1957–58 Colchester United F.C. season
# 1957–58 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1957–58 season was Colchester United's 16th season in their history and their eighth 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. They were eliminated at the first round stage of the cup for the fifth successive season, on this occasion to non-league side Wisbech Town. In the league, with the division being restructured at the end of the season, Colchester managed to finish in the top half of the table by three points to avoid a move to the newly formed Fourth Division, instead remaining in the third tier.

## Season overview

With Football League reorganisation looming at the end of the season, Colchester's priority for the 1957–58 season was to finish in the top half of the table to join the top half of the Third Division North to form the new nationwide Third Division. The other teams would form the Fourth Division.

During the campaign, Benny Fenton's squad suffered from numerous call-ups for national service, and as such Fenton brought in reinforcements in November with Neil Langman arriving from Plymouth Argyle for £6,750 and John Evans for £4,000 from Liverpool. Meanwhile, Birmingham City offered Colchester £10,000 for winger Peter Wright, but he opted to remain as a part-time player.

Colchester secured their place in the third tier for another season in the final game of the season when they beat Southampton 4–2 at Layer Road.

## Players

    As of match played 1 May 1957.

| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| Percy Ames | GK | Plymouth | (1931-12-13)13 December 1931 (aged 25) | 92 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 May 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Wright | GK | Aldershot | (1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 23) | 4 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 23 May 1952 | Free transfer |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Brian Dobson | CB | Colchester | (1934-03-01)1 March 1934 (aged 23) | 6 | 0 | Amateur | January 1956 | Free transfer |
| George Fisher | FB | Bermondsey | (1925-06-19)19 June 1925 (aged 31) | 89 | 3 | Fulham | 1 September 1955 | £1,000 |
| John Fowler | FB | Leith | (1933-10-17)17 October 1933 (aged 23) | 60 | 3 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Laidlaw | FB | Aldershot | (1936-07-05)5 July 1936 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | June 1957 | Free transfer |
| Alf Marshall | FB | Dagenham | (1933-05-21)21 May 1933 (aged 24) | 0 | 0 | Dagenham | 14 October 1957 | £25 |
| Chic Milligan | CB | Ardrossan | (1930-07-26)26 July 1930 (aged 26) | 35 | 1 | Ardrossan Winton Rovers | 18 August 1956 | £1,000 |
| Edgar Rumney | FB | Abberton | (1936-09-15)15 September 1936 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 1 May 1957 | Free transfer |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Benny Fenton | WH | West Ham | (1918-10-10)10 October 1918 (aged 38) | 83 | 12 | Charlton Athletic | 5 March 1955 | £500 |
| Trevor Harris | WH | Colchester | (1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 21) | 3 | 0 | Amateur | July 1951 | Free transfer |
| Bert Hill | WH | West Ham | (1930-03-08)8 March 1930 (aged 27) | 75 | 3 | Chelsea | September 1952 | £300 |
| Ron Hunt | WH | Colchester | (1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 23) | 34 | 0 | Amateur | October 1951 | Free transfer |
| Derek Parker | WH | Wivenhoe | (1926-06-23)23 June 1926 (aged 30) | 6 | 0 | West Ham United | March 1957 | £2,500 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Russell Blake | WG | Colchester | (1935-07-24)24 July 1935 (aged 21) | 7 | 0 | Dedham Old Boys | 8 September 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Evans | IF | Tilbury | (1929-08-28)28 August 1929 (aged 27) | 0 | 0 | Liverpool | 23 November 1957 | £4,000 |
| Bobby Hill | IF | Edinburgh | (1938-06-09)9 June 1938 (aged 18) | 43 | 8 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 9 June 1955 | Free transfer |
| Martyn King | CF | Birmingham | (1937-08-23)23 August 1937 (aged 19) | 3 | 1 | Amateur | Summer 1955 | Free transfer |
| Neil Langman | CF | Bere Alston | (1932-02-21)21 February 1932 (aged 25) | 0 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | November 1957 | £6,750 |
| Kevin McCurley | CF | Consett | (1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 31) | 189 | 74 | Liverpool | June 1951 | £750 |
| Sammy McLeod | IF | Glasgow | (1934-01-04)4 January 1934 (aged 23) | 47 | 4 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer |
| Hamish McNeill | IF | Alva | (1934-11-16)16 November 1934 (aged 22) | 0 | 0 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | August 1957 | £600 |
| Ken Plant | CF | Nuneaton | (1925-08-15)15 August 1925 (aged 31) | 143 | 60 | Bury | January 1954 | Undisclosed |
| Tommy Williams | WG | Battersea | (1935-02-10)10 February 1935 (aged 22) | 23 | 3 | Carshalton Athletic | September 1956 | Free transfer |
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | (1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 23) | 158 | 30 | Amateur | November 1951 | Free transfer |

* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

## Transfers

### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 May 1957 | FB | Edgar Rumney | Colchester Casuals | Free transfer |
| June 1957 | FB | John Laidlaw | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | Free transfer |
| August 1957 | IF | Hamish McNeill | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | £600 |
| 14 October 1957 | FB | Alf Marshall | Dagenham | £25 |
| November 1957 | CF | Neil Langman | Plymouth Argyle | £6,750 |
| 23 November 1957 | IF | John Evans | Liverpool | £4,000 |

* Total spending: ~ £11,375
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 31 May 1957 | WG | Les Barrell | Clacton Town | Released |
| June 1957 | IF | Eddie Smith | Queens Park Rangers | £1,050 |
| July 1957 | CB | Reg Stewart | Hastings United | Free transfer |

* Total incoming: ~ £1,050

## 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 | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H |
| Result | W | L | D | W | W | L | L | L | D | L | D | W | L | D | W | D | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | L | L | D | D | D | L | L | W | L | W |
| Position | 7 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 22 | 21 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

**League table**

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 18 | 14 | 14 | 64 | 65 | 0.985 | 50 | |
| 11 | Newport County | 46 | 17 | 14 | 15 | 73 | 67 | 1.090 | 48 | |
| 12 | Colchester United | 46 | 17 | 13 | 16 | 77 | 79 | 0.975 | 47 | |
| 13 | Northampton Town | 46 | 19 | 6 | 21 | 87 | 79 | 1.101 | 44 | Moved to 4th Division |
| 14 | Crystal Palace | 46 | 15 | 13 | 18 | 70 | 72 | 0.972 | 43 | Moved to 4th Division |

## Squad statistics

### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division South | Third Division South | FA Cup | FA Cup |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Percy Ames | 47 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Brian Dobson | 17 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | George Fisher | 46 | 1 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Fowler | 46 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Chic Milligan | 27 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Edgar Rumney | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Benny Fenton | 23 | 3 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Trevor Harris | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Bert Hill | 32 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ron Hunt | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Derek Parker | 30 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Russell Blake | 8 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | John Evans | 24 | 7 | 24 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Bobby Hill | 11 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Neil Langman | 23 | 8 | 23 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin McCurley | 29 | 12 | 28 | 12 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Sammy McLeod | 16 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Hamish McNeill | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Ken Plant | 45 | 19 | 44 | 19 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Tommy Williams | 29 | 5 | 28 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Wright | 46 | 16 | 45 | 16 | 1 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | CF | Ken Plant | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| 2 | WG | Peter Wright | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| 3 | CF | Kevin McCurley | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 | CF | Neil Langman | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | IF | John Evans | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | WG | Tommy Williams | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | WH | Benny Fenton | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | WG | Russell Blake | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | IF | Sammy McLeod | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | FB | George Fisher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | IF | Hamish McNeill | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | WH | Derek Parker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 77 | 0 | 77 |

### Disciplinary record

| Nationality | Position | Name | Third Division South | Third Division South | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | WH | Benny Fenton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.

| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | | Percy Ames | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| | | TOTALS | 7 | 0 | 7 |

### Player debuts

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

| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| FB | Edgar Rumney | 2 September 1957 | Queens Park Rangers | Layer Road |
| IF | Hamish McNeill | 21 September 1957 | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | Dean Court |
| IF | John Evans | 23 November 1957 | Port Vale | Layer Road |
| CF | Neil Langman | 23 November 1957 | Port Vale | Layer Road |
