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1973–74 Colchester United F.C. season

Field	Value
club	Colchester United
season	1973–74
chairman	Robert Jackson
manager	Jim Smith
stadium	Layer Road
league	Fourth Division
league result	3rd (promoted)
cup1	FA Cup
cup1 result	1st round
(eliminated by
Peterborough United)
cup2	League Cup
cup2 result	1st round
(eliminated by
Gillingham)
league topscorer
Bobby Svarc (25)
season topscorer
Bobby Svarc (26)
highest attendance	10,007
v Gillingham, 20 April 1974
lowest attendance	3,460
v Bradford City, 1 December 1973
average attendance	5,601
largest win	4–0
v Torquay United, 19 September 1973
v Chester, 14 November 1973
v Bradford City, 1 December 1973
largest loss	1–4
v Gillingham, 8 December 1973
pattern_name1	Home
pattern_la1	_white_stripes
pattern_b1	_3whitestripes
pattern_ra1	_white_stripes
leftarm1	4961E1
body1	4961E1
rightarm1	4961E1
shorts1	4961E1
alt1	Football kit (white jersey with royal blue, vertical stripes; royal blue shorts; and white socks).
prevseason	1972–73
nextseason	1974–75

(eliminated by Peterborough United) (eliminated by Gillingham) Bobby Svarc (25) Bobby Svarc (26) v Gillingham, 20 April 1974 v Bradford City, 1 December 1973 v Torquay United, 19 September 1973 v Chester, 14 November 1973 v Bradford City, 1 December 1973 v Gillingham, 8 December 1973

The 1973–74 season was Colchester United's 32nd season in their history and their sixth 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.

Jim Smith led his side to promotion to the Third Division in his first full season in charge, finishing in third position, five points behind winners Peterborough United. Colchester experienced first round cup exits in both competitions, coincidentally losing to both teams which finished above them in the league; a defeat to Peterborough in the FA Cup and a defeat at Gillingham in the League Cup.

Season overview

Manager Jim Smith brought in Watford pair Mike Walker and Mick Packer during the summer break and also spent £8,000 on forward Paul Aimson from Bournemouth. While Aimson suffered a career-ending injury early in the season, Bobby Svarc found form and registered 25 league goals, including a record-equalling four goals at Chester in November.

At Christmas, Colchester led the Fourth Division table. Bobby Svarc's goalscoring waned, and Smith brought in Gary Moore on loan from Southend United. He scored seven goals in the U's eleven remaining games as Colchester sealed a promotion place. They finished in third position, five points behind Peterborough United and two adrift of Gillingham. The final home game of the season drew a crowd of 10,007, a game in which Gillingham won 2–0 and crept above Colchester in the league table. This would be the last time that Layer Road hosted a five-figure attendance in league competition.

In the cup competitions, Colchester were knocked out in the first round of both the FA Cup and League Cup, coincidentally against their two biggest league title rivals, Peterborough and Gillingham. Gillingham beat United 4–2 at Priestfield in the League Cup in August, while Peterborough triumphed 3–2 at Layer Road in the FA Cup first round.

Players

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1973	RB	ENG	Will Dixon	ENG Reading	Free transfer	url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player6/wilfdixon.html	title=Will Dixon	publisher=Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Transfer Database	access-date=11 February 2018 }}
July 1973	GK	WAL	Mike Walker	ENG Watford	£4,000
July 1973	FB	ENG	Mick Packer	ENG Watford	Free transfer
1 August 1973	FW	ENG	Paul Aimson	ENG Bournemouth	£8,000	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=352	title=Paul Aimson	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=15 July 2017 }}
25 August 1973	FW	ENG	Barry Dyson	ENG Bournemouth	Free transfer
September 1973	CB	ENG	Barry Dominey	ENG Enfield WMC	Free transfer	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=363	title=Barry Dominey	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=15 July 2017 }}
September 1973	CB	ENG	Barry Dominey	ENG Enfield WMC	Free transfer
October 1973	WG	ENG	Colwyn Rowe	Apprentice	Free transfer
December 1973	MF	ENG	Ray Bunkell	ENG Southend United	Part-exchange (£5,000)
27 January 1974	FB	ENG	Alex Smith	ENG Southend United	£5,000	url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=357	title=Alex Smith	publisher=Coludata.co.uk	access-date=15 July 2017 }}

Total spending: ~ £22,000

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee
30 April 1973	GK	SCO	John McInally	ENG Braintree & Crittall Athletic	Player-manager
30 April 1973	CB	ENG	Richard Bourne	ENG Ramsgate	Released
30 April 1973	MF	ENG	Stan Brown	ENG Wimbledon	Released
August 1973	MF	ENG	Phil Bloss	ENG Wimbledon	Released
September 1973	RB	ENG	Will Dixon	ENG Swindon Town	Free transfer
December 1973	FB	ENG	John McLaughlin	ENG Swindon Town	Part-exchange (£25,000)
December 1973	WG	ENG	Mick Mahon	ENG Wimbledon	£3,000
22 February 1974	FW	ENG	Paul Aimson	Free agent	Retired

