# 1950–51 Colchester United F.C. season

The 1950–51 season was Colchester United's ninth season in their history and their first ever season in the Football League, competing in the Third Division South, the third tier of English football. Alongside competing in the Third Division South, the club also participated in the FA Cup. The club ended the league season in 16th-position, while they exited the FA Cup in the first round following a defeat to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

## Season overview

Colchester's first–ever game in the Football League was against their old Southern League rivals Gillingham at Priestfield Stadium on 19 August 1950. A crowd of 19,542 witnessed the 0–0 draw between the sides. Five days later, Bob Curry scored the U's first–ever Football League goal during a 1–1 draw at Swindon Town, but it was not until 31 August that the Layer Road crowd were able to enjoy its first Football League goal for the home side. Arthur Turner, the season's top–scorer with 15 goals, struck five minutes into a 4–1 win in the return game with Swindon. Colchester remained unbeaten in their first seven games, a run that equalled a record for new clubs entering the Football League set by Aberdare Athletic in 1921–22.
After occupying second position in the Third Division South table, the U's suffered a slump in form, losing nine of the next ten games. They finished the season in 16th-position, averaging 10,571 through the Layer Road turnstiles. It would be the only season that Layer Road would host a five-figure season average.

## Players

    As of match played 5 May 1951.
| Name | Position | Place of birth | Date of birth | Apps | Goals | Signed from | Date signed | Fee |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| George Wright | GK | Plymouth | (1919-10-10)10 October 1919 (aged 30) | 54 | 0 | Plymouth Argyle | May 1949 | £1,000 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| George French | FB | Colchester | (1926-11-10)10 November 1926 (aged 23) | 0 | 0 | West Ham United | February 1949 | Free transfer |
| John Harrison | FB | Leicester | (1927-09-27)27 September 1927 (aged 22) | 0 | 0 | Aston Villa | 30 September 1950 | Nominal |
| Digger Kettle | FB | Colchester | (1922-06-03)3 June 1922 (aged 27) | 150 | 1 | Arclight Sports | September 1946 | Free transfer |
| Trevor Rowlands | FB | Wattstown | (1922-02-02)2 February 1922 (aged 28) | 0 | 0 | Norwich City | 20 July 1950 | £1,000 |
| Reg Stewart | CB | Sheffield | (1925-10-30)30 October 1925 (aged 24) | 51 | 0 | Sheffield Wednesday | 20 August 1949 | £1,000 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| Harry Bearryman | WH | Wandsworth | (1924-09-26)26 September 1924 (aged 25) | 146 | 9 | Chelsea | 4 July 1947 | Free transfer |
| Jimmy Elder | WH | Scone | (1928-03-05)5 March 1928 (aged 22) | 0 | 0 | Portsmouth | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 |
| Len Jones | WH | Barnsley | (1913-06-09)9 June 1913 (aged 36) | 0 | 0 | Southend United | 19 August 1950 | Undisclosed |
| John Moore | WH | Chiswick | (1923-09-25)25 September 1923 (aged 26) | 13 | 0 | Brentford | 8 September 1949 | £1,000 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| Bob Allen | WG | Bromley-by-Bow | (1916-10-11)11 October 1916 (aged 33) | 89 | 6 | Gainsborough Trinity | 13 June 1946 | Free transfer |
| Peter Aitchison | WG | Harlow | (1931-09-19)19 September 1931 (aged 18) | 0 | 0 | Amateur | August 1950 | Free transfer |
| John Church | WG | Lowestoft | (1919-09-17)17 September 1919 (aged 30) | 0 | 0 | Norwich City | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 |
| Dick Cullum | FW | Colchester | (1931-01-28)28 January 1931 (aged 19) | 0 | 0 | Colchester Colts | 28 March 1951 | Free transfer |
| Bob Curry | IF | Gateshead | (1918-11-02)2 November 1918 (aged 31) | 172 | 90 | Northampton Town | 13 June 1947 | Free transfer |
| Fred Cutting | IF | North Walsham | (1921-12-04)4 December 1921 (aged 28) | 125 | 55 | Norwich City | 6 December 1947 | Free transfer |
| Dennis Hillman | WG | Southend-on-Sea | (1918-11-27)27 November 1918 (aged 31) | 136 | 27 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 21 September 1946 | Free transfer |
| Vic Keeble | CF | Colchester | (1930-06-25)25 June 1930 (aged 19) | 81 | 63 | King George Youth Club | 23 May 1947 | £10 |
| Johnny McKim | IF | Greenock | (1926-01-22)22 January 1926 (aged 24) | 0 | 0 | Chelsea | 19 August 1950 | £1,000 |
| Arthur Turner | CF | Poplar | (1921-01-22)22 January 1921 (aged 29) | 117 | 83 | Charlton Athletic | September 1946 | Free transfer |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Date of signing refers to the date of the player's first game for the club

