1946–47 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United
1946–47 season
Manager Ted Fenton
From 1 August
Southern League 8th
FA Cup 1st Round
Southern League Cup Runners-up
Top goalscorer League:
Arthur Turner (22)
All:
Arthur Turner (24)
Highest home attendance 8,400 (Merthyr Tydfil)
Lowest home attendance 2,661 (Barry)
Average home attendance 5,993
← 1945–46 1947–48 →

The 1946–47 season was Colchester United's fourth consecutive full season in the Southern Football League. Colchester finished eighth in the league and reached the first round of the FA Cup. They were runners-up in both the Southern League Cup, losing in the final away to Gillingham.

Contents

Season Review

Layer Road had its Main Stand extended and the property behind what became the Barside was purchased to overcome disputes regarding access by supporters to that side of the ground.

The new manager was no stranger to Layer Road. Ted Fenton, of West Ham fame, had turned out for Colchester Town in the early 1930s whilst a teenager. Fenton had excellent contacts and wasted no time in assembling his team from an array of professionals looking for a new start after the long War years.

United finished mid-table in that first 'proper' season after hostilities and Fenton knew he had more work to do with his squad. The Popular Side stand was demolished and the timbers re-used to improve the Layer Road End. The Main Stand had a boundary wall built to prevent supporters trying to enter without paying and a suggestion was made to purchase 20 feet of land from each of the properties in Gladwin Road to provide supporter access to the Open End.

It was estimated that one-third of supporters arrived at Layer Road on match days by bicycle at this time. [1]

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
–– GK Peter Chiswick
–– GK John Jelly
–– GK Harry Wright
–– DF Alf Biggs
–– DF Bill Bower
–– DF Ted Fenton
–– DF Digger Kettle
–– DF John Leah
–– DF Albert Page
No. Position Player
–– DF Frank Stamper
–– DF Albert Walker
–– MF Dennis Hillman
–– FW Len Cater
–– FW Bob Curry
–– FW Ian Gillespie
–– FW Trevor Smith
–– FW Arthur Turner

Player Info

Pos. Name Place of Birth Date of Birth Previous Club Date Joined Fee
GK Peter Chiswick Unknown 19 September 1929 Unknown 28 September 1946 Free
GK John Jelly Unknown Unknown Colchester Casuals 4 September 1946 Free
GK Harry Wright Tottenham 3 June 1909 Chelmsford City 31 August 1946 Free
DF Alf Biggs Unknown 26 May 1915 Bedford Town 17 May 1947 Free
DF Bill Bower Wrexham 17 November 1911 Millwall 25 August 1945 Free
DF Ted Fenton Forest Gate 7 November 1914 West Ham United 1 August 1946 Free
DF Digger Kettle Colchester 3 June 1922 Arclight Sports 26 December 1946 Free
DF John Leah Liverpool 20 July 1924 South Liverpool - WW2 Guest 28 September 1946 Free
DF Albert Page Walthamstow 18 March 1916 Tottenham Hotspur 29 March 1947 Free
DF Frank Stamper Hartlepool 22 February 1926 Army 19 April 1947 Free
DF Albert Walker Little Lever 4 February 1910 Doncaster Rovers 14 September 1946 Free
MF Dennis Hillman Southend-on-Sea 27 November 1918 Brighton & Hove Albion 28 September 1946 Free
FW Len Cater Unknown 8 September 1920 Colchester Town 31 August 1946 Free
FW Bob Curry Gateshead 2 November 1918 Gainsborough Trinity 31 August 1946 Free
FW Ian Gillespie Plymouth 6 May 1913 Ipswich Town 17 May 1947 Free
FW Trevor Smith Liverpool 8 September 1910 Yeovil & Petters United 23 March 1947 Free
FW Arthur Turner Poplar 22 January 1922 Charlton Athletic 19 September 1946 Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date Pos. Player Name Previous Club Transfer Fee Notes
1 August 1946 DF Ted Fenton West Ham United Free Player-manager
31 August 1946 GK Harry Wright Chelmsford City Free
31 August 1946 MF Jack Finch Fulham Free
31 August 1946 MF Sid Smith Unknown Free
31 August 1946 FW Len Cater Colchester Town Free
31 August 1946 FW Bob Curry Gainsborough Trinity Free
31 August 1946 FW Ross Unknown Free
31 August 1946 FW Stewart Unknown Free
4 September 1946 GK John Jelly Colchester Casuals Free
4 September 1946 MF Wilf Bott Queens Park Rangers Free
4 September 1946 FW Dennis Cant Unknown Free
14 September 1946 DF Bob Harding Unknown Free
14 September 1946 DF Albert Walker Doncaster Rovers Free
19 September 1946 FW Arthur Turner Charlton Athletic Free
26 September 1946 DF John Leah South Liverpool - WW2 Duty Free
28 September 1946 GK Peter Chiswick Unknown Free
29 September 1946 MF Dennis Hillman Brighton & Hove Albion Free
7 December 1946 DF Don Swift Unknown Free
7 December 1946 FW Bob Neville Unknown Free
26 December 1946 DF Digger Kettle Arclight Sports Free
1 March 1947 FW Stan Gibbs Charlton Athletic Free
23 March 1947 FW Trevor Smith Yeovil & Petters United Free
29 March 1947 DF Albert Page Tottenham Hotspur Free
19 April 1947 DF Frank Stamper Army Free
17 May 1947 DF Alf Biggs Bradford Park Avenue Free
17 May 1947 FW Ian Gillespie Ipswich Town Free

