Third Division. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup, with Colchester being knocked out by league rivals Queens Park Rangers in the first round. Colchester ended the season in ninth place in the Third Division.

Season overview

Colchester's first game under floodlights at Layer Road was on 24 August 1959 when 9,689 watched the 2–2 draw with Grimsby Town. The ground became somewhat of a fortress, losing only twice throughout the campaign. However, Colchester struggled on their travels, earning just three wins. The mixed form led to a ninth position finish in the Third Division table.

The most notable bonus for the season was Martyn King's completion of national service meaning he was available for every game. Playing in 40 matches, forward King equalled Kevin McCurley's club record of 30 Football League goals in a season which included a trio of hat-tricks.^[5]

Players

As of match played 30 April 1960.^[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 Percy Ames GK John Wright DF George Fisher DF John Fowler DF Cyril Hammond DF Trevor Harris DF Ron Hunt DF John Laidlaw DF Alf Marshall DF Tommy Millar DF Chic Milligan DF Derek Parker DF Edgar Rumney

No. Position Player FW John Baines FW Russell Blake FW John Evans FW Bobby Hill FW Tony Howe FW Bobby Hunt FW Martyn King FW Neil Langman FW Kevin McCurley FW Sammy McLeod FW Tony Miller FW Tommy Williams FW Peter Wright

Match details

Third Division

Third Division 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	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	L	D	D	L	L	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	D	L	D	W	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	D	L	D	W	D	W	D	W	L	D	D	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	W
Position	19	17	18	20	20	19	16	17	18	18	14	11	16	16	14	13	12	14	15	12	12	10	9	8	8	8	8	8	11	8	8	8	6	6	5	7	8	5	8	7	9	9	9	9	9	9

Last updated: 24 March 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
7	Bury	46	21	9	16	64	51	1.255	51
8	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	13	15	73	54	1.352	49
9	Colchester United	46	18	11	17	83	74	1.122	47
10	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	17	13	16	72	72	1.000	47
11	Reading	46	18	10	18	84	77	1.091	46

^{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		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Percy Ames	47	0	46	0	1	0
	DF		George Fisher	3	1	3	1	0	0
	DF		John Fowler	47	0	46	0	1	0
	DF		Cyril Hammond	44	1	43	1	1	0
	DF		Ron Hunt	3	0	3	0	0	0
	DF		John Laidlaw	40	1	39	1	1	0
	DF		Alf Marshall	5	0	5	0	0	0
	DF		Tommy Millar	5	0	5	0	0	0
	DF		Chic Milligan	44	1	43	1	1	0
	DF		Derek Parker	44	0	43	0	1	0
	FW		Russell Blake	11	1	11	1	0	0
	FW		John Evans	5	1	5	1	0	0
	FW		Bobby Hill	39	4	38	4	1	0
	FW		Bobby Hunt	1	1	1	1	0	0
	FW		Martyn King	40	30	39	30	1	0
	FW		Neil Langman	27	11	27	11	0	0
	FW		Kevin McCurley	12	8	11	7	1	1
	FW		Sammy McLeod	12	3	12	3	0	0
	FW		Tommy Williams	36	9	35	9	1	0
	FW		Peter Wright	47	12	46	11	1	1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	DF		Brian Dobson	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF		John Roe	2	0	2	0	0	0
	FW		Ian Johnstone	1	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	Total
1		FW	Martyn King	30	0	30
2		FW	Peter Wright	11	1	12
3		FW	Neil Langman	11	0	11
4		FW	Tommy Williams	9	0	9
5		FW	Kevin McCurley	7	1	8
6		FW	Bobby Hill	4	0	4
7		FW	Sammy McLeod	3	0	3
8		FW	Russell Blake	1	0	1
		FW	John Evans	1	0	1
		DF	George Fisher	1	0	1
		DF	Cyril Hammond	1	0	1
		FW	Bobby Hunt	1	0	1
		DF	John Laidlaw	1	0	1
		DF	Chic Milligan	1	0	1
			Own goals	1	0	1
			TOTALS	83	2	85

Disciplinary record

^[8]

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

Captains

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

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Third Division	FA Cup	Total
			Not recorded	46	1	47

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
DF	Tommy Millar	1 September 1959	Grimsby Town	Blundell Park
DF	John Laidlaw	5 September 1959	Southampton	The Dell
DF	John Roe	3 October 1959	Norwich City	Carrow Road
FW	Bobby Hunt	19 March 1960	York City	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 July 1959	DF	Tommy Millar	Bo'ness United	Free transfer	[11]
1 January 1960	FW	John Baines	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	[12]
1 March 1960	FW	Tony Howe	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	[13]
19 March 1960	FW	Bobby Hunt	Apprentice	Free transfer	[14]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
1 July 1959	FW	Ken Plant	Nuneaton Borough	Free transfer	[15]
29 August 1959	FW	Ian Johnstone	Clacton Town	Free transfer	[16]
6 October 1959	DF	John Roe	Dundee United	Free transfer	[17]
7 November 1959	DF	Brian Dobson	Clacton Town	Released	[18]

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: 1960". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 

Specific