From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1939–40 Colchester United F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Colchester United
season	1939–40
chairman	Walter Clark
manager	Ted Davis
(until September 1939)
stadium	Layer Road
league	Southern League
league result	League abandoned
league topscorer
Alec Cheyne (2)
season topscorer
Len Astill
Joe Birch
Alec Cheyne
George Law (2)
highest attendance	4,200
v Plymouth Argyle Reserves, 26 August 1939
lowest attendance	4,200
v Plymouth Argyle Reserves, 26 August 1939
average attendance	4,200
largest win	5–1
v Norwich City Reserves, 28 August 1939
largest loss	1–2
v Chelmsford City, 31 August 1939
pattern_name1	Home
pattern_la1	_white_stripes
pattern_b1	_whitestripes
pattern_ra1	_white_stripes
pattern_so1	_3whitehoops
leftarm1	0000FF
body1	0000FF
rightarm1	0000FF
shorts1	FFFFFF
socks1	0000FF
alt1	Football kit (white jersey with blue, vertical stripes; white shorts;; and blue socks with white, horizontal hoops).
prevseason	1938–39
nextseason	1945–46

(until September 1939) Alec Cheyne (2) Len Astill Joe Birch Alec Cheyne George Law (2) v Plymouth Argyle Reserves, 26 August 1939 v Plymouth Argyle Reserves, 26 August 1939 v Norwich City Reserves, 28 August 1939 v Chelmsford City, 31 August 1939 The 1939–40 season was Colchester United's third season in their history and their third in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club were also due to participate in the Southern League Mid-Week Section, FA Cup and Southern League Cup. They were also due to play the Southern League Cup matches remaining from the previous season during the campaign, but only played the outstanding semi-final fixture against Norwich City Reserves. The season was to end prematurely, with competitive football abandoned with the outbreak of World War II. Colchester United played regular season fixtures until 2 September 1939, with the 0–0 draw at Layer Road with Ipswich Town Reserves the final competitive fixture to be played by the club for almost six years.

Season overview

War loomed over Europe during the beginning of the 1939–40 campaign. After kicking the season off with a win against Plymouth Argyle Reserves on 26 August 1939, Colchester played Norwich City Reserves in the first-leg of the delayed Southern League Cup semi-final, beating their opponents 5–1. After only three Southern League games, World War II was declared, and as with predecessors Colchester Town during World War I, the club closed down, denying the club a chance to earn League football after gaining considerable momentum over the previous two seasons.

Colchester United continued to play friendlies against local opposition until December 1939, when the Army Fire Fighting Corp took over Layer Road for drill practice. The ground itself did continued to host matches during hostilities, as a number of high-profile military encounters took place at the stadium. The influx of military personnel through Colchester Garrison ensured that Layer Road played host to a number of star players through the war years.

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
25 May 1939	IF	ENG	Ken Burditt	ENG Notts County	£1,000	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=36	title=Ken Burditt	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=2 July 2015 }}
18 June 1939	CF	ENG	George Law	ENG Norwich City	£100	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=37	title=George Law	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=2 July 2015 }}
19 August 1939	WH	SCO	Bill Main	ENG Cardiff City	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=38	title=Bill Main	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=2 July 2015 }}

