1965–66 Colchester United F.C. season

Colchester United

1965–66 season
Chairman	William Allen[1]
Manager	Neil Franklin
Fourth Division	4th (Promoted)
FA Cup	1st Round
League Cup	2nd Round
Top goalscorer	League: Reg Stratton (18) All: Reg Stratton (21)
Highest home attendance	10,200 (Luton Town)
Lowest home attendance	2,768 (Notts County)
Average home league attendance	5,052
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

The 1965–66 season was Colchester United's first season back in the Football League Fourth Division after spending three consecutive seasons in the Football League Third Division. The season ended with promotion back to the third tier.

Season Review

As they did four years previously, United bounced back up from the Fourth Division at the first attempt although it was not until the final day of the season that they sealed promotion.

Manager Neil Franklin brought in Reg Stratton to lead his attack and the forward responded with 17 League goals. United won ten games on their travels, a new club record, and lost just three times at Layer Road.

Colchester led the table at Easter 1966 despite being held twice by rivals Luton with the Layer Road holiday fixture attracting 10,200. Subsequent defeats to promotion contenders Darlington (twice) and Torquay saw United drop to fourth place prior to the last game of the season.

A disastrous 2-1 defeat at mid-table Newport had U's fans biting their nails as Luton were only a point behind and their game at Chester had kicked off 15 minutes later. In the end the game finished 1-1 and with the U's, Tranmere and the Hatters tied on 56 points it was down to goal average to separate the sides. Franklin's side pipped Tranmere by 0.08 (equivalent to about 6 goals difference in today's rules).

The season was also notable as player replacements were allowed for the first time. Ray Price became United's first substitute when he took over from Ted Philips after 85 minutes of the 18 September 1965 home fixture with Rochdale. Gates had improved, with on-the-pitch success, to an average of 5,148.^[2]

Squad

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

No. Position Player –– GK Alan Buck –– GK Sandy Kennon –– DF Duncan Forbes –– DF John Fowler –– DF Brian Hall –– DF Mick Loughton –– DF Ray Price –– DF David Raine

No. Position Player –– MF Barrie Aitchison –– MF Bobby Blackwood –– MF Arthur Kaye –– MF John Mansfield –– MF Derek Trevis –– FW Peter Bullock –– FW Reg Stratton

Player Info

Pos.	Name	Place of Birth	Date of Birth	Previous Club	Date Joined	Fee
GK	Alan Buck	Colchester	25 August 1946	Youth Team	1 August 1964	Free
GK	Sandy Kennon	Johannesburg	28 November 1933	Norwich City	6 March 1965	Free
DF	Duncan Forbes	Edinburgh	19 June 1941	Musselburgh Athletic	14 April 1962	Free
DF	John Fowler	Leith	17 October 1933	Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic	20 August 1955	Free
DF	Brian Hall	Burbage	9 March 1939	Mansfield Town	6 March 1965	Free
DF	Mick Loughton	Colchester	8 December 1942	Youth Team	1 August 1964	Free
DF	Ray Price	Hetton-le-Hole	18 May 1944	Norwich City	6 February 1965	Free
DF	David Raine	Darlington	28 March 1937	Doncaster Rovers	24 September 1965	Free
MF	Barrie Aitchison	Colchester	15 November 1937	Tottenham Hotspur	22 August 1964	£750
MF	Bobby Blackwood	Edinburgh	20 August 1934	Ipswich Town	1 September 1965	Free
MF	Arthur Kaye	Higham	9 May 1933	Middlesbrough	21 August 1965	Free
MF	John Mansfield	Colchester	13 September 1946	Youth Team	1 August 1964	Free
MF	Derek Trevis	Birmingham	9 September 1942	Aston Villa	7 March 1964	Free
FW	Peter Bullock	Stoke-on-Trent	17 November 1941	Southend United	30 October 1965	Free
FW	Reg Stratton	Kingsley	10 July 1939	Fulham	21 August 1965	Free

Transfers

Transfers In

Date	Pos.	Player Name	Previous Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 August 1965	DF	David Buck	Youth Team	Free
1 August 1965	DF	David Laitt	Youth Team	Free
21 August 1965	DF	Jackie Bell	Norwich City	Free
21 August 1965	MF	John Hornsby	Evenwood Town	Free
21 August 1965	MF	Arthur Kaye	Middlesbrough	Free
21 August 1965	FW	Reg Stratton	Fulham	Free
28 August 1965	FW	Ted Phillips	Luton Town	Swap	Swap deal for Billy Stark
1 September 1965	MF	Bobby Blackwood	Ipswich Town	Free
24 September 1965	DF	David Raine	Doncaster Rovers	Free
30 October 1965	FW	Peter Bullock	Southend United	Free

