1963–64 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1963–64 season
Chairman	Bill Allen[1]
Manager	Benny Fenton (until September) Neil Franklin (from December)
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division	17th
FA Cup	3rd round (eliminated by Workington)
League Cup	2nd round (eliminated by Queens Park Rangers)
Top goalscorer	League: Bobby Hunt (20) All: Bobby Hunt (23)
Highest home attendance	7,772 v Fulham, 25 September 1963[2]
Lowest home attendance	3,263 v Port Vale, 4 April 1964[3]
Average home league attendance	5,242[4]
Biggest win	4–0 v Notts County, 30 November 1963 4–0 v Crewe Alexandra, 22 February 1964
Biggest defeat	0–4 v Peterborough United, 21 October 1963
Home colours
← 1962–63 1964–65 →

The 1963–64 season was Colchester United's 22nd season in their history and their second successive season in the Third Division, the third tier of English football. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

A mid-season managerial change saw Benny Fenton leave for Leyton Orient and ex-England international Neil Franklin arrive from APOEL. They finished the season in 17th-place and had a good run in the League Cup, seeing off First Division Fulham in the first round, and then Second Division Northampton Town in the second round, before being knocked out in the third round by Fourth Division side Workington. Colchester made the second round of the FA Cup but were beaten by Queens Park Rangers.

Season overview

The 1963–64 season proved to be one of change for Colchester United. Benny Fenton left the club to take over at Second Division Leyton Orient in September. Incoming was former England international Neil Franklin, who had been managing APOEL in Cyprus. Franklin's first piece of business was the sale of prolific forward Bobby Hunt to Northampton Town for £18,000. Hunt's 23 goals scored by the end of February was not surpassed despite his exit as Colchester finished the season in a disappointing 17th–position.

Colchester had an impressive run in the League Cup, seeing off Fulham of the First Division 5–3 in the first round, before beating Northampton in the second round but falling to defeat against Workington in the third. They beat Brighton & Hove Albion in the first round of the FA Cup, but were defeated in the second by Queens Park Rangers.^[5]

Players

As of match played 25 April 1964.^[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 31)	372	0	Tottenham Hotspur	1 May 1955	Free transfer
Alan Buck	GK		Colchester	(1946-08-25)25 August 1946 (aged 16)	0	0	Amateur	July 1963	Free transfer
George Ramage	GK		Dalkeith	(1937-01-29)29 January 1937 (aged 26)	12	0	Third Lanark	15 March 1963[a]	Nominal
Defenders
Duncan Forbes	CB		Edinburgh	(1941-06-19)19 June 1941 (aged 21)	54	0	Musselburgh Athletic	4 September 1961	Nominal
John Fowler	FB		Leith	(1933-10-17)17 October 1933 (aged 29)	347	5	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	20 August 1955[a]	Free transfer
Richie Griffiths	FB		Earls Colne	(1942-03-21)21 March 1942 (aged 21)	42	0	Colchester Casuals	June 1961	Free transfer
David Laitt	FB		Colchester	(1946-11-01)1 November 1946 (aged 16)	0	0	Amateur	Summer 1962	Free transfer
Mick Loughton	CB		Colchester	(1942-12-08)8 December 1942 (aged 20)	0	0	Amateur	August 1961	Free transfer
Edgar Rumney	FB		Abberton	(1936-09-15)15 September 1936 (aged 26)	36	0	Colchester Casuals	1 May 1957	Free transfer
Keith Rutter	CB		Leeds	(1934-09-10)10 September 1934 (aged 28)	21	0	Queens Park Rangers	26 February 1963[a]	£4,000
Midfielders
John Docherty	WH		Glasgow	(1935-02-28)28 February 1935 (aged 28)	0	0	Heart of Midlothian	14 September 1963[a]	Free transfer
Roy McCrohan	WH		Reading	(1930-09-22)22 September 1930 (aged 32)	33	2	Norwich City	1 September 1962	Part exchange
Derek Trevis	MF		Birmingham	(1942-09-09)9 September 1942 (aged 20)	0	0	Aston Villa	7 March 1964[a]	Free transfer
Forwards
Mike Grice	WG		Woking	(1931-11-03)3 November 1931 (aged 31)	156	24	Coventry City	18 August 1962[b]	£1,000
Bobby Hill	IF		Edinburgh	(1938-06-09)9 June 1938 (aged 24)	213	22	Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare	9 June 1955	Free transfer
Martyn King	CF		Birmingham	(1937-08-23)23 August 1937 (aged 25)	177	117	Amateur	Summer 1955	Free transfer
Tommy McColl	IF		Glasgow	(1945-09-19)19 September 1945 (aged 17)	0	0	Dennistoun Waverley	24 August 1963[a]	Free transfer
Tony Miller	IF		Chelmsford	(1937-10-26)26 October 1937 (aged 25)	0	0	Amateur	May 1958	Free transfer
Billy Stark	FW		Glasgow	(1937-05-27)27 May 1937 (aged 26)	21	3	Carlisle United	November 1962	£3,750
Peter Wright	WG		Colchester	(1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 29)	412	86	Amateur	November 1951	Free transfer

