# 1963–64 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1963–64 season was Colchester United's 22nd season in their history and their second successive season in the Third Division, the third tier of English football. Alongside competing in the Third Division, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the League Cup.
A mid-season managerial change saw Benny Fenton leave for Leyton Orient and ex-England international Neil Franklin arrive from APOEL. They finished the season in 17th-place and had a good run in the League Cup, seeing off First Division Fulham in the first round, and then Second Division Northampton Town in the second round, before being knocked out in the third round by Fourth Division side Workington. Colchester made the second round of the FA Cup but were beaten by Queens Park Rangers.

## Season overview

The 1963–64 season proved to be one of change for Colchester United. Benny Fenton left the club to take over at Second Division Leyton Orient in September. Incoming was former England international Neil Franklin, who had been managing APOEL in Cyprus. Franklin's first piece of business was the sale of prolific forward Bobby Hunt to Northampton Town for £18,000. Hunt's 23 goals scored by the end of February was not surpassed despite his exit as Colchester finished the season in a disappointing 17th–position.
Colchester had an impressive run in the League Cup, seeing off Fulham of the First Division 5–3 in the first round, before beating Northampton in the second round but falling to defeat against Workington in the third. They beat Brighton & Hove Albion in the first round of the FA Cup, but were defeated in the second by Queens Park Rangers.

## Players

    As of match played 25 April 1964.
| 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 31) | 372 | 0 | Tottenham Hotspur | 1 May 1955 | Free transfer |
| Alan Buck | GK | Colchester | (1946-08-25)25 August 1946 (aged 16) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | July 1963 | Free transfer |
| George Ramage | GK | Dalkeith | (1937-01-29)29 January 1937 (aged 26) | 12 | 0 | Third Lanark | 15 March 1963 | Nominal |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| Duncan Forbes | CB | Edinburgh | (1941-06-19)19 June 1941 (aged 21) | 54 | 0 | Musselburgh Athletic | 4 September 1961 | Nominal |
| John Fowler | FB | Leith | (1933-10-17)17 October 1933 (aged 29) | 347 | 5 | Bonnyrigg Rose Athletic | 20 August 1955 | Free transfer |
| Richie Griffiths | FB | Earls Colne | (1942-03-21)21 March 1942 (aged 21) | 42 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | June 1961 | Free transfer |
| David Laitt | FB | Colchester | (1946-11-01)1 November 1946 (aged 16) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | Summer 1962 | Free transfer |
| Mick Loughton | CB | Colchester | (1942-12-08)8 December 1942 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | August 1961 | Free transfer |
| Edgar Rumney | FB | Abberton | (1936-09-15)15 September 1936 (aged 26) | 36 | 0 | Colchester Casuals | 1 May 1957 | Free transfer |
| Keith Rutter | CB | Leeds | (1934-09-10)10 September 1934 (aged 28) | 21 | 0 | Queens Park Rangers | 26 February 1963 | £4,000 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| John Docherty | WH | Glasgow | (1935-02-28)28 February 1935 (aged 28) | 0 | 0 | Heart of Midlothian | 14 September 1963 | Free transfer |
| Roy McCrohan | WH | Reading | (1930-09-22)22 September 1930 (aged 32) | 33 | 2 | Norwich City | 1 September 1962 | Part exchange |
| Derek Trevis | MF | Birmingham | (1942-09-09)9 September 1942 (aged 20) | 0 | 0 | Aston Villa | 7 March 1964 | Free transfer |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Mike Grice | WG | Woking | (1931-11-03)3 November 1931 (aged 31) | 156 | 24 | Coventry City | 18 August 1962 | £1,000 |
| Bobby Hill | IF | Edinburgh | (1938-06-09)9 June 1938 (aged 24) | 213 | 22 | Easthouses Lily Miners Welfare | 9 June 1955 | Free transfer |
| Martyn King | CF | Birmingham | (1937-08-23)23 August 1937 (aged 25) | 177 | 117 | Amateur | Summer 1955 | Free transfer |
| Tommy McColl | IF | Glasgow | (1945-09-19)19 September 1945 (aged 17) | 0 | 0 | Dennistoun Waverley | 24 August 1963 | Free transfer |
| Tony Miller | IF | Chelmsford | (1937-10-26)26 October 1937 (aged 25) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | May 1958 | Free transfer |
| Billy Stark | FW | Glasgow | (1937-05-27)27 May 1937 (aged 26) | 21 | 3 | Carlisle United | November 1962 | £3,750 |
| Peter Wright | WG | Colchester | (1934-01-26)26 January 1934 (aged 29) | 412 | 86 | 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
* ↑ Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game in his second spell for the club

