1953–54 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1953–54 season
Chairman	Bill Allen
Manager	Ron Meades; (11 June to 15 June); Jack Butler; (from 16 June)
Stadium	Layer Road
Third Division South	23rd (re-elected)
FA Cup	1st round; (eliminated by; Millwall)
Top goalscorer	League: ; Bert Barlow (10); All: ; Bert Barlow (10)
Highest home attendance	10,316; v Ipswich Town, 19 December 1953
Lowest home attendance	6,035; v Southend United, 29 April 1954
Average home league attendance	7,797
Biggest win	5–0; v Queens Park Rangers, 25 December 1953
Biggest defeat	0–4; v Millwall, 23 November 1953
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1952–53 1954–55 →

The 1953–54 season was Colchester United's twelfth season in their history and their fourth 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. Colchester were knocked out in the first round of the cup by Millwall following a replay. The club struggled in the league for the second successive season, eventually finishing 23rd of 24 teams under new manager Jack Butler. The club had to apply for re-election at the end of the season for the first of three occasions in its history. All four clubs applying for re-election were successful, with Colchester receiving 45 votes, behind Chester by three votes but ahead of both Walsall (32 votes) and Halifax Town (28 votes).^[5]

Season overview

Following Jimmy Allen's resignation at the end of the previous season, the Colchester United board shortlisted three names for the vacant managerial position, and in-line with their cost reduction policy, appointed Ron Meades as player-manager. Meades had claimed to have been with Cardiff City, and more recently manager of Western League side Wadebridge Town. Journalist Arthur Wood investigated Meades' background and revealed that Meades was a fraud, and after just four days in charge, Meades was asked to leave by the club.

Colchester hurriedly appointed a new manager, Jack Butler, a former player for Arsenal and England international. He had coached in Belgium, initially with Royal Daring Club Molenbeek and had been in charge of the Belgium national team between 1935 and 1940, leading them to the 1938 World Cup finals. More recently, he had managed Torquay United and Crystal Palace, but Butler had little time to prepare his side ahead of the new season, and a 13-game winless run in late 1953 saw Colchester slump to 23rd position in the league.

With the crowd average falling season-on-season to 7,797, the club were required to apply for re-election after finishing the campaign ten points adrift of safety. Colchester earned 45 votes, enough to ensure another season in the Football League, but having been prolific goalscorers earlier in their history, the club had scored only 50 league goals this season.^[6]

Players

As of match played 29 April 1954.^[7]

