1937–38 Colchester United F.C. season explained

The 1937–38 season was Colchester United's first ever season after the formation as a professional club from amateur predecessors Colchester Town. Alongside competing in the Southern League, the club also participated in the Southern League Mid-Week Section and Southern League Cup. The club did not enter the FA Cup, but did win the Southern League Cup at the first attempt. Colchester finished 6th position in the league, and finished as runners-up to Millwall Reserves in the Mid-Week Section.

Season overview

During a transitional period from the amateur organisation at Colchester Town to a professional club, twelve directors formed the board, appointing former Huddersfield Town goalkeeper and Bath City manager Ted Davis to take charge of team affairs. On 14 July 1937, the announcement was publicly made that the new club would be named Colchester United. A week after his appointment, Davis had already organised for the club to play in the same blue and white striped kit as his former club Huddersfield.

With trial matches taking place between 19 and 26 August 1937, Colchester United played their first ever professional match on 28 August 1937, travelling to The Huish to face Yeovil & Petters United. The game ended 3–0 to Yeovil, but Colchester made amends in their first game at Layer Road against Davis' old side Bath City on 2 September in the Mid-Week Section. The U's thrashed their counterparts 6–1, with Reg Smith registering the club's first hat-trick. Proficient bugle and cornet player Ronnie Dunn, Colchester's goalkeeper, welcomed the players of both sides to the pitch with a rendition of the post horn galop, a tradition which would remain throughout the club's years at Layer Road. The attendance was recorded as £250 instead of numbers of supporters, with the amount equating to an approximate attendance of 3,500. Two days later, an estimated 11,000 came to Layer Road to witness a 3–3 draw in the first meeting between Colchester United and nearby rivals Ipswich Town.

Reg Smith was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers in October 1937 for £250, and with a deal agreed for Cliff Fairchild to join Arsenal at the end of the season for £500, Davis used his entrepreneurial skills to arrange for both First Division clubs to contest the Colchester Challenge Cup at Layer Road. The friendly fixture proved to be a success, with 17,584 seeing Wolves beat Arsenal 1–0.

Following an excellent beginning to Colchester United's existence spelt a swift demise for Colchester Town. With the Oysters suffering financial difficulty, the amateur club folded in 1937, having joined the six-club Essex Senior League. The club re-emerged briefly in January 1938 to complete an Essex Senior Cup tie in order to avoid a fine, but the withdrawal of Town meant that United could enter a reserve side into the Eastern Counties League one month later, with the reserve squad boosted by many of those previously on the books with Colchester Town.

Layer Road suffered severe damage to the roof in January 1938 during a severe gale, with a recently erected corrugated iron roof and timber structure damaging nearby buildings, causing the ground to be closed for two days to clear the debris.

The return match with Ipswich saw 8,000 Colchester fans set a new Portman Road ground record attendance of 23,890, with United wearing a new orange and black away strip. They had worn these kits a week earlier in a friendly against Charlton Athletic to acclimatise themselves to the new strip.

At the end of the season, Colchester finished mid-table, but did reach the Southern League Cup final. They lost the first leg 2–1 at Yeovil, but triumphed 3–1 at Layer Road to win 4–3 on aggregate and secure the club's first ever trophy. The club then adopted the nickname "The U's" to differentiate themselves from "The Oysters" of Colchester Town. Across the season, Colchester found the back of the net 155 times in all competitions, with Alec Cheyne scoring 35 goals, Arthur Pritchard 29 goals and Jack Hodge 24 goals helping the U's to that total. With professional football proving to be a success, the same applied for Colchester's neighbours and rivals Ipswich Town, who were elected to the Football League for the 1938–39 season.^[5]

Players

^[6]