Total spending: ~ £1,100

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	LH	SCO	George Ritchie	ENG Ipswich Town Reserves assistant coach	Free transfer
End of season	RH	WAL	George Smith	Free agent	Released
End of season	IF	ENG	George Merritt	Free agent	Released
4 May 1939	RB	ENG	Ian Haley	Free agent	Released
31 May 1939	GK	ENG	Ronnie Dunn	Free agent	Released
31 May 1939	LB	IRE	Cecil Allan	ENG Colchester Casuals	Free transfer
31 May 1939	OR	ENG	Jack Hodge	ENG Hereford United	Free transfer
31 May 1939	CF	ENG	Ernie Matthews	ENG Ashington	Free transfer
31 May 1939	IR/CF		George Williams	Free agent	Released
1 July 1939	GK	ENG	Don Youngs	Free agent	Released
21 July 1939	WG	WAL	George Crisp	ENG Nottingham Forest	Undisclosed
31 August 1939	IF	SCO	Robert Murray	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	LB/RB	ENG	Joe Birch	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	CB	ENG	George Leslie	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	WH	SCO	Bill Main	Free agent	Released	name=FG}}
2 September 1939	LH/RH	ENG	Robert Morris	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	LB	ENG	Alf Worton	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	IL	ENG	Len Astill	Free agent	Released
2 September 1939	IF	ENG	Ken Burditt	Free agent	Released	name=FG}}
2 September 1939	CF	ENG	George Law	Free agent	Released	name=FG}}
2 September 1939	IF	ENG	George Wallis	Free agent	Released
7 September 1939	CB/RH	WAL	Jimmy Baker	Retired	Retired
7 September 1939	CF	WAL	Arthur Pritchard	Free agent	Released
5 January 1940	IH	SCO	Alec Cheyne	ENG Chelmsford City	Released

Match details

Friendlies

Ormandy Morris Bidewell Law Rees Shaw Burley Birch Rose Houseago Fieldus Perrett Rees Oswald Lewis Birch (pen.) Rees Cheyne Perrett Pendergast McCormack Burley Jones McCormick Sliman (pen.) Rees Simpson Fieldus

Southern League

Main article: 1939–40 Southern Football League

Cheyne Birch Wallis Phillips

Southern League Cup

Astill Pritchard Birch (pen.)

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

|- !colspan="14"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season |}

Goalscorers

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Southern League	Southern League Cup	Total
1	ENG	IL	Len Astill	0	2	2
ENG	LB/RB	Joe Birch	1	1	2
SCO	IH	Alec Cheyne	2	0	2
ENG	CF	George Law	1	1	2
5	WAL	CF	Arthur Pritchard	0	1	1
	Own goals	0	0	0
	TOTALS	4	5	9

Disciplinary record

Nationality	Position	Name	Southern League	Southern League Cup	Total
ENG	IF	George Wallis	0	1	0
	TOTALS	0	1	0	0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.

Place	Nationality	Position	Player	Southern League	Southern League Cup	Total
1	SCO	IH	Alec Cheyne	1	0	1
ENG	CB	George Leslie	1	0	1
		1	1	2
	TOTALS	3	1	4

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Southern League	Southern League Cup	Total
1	ENG	Billy Light	1	0	1
	TOTALS	1	0	1

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
WH	SCO	Bill Main	26 August 1939	Plymouth Argyle Reserves	Layer Road
IF	ENG	Ken Burditt	26 August 1939	Plymouth Argyle Reserves	Layer Road
CF	ENG	George Law	26 August 1939	Plymouth Argyle Reserves	Layer Road

References

General

Specific

References

(2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
"Colchester Utd 3–1 Plymouth Argyle Reserves". Coludata.co.uk.
"Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
Hudson, Matt. (11 August 2013). "The 1930s and 1940s". Colchester United FC.
"Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ken Burditt". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Law". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bill Main". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Ritchie". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Smith". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Merritt". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ian Haley". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ronnie Dunn". Coludata.co.uk.
"Cecil Allan". Coludata.co.uk.
"Jack Hodge". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ernie Matthews". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Williams". Coludata.co.uk.
"Don Youngs". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Crisp". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bob Murray". Coludata.co.uk.
"Joe Birch". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Leslie". Coludata.co.uk.
"Robert Morris". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alf Worton". Coludata.co.uk.
"Len Astill". Coludata.co.uk.
"Geo Wallis". Coludata.co.uk.
"James Baker". Coludata.co.uk.
"Arthur Pritchard". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alec Cheyne". Coludata.co.uk.
"Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
"Discipline". Coludata.co.uk.
"All matches". Coludata.co.uk.
"Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

colchester-united-f.c.-seasons english-football-clubs-1939–40-season

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1939–40 Colchester United F.C. season — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report