# 1958–59 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1958–59 season was Colchester United's 17th season in their history and their ninth season in the third tier of English football, the newly formed national Third Division. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup. Colchester reached the fourth round of the FA Cup, beating Bath City, Yeovil Town and Chesterfield on their way to meeting Arsenal. Drawn at home, Colchester held Arsenal to a 2–2 Layer Road draw, but were defeated 4–0 at Highbury in the replay. Colchester finished fifth in the Third Division, nine points shy of promotion.

## Season overview

In the new national Third Division, Colchester excelled against their northern counterparts, winning 21 games, more than half of which were clubs previously in the Third Division North. Colchester finished the season in fifth position, just nine points away from Hull City in second place, and ten behind champions Plymouth Argyle. They also earned a club record win when they beat Stockport County 8–2 on 4 October, and a club record away win when they beat Yeovil Town 7–1.
The club's main highlight during the campaign was their FA Cup run, their first venture outside of the first round in six seasons. Colchester defeated old Southern League rivals Bath City and Yeovil Town in the first and second rounds, before seeing off Chesterfield to set up a fourth round tie with Arsenal. For the first time local police set a limit on crowd numbers at Layer Road for the Arsenal game with 16,000 witnessing the 2–2 draw. 62,686 people watched the replay at Highbury in thick fog as the Gunners ran out 4–0 winners.
Both big-money signings from last season, Neil Langman and John Evans, helped repay their transfer fees by scoring 27 and 16 goals respectively. Meanwhile, the proceeds from the Arsenal fixture meant that floodlighting could be installed at Layer Road for the first time.

## Players

    As of match played 4 May 1959.
| 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 26) | 139 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 May 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Wright | GK | Aldershot | (1933-08-13)13 August 1933 (aged 24) | 4 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 23 May 1952 | Free transfer |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Brian Dobson | CB | Colchester | (1934-03-01)1 March 1934 (aged 24) | 23 | 0 | Amateur | January 1956 | Free transfer |
| George Fisher | FB | Bermondsey | (1925-06-19)19 June 1925 (aged 32) | 135 | 4 | Fulham | 1 September 1955 | £1,000 |
| John Fowler | FB | Leith | (1933-10-17)17 October 1933 (aged 24) | 106 | 3 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Laidlaw | FB | Aldershot | (1936-07-05)5 July 1936 (aged 21) | 0 | 0 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | June 1957 | Free transfer |
| Alf Marshall | FB | Dagenham | (1933-05-21)21 May 1933 (aged 25) | 0 | 0 | Dagenham | 14 October 1957 | £25 |
| Chic Milligan | CB | Ardrossan | (1930-07-26)26 July 1930 (aged 27) | 62 | 1 | Ardrossan Winton Rovers | 18 August 1956 | £1,000 |
| John Roe | FB | Broxburn | (1938-01-07)7 January 1938 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | West Calder United | July 1958 | Free transfer |
| Edgar Rumney | FB | Abberton | (1936-09-15)15 September 1936 (aged 21) | 5 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 1 May 1957 | Free transfer |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Cyril Hammond | WH | Woolwich | (1927-10-10)10 October 1927 (aged 30) | 0 | 0 | Charlton Athletic | July 1958 | Free transfer |
| Trevor Harris | WH | Colchester | (1936-02-06)6 February 1936 (aged 22) | 10 | 0 | Amateur | July 1951 | Free transfer |
| Ron Hunt | WH | Colchester | (1933-09-26)26 September 1933 (aged 24) | 38 | 0 | Amateur | October 1951 | Free transfer |
| Derek Parker | WH | Wivenhoe | (1926-06-23)23 June 1926 (aged 31) | 36 | 1 | West Ham United | March 1957 | £2,500 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Russell Blake | WG | Colchester | (1935-07-24)24 July 1935 (aged 22) | 15 | 2 | Dedham Old Boys | 8 September 1955 | Free transfer |
| John Evans | IF | Tilbury | (1929-08-28)28 August 1929 (aged 28) | 24 | 7 | Liverpool | 23 November 1957 | £4,000 |
| Bobby Hill | IF | Edinburgh | (1938-06-09)9 June 1938 (aged 19) | 54 | 8 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 9 June 1955 | Free transfer |
| Ian Johnstone | IF | Galashiels | (1939-03-02)2 March 1939 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | Ormiston Primrose | 18 April 1959 | Free transfer |
| Martyn King | CF | Birmingham | (1937-08-23)23 August 1937 (aged 20) | 3 | 1 | Amateur | Summer 1955 | Free transfer |
| Neil Langman | CF | Bere Alston | (1932-02-21)21 February 1932 (aged 26) | 23 | 8 | Plymouth Argyle | November 1957 | £6,750 |
| Kevin McCurley | CF | Consett | (1926-04-02)2 April 1926 (aged 32) | 218 | 86 | Liverpool | June 1951 | £750 |
| Sammy McLeod | IF | Glasgow | (1934-01-04)4 January 1934 (aged 24) | 63 | 6 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer |
| Tony Miller | IF | Chelmsford | (1937-10-26)26 October 1937 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | May 1958 | Free transfer |
| Ken Plant | CF | Nuneaton | (1925-08-15)15 August 1925 (aged 32) | 188 | 79 | Bury | January 1954 | Undisclosed |
| Tommy Williams | WG | Battersea | (1935-02-10)10 February 1935 (aged 23) | 52 | 8 | Carshalton Athletic | September 1956 | Free transfer |
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | (1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 24) | 204 | 46 | 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 |
| May 1958 | IF | Tony Miller | Amateur | Free transfer |
| July 1958 | WH | Cyril Hammond | Charlton Athletic | Free transfer |
| July 1958 | FB | John Roe | West Calder United | Free transfer |
| 18 April 1959 | IF | Ian Johnstone | Ormiston Primrose | Free transfer |
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| End of season | WH | Benny Fenton | Colchester United | Retired from playing, remained as manager |
| July 1958 | WH | Bert Hill | Dartford | Free transfer |
| 26 December 1958 | IF | Hamish McNeill | Cambridge City | Nominal |

