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1972–73 Colchester United F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Colchester United
season	1972–73
chairman	Roy Chapman
manager	Dick Graham
(until 8 September)
Dennis Mochan
(from 8 September to 1 October)
Jim Smith
(from 1 October)
stadium	Layer Road
league	Fourth Division
league result	22nd (re-elected)
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	2nd round
(eliminated by
Bournemouth)
cup2	League Cup
cup2 result	1st round
(eliminated by
Gillingham)
league topscorer
Mick Mahon (12)
season topscorer
Mick Mahon (12)
highest attendance	7,419
v Bournemouth, 11 December 1972
lowest attendance	2,437
v Peterborough United, 9 April 1973
average attendance	3,440
largest win	6–0
v Bognor Regis Town, 18 November 1972
largest loss	0–4
v Chester, 30 August 1972
v Barnsley, 16 September 1972
v Northampton Town, 26 December 1972
v Bury, 23 April 1973
leftarm1	FFFFFF
body1	FFFFFF
rightarm1	FFFFFF
shorts1	FFFFFF
socks1	FFFFFF
alt1	Football kit (white jersey; white shorts; and white socks).
pattern_b2	_collar
leftarm2	FFFFFF
body2	FFFFFF
rightarm2	FFFFFF
shorts2	0000FF
socks2	0000FF
prevseason	1971–72
nextseason	1973–74

(until 8 September) Dennis Mochan (from 8 September to 1 October) Jim Smith (from 1 October) (eliminated by Bournemouth) (eliminated by Gillingham) Mick Mahon (12) Mick Mahon (12) v Bournemouth, 11 December 1972 v Peterborough United, 9 April 1973 v Bognor Regis Town, 18 November 1972 v Chester, 30 August 1972 v Barnsley, 16 September 1972 v Northampton Town, 26 December 1972 v Bury, 23 April 1973 The 1972–73 season was Colchester United's 31st season in their history and their fifth successive season in the fourth tier of English football, the Fourth Division. Alongside competing in the Fourth Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Manager Dick Graham resigned early in the new season, following two and four defeats wins in the opening six games of the campaign. Jim Smith was appointed his successor in early October, but his first win didn't arrive until mid-November. Colchester endured a very poor season, and were required to seek re-election after finishing 22nd in the league table.

Colchester suffered an early exit in the cup competitions as they were defeated in the first round of the League Cup by Gillingham, and the second round of the FA Cup by Bournemouth.

Season overview

Colchester United held its annual general meeting in September 1972. Following questioning of his tactics by a shareholder, an incensed Dick Graham tendered his resignation as manager. The club had achieved two wins in the first six games of the season, but the other four matches ended in defeat. Dennis Mochan was appointed caretaker manager until a permanent replacement could be found. He took charge of five games, but was unable to improve Colchester's fortunes, with two draws and three defeats in his five games at the helm. An unknown Jim Smith, then-manager of Northern Premier League side Boston United who had just led the team to the title, was appointed Graham's replacement. With Colchester bottom of the Football League after 13 matches with six points, Smith's influence gave United an initial boost, earning the Manager of the Month award for lifting the club off the bottom of the table.

One of Smith's early pieces of business was signing his former Boston forward Bobby Svarc for £6,000 just before Christmas. However, his goalscoring influence did not immediately show, returning eight goals in 20 league outings. Fortunes did not improve for the U's as they finished the season in 22nd position and were required to seek re-election from the Football League. Colchester earned a maximum 48 votes from their fellow League clubs to retain Football League status for another season.