Name	Position	Nationality	Place of birth	Date of birth	Apps	Goals	Signed from	Date signed	Fee
Goalkeepers
Ronnie Dunn	GK		Southall	June 1, 1937	0	0	Crystal Palace	3 July 1937	Free transfer
Don Youngs	GK				0	0	Martlesham RAF	5 November 1937	Free transfer
Defenders
Jimmy Baker	CB/RH		Trethomas	June 1, 1937	0	0	Bristol City	9 July 1937	Free transfer
Cliff Fairchild	RB		Great Yarmouth	June 1, 1937	0	0	Northfleet United	28 August 1937	Free transfer
Syd Fieldus	DF		Romford	June 1, 1937	0	0	Brentford	3 July 1937	Free transfer
Ian Haley	RB		North Bierley		0	0	Colchester Town	1 January 1938	Free transfer
George Leslie	CB		Slough	June 1, 1937	0	0	Guildford City	9 July 1937	Free transfer
Alexander Wood	LB		Lochgelly	June 1, 1937	0	0	Nottingham Forest	16 July 1937	Free transfer
Midfielders
Jimmy Collins	LH/RH		Brentford	June 1, 1937	0	0	West Ham United	3 July 1937	Free transfer
George Ritchie	LH		Maryhill	June 1, 1937	0	0	Leicester City	12 August 1937	Free transfer
George Smith	RH		Connah's Quay		0	0	Bath City	27 October 1937	Free transfer
Forwards
Bill Barraclough	OL		Kingston upon Hull	June 1, 1937	0	0	Chelsea	7 August 1937	Free transfer
Albert Bennett	CF				0	0	Colchester Town	25 November 1937	Free transfer
Alec Cheyne	IH		Glasgow	June 1, 1937	0	0	Chelsea	13 August 1937	£3,000
George Crisp	WG		Pontypool	June 1, 1937	0	0	Newport County	28 August 1937	Undisclosed
Jack Hodge	OR		Plymouth		0	0	Luton Town	13 July 1937	Free transfer
Ken Mayes	IL/OL		Wickford	June 1, 1937	0	0	Fulham	3 July 1937	£500
Bill Pendergast	CF/IL		Penygroes	June 1, 1937	0	0	Bristol Rovers	9 December 1937	Free transfer
Arthur Pritchard	CF		Newport	June 1, 1937	0	0	Yeovil & Petters United	28 August 1937	Free transfer
Ivan Thacker	CF		Lowestoft		0	0	Lowestoft Town	18 February 1938	Free transfer
George Wallis	IF		Sawley		0	0	Bath City	28 February 1938	Free transfer
George Williams	IR/CF				0	0	Ipswich Town	17 July 1937	Free transfer

Transfers

In

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1937	GK		Ted Platt	None	Free transfer	[7]
23 June 1937	CF		Reg Smith	Bristol City	Free transfer	[8]
3 July 1937	LH/RH		Jimmy Collins	West Ham United	Free transfer	[9]
3 July 1937	GK		Ronnie Dunn	Crystal Palace	Free transfer	[10]
3 July 1937	DF		Syd Fieldus	Brentford	Free transfer	[11]
3 July 1937	IL/OL		Ken Mayes	Fulham	£500	[12]
9 July 1937	CB/RH		Jimmy Baker	Bristol City	Free transfer	[13]
9 July 1937	CB		George Leslie	Guildford City	Free transfer	[14]
13 July 1937	OR		Jack Hodge	Luton Town	Free transfer	[15]
16 July 1937	LB		Alexander Wood	Nottingham Forest	Free transfer	[16]
17 July 1937	IR/CF		George Williams	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	[17]
7 August 1937	OL		Bill Barraclough	Chelsea	Free transfer	[18]
12 August 1937	LH		George Ritchie	Leicester City	Free transfer	[19]
13 August 1937	IH		Alec Cheyne	Chelsea	£3,000	[20]
28 August 1937	RB		Cliff Fairchild	Northfleet United	Free transfer	[21]
28 August 1937	WG		George Crisp	Newport County	Undisclosed	[22]
28 August 1937	CF		Arthur Pritchard	Yeovil & Petters United	Free transfer	[23]
7 October 1937	DF		John Ormesher	Colchester Town	Free transfer	[24]
27 October 1937	RH		George Smith	Bath City	Free transfer	[25]
5 November 1937	GK		Don Youngs	Martlesham RAF	Free transfer	[26]
17 November 1937	CF		Tully Day	Harwich & Parkeston	Free transfer	[27]
25 November 1937	CF		Albert Bennett	Colchester Town	Free transfer	[28]
9 December 1937	CF/IL		Bill Pendergast	Bristol Rovers	Free transfer	[29]
1 January 1938	RB		Ian Haley	Colchester Town	Free transfer	[30]
18 February 1938	CF		Ivan Thacker	Lowestoft Town	Free transfer	[31]
28 February 1938	IF		George Wallis	Bath City	Free transfer	[32]
23 April 1938	OR		Sam Simnett	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	[33]