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| 20 July 1950 | FB | Trevor Rowlands | Norwich City | £1,000 |
| August 1950 | FB | Bill Rochford | Southampton | £1,000 |
| August 1950 | WG | Peter Aitchison | Amateur | Free |
| 19 August 1950 | WH | Jimmy Elder | Portsmouth | £1,000 |
| 19 August 1950 | WH | Len Jones | Southend United | Undisclosed |
| 19 August 1950 | WG | John Church | Norwich City | £1,000 |
| 19 August 1950 | IF | Johnny McKim | Chelsea | £1,000 |
| 30 September 1950 | FB | John Harrison | Aston Villa | Nominal |
| 30 September 1950 | WH | Joe Locherty | Sheffield Wednesday | £1,000 |
| 17 February 1951 | GK | Barney Bircham | Grimsby Town | £800 |
| 26 March 1951 | FW | Dick Cullum | Colchester Colts | Free |
* Total spending: ~ £6,800
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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 | GK | Ken Whitehead | Whitton United | Released |
| End of season | WG | Stan Foxall | Chelmsford City | Released |
| End of season | CF | Denis Maffey | Great Yarmouth Town | Free |
| End of season | OL | Bob Neville | Clacton Town | Released |
| 6 May 1950 | FB | Doug Beach | Chelmsford City | Free |
| 20 January 1951 | WH | Joe Locherty | Scarborough | Released |
| 24 February 1951 | FB | Bill Rochford | Retired | Retired |
| 24 March 1951 | GK | Barney Bircham | Free agent | Released |
| 26 March 1951 | WG | José Gallego | Cambridge United | Released |
| 28 April 1951 | WH | Bill Layton | Harwich & Parkeston | Player-manager |
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 Date of departure refers to the date of the player's final game for the club

## Match details
### Third Division South
#### 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 | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | A | H | H |
| Result | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | D | W | D | D | L | W | L | D | W | D | L | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | L | W | L | L | W | D | L | W | D | D |
| Position | 14 | 13 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 19 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 18 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 19 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 16 |

#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 14 | Exeter City | 46 | 18 | 6 | 22 | 62 | 85 | 0.729 | 42 |
| 15 | Walsall | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 52 | 62 | 0.839 | 40 |
| 16 | Colchester United | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 63 | 76 | 0.829 | 40 |
| 17 | Swindon Town | 46 | 18 | 4 | 24 | 55 | 67 | 0.821 | 40 |
| 18 | Aldershot | 46 | 15 | 10 | 21 | 56 | 88 | 0.636 | 40 |
* ↑ New club in the league; elected from Southern League

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

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Third Division South | Third Division South | FA Cup | FA Cup |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| | GK | ENG | George Wright | 41 | 0 | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | John Harrison | 33 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Digger Kettle | 15 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | WAL | Trevor Rowlands | 15 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Reg Stewart | 48 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Harry Bearryman | 48 | 0 | 46 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| | MF | SCO | Jimmy Elder | 46 | 4 | 45 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Len Jones | 43 | 3 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Bob Allen | 31 | 1 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | John Church | 42 | 10 | 40 | 10 | 2 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Dick Cullum | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Bob Curry | 34 | 14 | 32 | 12 | 2 | 2 |
| | FW | ENG | Fred Cutting | 12 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| | FW | ENG | Dennis Hillman | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Vic Keeble | 21 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | SCO | Johnny McKim | 24 | 8 | 24 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| | FW | ENG | Arthur Turner | 38 | 15 | 36 | 13 | 2 | 2 |
| Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season ||||||||||
| | GK | ENG | Barney Bircham | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | DF | ENG | Bill Rochford | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | MF | ENG | Bill Layton | 8 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | MF | SCO | Joe Locherty | 11 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| | FW | ESP | José Gallego | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| Place | Position | Name | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | CF | Arthur Turner | 13 | 2 | 15 |
| 2 | IF | Bob Curry | 12 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | WG | John Church | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | IF | Johnny McKim | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | CF | Vic Keeble | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | IF | Fred Cutting | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 6 | WH | Jimmy Elder | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | WH | Len Jones | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 9 | WG | Bob Allen | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Dick Cullum | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | WH | Bill Layton | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | WH | Joe Locherty | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | FB | Trevor Rowlands | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| | | TOTALS | 63 | 7 | 70 |

### Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.
| Place | Player | Third Division South | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | George Wright | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | Barney Bircham | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | TOTALS | 9 | 0 | 9 |

### Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.
| Position | Player | Date | Opponent | Ground |
| WH | Jimmy Elder | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium |
| WH | Len Jones | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium |
| WG | John Church | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium |
| IF | Johnny McKim | 19 August 1950 | Gillingham | Priestfield Stadium |
| FB | John Harrison | 30 September 1950 | Northampton Town | County Ground |
| WH | Joe Locherty | 30 September 1950 | Northampton Town | County Ground |
| GK | Barney Bircham | 17 February 1951 | Northampton Town | Layer Road |
| FB | Bill Rochford | 17 February 1951 | Northampton Town | Layer Road |
| FB | Trevor Rowlands | 3 March 1951 | Southend United | Layer Road |
| FW | Dick Cullum | 26 March 1951 | Torquay United | Plainmoor |