1952–53 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1952–53 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Jimmy Allen (until 2 May)
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	22nd
FA Cup	3rd round (eliminated by Rotherham United)
Top goalscorer	League: Kevin McCurley (16) All: Kevin McCurley (19)
Highest home attendance	14,674 v Ipswich Town, 23 August 1952[2]
Lowest home attendance	3,382 v Crystal Palace, 19 March 1953[3]
Average home league attendance	8,002[4]
Biggest win	6–1 v Walsall, 14 February 1953
Biggest defeat	0–4 v Southend United, 7 March 1953; 1–5 v Torquay United, 18 April 1953; 0–4 v Norwich City, 2 May 1953
Home colours
← 1951–52 1953–54 →

The 1952–53 season was Colchester United's eleventh season in their history and their third 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 reached the third round of the FA Cup for the second season running, but were knocked out by Second Division side Rotherham United after a replay. The club struggled in the league, eventually finishing 22nd of 24 teams which would ultimately cost manager Jimmy Allen his job.

Season overview

The season began with a Layer Road crowd of 14,674 witnessing a 0–0 draw with local rivals Ipswich Town, and in the early stages of the campaign, the club remained mid-table. In the FA Cup, Colchester disposed of Weymouth in the first round following a replay, and then Llanelli in the second round, before once again facing Second Division Yorkshire opposition in Rotherham United. After drawing 2–2 at Millmoor and forcing a replay, Colchester lost the Layer Road replay 2–0.

In the latter stages of the season, a poor run of just one point from six games saw United slip from 13th-position to 22nd, just one place and two points above the re-election positions. Meanwhile, forward Kevin McCurley had justified manager Jimmy Allen's £750 outlay with a return of 19 goals. However, with Allen's style of play criticised by supporters and his unwillingness to reduce the playing staff as requested by the board saw Allen tender his resignation on 2 May 1953.^[5]

Players

As of match played 2 May 1953.^[6]

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Frank Coombs	GK		East Ham	(1925-04-24)24 April 1925 (aged 27)	13	0	Southend United	8 March 1952[a]	£450
George Wright	GK		Plymouth	(1919-10-10)10 October 1919 (aged 32)	131	0	Plymouth Argyle	May 1949	£1,000
John Wright	GK		Aldershot	(1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 18)	0	0	Colchester Casuals	23 May 1952	Free transfer
Defenders
Roy Bicknell	CB		Doncaster	(1926-02-19)19 February 1926 (aged 26)	0	0	Gravesend & Northfleet	June 1952	£1,000
George French	FB		Colchester	(1926-11-10)10 November 1926 (aged 25)	0	0	West Ham United	February 1949	Free transfer
John Harrison	FB		Leicester	(1927-09-27)27 September 1927 (aged 24)	77	0	Aston Villa	30 September 1950[a]	Nominal
Digger Kettle	FB		Colchester	(1922-06-03)3 June 1922 (aged 29)	168	1	Arclight Sports	September 1946	Free transfer
Phil Rookes	FB		Dulverton	(1919-04-23)23 April 1919 (aged 33)	28	0	Portsmouth	July 1951	£1,000
Trevor Rowlands	FB		Wattstown	(1922-02-02)2 February 1922 (aged 30)	41	2	Norwich City	20 July 1950	£1,000
Reg Stewart	CB		Sheffield	(1925-10-30)30 October 1925 (aged 26)	146	0	Sheffield Wednesday	20 August 1949[a]	£1,000
Midfielders
Harry Bearryman	WH		Wandsworth	(1924-09-26)26 September 1924 (aged 27)	243	9	Chelsea	4 July 1947	Free transfer
Jimmy Elder	WH		Scone	(1928-03-05)5 March 1928 (aged 24)	93	7	Portsmouth	19 August 1950[a]	£1,000
Trevor Harris	WH		Colchester	(1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 16)	0	0	Amateur	July 1951	Free transfer
Bert Hill	WH		West Ham	(1930-03-08)8 March 1930 (aged 22)	0	0	Chelsea	September 1952	£300
Ron Hunt	WH		Colchester	(1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 18)	3	0	Amateur	October 1951	Free transfer
Forwards
Peter Aitchison	WG		Harlow	(1931-09-19)19 September 1931 (aged 20)	9	2	Amateur	August 1950	Free transfer
Bert Barlow	IF		Kilnhurst	(1916-07-22)22 July 1916 (aged 35)	0	0	Leicester City	Summer 1952	<£1,000
John Church	WG		Lowestoft	(1919-09-17)17 September 1919 (aged 32)	83	13	Norwich City	19 August 1950[a]	£1,000
Dick Cullum	FW		Colchester	(1931-01-28)28 January 1931 (aged 21)	0	0	Colchester Colts	28 March 1951[a]	Free transfer
Stan Edwards	CF		Dawdon	(1926-10-17)17 October 1926 (aged 25)	0	0	Chelsea	6 September 1952[a]	£750
Mike Grice	WG		Woking	(1931-11-03)3 November 1931 (aged 20)	0	0	Lowestoft Town	Summer 1952	£25
Kevin McCurley	CF		Consett	(1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 26)	11	6	Liverpool	June 1951	£750
Johnny McKim	IF		Greenock	(1926-01-22)22 January 1926 (aged 26)	51	18	Chelsea	19 August 1950[a]	£1,000
Augie Scott	IF		Sunderland	(1921-02-19)19 February 1921 (aged 31)	48	6	Southampton	18 August 1951[a]	£2,000
Peter Wright	WG		Colchester	(1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 18)	9	0	Amateur	November 1951	Free transfer