• Total spending: ~ £3,500

Out

Date	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
25 October 1937	CF		Reg Smith	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£500
January 1938	DF		John Ormesher	Free agent	Released
March 1938	GK		Ted Platt	Arsenal	Free transfer
19 April 1938	CF		Tully Day	Harwich & Parkeston	Free transfer
23 April 1938	OR		Sam Simnett	Free agent	Released

• Total incoming: ~ £500

Match details

Southern League

See main article: 1937–38 Southern Football League.

Matches

Southern League Mid-Week Section

Matches

Southern League Cup

Squad statistics

Appearances and goals

^{[6] [34]} |-!colspan="12"|Players who appeared for Colchester who left during the season|}

Goalscorers

^[34]

Place	Nationality	Position	Name	Southern League	SL Mid-Week Section	Southern League Cup	Total
1		IH	Alec Cheyne	19	9	7	35
2		CF	Arthur Pritchard	17	8	4	29
3		OR	Jack Hodge	12	7	5	24
4		CF	Tully Day	9	2	4	15
5		WG	George Crisp	9	4	1	14
6		CF	Reg Smith	3	5	2	10
7		IF	George Wallis	5	2	0	7
8		CF/IL	Bill Pendergast	5	1	0	6
9		OL	Bill Barraclough	2	2	0	4
10		DF	Syd Fieldus	3	0	0	3
11		CB/RH	Jimmy Baker	1	1	0	2
		RH	George Smith	2	0	0	2
13		LH	George Ritchie	1	0	0	1
		CF	Ivan Thacker	0	1	0	1
		LB	Alexander Wood	1	0	0	1
			Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	0	0	0	155

Disciplinary record

^[35]

Nationality	Position	Name	Southern League		SL Mid-Week Section		Southern League Cup		Total
			width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"		width=60 style="background: #FFEE99"		width=60 style="background: #FF8888"
	OL	Bill Barraclough	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2
	WG	George Crisp	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
		TOTALS	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	2

Captains

Number of games played as team captain.^[36]

Place	Nationality	Position	Player	Southern League	SL Mid-Week Section	Southern League Cup	Total
1		LH	George Ritchie	17	7	4	28
2		CB/RH	Jimmy Baker	3	4	1	8
				14	7	1	22
			TOTALS	34	18	6	58

Clean sheets

Number of games goalkeepers kept a clean sheet.^[37]

Place	Nationality	Player	Southern League	SL Mid-Week Section	Southern League Cup	Total
1		Ronnie Dunn	7	4	2	13
2		Don Youngs	1	2	0	3
		TOTALS	8	6	2	16

Player debuts

Players making their first-team Colchester United debut in a fully competitive match.^[38]