## Match details
### Third Division
#### 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 | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A |
| Result | L | W | L | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | L | W | D | D | L | W | L | L | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | L | D | D | W | W | L | W | L | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | W | W | L | W |
| Position | 17 | 9 | 19 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 5 |

#### League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 3 | Brentford | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 76 | 49 | 1.551 | 57 |
| 4 | Norwich City | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 89 | 62 | 1.435 | 57 |
| 5 | Colchester United | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 71 | 67 | 1.060 | 52 |
| 6 | Reading | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 78 | 63 | 1.238 | 50 |
| 7 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 21 | 8 | 17 | 82 | 67 | 1.224 | 50 |

#### Matches
### FA Cup
## Squad statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Percy Ames | 52 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | George Fisher | 34 | 1 | 28 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Fowler | 48 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Alf Marshall | 24 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Chic Milligan | 50 | 1 | 44 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Cyril Hammond | 37 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Trevor Harris | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ron Hunt | 21 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Derek Parker | 44 | 0 | 38 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Russell Blake | 29 | 5 | 24 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | John Evans | 31 | 16 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 2 |
| | FW | SCO | Bobby Hill | 8 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Ian Johnstone | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Martyn King | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Neil Langman | 50 | 27 | 44 | 20 | 6 | 7 |
| | FW | ENG | Kevin McCurley | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Sammy McLeod | 44 | 10 | 38 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Ken Plant | 9 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Tommy Williams | 30 | 6 | 29 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Wright | 49 | 5 | 43 | 5 | 6 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | CF | Neil Langman | 20 | 7 | 27 |
| 2 | IF | John Evans | 14 | 2 | 16 |
| 3 | IF | Sammy McLeod | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 | WG | Tommy Williams | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 | WG | Russell Blake | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | CF | Kevin McCurley | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 | CF | Ken Plant | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | WG | Peter Wright | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 9 | FB | George Fisher | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | IF | Bobby Hill | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | CB | Chic Milligan | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| | | TOTALS | 71 | 14 | 85 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Nationality | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | | Percy Ames | 12 | 2 | 14 |
| | | TOTALS | 12 | 2 | 14 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| WH | Cyril Hammond | 23 August 1958 | Bury | Layer Road |
| FB | Alf Marshall | 8 October 1958 | Reading | Elm Park |
| IF | Ian Johnstone | 18 April 1959 | Chesterfield | Layer Road |