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1952	IF		Bert Barlow	Leicester City	<£1,000	[7]
Summer 1952	WG		Mike Grice	Lowestoft Town	£25	[8]
23 May 1952	GK		John Wright	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	[9]
June 1952	CB		Roy Bicknell	Gravesend & Northfleet	£1,000	[10]
September 1952	WH		Bert Hill	Chelsea	£300	[11]
6 September 1952	CF		Stan Edwards	Chelsea	£750	[12][a]

• Total spending: ~ £3,075

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	WG		Adam Davidson	Carnoustie Panmure	Released	[13]
End of season	CF		Arthur Turner	Headington United	Free transfer	[14]
Summer 1952	WH		John Moore	Staines Town	Free transfer	[15]
Summer 1952	FW		Jack McClelland	Stoke City	Undisclosed	[16][17]
14 March 1953	WH		Harry Wilkinson	Folkestone Town	Released	[18][a]
4 April 1953	WH		Len Jones	Ipswich Town	Released	[19][a]

Match details

Third Division South

Results round by round

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Qualification or relegation
20	Queens Park Rangers	46	12	15	19	61	82	0.744	39
21	Gillingham	46	12	15	19	55	74	0.743	39
22	Colchester United	46	12	14	20	59	76	0.776	38
23	Shrewsbury Town	46	12	12	22	68	91	0.747	36	Re-elected
24	Walsall	46	7	10	29	56	118	0.475	24

Matches

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][20]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Frank Coombs	18	0	18	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	George Wright	33	0	28	0	5	0
	DF	ENG	Roy Bicknell	8	0	6	0	2	0
	DF	ENG	George French	1	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	John Harrison	51	0	46	0	5	0
	DF	ENG	Phil Rookes	46	0	43	0	3	0
	DF	WAL	Trevor Rowlands	5	2	5	2	0	0
	DF	ENG	Reg Stewart	45	0	40	0	5	0
	MF	ENG	Harry Bearryman	50	1	45	1	5	0
	MF	SCO	Jimmy Elder	50	3	45	3	5	0
	MF	ENG	Bert Hill	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Aitchison	3	0	3	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Bert Barlow	33	7	28	6	5	1
	FW	ENG	John Church	39	9	34	8	5	1
	FW	ENG	Stan Edwards	19	7	16	5	3	2
	FW	ENG	Mike Grice	13	1	13	1	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley	47	19	42	16	5	3
	FW	SCO	Johnny McKim	33	15	28	13	5	2
	FW	ENG	Augie Scott	40	2	38	2	2	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	12	2	12	2	0	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	MF	ENG	Len Jones	13	0	13	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Harry Wilkinson	1	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[20]

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1		CF	Kevin McCurley	16	3	19
2		IF	Johnny McKim	13	2	15
3		WG	John Church	8	1	9
4		IF	Bert Barlow	6	1	7
		CF	Stan Edwards	5	2	7
6		WH	Jimmy Elder	3	0	3
7		FB	Trevor Rowlands	2	0	2
		IF	Augie Scott	2	0	2
		WG	Peter Wright	2	0	2
10		WH	Harry Bearryman	1	0	1
		WG	Mike Grice	1	0	1
			Own goals	0	1	1
			TOTALS	60	9	69

Disciplinary record

^[21]

Nationality	Position	Name	Third Division South		FA Cup		Total
	IF	Johnny McKim	0	1	0	0	0	1
		TOTALS	0	1	0	0	0	1

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[22]

Place	Nationality	Player	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1		George Wright	6	1	7
2		Frank Coombs	4	0	4
		TOTALS	10	1	11

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[23]

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
CF		Stan Edwards	6 September 1952	Swindon Town	Layer Road
WG		Mike Grice	11 September 1952	Bristol Rovers	Layer Road
IF		Bert Barlow	13 September 1952	Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road
CB		Roy Bicknell	4 October 1952	Gillingham	Layer Road
FB		George French	4 October 1952	Gillingham	Layer Road
WH		Harry Wilkinson	14 March 1953	Watford	Layer Road
WH		Bert Hill	11 April 1953	Bristol City	Layer Road

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: 1953". 11v11.com. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
• "Statistics 1952/53". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
• "1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2016.
• "Season 1952–1953". Weymouth FC. Retrieved 24 March 2016.

Specific