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1956–57 Colchester United F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Colchester United
season	1956–57
chairman	Bill Allen
manager	Benny Fenton
stadium	Layer Road
league	Third Division South
league result	3rd
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	1st round
(eliminated by
Southend United)
league topscorer
Ken Plant (24)
season topscorer
Ken Plant (24)
highest attendance	18,559
v Ipswich Town, 16 February 1957
lowest attendance	5,899
v Northampton Town, 22 December 1956
average attendance	9,351
largest win	6–0
v Shrewsbury Town, 29 September 1956
largest loss	1–4
v Southend United, 17 November 1956;
1–4
v Swindon Town, 27 April 1957
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	1955–56
nextseason	1957–58

(eliminated by Southend United) Ken Plant (24) Ken Plant (24) v Ipswich Town, 16 February 1957 v Northampton Town, 22 December 1956 v Shrewsbury Town, 29 September 1956 v Southend United, 17 November 1956; 1–4 v Swindon Town, 27 April 1957 The 1956–57 season was Colchester United's 15th season in their history and their seventh 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 in which the club were eliminated by Southend United in the first round in the first Essex derby in a cup competition. The season would be Colchester United's highest league finish for 50 years by ending their campaign in third position. It has only been bettered on three occasions; the 2005–06 season, 2006–07 season and the 2007–08 season.

Season overview

The 1956–57 season proved to be Colchester United's best finish in their history, ending the season in third position in the third tier with a result that was not bettered until 2006. For the majority of the season, Colchester were favourites for promotion, during which time they went 20 league games unbeaten between December 1956 and Easter 1957.

Colchester and rivals Ipswich Town vied for the top spot for much of the season. Colchester were seven-points ahead of their third-placed rivals when the two sides met at Layer Road on 16 February 1957. A record crowd of 18,559 witnessed the 0–0 draw, with over 4,000 fans turned away and over 100 spectators witnessing the action from the roof of the Popular Side stand. Player-manager Benny Fenton missed a 21st-minute penalty during the match, which was saved by Ipswich goalkeeper Roy Bailey.

A 2–1 win over second-placed Torquay United, who trailed by four points as a result, improved Colchester's title credentials. However, the loss of influential players to injury including Bob Dale and Chic Milligan damaged Colchester's hopes. Three consecutive draws in late March and early April allowed Torquay to close the gap to just one point, with Ipswich five points adrift. Over Easter 1957, Colchester lost three consecutive away games at Millwall, Walsall and Swindon Town, but won their final game of the season 2–0 against Watford to put them back at the top of the table, but both Ipswich and Torquay's final matches were 24 hours later. Both sides won their final games, with Colchester slipping to third position in the table and Ipswich were promoted as champions, level on points with Torquay but with a better goal average, while they finished one point ahead of Colchester. Colchester played the entire season unbeaten at Layer Road.

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee
Summer 1956	WG	ENG	Les Barrell	ENG Lexden Wanderers	Free transfer
June 1956	IF	ENG	Eddie Smith	ENG Northampton Town	Undisclosed
18 August 1956	CB	SCO	Chic Milligan	SCO Ardrossan Winton Rovers	£1,000
September 1956	WG	ENG	Tommy Williams	ENG Carshalton Athletic	Free transfer
March 1957	WH	ENG	Derek Parker	ENG West Ham United	£2,500

Total spending: ~ £3,500

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
End of season	GK	ENG	George Wright	ENG Sudbury Town	Free transfer
End of season	IF	ENG	Alfred Noble	ENG Leytonstone	Free transfer
Summer 1956	CB	ENG	Billy Hunt	ENG Sudbury Town	Released
September 1956	FB	ENG	John Harrison	Free agent	Retired
16 February 1957	WH	ENG	Bob Dale	Free agent	Retired
March 1957	FB	ENG	George French	Retired	Retired

Match details

Third Division South

Main article: 1956–57 Football League

Results round by round

League table

Matches

Report McCurley Barrell Stirling Plant Bobby Hill Fowler Walker Report Rowley P. Wright Plant McCurley Dale Plant Plant Plant McCurley Plant McCurley Report Plant McCurley Bobby Hill P. Wright Report McGuigan Thomson Plant P. Wright McLeod Williams Plant P. Wright Rogers Report Williams Simpson Smith Plant P. Wright Williams Report Plant Report Bobby Hill Summersby Report O'Mahoney McCurley

FA Cup

Main article: 1956–57 FA Cup

Report McCrory

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

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

Goalscorers

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	ENG	CF	Ken Plant	24	0	24
2	ENG	IF	Eddie Smith	13	0	13
3	ENG	CF	Kevin McCurley	9	1	10
4	ENG	WH	Benny Fenton	8	0	8
ENG	WG	Peter Wright	8	0	8
6	SCO	IF	Bobby Hill	7	0	7
7	ENG	WG	Tommy Williams	3	0	3
8	ENG	WH	Bob Dale	2	0	2
ENG	FB	George Fisher	2	0	2
SCO	IF	Sammy McLeod	2	0	2
11	SCO	FB	John Fowler	1	0	1
ENG	WH	Bert Hill	1	0	1
SCO	CB	Chic Milligan	1	0	1
ENG	WG	Les Barrell	1	0	1
ENG	CF	Martyn King	1	0	1
	Own goals	1	0	1
	TOTALS	83	1	84

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	ENG	Percy Ames	13	0	13
	TOTALS	13	0	13

Player debuts

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

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
CB	SCO	Chic Milligan	18 August 1956	Southend United	Layer Road
WG	ENG	Les Barrell	18 August 1956	Southend United	Layer Road
IF	ENG	Eddie Smith	18 August 1956	Southend United	Layer Road
CF	ENG	Martyn King	27 August 1956	Crystal Palace	Layer Road
WG	ENG	Tommy Williams	24 November 1956	Brentford	Layer Road
WH	ENG	Derek Parker	13 April 1957	Aldershot	Layer Road

References

General

Books

Websites

Specific

References

(2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
"Colchester Utd 0–0 Ipswich Town". Coludata.co.uk.
"Colchester Utd 1–2 Millwall". Coludata.co.uk.
"Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
Hudson, Matt. (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC.
"Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
"Les Barrell". Coludata.co.uk.
"Eddie Smith". Coludata.co.uk.
"Chic Milligan". Coludata.co.uk.
"Tommy Williams". Coludata.co.uk.
"Derek Parker". Coludata.co.uk.
"George Wright". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alf Noble". Coludata.co.uk.
"Billy Hunt". Coludata.co.uk.
"John Harrison". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bob Dale". Coludata.co.uk.
"George French". Coludata.co.uk.
"Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
"Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.

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