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| July 1963 | GK | Alan Buck | Amateur | Free transfer |
| August 1963 | FB | Pat Woods | South Coast United | Free transfer |
| 24 August 1963 | IF | Tommy McColl | Dennistoun Waverley | Free transfer |
| 14 September 1963 | WH | John Docherty | Heart of Midlothian | Free transfer |
| 7 March 1964 | MF | Derek Trevis | Aston Villa | Free transfer |
* 1 2 3 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

### Out

| Date | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 7 October 1963 | WH | Ron Hunt | Retired | Retired |
| March 1964 | FW | Bobby Hunt | Northampton Town | £18,000 |
| 28 March 1964 | FB | Pat Woods | South Coast United | Free transfer |
* Total incoming: ~ £18,000
* 1 2 Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

## 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 | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | H | A |
| Result | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | W | L | W | L | D | D | D | W | L | D | W | L | D | W | W | D | D | W | L | D | W | L | D | L | D | W | D | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | L | D | D | W | L |
| Position | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 16 |

#### League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 15 | Queens Park Rangers | 46 | 18 | 9 | 19 | 76 | 78 | 0.974 | 45 |
| 16 | Brentford | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 87 | 80 | 1.088 | 44 |
| 17 | Colchester United | 46 | 12 | 19 | 15 | 70 | 68 | 1.029 | 43 |
| 18 | Luton Town | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 64 | 80 | 0.800 | 42 |
| 19 | Walsall | 46 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 59 | 76 | 0.776 | 40 |

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

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | Percy Ames | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | GK | SCO | George Ramage | 31 | 0 | 26 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | Duncan Forbes | 36 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | DF | SCO | John Fowler | 25 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Edgar Rumney | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Keith Rutter | 47 | 0 | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | John Docherty | 40 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Roy McCrohan | 48 | 3 | 43 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Derek Trevis | 9 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Mike Grice | 47 | 5 | 42 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| | FW | SCO | Bobby Hill | 25 | 0 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Martyn King | 43 | 20 | 38 | 18 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| | FW | AUS | Tommy McColl | 7 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Tony Miller | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Billy Stark | 47 | 17 | 43 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Peter Wright | 39 | 10 | 34 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||||
| | DF | ENG | Pat Woods | 41 | 0 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Ron Hunt | 12 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Bobby Hunt | 38 | 23 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Bobby Hunt | 20 | 1 | 2 | 23 |
| 2 | CF | Martyn King | 18 | 0 | 2 | 20 |
| 3 | FW | Billy Stark | 15 | 0 | 2 | 17 |
| 4 | WG | Peter Wright | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| 5 | WG | Mike Grice | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 6 | WH | Roy McCrohan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | WH | John Docherty | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | IF | Tommy McColl | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | TOTALS | 70 | 1 | 10 | 81 |

### Disciplinary record

| Position | Name | Third Division | Third Division | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| CF | Martyn King | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| WG | Peter Wright | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| | TOTALS | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Player | Third Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Total |
| 1 | George Ramage | 8 | 1 | 0 | 9 |
| 2 | Percy Ames | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| | TOTALS | 12 | 1 | 0 | 13 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| FB | Pat Woods | 24 August 1963 | Barnsley | Layer Road |
| IF | Tommy McColl | 24 August 1963 | Barnsley | Layer Road |
| WH | John Docherty | 14 September 1963 | Wrexham | Racecourse Ground |
| IF | Tony Miller | 1 February 1964 | Queens Park Rangers | Loftus Road |
| MF | Derek Trevis | 7 March 1964 | Mansfield Town | Layer Road |