Position	Nationality	Player	Date	Opponent	Ground	Notes
GK		Ronnie Dunn	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
LH/RH		Jimmy Collins	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
RB		Cliff Fairchild	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
CB		George Leslie	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
LH		George Ritchie	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
LB		Alexander Wood	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
IH		Alec Cheyne	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
WG		George Crisp	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
OR		Jack Hodge	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
CF		Arthur Pritchard	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
CF		Reg Smith	28 August 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Huish Athletic Ground
IL/OL		Ken Mayes	2 September 1937	Bath City	Layer Road
OL		Bill Barraclough	11 September 1937	Yeovil & Petters United	Layer Road
CB/RH		Jimmy Baker	23 September 1937	Folkestone	Layer Road
DF		John Ormesher	7 October 1937	Tunbridge Wells Rangers	Layer Road
DF		Syd Fieldus	9 October 1937	Plymouth Argyle Reserves	Home Park
RH		George Smith	30 October 1937	Dartford	Watling Street
CF		Tully Day	17 November 1937	Aldershot Reserves	Recreation Ground
CF		Albert Bennett	25 November 1937	Norwich City Reserves	Carrow Road
CF/IL		Bill Pendergast	11 December 1937	Aldershot Reserves	Layer Road
RB		Ian Haley	1 January 1938	Barry Town	Layer Road
IR/CF		George Williams	31 January 1938	Millwall Reserves	The Den
GK		Don Youngs	24 February 1938	Tunbridge Wells Rangers	Layer Road
CF		Ivan Thacker	3 March 1938	Dartford	Layer Road
IF		George Wallis	3 March 1938	Dartford	Layer Road
OR		Sam Simnett	23 April 1938	Tunbridge Wells Rangers	Down Farm

See also

• List of Colchester United F.C. seasons

References

General

Book: Whitehead . Jeff . Drury . Kevin . The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . 2008 . Breedon Books . Derby . 978-1-85983-629-3 .

Specific

Notes and References

1. Book: Whitehead . Jeff . Drury . Kevin . The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . 2008 . Breedon Books . Derby . 978-1-85983-629-3 . 278.
2. Web site: Colchester Utd 3–3 Ipswich Town . Coludata.co.uk . 21 June 2015 .
3. Web site: Colchester Utd 7–3 Norwich City Reserves . Coludata.co.uk . 21 June 2015 .
4. Web site: Average Attendance Figures Per Season . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 21 June 2015 .
5. Web site: The 1930s and 1940s . Hudson . Matt . 11 August 2013 . Colchester United FC . 30 May 2011 .
6. Web site: Appearances . Coludata.co.uk . 20 June 2015 .
7. Book: Whitehead . Jeff . Drury . Kevin . The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years . 2008 . Breedon Books . Derby . 978-1-85983-629-3 . 85.
8. Web site: Reg Smith . Coludata.co.uk . 6 February 2017 .
9. Web site: Jimmy Collins . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
10. Web site: Ronnie Dunn . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
11. Web site: Syd Fieldus . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
12. Web site: Kenny Mayes . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
13. Web site: James Baker . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
14. Web site: George Leslie . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
15. Web site: Jack Hodge . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
16. Web site: Alex Wood . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
17. Web site: George Williams . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
18. Web site: Bill Barraclough . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
19. Web site: George Ritchie . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
20. Web site: Alec Cheyne . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
21. Web site: Cliff Fairchild . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
22. Web site: George Crisp . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
23. Web site: Arthur Pritchard . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
24. Web site: John Ormesher . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
25. Web site: George Smith . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
26. Web site: Don Youngs . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
27. Web site: Tully Day . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
28. Web site: Albert Bennett . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
29. Web site: Will Pendergast . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
30. Web site: Ian Haley . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
31. Web site: Ivan Thacker . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
32. Web site: Geo Wallis . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
33. Web site: Sam Simnett . Coludata.co.uk . 25 June 2015 .
34. Web site: Goals . Coludata.co.uk . 24 June 2015 .
35. Web site: Discipline . Coludata.co.uk . 24 June 2015 .
36. Web site: All matches . Coludata.co.uk . 14 July 2015 .
37. Web site: Clean sheets (1st team) . Coludata.co.uk . 22 June 2017 .
38. Web site: Alltime- List of Debuts . Coludaybyday.co.uk . 24 June 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150626101319/http://coludaybyday.co.uk/Statistics/Player%20Stats/PlayersDebuts/Alldebut.html . 26 June 2015 .