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1949–50 Colchester United F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Colchester United
season	1949–50
chairman	Bill Allen
manager	Jimmy Allen
stadium	Layer Road
league	Southern League
league result	2nd
Elected to the Football League
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	4th qualifying round
(eliminated by
Wealdstone)
cup2	Southern League Cup
cup2 result	Winners
league topscorer
Vic Keeble (42)
season topscorer
Vic Keeble (46)
highest attendance	14,718
v Chelmsford City, 17 September 1949
lowest attendance	5,352
v Cheltenham Town, 23 March 1950
average attendance	8,639
largest win	8–0
v Kidderminster Harriers, 19 November 1949
largest loss	0–5
v Merthyr Tydfil, 26 April 1950;
1–6
v Gillingham, 29 April 1950
pattern_name1	Home
pattern_la1	_white_stripes
pattern_b1	_whitestripes3
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	1948–49
nextseason	1950–51

Elected to the Football League (eliminated by Wealdstone) Vic Keeble (42) Vic Keeble (46) v Chelmsford City, 17 September 1949 v Cheltenham Town, 23 March 1950 v Kidderminster Harriers, 19 November 1949 v Merthyr Tydfil, 26 April 1950; 1–6 v Gillingham, 29 April 1950 The 1949–50 season was Colchester United's eighth season in their history and their eighth and final season in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and Southern League Cup. The club finished as runner-up to Merthyr Tydfil in the league, but despite this Colchester were elected to the Football League at the end of the campaign with the expansion of the League from 88 to 92 clubs. The club won the Southern League Cup 6–4 on aggregate, while they exited the FA Cup at the fourth qualifying round stage following a 1–0 defeat by Wealdstone.

Season overview

Layer Road suffered storm damage ahead of the 1949–50 season, and owing to a shortage of steel, re-construction work was not complete as the season commenced. Manager Jimmy Allen strengthened his defence with the signing of Reg Stewart from Sheffield Wednesday and Bill Layton from Bradford Park Avenue, and by Christmas 1949, Colchester had lost just three of their 28 games played, one of which was the 1–0 FA Cup fourth qualifying round defeat to Wealdstone. The game was one of the first FA Cup ties to be broadcast on television, but on this occasion it was the U's who were on the receiving end of a cup shock.

Colchester had topped the table all season until a fixture-congested April, which saw them held to home draws by Torquay United Reserves and Gravesend & Northfleet, while suffering 5–0 and 6–1 defeats at main title rivals Merthyr Tydfil and Gillingham in the space of three days. Between those defeats, the U's had recovered some pride with a 3–0 Southern League Cup final first-leg win over Bath City. Competing in their fourth match in just five days, a weary Colchester side allowed Bath to lead the second-leg 4–1, meaning the tie would go to extra time. Vic Keeble and Dennis Hillman scored in the added 30-minutes, helping Colchester lift the trophy for the second time with their third final appearance in 3 years.

With Gillingham having defeated Merthyr Tydfil during midweek, all Colchester needed to do in their final fixture was to win at Barry Town to secure the title. However, they were held to a goalless draw and Merthyr Tydfil took the title on goal average. Despite this, Vic Keeble had been the club's top scorer with 46 goals, a record which remains intact. Supplementing this were Fred Cutting's 24 goal haul and Bob Curry's 22, while fellow forward Arthur Turner had spent the majority of the season out injured with cartilage damage.

On 3 June 1950, only Everton and West Bromwich Albion opposed the expansion of the Football League from 88 to 92 clubs by expanding the Third Division North and South, instead preferring another regional league. Of the applications for Third Division South election, Gillingham polled 44 votes, Colchester 28, Worcester City 11, Chelmsford City 8, Peterborough United 5 and Merthyr Tydfil and Yeovil Town just one vote each. Colchester United were elected to the Football League with a Supporters Club membership of over 16,000 and an average gate of over 8,500.

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
July 1949	WG	ESP	José Gallego	ENG Southampton	Free transfer
August 1949	WH	ENG	Bill Layton	ENG Bradford Park Avenue	£800
20 August 1949	CB	ENG	Reg Stewart	ENG Sheffield Wednesday	£1,000 (paid on joining Football League in 1950)
8 September 1949	WH	ENG	John Moore	ENG Brentford	£1,000
8 October 1949	FB	ENG	Doug Beach	ENG Southend United	Free transfer
20 October 1949	CB	ENG	Ronnie Sales	ENG Leyton Orient	Free transfer
22 October 1949	CF		John Sharpe	ENG Southampton	Trial	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=167	title=John Sharpe	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=1 February 2016 }}