Total incoming: ~ £28,000

Loans in

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	End date	Ref.
October 1973	FW	ENG	Peter Silvester	ENG Norwich City	2 November 1983
November 1973	FB	ENG	Alex Smith	ENG Southend United	5 January 1974	name=Loan	Loan start and end dates refer to the date of the player's first and final games for the club}}
1 February 1974	WG	ENG	Terry Anderson	ENG Norwich City	2 March 1974
March 1974	MF	ENG	Paul Taylor	ENG York City	12 May 1974
March 1974	FW	ENG	Gary Moore	ENG Southend United	4 May 1974

Match details

Fourth Division

Main article: 1973–74 Football League

Results round by round

|color_-4=green1|color_21-=red1

League table

Matches

Svarc Morgan Purdie Svarc Leslie Morgan Svarc Dyson Leslie Thomas Morrall Report Svarc Svarc Cook Harford Eccles Foley Morgan Dyson Wilks Jacks Foley Foley Morgan Leslie Leslie Thomas Dyson Kitchen Rudd Svarc Svarc Aimson Cozens Moore Svarc Wood Moore

League Cup

Main article: 1973–74 Football League Cup

Wilks Quirke Yeo Svarc

FA Cup

Main article: 1973–74 FA Cup

Harford Murray

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	FW	Bobby Svarc	25	0	1	26
2	ENG	MF	Steve Foley	8	0	0	8
WAL	CB	Stuart Morgan	8	0	0	8
4	ENG	FW	Gary Moore	7	0	0	7
5	ENG	FW	Barry Dyson	6	0	0	6
6	ENG	FB	Micky Cook	4	0	1	5
ENG	MF	Steve Leslie	5	0	0	5
8	ENG	MF	Phil Thomas	4	0	0	4
9	ENG	FW	Paul Aimson	2	0	0	2
ENG	CB	Ray Harford	1	1	0	2
11	ENG	WG	Mick Mahon	0	1	0	1
ENG	FB	Alex Smith	1	0	0	1
ENG	CB	Lindsay Smith	1	0	0	1
	Own goals	1	0	0	1
	TOTALS	73	2	2	77

Disciplinary record

Nationality	Position	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup
WAL	CB	Stuart Morgan	0	1
ENG	FB	Micky Cook	1	0
ENG	CB	Ray Harford	1	0
ENG	FB	Micky Cook	1	0
ENG	MF	Bobby Mills	1	0
ENG	FB	Mick Packer	1	0
ENG	FB	Alex Smith	1	0
ENG	CB	Lindsay Smith	1	0
	TOTALS	7	1	0

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

Place	Nationality	Player	Fourth Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	WAL	Mike Walker	21	0	0	21
	TOTALS	21	0	0	21

Player debuts

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

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
GK	WAL	Mike Walker	25 August 1973	Barnsley	Oakwell
FB	ENG	Mick Packer	25 August 1973	Barnsley	Oakwell
FW	ENG	Paul Aimson	25 August 1973	Barnsley	Oakwell
FW	ENG	Barry Dyson	25 August 1973	Barnsley	Oakwell
FW	ENG	Peter Silvester	6 October 1973	Hartlepool	Victoria Park
FB	ENG	Alex Smith	10 November 1973	Mansfield Town	Field Mill
MF	ENG	Ray Bunkell	8 December 1973	Gillingham	Priestfield Stadium
FB	ENG	Alex Smith	27 January 1974	Doncaster Rovers	Belle Vue
WG	ENG	Colwyn Rowe	3 February 1974	Bury	Gigg Lane
WG	ENG	Terry Anderson	8 February 1974	Swansea City	Layer Road
CB	ENG	Barry Dominey	16 March 1974	Scunthorpe United	Old Showground
MF	ENG	Paul Taylor	16 March 1974	Scunthorpe United	Old Showground
FW	ENG	Gary Moore	16 March 1974	Scunthorpe United	Old Showground

References

General

Books

Websites

Specific

References

(2008). "The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years". Breedon Books.
"Colchester Utd 0–2 Gillingham". Coludata.co.uk.
"Colchester Utd 4–0 Bradford City". 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.
"Will Dixon". Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Transfer Database.
"Will DIXON". Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk.
"Mike Walker". Coludata.co.uk.
"Mick Packer". Coludata.co.uk.
"Paul Aimson". Coludata.co.uk.
"Barry Dyson". Coludata.co.uk.
"Barry Dominey". Coludata.co.uk.
"Colwyn Rowe". Coludata.co.uk.
"Ray Bunkell". Coludata.co.uk.
"Alex Smith". Coludata.co.uk.
"Brian Gibbs". Coludata.co.uk.
"Richard Bourne". Coludata.co.uk.
"Stan Brown". Coludata.co.uk.
"Phil Bloss". Coludata.co.uk.
"John McLaughlin". Coludata.co.uk.
"Mick Mahon". Coludata.co.uk.
"Peter Silvester". Coludata.co.uk.
"Terry Anderson". Coludata.co.uk.
"Paul Taylor". Coludata.co.uk.
"Gary Moore". 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.
"Doncaster Rovers 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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