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
July 1963	GK		Alan Buck	Amateur	Free transfer	[7]
August 1963	FB		Pat Woods	Western Suburbs	Free transfer	[8]
24 August 1963	IF		Tommy McColl	Dennistoun Waverley	Free transfer	[9][a]
14 September 1963	WH		John Docherty	Heart of Midlothian	Free transfer	[10][a]
7 March 1964	MF		Derek Trevis	Aston Villa	Free transfer	[11][a]

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
7 October 1963	WH		Ron Hunt	Retired	Retired	[12][a]
March 1964	FW		Bobby Hunt	Northampton Town	£18,000	[13]
28 March 1964	FB		Pat Woods	South Coast United	Free transfer	[8][a]

• Total incoming: ~ £18,000

Match details

Friendlies

Third Division

Results round by round

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
15	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	9	19	76	78	0.974	45
16	Brentford	46	15	14	17	87	80	1.088	44
17	Colchester United	46	12	19	15	70	68	1.029	43
18	Luton Town	46	16	10	20	64	80	0.800	42
19	Walsall	46	13	14	19	59	76	0.776	40

Matches

League Cup

FA Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[6][14]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Percy Ames	20	0	20	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	SCO	George Ramage	31	0	26	0	2	0	3	0
	DF	SCO	Duncan Forbes	36	0	32	0	1	0	3	0
	DF	SCO	John Fowler	25	0	24	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Edgar Rumney	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Keith Rutter	47	0	42	0	2	0	3	0
	MF	SCO	John Docherty	40	1	36	1	2	0	2	0
	MF	ENG	Roy McCrohan	48	3	43	3	2	0	3	0
	MF	ENG	Derek Trevis	9	0	9	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Mike Grice	47	5	42	4	2	0	3	1
	FW	SCO	Bobby Hill	25	0	24	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Martyn King	43	20	38	18	2	0	3	2
	FW	AUS	Tommy McColl	7	1	7	1	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Tony Miller	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Billy Stark	47	17	43	15	2	0	2	2
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	39	10	34	7	2	0	3	3
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	DF	ENG	Pat Woods	41	0	36	0	2	0	3	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Hunt	12	0	11	0	0	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Bobby Hunt	38	23	33	20	2	1	3	2

Goalscorers

^[14]

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		FW	Bobby Hunt	20	1	2	23
2		CF	Martyn King	18	0	2	20
3		FW	Billy Stark	15	0	2	17
4		WG	Peter Wright	7	0	3	10
5		WG	Mike Grice	4	0	1	5
6		WH	Roy McCrohan	3	0	0	3
7		WH	John Docherty	1	0	0	1
		IF	Tommy McColl	1	0	0	1
			Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	70	1	10	81

Disciplinary record

^[15]

Nationality	Position	Name	Third Division		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
	CF	Martyn King	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
	WG	Peter Wright	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
		TOTALS	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1

Clean sheets

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

Place	Nationality	Player	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1		George Ramage	8	1	0	9
2		Percy Ames	4	0	0	4
		TOTALS	12	1	0	13

Player debuts

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

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
FB		Pat Woods	24 August 1963	Barnsley	Layer Road
IF		Tommy McColl	24 August 1963	Barnsley	Layer Road
WH		John Docherty	14 September 1963	Wrexham	Racecourse Ground
IF		Tony Miller	1 February 1964	Queens Park Rangers	Loftus Road
MF		Derek Trevis	7 March 1964	Mansfield Town	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.
• 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: 1964". 11v11.com. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
• "TigerBase – Season View". TigerBase. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
• "Statistics 1963/64". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
• "1960/61 to 1969/70" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.

Specific