Transfers Out

Date	Pos.	Player Name	New Club	Transfer Fee	Notes
1 May 1965	DF	John Docherty	Chelmsford City	Free
1 May 1965	FW	Bobby Hill	Bury Town	Free
1 May 1965	FW	Arthur Longbottom	Scarborough	Free
1 May 1965	FW	Gareth Salisbury	Chesterfield	Free
28 August 1965	FW	Billy Stark	Luton Town	Swap	Swap deal for Ted Phillips
9 October 1965	DF	Tecwyn Jones	Crewe Alexandra	Free
16 October 1965	FW	David Buck	Released	Free
30 October 1965	FW	David Laitt	Crittall Athletic	Free
12 February 1966	DF	Jackie Bell	Gainford Town	Free
8 April 1966	MF	Mike Grice	Lowestoft Town	Free
16 April 1966	MF	John Hornsby	Ferryhill Athletic	Free
25 April 1966	FW	Ted Phillips	Floriana	Free

Results

Fourth Division Results Summary

Pos	Club	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Av	Pts
3	Torquay United (P)	46	24	10	12	72	49	1.469	58
4	Colchester United (P)	46	23	10	13	70	47	1.489	56
5	Tranmere Rovers	46	24	8	14	93	66	1.409	56

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GAv = Goal average; Pts = Points

Fourth Division Results

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21/08/1965	Port Vale	A	0-1	11,212
23/08/1965	Halifax Town	H	1-0	4,473	Kaye
28/08/1965	Crewe Alexandra	H	1-1	4,040	Stark
04/09/1965	Bradford City	A	2-1	2,692	Aitchison, Stratton
11/09/1965	Barnsley	H	4-0	5,082	Aitchison, Phillips (3)
14/09/1965	Halifax Town	A	1-1	2,773	Stratton
18/09/1965	Rochdale	H	2-0	4,968	Stratton (2)
24/09/1965	Tranmere Rovers	A	0-2	8,821
02/10/1965	Stockport County	H	3-2	4,968	Phillips, Stratton (2)
07/10/1965	Notts County	A	0-1	5,681
09/10/1965	Barrow	A	0-3	5,378
16/10/1965	Hartlepool United	H	2-0	4,421	Stratton, Trevis
30/10/1965	Southport	H	0-0	4,165
06/11/1965	Wrexham	A	3-2	3,743	Hall, Loughton, Phillips
20/11/1965	Aldershot	A	3-1	3,097	Blackwood, Phillips, Trevis
22/11/1965	Notts County	H	4-1	2,768	O.G., Bullock, Forbes, Hall
27/11/1965	Newport County	H	3-2	3,593	Hall (3)
04/12/1965	Doncaster Rovers	A	0-2	6,035
11/12/1965	Chesterfield	H	3-0	3,867	Blackwood, Bullock, Hall
18/12/1965	Hartlepool United	A	1-0	4,067	Phillips
27/12/1965	Chester City	H	1-1	7,840	Phillips
28/12/1965	Chester City	A	1-2	8,361	Bullock
01/01/1966	Barrow	H	2-2	4,676	Blackwood, Stratton
08/01/1966	Bradford Park Avenue	A	0-1	5,867
15/01/1966	Doncaster Rovers	H	2-1	3,778	Bullock (2)
29/01/1966	Port Vale	H	3-0	4,481	O.G., Hornsby, Phillips
05/02/1966	Crewe Alexandra	A	2-0	5,470	Phillips (2)
12/02/1966	Lincoln City	A	2-0	2,294	Phillips, Stratton
19/02/1966	Bradford City	H	0-1	4,936
26/02/1966	Barnsley	A	1-1	3,166	Hall
28/02/1966	Bradford Park Avenue	H	6-3	4,921	Bullock (3), Kaye, Stratton, Trevis
05/03/1966	Lincoln City	H	3-0	5,055	Bullock, Hall, Phillips
11/03/1966	Rochdale	A	1-0	1,780	Stratton
19/03/1966	Tranmere Rovers	H	2-1	6,611	Stratton (2)
25/03/1966	Stockport County	A	0-1	6,500
02/04/1966	Wrexham	H	1-1	5,012	Stratton
08/04/1966	Luton Town	H	2-2	10,200	Stratton (2)
09/04/1966	Torquay United	A	1-0	7,678	Aitchison
11/04/1966	Luton Town	A	1-1	15,245	Stratton
16/04/1966	Aldershot	H	0-0	5,356
25/04/1966	Darlington	H	0-1	7,353
30/04/1966	Torquay United	H	0-2	5,922
07/05/1966	Chesterfield	A	4-2	3,943	Bullock (2), Hall, Stratton
10/05/1966	Southport	A	1-0	4,983	Mansfield
16/05/1966	Darlington	A	0-2	12,474
28/05/1966	Newport County	A	1-2	2,905	Trevis