Name	Position	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Frank Coombs	GK	East Ham	(1925-04-24)24 April 1925 (aged 28)	31	0	Southend United	8 March 1952^[a]	£450
George Wright	GK	Plymouth	(1919-10-10)10 October 1919 (aged 33)	164	0	Plymouth Argyle	May 1949	£1,000
John Wright	GK	Aldershot	(1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 19)	0	0	Colchester Casuals	23 May 1952	Free transfer
Defenders
Roy Bicknell	CB	Doncaster	(1926-02-19)19 February 1926 (aged 27)	8	0	Gravesend & Northfleet	June 1952	£1,000
George French	FB	Colchester	(1926-11-10)10 November 1926 (aged 26)	1	0	West Ham United	February 1949	Free transfer
John Harrison	FB	Leicester	(1927-09-27)27 September 1927 (aged 25)	128	0	Aston Villa	30 September 1950^[a]	Nominal
Billy Hunt	CB	Colchester	(1934-11-25)25 November 1934 (aged 18)	0	0	Amateur	August 1953	Free transfer
Digger Kettle	FB	Colchester	(1922-06-03)3 June 1922 (aged 30)	168	1	Arclight Sports	September 1946	Free transfer
Fred Lewis	FB	Broughton Gifford	(1923-07-26)26 July 1923 (aged 29)	0	0	Chelsea	Summer 1953	Free transfer
Reg Stewart	CB	Sheffield	(1925-10-30)30 October 1925 (aged 27)	191	0	Sheffield Wednesday	20 August 1949^[a]	£1,000
Midfielders
Harry Bearryman	WH	Wandsworth	(1924-09-26)26 September 1924 (aged 28)	293	10	Chelsea	4 July 1947	Free transfer
Bob Dale	WH	Irlam	(1931-10-31)31 October 1931 (aged 21)	0	0	Bury	24 December 1953	£1,500
Austin Dunne	WH	Limerick	(1934-07-31)31 July 1934 (aged 18)	0	0	Limerick	October 1953	Free transfer
Jimmy Elder	WH	Scone	(1928-03-05)5 March 1928 (aged 25)	143	10	Portsmouth	19 August 1950^[a]	£1,000
Trevor Harris	WH	Colchester	(1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 17)	0	0	Amateur	July 1951	Free transfer
Bert Hill	WH	West Ham	(1930-03-08)8 March 1930 (aged 23)	1	0	Chelsea	September 1952	£300
Ron Hunt	WH	Colchester	(1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 19)	3	0	Amateur	October 1951	Free transfer
Doug Keene	WH	Hendon	(1928-08-30)30 August 1928 (aged 24)	0	0	Brighton & Hove Albion	20 August 1953^[a]	£1,000
Forwards
Peter Aitchison	WG	Harlow	(1931-09-19)19 September 1931 (aged 21)	12	2	Amateur	August 1950	Free transfer
John Church	WG	Lowestoft	(1919-09-17)17 September 1919 (aged 33)	122	22	Norwich City	19 August 1950^[a]	£1,000
Mike Grice	WG	Woking	(1931-11-03)3 November 1931 (aged 21)	13	1	Lowestoft Town	Summer 1952	£25
Kevin McCurley	CF	Consett	(1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 27)	58	25	Liverpool	June 1951	£750
Johnny McKim	IF	Greenock	(1926-01-22)22 January 1926 (aged 27)	84	33	Chelsea	19 August 1950^[a]	£1,000
Ken Plant	CF	Nuneaton	(1925-08-15)15 August 1925 (aged 27)	0	0	Bury	January 1954	Undisclosed
Peter Wright	WG	Colchester	(1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 19)	21	2	Amateur	November 1951	Free transfer

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1953	FB	Fred Lewis	Chelsea	Free transfer	^[8]
June 1953	CF	Tommy Harris	Leyton Orient	Part-exchange with Stan Edwards	^[9]
August 1953	CB	Billy Hunt	Amateur	Free transfer	^[10]
20 August 1953	WH	Doug Keene	Brighton & Hove Albion	£1,000	^[11]^[a]
October 1953	WH	Austin Dunne	Limerick	Free transfer	^[12]
24 December 1953	WH	Bob Dale	Bury	£1,500	^[13]
January 1954	CF	Ken Plant	Bury	Undisclosed	^[14]

Total spending: ~ £2,500

^ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

Out

Date	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
2 May 1953	FB	Phil Rookes	Chichester City	Manager	^[15]^[a]
June 1953	CF	Stan Edwards	Leyton Orient	Part-exchange with Tommy Harris	^[16]
22 August 1953	FB	Trevor Rowlands	Great Yarmouth Town	Free transfer	^[17]
5 December 1953	CF	Tommy Harris	Tonbridge	Free transfer	^[9]^[a]
23 January 1954	FW	Dick Cullum	Sittingbourne	Free transfer	^[18]^[a]
13 March 1954	IF	Bert Barlow	Retired	Retired	^[19]^[a]
17 April 1954	IF	Augie Scott	Cheltenham Town	Player-coach	^[20]^[a]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

Match details

Third Division South

Results round by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	A	H
Result	W	L	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	L	D	L	L	W	L	W	D	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	D	L
Position	2	15	9	6	8	13	14	10	13	16	18	20	20	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23	23

Source: 11v11.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
20	Swindon Town	46	15	10	21	67	70	0.957	40
21	Shrewsbury Town	46	14	12	20	65	76	0.855	40
22	Crystal Palace	46	14	12	20	60	86	0.698	40
23	Colchester United	46	10	10	26	50	78	0.641	30	Re-elected
24	Walsall	46	9	8	29	40	87	0.460	26	Re-elected