Total spending: ~ £2,800

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	GK	ENG	Harry Wright	ENG Guildford City	Coach
End of season	WH	ENG	Wally Nunn	ENG Guildford City	Free transfer
End of season	WH/IR	ENG	Frank Stamper	ENG Hartlepools United	Undisclosed
End of season	WG	ENG	Norman George	Free agent	Released
End of season	IF	SCO	Andy Brown	ENG Kidderminster Harriers	Free transfer
End of season	IR	ENG	Ray Townrow	ENG Clacton Town	Free transfer
May 1949	WH	ENG	Alf Miller	ENG Colchester United	Coaching staff
10 September 1949	CF	ENG	Len Cater	ENG Clacton Town	Free transfer
1 October 1949	FB	WAL	Bill Bower	ENG Sudbury Town	Free transfer
20 October 1949	CB	ENG	Ronnie Sales	ENG Hartlepools United	Free
22 October 1949	CF		John Sharpe	Free agent	End of trial	name=FG}}

Match details

Southern League

Main article: 1949–50 Southern Football League

League table

Matches

Curry Curry Keeble Keeble Keeble Curry Foxall Cutting Keeble Bearryman Keeble Keeble Cutting Keeble Cutting Foxall Keeble Keeble Hillman Keeble Curry Keeble Cutting Bearryman Foxall Keeble Keeble Cutting Keeble Foxall Keeble Keeble Foxall Lawson Keeble Layton Keeble Cutting Keeble Cutting Hillman Keeble Cutting Keeble Keeble Hillman Keeble

Southern League Cup

Bearryman Keeble Cutting Keeble Kelly Mills Snook

FA Cup

Main article: 1949–50 FA Cup

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	FA Cup	Total
1	ENG	CF	Vic Keeble	42	4	0	46
2	ENG	IF	Fred Cutting	21	3	0	24
3	ENG	IF	Bob Curry	20	2	0	22
4	ENG	WH	Bill Layton	7	0	0	7
5	ENG	WG	Dennis Hillman	4	2	0	6
6	ENG	WG	Stan Foxall	5	0	0	5
7	ENG	WH	Harry Bearryman	3	1	0	4
8	ENG	WG	Bob Allen	3	0	0	3
9	ESP	WG	José Gallego	1	0	0	1
	Own goals	3	0	0	3
	TOTALS	109	12	0	121

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Southern League	Southern League Cup	FA Cup	Total
1	ENG	George Wright	18	2	0	20
	TOTALS	18	2	0	20

Player debuts

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

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
WH	ENG	Bill Layton	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
CB	ENG	Reg Stewart	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
WG	ESP	José Gallego	20 August 1949	Weymouth	Layer Road
WH	ENG	John Moore	8 September 1949	Chingford Town	Newgate Street
FB	ENG	Doug Beach	8 October 1949	Chelmsford City	Layer Road
CB	ENG	Ronnie Sales	20 October 1949	Lovell's Athletic	Rexville
CF		John Sharpe	22 October 1949	Yeovil Town	Layer Road

References

General

Specific

References

(2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
"Colchester Utd 4–1 Chelmsford City". Coludata.co.uk.
"Colchester Utd 2–2 Cheltenham Town". Coludata.co.uk.
"Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
Willis, Tom. "Promotion to/Relegation from the Football League by year". Thepyramid.info.
(3 June 1950). "Four new clubs for the Football League". [[Coventry Telegraph.
(3 June 1950). "Bigger English League". [[Belfast Telegraph]].
(5 June 1950). "Four New League Clubs". [[The Times]].
(5 May 1950). "Colchester Utd. win S.L. Cup". [[Essex Chronicle.
(15 November 1949). "Wealdstone defence held under heavy pressure". The Essex Newsman-Herald.
(17 November 1949). "Wealdstone's Great Cup Victory". [[Harrow Observer.
(19 November 1949). "Port Vale's Amateur Opponents in F.A. Cup". [[Evening Sentinel]].
Hudson, Matt. (11 August 2013). "The 1930s and 1940s". Colchester United FC.
"Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
"Jose Gallego". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bill Layton". Coludata.co.uk.
"Reg Stewart". Coludata.co.uk.
"John Moore". Coludata.co.uk.
"Doug Beach". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ronnie Sales". Coludata.co.uk.
"John Sharpe". Coludata.co.uk.
"Harry Wright". Coludata.co.uk.
"Wally Nunn". Coludata.co.uk.
"Frank Stamper". Coludata.co.uk.
"Norman George". Coludata.co.uk.
"Andy Brown". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ray Townrow". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alf Miller". Coludata.co.uk.
"Len Cater". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bill Bower". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ronnie Sales". Coludata.co.uk.
"Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
"Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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