1947–48 Colchester United F.C. season

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Colchester United
1947–48 season
Chairman Bill Allen[1]
Manager Ted Fenton
(until June 1948)
Stadium Layer Road
Southern League 4th
FA Cup 5th round
(eliminated by
Blackpool)
Southern League Cup Runners-up
Top goalscorer League:
Arthur Turner (25)
All:
Bob Curry (30)
Highest home attendance 17,048
v Bradford Park Avenue, 24 January 1948[2]
Lowest home attendance 4,665
v Bedford Town, 20 December 1947[3]
Average home league attendance 9,231[4]
Biggest win 8–0
v Gloucester City, 6 September 1947
Biggest defeat 0–5
v Blackpool, 7 February 1948
Home colours
← 1946–47 1948–49 →

The 1947–48 season was Colchester United's sixth season in their history and their sixth in the Southern League. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and Southern League Cup. The season was most notable for Colchester's run in the FA Cup, where they defeated three Football League clubs as they progressed to the fifth round, before being beaten 5–0 by First Division side Blackpool. They finished in 4th position in the Southern League, and while they ended as runners-up in the Southern League Cup, the final wasn't held until April 1949 due to fixture congestion.

Season overview

Manager Ted Fenton's first-team squad had featured 28 part-time professionals during the 1946–47 season, but this number was reduced to 17 for the 1947–48 campaign, while signings such as Bob Allen and Harry Bearryman, and the emergence of Vic Keeble bolstered the ranks.

The 1947–48 season was most memorable for Colchester's magnificent run in the FA Cup. The competition began with a 3–2 win over league rivals Chelmsford City in the fourth qualifying round in front of a Layer Road crowd of 10,396. It was the second year in succession that the U's would reach the first round proper of the cup, having been defeated 5–0 by Reading at the same stage twelve months earlier. The result on this occasion would go in Colchester's favour, with 8,574 fans watching their 2–1 win against Banbury Spencer.

Third Division North side Wrexham visited Layer Road for the second round match, with the visitors falling to a 1–0 defeat courtesy of a Bob Curry goal in front of a 10,642 crowd. With the U's into the third round, it would be the club that inspired Colchester's own strip, Huddersfield Town of the First Division, that would taste defeat at the hands of the non-Leaguers. With the national press making Colchester's Cup progress headline news, Fenton welcomed the extra publicity. He watched Huddersfield play a number of times prior to the tie, declaring to the media that he had come up with a plan to beat them. The plan became known as "the F-plan". Both teams changed colours for the game, with visiting Huddersfield in red, and Colchester in blue. The First Division side struggled to adapt to the cramped surroundings of Layer Road, and when Bob Allen's free kick was parried away by the goalkeeper, U's captain Bob Curry scored from the rebound. This was the first time that a non-League side had beaten a First Division club, with a record crowd of 16,005 witnessing that game.

With the increased interest in Colchester's cup heroics, the crowd from the previous game could have trebled had Layer Road been able to accommodate the fans. The club welcomed Second Division Bradford Park Avenue to the ground on 24 January 1948, with a crowd of 17,048 in attendance. With their opponents wary of Colchester's reputation, Bradford would take the lead, only for Curry to net a brace before being pegged back to 2–2. Fred Cutting went on to score the winner to send the club into the fifth round.

Stanley Matthews' First Division Blackpool were drawn as hosts to Fenton's side. With the effects of the war still evident, fuel rationing meant that the 52 scheduled coaches for the journey to Bloomfield Road were cancelled just 36 hours ahead of the game, meaning that only 12 coaches could travel, and the remainder of the away fans would have to travel by train to the North West. This meant that they would arrive in Blackpool in the early hours the morning of the match, but this did not deter the supporters, with the West Lancashire Post reporting:

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The peace of Blackpool was shattered at dawn today by thousands of Colchester fans, waving rattles, ringing bells, blowing trumpets and shouting "Up the U's". Not since pre-war Illumination weekends has there been such an invasion as stormed our streets from 4 o'clock this morning.

Despite the good natured support, the home team defeated the U's by 5–0 in front of a sell-out 29,500 Bloomfield Road crowd. However, the FA Cup success had an effect on Colchester's league form, with the club eventually finishing fourth, nine points adrift of champions Merthyr Tydfil. They also reached the final of the Southern League Cup, but ran out of time to play the final during the season owing to fixture congestion.

Following all of the attention garnered from the Cup run, Fenton was much sought after, and was offered the role of assistant manager at his old club West Ham United during the summer of 1948, a role which he could not refuse.[5]

Players

As of match played 1 May 1948.[6]

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

No. Position Player
England GK John Le Mare
England GK Ernest Setchell
England GK Harry Wright
England DF Harry Bearryman
Wales DF Bill Bower
England DF Ted Fenton
England DF Digger Kettle
England DF Frank Stamper
England FW Bob Allen
No. Position Player
Scotland FW Andy Brown
England FW Len Cater
England FW Bob Curry (captain)
England FW Fred Cutting
England FW Ian Gillespie
England FW Dennis Hillman
England FW Vic Keeble
England FW Ray Townrow
England FW Arthur Turner

Match details

Friendlies

Southern League

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Main article: 1947–48 Southern Football League

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv1 Pts2 Promotion, qualification or relegation
2 Gillingham 34 21 5 8 81 43 1.88 47
3 Worcester City 34 21 3 10 74 45 1.64 45
4 Colchester United 34 17 10 7 88 41 2.15 44
5 Hereford United 34 16 10 8 77 53 1.45 42
6 Lovell's Athletic 34 17 6 11 74 50 1.48 40

Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Number of goals scored

(C) Champion; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified to the phase indicated; (R) Relegated.