Source: rsssf.com

Matches

20 August 1953 (1953-08-20) 1	Colchester United	3–1	Torquay United	Colchester
	Barlow Elder McCurley	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,841

22 August 1953 (1953-08-22) 2	Ipswich Town	3–0	Colchester United	Ipswich
	MacLuckie Reed	Report Report		Stadium: Portman Road Attendance: 18,130 Referee: J. Pollard

26 August 1953 (1953-08-26) 3	Exeter City	1–2	Colchester United	Exeter
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Barlow McCurley	Stadium: St James Park Attendance: 10,589

29 August 1953 (1953-08-29) 4	Colchester United	4–1	Crystal Palace	Colchester
	Scott Barlow McCurley	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,811

3 September 1953 (1953-09-03) 5	Colchester United	0–1	Exeter City	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,791

5 September 1953 (1953-09-05) 6	Bristol City	3–0	Colchester United	Bristol
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium Attendance: 17,219

9 September 1953 (1953-09-09) 7	Norwich City	2–1	Colchester United	Norwich
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Scott	Stadium: Carrow Road Attendance: 22,228

12 September 1953 (1953-09-12) 8	Colchester United	3–0	Aldershot	Colchester
	Barlow Bearryman McCurley	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,170

17 September 1953 (1953-09-17) 9	Colchester United	0–1	Norwich City	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 10,218

19 September 1953 (1953-09-19) 10	Swindon Town	3–0	Colchester United	Swindon
	Lewis o.g.' Betteridge	Report Report		Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 12,284

23 September 1953 (1953-09-23) 11	Southampton	2–1	Colchester United	Southampton
	Horton Day	Report	McKim	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 14,842

26 September 1953 (1953-09-26) 12	Colchester United	1–1	Walsall	Colchester
	Grice	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,643

1 October 1953 (1953-10-01) 13	Colchester United	0–1	Southampton	Colchester
		Report	Day	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,705

3 October 1953 (1953-10-03) 14	Shrewsbury Town	3–1	Colchester United	Shrewsbury
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Barlow	Stadium: Gay Meadow Attendance: 9,915

10 October 1953 (1953-10-10) 15	Colchester United	0–3	Coventry City	Colchester
		Report	Brown	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,174

17 October 1953 (1953-10-17) 16	Gillingham	2–0	Colchester United	Gillingham
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Priestfield Stadium Attendance: 8,296

24 October 1953 (1953-10-24) 17	Colchester United	1–1	Northampton Town	Colchester
	Elder pen.'	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,599

31 October 1953 (1953-10-31) 18	Torquay United	3–1	Colchester United	Torquay
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	McCurley	Stadium: Plainmoor Attendance: 6,251

7 November 1953 (1953-11-07) 19	Colchester United	2–2	Watford	Colchester
	Barlow McCurley	Report	Bowie Nolan	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,905

14 November 1953 (1953-11-14) 20	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–0	Colchester United	Hove
	Gordon	Report		Stadium: Goldstone Ground Attendance: 15,624

28 November 1953 (1953-11-28) 21	Reading	2–0	Colchester United	Reading
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 12,036

5 December 1953 (1953-12-05) 22	Colchester United	1–0	Leyton Orient	Colchester
	Grice	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,819

19 December 1953 (1953-12-19) 23	Colchester United	1–2	Ipswich Town	Colchester
	Scott	Report Report	Elsworthy Reed	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 10,316 Referee: J. Pollard

25 December 1953 (1953-12-25) 24	Colchester United	5–0	Queens Park Rangers	Colchester
	Scott Barlow McKim	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,155

26 December 1953 (1953-12-26) 25	Queens Park Rangers	0–0	Colchester United	Shepherd's Bush
		Report		Stadium: Loftus Road Attendance: 10,674

2 January 1954 (1954-01-02) 26	Crystal Palace	0–1	Colchester United	Selhurst
		Report	McCurley 25'	Stadium: Selhurst Park Attendance: 6,971

9 January 1954 (1954-01-09) 27	Colchester United	2–2	Newport County	Colchester
	Barlow 66' Dale 74'	Report	Graham Haines	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,434

