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]

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Percy Ames	GK		Plymouth	(1931-12-13)13 December 1931 (aged 27)	191	0	Tottenham Hotspur	1 May 1955	Free transfer
John Wright	GK		Aldershot	(1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 25)	4	0	Colchester Casuals	23 May 1952	Free transfer
Defenders
George Fisher	FB		Bermondsey	(1925-06-19)19 June 1925 (aged 33)	169	5	Fulham	1 September 1955	£1,000
John Fowler	FB		Leith	(1933-10-17)17 October 1933 (aged 25)	154	3	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	20 August 1955[a]	Free transfer
John Laidlaw	FB		Aldershot	(1936-07-05)5 July 1936 (aged 22)	0	0	Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare	June 1957	Free transfer
Alf Marshall	FB		Dagenham	(1933-05-21)21 May 1933 (aged 26)	24	0	Dagenham	14 October 1957	£25
Tommy Millar	FB		Edinburgh	(1938-12-03)3 December 1938 (aged 20)	0	0	Bo'ness United	July 1959	Free transfer
Chic Milligan	CB		Ardrossan	(1930-07-26)26 July 1930 (aged 28)	112	2	Ardrossan Winton Rovers	18 August 1956[a]	£1,000
Edgar Rumney	FB		Abberton	(1936-09-15)15 September 1936 (aged 22)	5	0	Colchester Casuals	1 May 1957	Free transfer
Midfielders
Cyril Hammond	WH		Woolwich	(1927-10-10)10 October 1927 (aged 31)	37	0	Charlton Athletic	July 1958	Free transfer
Trevor Harris	WH		Colchester	(1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 23)	11	0	Amateur	July 1951	Free transfer
Ron Hunt	WH		Colchester	(1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 25)	59	0	Amateur	October 1951	Free transfer
Derek Parker	WH		Wivenhoe	(1926-06-23)23 June 1926 (aged 32)	80	1	West Ham United	March 1957	£2,500
Forwards
John Baines	CF		Colchester	(1937-09-25)25 September 1937 (aged 21)	0	0	Colchester Casuals	January 1960	Free transfer
Russell Blake	WG		Colchester	(1935-07-24)24 July 1935 (aged 23)	44	7	Dedham Old Boys	8 September 1955[a]	Free transfer
John Evans	IF		Tilbury	(1929-08-28)28 August 1929 (aged 29)	55	23	Liverpool	23 November 1957[a]	£4,000
Bobby Hill	IF		Edinburgh	(1938-06-09)9 June 1938 (aged 20)	62	9	Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare	9 June 1955	Free transfer
Tony Howe	WG		Colchester	(1939-02-14)14 February 1939 (aged 20)	0	0	Colchester Casuals	March 1960	Free transfer
Bobby Hunt	FW		Colchester	(1942-10-01)1 October 1942 (aged 16)	0	0	Amateur	March 1960	Free transfer
Martyn King	CF		Birmingham	(1937-08-23)23 August 1937 (aged 21)	6	1	Amateur	Summer 1955	Free transfer
Neil Langman	CF		Bere Alston	(1932-02-21)21 February 1932 (aged 27)	73	35	Plymouth Argyle	November 1957	£6,750
Kevin McCurley	CF		Consett	(1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 33)	225	91	Liverpool	June 1951	£750
Sammy McLeod	IF		Glasgow	(1934-01-04)4 January 1934 (aged 25)	107	16	Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare	20 August 1955[a]	Free transfer
Tony Miller	IF		Chelmsford	(1937-10-26)26 October 1937 (aged 21)	0	0	Amateur	May 1958	Free transfer
Tommy Williams	WG		Battersea	(1935-02-10)10 February 1935 (aged 24)	82	14	Carshalton Athletic	September 1956	Free transfer
Peter Wright	WG		Colchester	(1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 25)	253	51	Amateur	November 1951	Free transfer

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
July 1959	FB		Tommy Millar	Bo'ness United	Free transfer	[7]
January 1960	CF		John Baines	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	[8]
March 1960	WG		Tony Howe	Colchester Casuals	Free transfer	[9]
March 1960	FW		Bobby Hunt	Amateur	Free transfer	[10]

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
July 1959	CF		Ken Plant	Nuneaton Borough	Free transfer	[11]
29 August 1959	IF		Ian Johnstone	Clacton Town	Free transfer	[12][a]
6 October 1959	FB		John Roe	Dundee United	Free transfer	[13][a]
Spring 1960	CB		Brian Dobson	Clacton Town	Released	[14]

Match details

Third Division

Results round by round

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
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

Matches

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][15]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division		FA Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Percy Ames	47	0	46	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	George Fisher	3	1	3	1	0	0
	DF	SCO	John Fowler	47	0	46	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	John Laidlaw	40	1	39	1	1	0
	DF	ENG	Alf Marshall	5	0	5	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Tommy Millar	5	0	5	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Chic Milligan	44	1	43	1	1	0
	MF	ENG	Cyril Hammond	44	1	43	1	1	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Hunt	3	0	3	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Derek Parker	44	0	43	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Russell Blake	11	1	11	1	0	0
	FW	ENG	John Evans	5	1	5	1	0	0
	FW	SCO	Bobby Hill	39	4	38	4	1	0
	FW	ENG	Bobby Hunt	1	1	1	1	0	0
	FW	ENG	Martyn King	40	30	39	30	1	0
	FW	ENG	Neil Langman	27	11	27	11	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley	12	8	11	7	1	1
	FW	SCO	Sammy McLeod	12	3	12	3	0	0
	FW	ENG	Tommy Williams	36	9	35	9	1	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	47	12	46	11	1	1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	DF	ENG	Brian Dobson	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	John Roe	2	0	2	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Ian Johnstone	1	0	1	0	0	0

Goalscorers

^[15]

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

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[16]

Place	Nationality	Player	Third Division	FA Cup	Total
1		Percy Ames	10	0	10
		TOTALS	10	0	10

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[17]

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
FB		Tommy Millar	1 September 1959	Grimsby Town	Blundell Park
FB		John Laidlaw	5 September 1959	Southampton	The Dell
FB		John Roe	3 October 1959	Norwich City	Carrow Road
FW		Bobby Hunt	19 March 1960	York 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.
• Kent, Jeff (1990). The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Stafford: Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
• White, Eric (1989). 100 Years of Brentford. Redditch: Oldfield Press. ISBN 0951526200.

Websites

• "Colchester United football club match record: 1960". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

Specific