Colchester United(A).23/03/51.

What a wonderful programme from Colchester United's first season in the Football League. The bit about Torquay United "paying their first visit to Layer Road" needs to be tempered by the fact our reserves had played there in the Southern League as recently as the season before.

Colchester's elevation to the Football League had resulted from the expansion of Division 3s North and South from twenty-two to twenty-four clubs. The four new clubs were elected by ballot. Gillingham and Colchester in the south without too much opposition; Shrewsbury and Scunthorpe in the north where the ballot was tighter. Workington and Wigan missed out but Workington got their chance the following year in place of New Brighton.

Just why the Football League elected Workington remains a curiosity. But, although they were never a great success, Workington played a part in the careers of two of the great managers: Bill Shankly and Ken Furphy.

But back to that Good Friday in Colchester in 1951 and that's an unusual, but decorative, piece of illustration work on the programme cover. Note too the four-digit phone number that's reminiscent of a slightly earlier period.

Two names run through that programme: Bob Curry and Vic Keeble. Curry was the Tynesider who played a significant part in Colchester's post-war history; Keeble was the Colchester lad who played in Newcastle United's FA Cup winning team in 1955.

Look at Colchester's fixtures and you'll see their first game in the Football League was against Gillingham who had accompanied them in the switch from the Football League. According to Wiki, the game at Priestfield was watched by a crowd of over 19,000.

We've often commented on supporters' club notes in programmes. No doubt F.J.Richer concluded each with "well, cheerio everybody, the best of luck and UP THE Us!" Cheerio seems such a suitable expression to find in a 1950s football programme along with that invitation to "register" with Wm Allen & Son meat purveyors.

And did Wm Allen supply meat to the Tudor Cafe? You'd like to think the Colchester Tudor had a reciprocal arrangement - a "travelling fan's special" or whatever - with the establishment of the same name in St Marychurch. But, even if it did, I think Colchester might struggle to come up with a cliff railway.