1960–61 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1960–61 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Benny Fenton
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division	23rd (relegated)
FA Cup	2nd round (eliminated by Aldershot)
League Cup	2nd round (eliminated by Southampton)
Top goalscorer	League: Martyn King (23) All: Martyn King (25)
Highest home attendance	9,130 v Newcastle United, 10 October 1960[2]
Lowest home attendance	3,141 v Chesterfield, 29 April 1961[3]
Average home league attendance	5,203[4]
Biggest win	5–0 v Maidenhead United, 5 November 1960
Biggest defeat	0–5 v Bristol City, 10 September 1960; 2–7 v Tranmere Rovers, 11 March 1961
Home colours
← 1959–60 1961–62 →

The 1960–61 season was Colchester United's 19th season in their history and their eleventh 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 and the new League Cup competition. Colchester reached the second round in both cups, beating Maidenhead United in the first round of the FA Cup before being eliminated by Aldershot. In the League Cup, Colchester hosted First Division Newcastle United in the first round. They won 4–1, but were knocked out by Southampton in round two.

In the league, Colchester had a very poor season. Seven consecutive defeats left the club languishing in the bottom four by early October 1960, and they remained no higher than one place above the relegation positions for the rest of the season. They were relegated for the first time in their history in 23rd position.

Season overview

After gathering just one point in eleven games, Colchester had hit the bottom of the Third Division by October 1960 and never managed to climb out of the bottom five places. Average attendances plummeted, with a new record-low attendance of 3,141 achieved in the final game of the season against Chesterfield. Despite this, Martyn King managed to score a hat-trick in the game, a 4–3 win for Colchester and finished the season with 25 goals to his name. Colchester had conceded a club record 101 goals in the league.

Aside from Colchester's league woes, they did enjoy some success in the inaugural League Cup competition. They hosted First Division Newcastle United at Layer Road and comprehensively beat them 4–1 in front of a season-best 9,130 crowd. In round two, they were beaten 2–0 at home to Southampton. In the FA Cup, Colchester achieved their best win of the season at home to Maidenhead United in the first round, but were dumped out of the cup by Aldershot in round two.^[5]

Players

As of match played 29 April 1961.^[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 Peter Carey DF Alan Eagles DF John Fowler DF Cyril Hammond DF Trevor Harris DF Ron Hunt DF John Laidlaw DF Alf Marshall DF Tommy Millar DF Chic Milligan

No. Position Player DF Derek Parker DF Edgar Rumney FW John Baines FW Bobby Hill FW Tony Howe FW Bobby Hunt FW Martyn King FW Neil Langman 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	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H
Result	W	D	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	D	W	D	W	W	D	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	W	W	L	L	D	L	W	L	D	W	D	L	W
Position	4	1	9	14	13	5	12	15	18	20	23	24	24	23	24	24	24	23	23	22	20	20	20	20	20	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	22	23	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	23

Last updated: 21 April 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	Southend United	46	14	11	21	60	76	0.789	39
21	Tranmere Rovers (R)	46	15	8	23	79	115	0.687	38	Relegated to Fourth Division
22	Bradford City (R)	46	11	14	21	65	87	0.747	36
23	Colchester United (R)	46	11	11	24	68	101	0.673	33
24	Chesterfield (R)	46	10	12	24	67	87	0.770	32

^{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

League Cup

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][7]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK		Percy Ames	49	0	45	0	2	0	2	0
	GK		John Wright	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Peter Carey	10	0	10	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Alan Eagles	16	1	16	1	0	0	0	0
	DF		John Fowler	49	2	45	2	2	0	2	0
	DF		Cyril Hammond	19	4	19	4	0	0	0	0
	DF		Trevor Harris	31	2	27	2	2	0	2	0
	DF		Ron Hunt	32	1	28	1	2	0	2	0
	DF		John Laidlaw	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Alf Marshall	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Tommy Millar	17	0	14	0	2	0	1	0
	DF		Chic Milligan	42	0	38	0	2	0	2	0
	DF		Derek Parker	14	0	14	0	0	0	0	0
	DF		Edgar Rumney	18	0	17	0	0	0	1	0
	FW		John Baines	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0
	FW		Bobby Hill	37	2	33	1	2	1	2	0
	FW		Tony Howe	10	2	10	2	0	0	0	0
	FW		Bobby Hunt	29	6	27	4	2	2	0	0
	FW		Martyn King	41	25	38	23	1	0	2	2
	FW		Neil Langman	37	13	34	11	2	2	1	0
	FW		Sammy McLeod	22	3	20	3	1	0	1	0
	FW		Tommy Williams	40	10	36	8	2	1	2	1
	FW		Peter Wright	23	4	21	3	0	0	2	1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	FW		Russell Blake	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[7]

Place	Nation	Position	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		FW	Martyn King	23	0	2	25
2		FW	Neil Langman	11	2	0	13
3		FW	Tommy Williams	8	1	1	10
4		FW	Bobby Hunt	4	2	0	6
5		DF	Cyril Hammond	4	0	0	4
		FW	Peter Wright	3	0	1	4
7		FW	Sammy McLeod	3	0	0	3
8		DF	John Fowler	2	0	0	2
		DF	Trevor Harris	2	0	0	2
		FW	Bobby Hill	1	1	0	2
		FW	Tony Howe	2	0	0	2
12		DF	Alan Eagles	1	0	0	1
		DF	Ron Hunt	1	0	0	1
			Own goals	3	0	0	3
			TOTALS	68	6	4	78

Disciplinary record

^[8]

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

Captains

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

Place	Nation	Position	Player	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
			Not recorded	46	2	2	50

Player debuts

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

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
FW	Tony Howe	20 August 1960	Hull City	Layer Road
DF	Peter Carey	14 January 1961	Coventry City	Highfield Road
DF	Alan Eagles	14 January 1961	Coventry City	Highfield Road
FW	John Baines	4 March 1961	Halifax Town	Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date	Pos	Player	From	Fee	Ref
1 November 1960	DF	Peter Carey	Queens Park Rangers	Undisclosed	[11]
14 January 1961	DF	Alan Eagles	Leyton Orient	£3,000	[12]

Out

Date	Pos	Player	To	Fee	Ref
30 April 1960	DF	George Fisher	Bexleyheath & Welling	Released	[13]
31 May 1960	FW	Kevin McCurley	Oldham Athletic	Nominal	[14]
1 June 1960	FW	John Evans	Romford	Released	[15]
3 April 1961	FW	Russell Blake	Chelmsford City	Released	[16]

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: 1961". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016. 
• "Season View". TigerBase. Retrieved 20 April 2016. 
• "1960/61 to 1969/70" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Retrieved 20 April 2016. 

Specific