Source: 1965-66 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

League Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
01/09/1965	R1	Exeter City	H	2-1	2,988	Stratton (2)
22/09/1965	R2	Middlesbrough	H	2-4	7,777	Hall, Stratton

Source: 1965-66 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

FA Cup

Date	Round	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
13/11/1965	R1	Queens Park Rangers	H	3-3	6,693	Blackwood (2), Hall
17/11/1965	R1 (R)	Queens Park Rangers	A	0-4	6,166

Source: 1965-66 Season Colchester United Results - coludata.co.uk

Squad statistics

^[3]

No.	Nat.	Pos.	Name	Total		Fourth Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
––	GK		Alan Buck	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
––	GK		Sandy Kennon	50	0	46	0	2	0	2	0
––	DF		Jackie Bell	7	0	7	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		David Buck	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Duncan Forbes	46	1	42	1	2	0	2	0
––	DF		John Fowler	27	0	25	0	2	0	0	0
––	DF		Brian Hall	50	11	46	9	2	1	2	1
––	DF		Tecwyn Jones	4	0	3	0	0	0	1	0
––	DF		David Laitt	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		Mick Loughton	49	1	45	1	2	0	2	0
––	DF		Ray Price	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
––	DF		David Raine	25	0	22	0	2	0	1	0
––	MF		Barrie Aitchison	15	3	14	3	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Bobby Blackwood	45	5	41	3	2	2	2	0
––	MF		Mike Grice	15	0	13	0	0	0	2	0
––	MF		John Hornsby	12	1	11	1	0	0	1	0
––	MF		Arthur Kaye	42	2	38	2	2	0	2	0
––	MF		John Mansfield	7	1	7	1	0	0	0	0
––	MF		Derek Trevis	47	4	43	4	2	0	2	0
––	FW		Peter Bullock	36	11	34	11	2	0	0	0
––	FW		Ted Phillips	34	13	32	13	2	0	0	0
––	FW		Billy Stark	3	1	3	1	0	0	0	0
––	FW		Reg Stratton	39	21	37	18	0	0	2	3

Scorers

^[4]

All Scorer Goals Reg Stratton 21 Ted Phillips 13 Peter Bullock 11 Brian Hall Bobby Blackwood 5 Derek Trevis 4 Barrie Aitchison 3 Arthur Kaye 2 Duncan Forbes 1 John Hornsby Mick Loughton John Mansfield Billy Stark Own goal 2

League Scorer Goals Reg Stratton 18 Ted Phillips 13 Peter Bullock 11 Brian Hall 9 Derek Trevis 4 Barrie Aitchison 3 Bobby Blackwood Arthur Kaye 2 Duncan Forbes 1 John Hornsby Mick Loughton John Mansfield Billy Stark Own goal 2

FA Cup Scorer Goals Bobby Blackwood 2 Brian Hall 1

League Cup Scorer Goals Reg Stratton 3 Brian Hall 1

References

Colchester United Football Club Players Managers Records & statistics Head-to-head Current season History History Seasons Home stadium Layer Road (1937–2008) Colchester Community Stadium (2008–present) Players 100+ appearances 25–99 appearances 1–24 appearances Player of the Year Rivalries Essex derby Pride of Anglia Seasons 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–83 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 current Matches 1997 Football League Trophy Final 1998 Football League Third Division play-off Final Related articles Colchester Town F.C. Colchester United L.F.C. Peter Heard Up the U's Category:Colchester United F.C. Portal:Association football Commons:Colchester United F.C.