16 January 1954 (1954-01-16) 28	Colchester United	0–2	Bristol City	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,931

23 January 1954 (1954-01-23) 29	Aldershot	3–0	Colchester United	Aldershot
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: Recreation Ground Attendance: 4,502

6 February 1954 (1954-02-06) 30	Colchester United	2–2	Swindon Town	Colchester
	Plant 46' Dale	Report Report	Sampson 22' Owen	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,824

13 February 1954 (1954-02-13) 31	Walsall	2–3	Colchester United	Walsall
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Plant P. Wright	Stadium: Fellows Park Attendance: 9,819

20 February 1954 (1954-02-20) 32	Colchester United	3–1	Shrewsbury Town	Colchester
	Barlow Keene Plant	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,852

27 February 1954 (1954-02-27) 33	Coventry City	2–1	Colchester United	Coventry
	Bradbury Jamieson pen.'	Report	Plant	Stadium: Highfield Road Attendance: 11,852

6 March 1954 (1954-03-06) 34	Colchester United	0–1	Gillingham	Colchester
		Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,824

13 March 1954 (1954-03-13) 35	Southend United	3–0	Colchester United	Southend-on-Sea
	Bainbridge Hollis	Report Report		Stadium: Southend Stadium Attendance: 8,100

20 March 1954 (1954-03-20) 36	Colchester United	2–4	Reading	Colchester
	Elder pen.' pen.'	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,726

27 March 1954 (1954-03-27) 37	Watford	3–0	Colchester United	Watford
	Adams R. Brown Cook	Report		Stadium: Vicarage Road Attendance: 10,466

3 April 1954 (1954-04-03) 38	Colchester United	1–1	Brighton & Hove Albion	Colchester
	Hill 89'	Report	Leadbetter 82'	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,282

10 April 1954 (1954-04-10) 39	Leyton Orient	3–1	Colchester United	Leyton
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	McKim	Stadium: Brisbane Road Attendance: 9,309

16 April 1954 (1954-04-16) 40	Colchester United	1–1	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Colchester
	Dale	Report	Unknown goalscorer	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 8,223

17 April 1954 (1954-04-17) 41	Colchester United	3–0	Millwall	Colchester
	Bearryman McKim	Report		Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 7,450

19 April 1954 (1954-04-19) 42	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	4–2	Colchester United	Bournemouth
	Unknown goalscorer	Report	Dale P. Wright	Stadium: Dean Court Attendance: 7,778

22 April 1954 (1954-04-22) 43	Newport County	1–1	Colchester United	Newport
	Graham	Report	Plant	Stadium: Somerton Park Attendance: 7,396

24 April 1954 (1954-04-24) 44	Northampton Town	3–0	Colchester United	Northampton
	Unknown goalscorer	Report		Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 7,344

26 April 1954 (1954-04-26) 45	Millwall	0–0	Colchester United	New Cross
		Report		Stadium: The Den Attendance: 5,572

29 April 1954 (1954-04-29) 46	Colchester United	0–1	Southend United	Colchester
		Report Report	Bainbridge	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 6,035

FA Cup

21 November 1953 (1953-11-21) 1st round	Colchester United	1–1	Millwall	Colchester
	McCurley	Report	Stobbart	Stadium: Layer Road Attendance: 9,765

23 November 1953 (1953-11-23) 1st round replay	Millwall	4–0	Colchester United	New Cross
	Stobbart Hazlett Neary	Report		Stadium: The Den Attendance: 8,898

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^[7]^[21]