Transfers Out

Date Pos. Player Name New Club Transfer Fee Notes
31 August 1946 MF Sid Smith Released Free
31 August 1946 FW Stewart Released Free
7 September 1946 MF Jack Finch Released Free
28 September 1946 DF Paddy Sheils Released Free
28 September 1946 MF Wilf Bott Released Free
15 November 1946 FW Dennis Cant Released Free
30 November 1946 DF Bob Harding Released Free
30 November 1946 FW Bob Collins Released Free
25 December 1946 DF Don Swift Released Free
17 February 1947 FW Bob Neville Released Free
1 March 1947 FW Stan Gibbs Released Free
1 March 1947 FW Bob Hodgson Released Free
1 March 1947 FW Ross Released Free
5 April 1947 MF Bob Hutchings Released Free
19 April 1947 DF Syd Fieldus Retired Free

Results

Southern League Results Summary

Pos Club Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
7 Barry 30 14 6 10 89 61 +28 36
8 Colchester United 31 15 4 12 65 60 +5 35
9 Cheltenham Town 31 14 3 14 68 75 -7 32

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points

Southern League Results

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
31/08/1946 Gloucester City H 2-3 6,300 Stewart, Curry
04/09/1946 Chelmsford City A 0-3 ––
07/09/1946 Exeter City Reserves A 1-3 –– Cant
14/09/1946 Hereford United H 2-1 –– Hodgson, Cater
19/09/1946 Millwall Reserves H 3-2 –– O.G., Cater, Curry
28/09/1946 Worcester City H 3-2 6,143 Curry, Turner (2)
05/10/1946 Yeovil Town H 4-3 –– Cant (2), Cater
12/10/1946 Hereford United A 0-0 ––
19/10/1946 Exeter City Reserves H 6-1 6,445 Cater, Turner (4), Curry
02/11/1946 Bath City A 3-3 –– Curry, Hillman, Fenton
09/11/1946 Worcester City A 5-3 –– Collins (2), Turner (3)
23/11/1946 Gravesend & Northfleet H 1-3 5,935 Collins
07/12/1946 Chelmsford City H 3-2 –– Turner, Cater (2)
25/12/1946 Gillingham H 0-1 ––
26/12/1946 Gillingham A 2-4 –– Curry (2)
04/01/1947 Cheltenham Town H 2-2 –– Turner (pen.), Curry
18/01/1947 Barry A 2-1 –– Curry
08/02/1947 Barry H 2-0 2,661 Neville, Turner
01/03/1947 Gravesend & Northfleet A 0-3 ––
23/03/1947 Yeovil Town A 1-1 –– Curry
29/03/1947 Cheltenham Town A 4-1 –– T.Smith, Turner (3)
05/04/1947 Guildford City A 1-2 –– Turner
12/04/1947 Guildford City H 2-0 6,065 Hillman, Cater
19/04/1947 Merthyr Tydfil A 0-4 8,100
26/04/1947 Bath City H 3-2 –– Turner, Fenton, Curry
03/05/1947 Merthyr Tydfil H 2-1 8,400 Hillman, T.Smith
10/05/1947 Dartford A 1-3 3,000 Curry
17/05/1947 Bedford Town A 0-2 ––
24/05/1947 Bedford Town H 4-0 –– Cater, Turner (2), Gillespie
26/05/1947 Dartford H 2-1 –– Biggs, Curry
31/05/1947 Gloucester City H 5-2 –– Biggs (2), Curry, Turner (2)