Notes:

1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Matches

FA Cup

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Main article: 1947–48 FA Cup

Southern League Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

[6][7]

No. Pos Nat Player Total Southern League Southern League
Cup		 FA Cup
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England John Le Mare 5 0 4 0 1 0 0 0
GK England Ernest Setchell 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0
GK England Harry Wright 41 0 28 0 7 0 6 0
DF England Harry Bearryman 46 5 32 2 8 3 6 0
DF Wales Bill Bower 4 0 3 0 1 0 0 0
DF England Ted Fenton 30 5 20 4 4 1 6 0
DF England Digger Kettle 44 0 31 0 7 0 6 0
DF England Frank Stamper 6 0 4 0 2 0 0 0
FW England Bob Allen 44 0 31 0 7 0 6 0
FW Scotland Andy Brown 42 3 28 2 8 0 6 1
FW England Len Cater 37 13 26 6 5 7 6 0
FW England Bob Curry 44 30 31 17 7 6 6 7
FW England Fred Cutting 31 15 23 12 3 2 5 1
FW England Dennis Hillman 38 6 27 5 6 1 5 0
FW England Vic Keeble 15 9 12 8 3 1 0 0
FW England Ray Townrow 11 5 8 3 3 2 0 0
FW England Arthur Turner 43 27 30 25 7 1 6 1
Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season
DF Wales Aubrey Darmody 3 0 3 0 0 0 0 0
DF England John Leah 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
DF England Albert Page 8 0 6 0 2 0 0 0
DF England Frank Rist 13 1 10 0 3 1 0 0
DF England Albert Walker 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0
FW England Arthur Biggs 10 2 8 1 1 1 1 0
FW England Ian Gillespie 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0
FW England Taffy Williams 6 0 4 0 1 0 1 0

Goalscorers

[7]

Place Nation Position Name Southern League Southern League Cup FA Cup Total
1 England FW Bob Curry 17 6 7 30
2 England FW Arthur Turner 25 1 1 27
3 England FW Fred Cutting 12 2 1 15
4 England FW Len Cater 6 7 0 13
5 England FW Vic Keeble 8 1 0 9
6 England FW Dennis Hillman 5 1 0 6
7 England DF Harry Bearryman 2 3 0 5
England DF Ted Fenton 4 1 0 5
England FW Ray Townrow 3 2 0 5
10 Scotland FW Andy Brown 2 0 1 3
11 England FW Arthur Biggs 1 1 0 2
12 England FW Ian Gillespie 0 1 0 1
England DF Frank Rist 0 1 0 1
Own goals 3 0 0 3
TOTALS 88 27 10 125

Disciplinary record

[8]

Nationality Position Player Southern League Southern League Cup FA Cup Total
Booked Red card Booked Red card Booked Red card Booked Red card
TOTALS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.[9]

Place Nation Position Player Southern League Southern League Cup FA Cup Total
1 England FW Bob Curry 15 3 3 21
Not recorded
 19 3 5 27

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.[10]

Position Player Date Opponent Ground Notes
DF England Harry Bearryman 30 August 1947 Bedford Town The Eyrie
DF England Frank Rist 30 August 1947 Bedford Town The Eyrie
FW England Bob Allen 30 August 1947 Bedford Town The Eyrie
FW Scotland Andy Brown 30 August 1947 Bedford Town The Eyrie
FW England Vic Keeble 30 August 1947 Bedford Town The Eyrie
FW England Taffy Williams 27 September 1947 Yeovil Town Huish Athletic Ground
FW England Fred Cutting 29 November 1947 Banbury Spencer Layer Road
GK England John Le Mare 6 December 1947 Barry Town Jenner Park Stadium
FW England Ray Townrow 17 January 1948 Bedford Town Layer Road
DF Wales Aubrey Darmody 29 March 1948 Guildford City St Joseph's Road
GK England Ernest Setchell 24 April 1948 Yeovil Town Layer Road

Transfers and contracts

In

Date Pos Player From Fee Ref
23 May 1947 FW England Vic Keeble England King George Youth Club Free transfer [11]
5 June 1947 GK England Ernest Setchell England Dartford Free transfer [12]
13 June 1947 FW England Bob Allen England Northampton Town Free transfer [13]
17 June 1947 FW Scotland Andy Brown England Torquay United Free transfer [14]
26 June 1947 DF England Frank Rist England Charlton Athletic Free transfer [15]
4 July 1947 DF England Harry Bearryman England Chelsea Free transfer [16]
28 July 1947 DF Wales Aubrey Darmody England Norwich City Free transfer [17]
13 September 1947 FW England Taffy Williams England Northampton Town Free transfer [18]
6 December 1947 GK England John Le Mare England Woodbridge Town Free transfer [19]
6 December 1947 FW England Fred Cutting England Norwich City Free transfer [20]
2 January 1948 FW England Ray Townrow England Wolverhampton Wanderers Free transfer [21]

Out

Date Pos Player To Fee Ref
7 June 1947 GK John Jelly Free agent Released [22]
9 October 1947 FW England Dennis Cant England Clacton Town Free transfer [23]
22 November 1947 FW England Arthur Biggs England Vauxhall Motors Free transfer [24]
1 December 1947 FW Bob Hodgson England Brightlingsea United Manager [25]
27 December 1947 DF England Albert Page England Chingford Town Free transfer [26]
27 December 1947 FW England John Leah Free agent Released [27]
17 March 1948 FW England Taffy Williams England Chingford Town Free transfer [18]
14 April 1948 DF Wales Aubrey Darmody England Great Yarmouth Town Free transfer [17]
21 April 1948 DF England Frank Rist England Tonbridge Angels Free transfer [15]
24 April 1948 DF England Albert Walker Free agent Retired [28]

See also

References

General

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Specific

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