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Frank Coombs	7	0	7	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	George Wright	41	0	39	0	2	0
	DF	ENG	Roy Bicknell	21	0	19	0	2	0
	DF	ENG	George French	2	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	John Harrison	42	0	41	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Digger Kettle	4	0	3	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Fred Lewis	48	0	46	0	2	0
	DF	ENG	Reg Stewart	27	0	27	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Harry Bearryman	39	2	37	2	2	0
	MF	ENG	Bob Dale	21	4	21	4	0	0
	MF	SCO	Jimmy Elder	39	4	37	4	2	0
	MF	ENG	Bert Hill	16	1	16	1	0	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Hunt	2	0	2	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Doug Keene	24	1	22	1	2	0
	FW	ENG	John Church	7	0	6	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Mike Grice	18	2	18	2	0	0
	FW	ENG	Kevin McCurley	34	9	32	8	2	1
	FW	SCO	Johnny McKim	19	6	19	6	0	0
	FW	ENG	Ken Plant	17	6	17	6	0	0
	FW	ENG	Peter Wright	23	2	22	2	1	0
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
	FW	ENG	Bert Barlow	34	10	32	10	2	0
	FW	ENG	Dick Cullum	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Tommy Harris	3	0	3	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Augie Scott	39	4	37	4	2	0

Goalscorers

^[21]

Place	Position	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	IF	Bert Barlow	10	0	10
2	CF	Kevin McCurley	8	1	9
3	IF	Johnny McKim	6	0	6
3	CF	Ken Plant	6	0	6
5	WH	Bob Dale	4	0	4
	WH	Jimmy Elder	4	0	4
	IF	Augie Scott	4	0	4
8	WH	Harry Bearryman	2	0	2
	WG	Mike Grice	2	0	2
	WG	Peter Wright	2	0	2
11	WH	Bert Hill	1	0	1
11	WH	Doug Keene	1	0	1
		Own goals	0	0	0
		TOTALS	51	1	52

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[22]

Place	Nationality	Player	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1		George Wright	7	0	7
		TOTALS	7	0	7

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[23]

Position	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground
WH	Doug Keene	20 August 1953	Torquay United	Layer Road
FB	Fred Lewis	20 August 1953	Torquay United	Layer Road
CF	Tommy Harris	10 October 1953	Coventry City	Layer Road
WH	Bob Dale	2 January 1954	Crystal Palace	Selhurst Park
CF	Ken Plant	6 February 1954	Swindon Town	Layer Road

References

General

Books

Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
Ambrosen, Tony (1993). Amber in the Blood: A History Of Newport County. Uxbridge: Yore Publications. ISBN 978-1-874427-40-7.

Websites

"Colchester United football club match record: 1954". 11v11.com. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"Statistics 1953/54". The Millwall History Files. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
"1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 27 March 2016.

Specific

^ Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.
^ "Colchester Utd 1–2 Ipswich Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
^ "Colchester Utd 0–1 Southend United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
^ "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
^ "A history of admission to the Football League". Nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
^ Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
^ ^a ^b "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
^ "Fred Lewis". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Tommy Harris". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Billy Hunt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
^ "Doug Keene". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Austin Dunne". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
^ "Bob Dale". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Ken Plant". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Phil Rookes". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Stan Edwards". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Trevor Rowlands". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Dick Cullum". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Bert Barlow". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Augie Scott". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
^ "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
^ "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[DG-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

[DG-13] Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

[FG-18] Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

[WWCU-1] Whitehead, Jeff; Drury, Kevin (2008). The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-85983-629-3.

[2] "Colchester Utd 1–2 Ipswich Town". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

[3] "Colchester Utd 0–1 Southend United". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

[4] "Average Attendance Figures Per Season". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

[5] "A history of admission to the Football League". Nonleaguematters.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

[6] Hudson, Matt (11 July 2012). "The 1950s and 1960s". Colchester United FC. Retrieved 22 May 2011.

[apps-7] "Appearances". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 February 2016.

[9] "Fred Lewis". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[Harris-10] "Tommy Harris". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[11] "Billy Hunt". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2016.

[12] "Doug Keene". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[14] "Austin Dunne". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 2 March 2016.

[15] "Bob Dale". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[16] "Ken Plant". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[17] "Phil Rookes". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[19] "Stan Edwards". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[20] "Trevor Rowlands". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[21] "Dick Cullum". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[22] "Bert Barlow". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[23] "Augie Scott". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[goals-24] "Goals". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

[25] "Clean sheets (1st team)". Coludata.co.uk. Retrieved 22 June 2017.

[26] "Alltime- List of Debuts". Coludaybyday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

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[13]

[14]

[15]

[a]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]