Source: 1946-47 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Southern League Cup

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
26/09/1946 Chelmsford City H 2-4 –– Turner (2)
26/10/1946 Bedford Town A 5-0 –– Collins, Cater, Curry, Hutchings
12/12/1946 Millwall Reserves H 3-2 –– Neville, Cater, Turner
11/01/1947 Chelmsford City A 4-1 8,000 Hillman (2), Hodgson (2)
25/01/1947 Bedford Town H 2-1 –– Hillman, Curry
17/02/1947 Millwall Reserves A 1-1 –– Curry
07/06/1947 Gillingham A 2-3 –– Cater, Curry

Source: 1946-47 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Main article: 1946–47 FA Cup
Date Round Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
16/11/1946 4QR Gothic H 5-1 6,787 Cant (2), Curry, Cater, Hillman
30/11/1946 R1 Reading A 0-5 13,000

Source: 1946-47 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

[2]

No. Nat. Pos. Name Total Southern League FA Cup Southern League Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
–– GK Peter Chiswick 14 0 12 0 2 0 0 0
–– GK John Jelly 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
–– GK Harry Wright 24 0 19 0 0 0 5 0
–– DF Alf Biggs 4 3 4 3 0 0 0 0
–– DF Bill Bower 39 0 31 0 2 0 6 0
–– DF Ted Fenton 36 2 28 2 2 0 6 0
–– DF Syd Fieldus 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Bob Harding 10 0 8 0 2 0 0 0
–– DF Digger Kettle 16 0 13 0 0 0 3 0
–– DF John Leah 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
–– DF Albert Page 12 0 11 0 0 0 1 0
–– DF Paddy Sheils 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Frank Stamper 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Don Swift 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
–– DF Albert Walker 36 0 28 0 2 0 6 0
–– MF Wilf Bott 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
–– MF Dennis Hillman 35 7 27 3 2 1 6 3
–– MF Jack Finch 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
–– MF Bob Hutchings 30 1 23 0 2 0 5 1
–– MF Sid Smith 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
–– FW Dennis Cant 7 5 5 3 2 2 0 0
–– FW Len Cater 39 13 31 10 2 1 6 2
–– FW Bob Collins 10 5 7 3 2 0 1 2
–– FW Bob Curry 39 19 31 14 2 1 6 4
–– FW Stan Gibbs 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
–– FW Ian Gillespie 5 1 4 1 0 0 1 0
–– FW Bob Hodgson 11 3 7 1 0 0 4 2
–– FW Bob Neville 8 2 6 2 0 0 2 0
–– FW Ross 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
–– FW Trevor Smith 8 2 8 2 0 0 0 0
–– FW Stewart 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
–– FW Arthur Turner 31 24 26 22 0 0 5 2

Scorers

[3]

All

Scorer Goals
Arthur Turner 24
Bob Curry 19
Len Cater 13
Dennis Hillman 7
Dennis Cant 5
Bob Collins
Alf Biggs 3
Bob Hodgson
Ted Fenton 2
Bob Neville
Trevor Smith
Ian Gillespie 1
Bob Hutchings
Stewart
Own goal 1

League

Scorer Goals
Arthur Turner 22
Bob Curry 14
Len Cater 10
Alf Biggs 3
Dennis Cant
Bob Collins
Dennis Hillman
Ted Fenton 2
Bob Neville
Trevor Smith
Ian Gillespie 1
Bob Hodgson
Stewart
Own goal 1

FA Cup

Scorer Goals
Dennis Cant 2
Len Cater 1
Bob Curry
Dennis Hillman

Southern League Cup

Scorer Goals
Bob Curry 4
Dennis Hillman 3
Len Cater 2
Bob Collins
Bob Hodgson
Arthur Turner
Bob Hutchings 1

References

  1. ^ "The U's History: The 30s & 40s". Colchester United F.C.. http://www.cu-fc.com/page/History/0,,10424~1320530,00.html. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
  2. ^ "1946–47 Season Appearance Data". coludata.co.uk. http://www.coludata.co.uk/appearances.asp?sid=7&cid=All. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
  3. ^ "1946–47 Season Goalscorers Data". coludata.co.uk. http://www.coludata.co.uk/goals.asp?sid=6&cid=All. Retrieved 28 May 2011. 
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