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1972	GK	IRL	Des Kelly	ENG Norwich City	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=345	title=Des Kelly	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
Summer 1972	CB	ENG	Martin Binks	ENG Orient	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=342	title=Martin Binks	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
Summer 1972	FB	ENG	Steve Wooldridge	ENG Crystal Palace	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=341	title=Steve Wooldridge	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
Summer 1972	MF	ENG	Phil Thomas	ENG Bournemouth	Free transfer
May 1972	FW	ENG	Bobby Moss	ENG Orient	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=339	title=Bobby Moss	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
July 1972	CB	ENG	Bobby Noble	ENG Barrow	£1,000	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=340	title=Bobby Noble	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
August 1972	CB	WAL	Stuart Morgan	ENG Reading	Free transfer
26 August 1972	CB	ENG	John South	ENG Orient	Trial	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=344	title=John South	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
October 1972	MF	ENG	Jim Smith	ENG Boston United	Player-manager	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=347	title=Jim Smith	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
25 November 1972	GK	SCO	John McInally	ENG Lincoln City	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=346	title=John McInally	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
December 1972	MF	ENG	Stan Brown	ENG Fulham	Free transfer
December 1972	FW	ENG	Bobby Svarc	ENG Boston United	£6,000
3 February 1973	CB	ENG	Ray Harford	ENG Port Vale	£1,750	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=350	title=Ray Harford	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=28 June 2017 }}
March 1973	MF	SCO	Bobby Roberts	ENG Coventry City (Youth team coach)	Free transfer

Total spending: ~ £8,750

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
End of season	FW	ENG	Brian Gibbs	ENG Bletchley Town	Player-manager
Summer 1972	CB	ENG	Bobby Howlett	ENG Bowers United	Released
29 April 1972	FB	ENG	Eric Burgess	ENG Wealdstone	Released
9 October 1972	CB	ENG	John South	ENG Orient	End of trial	name=FG}}
December 1972	FB	ENG	Steve Wooldridge	ENG Folkestone	Free transfer
29 December 1972	FB	ENG	Brian Hall	ENG Chelmsford City	Released
January 1973	CB	ENG	Martin Binks	ENG Cambridge United	Free transfer
February 1973	GK	IRL	Des Kelly	ENG Lowestoft Town	Released
February 1973	FW	ENG	Bobby Moss	ENG Dover Athletic	Free transfer
17 February 1973	GK	ENG	Barry Smith	ENG Walsall	Released
March 1973	CB	ENG	Bobby Noble	ENG Southport	£2,000
March 1973	FW	ENG	Dave Simmons	ENG Cambridge United	£3,000
6 April 1973	MF	ENG	Jim Smith	ENG Colchester United	Manager	name=FG}}

Total incoming: ~ £5,000

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
10 November 1972	GK	SCO	John McInally	ENG Lincoln City	10 November 1972	name=Loan	Loan start and end dates refer to the date of the player's first and final games for the club}}
4 January 1973	CB	ENG	Ray Harford	ENG Port Vale	27 January 1973	name=Loan}}

Loans out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	End date	Ref.
November 1972	FB	ENG	Steve Wooldridge	ENG Folkestone	December 1972
November 1972	FW	ENG	Bobby Moss	ENG Folkestone	December 1972

Match details

Fourth Division

Main article: 1972–73 Football League

Results round by round

|color_-4=green1|color_21-=red1

League table

Matches

Smith Hawkins Thomas Hollis Owen Graham Mahon McLaughlin Greenwood Mahon Robertson Bradley Moss Mahon Stenson Rowlands Noble Collins Heath Brown Bairstow Thomas Foley Foley Riddick Hunt Simmons Howarth Mahoney Gregory Redrobe Garbett Leslie Hunt Jacques Svarc Murray Warburton Tinsley Svarc Davies Foley Leslie L Smith

League Cup

Main article: 1972–73 Football League Cup

FA Cup

Main article: 1972–73 FA Cup

Morgan Hall Foley Boyer

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

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

Goalscorers

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	ENG	WG	Mick Mahon	12	0	0	12
2	ENG	MF	Steve Foley	8	1	0	9
ENG	FW	Dave Simmons	6	3	0	9
4	ENG	FW	Bobby Svarc	8	0	0	8
5	ENG	MF	Steve Leslie	3	0	0	3
ENG	FW	Bobby Moss	3	0	0	3
7	ENG	FB	John McLaughlin	2	0	0	2
WAL	CB	Stuart Morgan	1	1	0	2
ENG	MF	Phil Thomas	2	0	0	2
10	ENG	FB	Brian Hall	1	0	0	1
ENG	CB	Ray Harford	1	0	0	1
ENG	CB	Lindsay Smith	1	0	0	1
	Own goals	1	0	0	1
	TOTALS	48	6	0	54

Disciplinary record

Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup
WAL	CB	Stuart Morgan	2	1	0
ENG	CB	Lindsay Smith	1	0	1
ENG	FB	Brian Hall	1	0	0
ENG	CB	Ray Harford	1	0	0
ENG	CB	Bobby Noble	1	0	0
	TOTALS	6	1	1	0

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	SCO	John McInally	6	1	0	7
2	ENG	Barry Smith	2	0	0	2
2	IRL	Des Kelly	0	1	0	1
	TOTALS	8	2	0	10

Player debuts

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

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
CB	WAL	Stuart Morgan	12 August 1972	Hereford United	Layer Road
CB	ENG	Bobby Noble	12 August 1972	Hereford United	Layer Road
FB	ENG	Steve Wooldridge	12 August 1972	Hereford United	Layer Road
FW	ENG	Bobby Moss	12 August 1972	Hereford United	Layer Road
MF	ENG	Phil Thomas	16 August 1972	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium
CB	ENG	Martin Binks	19 August 1972	Hartlepool	Victoria Park
CB	ENG	John South	26 August 1972	Newport County	Layer Road
GK	IRL	Des Kelly	4 November 1972	Bradford City	Valley Parade
GK	SCO	John McInally	10 November 1972	Southport	Layer Road
MF	ENG	Jim Smith	10 November 1972	Southport	Layer Road
GK	SCO	John McInally	25 November 1972	Reading	Elm Park
MF	ENG	Stan Brown	29 December 1972	Hartlepool	Layer Road
FW	ENG	Bobby Svarc	29 December 1972	Hartlepool	Layer Road
CB	ENG	Ray Harford	6 January 1973	Newport County	Somerton Park
CB	ENG	Ray Harford	3 February 1973	Aldershot	Recreation Ground
MF	SCO	Bobby Roberts	16 March 1973	Cambridge United	Layer Road

References

General

Books

Websites

Specific

References

(2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
"Colchester Utd 0–2 Bournemouth". Coludata.co.uk.
"Colchester Utd 1–0 Peterborough United". Coludata.co.uk.
"Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
Hudson, Matt. (11 July 2012). "The 1970s and 1980s". Colchester United FC.
"Appearances". Coludata.co.uk.
"Des Kelly". Coludata.co.uk.
"Martin Binks". Coludata.co.uk.
"Steve Wooldridge". Coludata.co.uk.
"Phil Thomas". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bobby Moss". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bobby Noble". Coludata.co.uk.
"Stuart Morgan". Coludata.co.uk.
"John South". Coludata.co.uk.
"Jim Smith". Coludata.co.uk.
"John McInally". Coludata.co.uk.
"Stan Brown". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bobby Svarc". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ray Harford". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bobby Roberts". Coludata.co.uk.
"Brian Gibbs". Coludata.co.uk.
"Bobby Howlett". Coludata.co.uk.
"Eric Burgess". Coludata.co.uk.
"Brian Hall". Coludata.co.uk.
"Barry Smith". Coludata.co.uk.
"Dave Simmons". Coludata.co.uk.
"Goals". Coludata.co.uk.
"Discipline". Coludata.co.uk.
"Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk.
"Reading 0–1 Colchester Utd". Coludata.co.uk.
"Aldershot 2–0 Colchester Utd". Coludata.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.

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