They Played For Both
Posted on: Fri 21 Mar 2008
U's supporter Graeson Laitt continues his series looking at the players who have turned out for both the U's and their weekend opponents.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there have been many players who have played for the premier clubs in Norfolk and North Essex stretching back to United's formative years.
Indeed, three of the first players to play for both clubs were members of the U's side that won the Southern League in 1939.
Robert Morris and Alf Worton hardly missed a game for the U's during the club second season.
Wing-half Morris played an incredible 65 games during that campaign, with Worton just a game behind.
The two players had been team-mates at Carrow Road for the previous three seasons.
Sadly, the Second World War limited George Law and Ken Burditt to just a couple of games for the U's following their moves to Layer Road.
Both player did survive to resume their careers after the war but Burditt returned to his Scottish roots and Law, who scored two goals in the four games for the U's ended his career with Lowestoft Town and Folkestone Town.
Fred Cutting never made a senior appearance for The Canaries following his move from Leicester City, but his name will forever be etched in United history as a member of the team that knocked Huddersfield Town out of the FA Cup in 1948.
It was a result that sent the same shockwaves around the football world as our victory over Leeds would later do, as it was the first time that a non-league club (the U's were still in the Southern League at the time) had knocked a First Division club out in the modern history of the competition.
Cutting stayed with the club when the won election to the Football League in 1950
Aubrey Darmondy didn't have quite such an illustrious time at Layer Road as he made just three appearances for the club.
The Welshman was also involved in heated discussions in the Boardroom after failing to put in an appearance for a game - ironically enough against Norwich City Reserves.
After withholding his wages, the club Treasury was asked to pay Darmondy following his explanation as to why he didn't attend the game.
When United were elected to the League, it was clear that the team would need strengthening.
Ted Fenton looked to the Norwich club and paid £1,200 for winger John Church, who had been part of the Carrow Road side since before the War.
Church would stay at Layer Road for three whole seasons, scoring eleven goals before signing for Braintree side Crittall Athletic.
Joining the club later in the season was fullback Trevor Rowlands who United paid Norwich City £1,000 in March 1951.
He had been at Carrow Road for the previous two seasons and would return to Wales after leaving Layer Road in May 1953.
Arriving from Wales a season later was winger Cliff Birch who played five games for Norwich in the 1949/50 season scoring three goals.
His stay at Layer Road was restricted to just a dozen games as the U's were forced to seek re-election.
One of United best ever signings was Duncan Forbes from Scottish side Musselburgh Athletic.
Though the Edinburgh-born central defender didn't get in to the side until early April he would go on to play over three hundred games for the U's in all competitions.
He was sold to Norwich City in 1968 for £10,000 and went on to represent the Canaries in even more games than he had the U's!
A remarkable career for one of United's greatest players.
Winger Mike Foster moved to Carrow Road in exchange for Roy McCrohan who had played nearly four hundred league games for City since 1951.
The U's seemingly got the better of the deal as McCrohan played seventy-five time for the Layer Road outfit while Foster never appeared in Canary yellow.
Another man with plenty of appearances under his belt at Carrow Road was goalkeeper Sandy Kennon.
The South African replaced legendary shot-stopper Percy Ames as the regular U's custodian after some six years in deepest Norfolk.
Team-mates of Kennon's at Layer Road included Gareth Salisbury, Jackie Bell and Ray Price who had all also been team-mates of the shot stopper's at Carrow Road.
Another former Kennon team-mate at Carrow Road - striker Jim Oliver - joined the U's in February 1968 from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Winger Trevor Painter played just one game for the U's - a 1-0 defeat at home to Chester City on 18th December 1970, and in 1967, had played twice for City.
Similarly, goalkeeper Des Kelly represented the blue and white stripes just once in November 1972.
Moving on to the mid-70s, Terry Anderson had two spells with the U's.
He initially joined the club in February 1974 on a month's loan from Norwich, but despite having the chance to move to Layer Road, returned to Norfolk to fight for his place.
He returned to Layer Road in July 1975 but failed to find the net in sixteen attempts and moved to America side Baltimore Bays.
Peter Silvester was the last man in the 70s to play for both sides following his loan move in 1973 - the striker had played 99 league games and scored 37 goals for City.
Some nine years after Anderson's departure, Darryl Godbold was the next to find themselves having played for both Norwich and United.
He'd made two substitute appearances at Carrow Road before moving to Layer Road in 1984. He scored one goal during his short spell in North Essex before returning to Norfolk to play for Wroxham.
Finding themselves without a goalkeeper at the start of the 1987 campaign - Alec Chamberlain had moved to Everton during the close season - United borrowed Graham Benstead from City.
When Norwich refused permission for him to play in any Cup games following Trevor Lake's career-ending injury at Fulham, United borrowed another Norwich keeper in Mark Walton.
The U's would subsequently make the loan deal permanent.
There are two more loanee goalkeepers to play for both clubs in Roger Hansbury, and Jon Sheffield.
In-between them - and whilst the club was in the Conference - Shaun Elliott was a regular at the heart of the U's defence. He had spent two seasons with City from 1986.
Moving right up to date now with two strikers who had tough times at Layer Road.
Keith Scott looked to be playing himself towards a permanent deal at Layer Road before picking up an injury in a game at Peterborough.
When he returned towards the end of the season, he didn't look fully fit and the U's interest in the former Wycombe striker fell away.
Prior to the start of this season, one of United's joint record purchase was Adrian Coote who Steve Whitton spent £50,000 on.
The Northern Ireland international never settled at Layer Road - perhaps as the result of not getting a run in the side - and eventually moved in to non-league football.
Currently on loan at Notts County, Ryan Jarvis also spent two months with the U's in 2005.
A highly-rated striker he seems unable to break in to the first team at Carrow Road on a regular basis.
Rumours are that he'll be one of those to be released at the end of the season and I happen to think he might well be a useful signing for the U's should he become available.
There's no doubt that the villain of Saturday's game in U's hearts will be Jamie Cureton who controversially moved back to Norwich City at the end of the season.
There's no doubt that Cureton played a pivotal part in the U's success - both last season and in a promotion year - and maybe over time those feelings of hurt following his departure may ease.
Two of United's current squad have also spent time at Carrow Road.
Danny Granville moved there on loan for a month from Manchester City in October 2000.
Kevin Lisbie's month in Norfolk was in September 2005 with him scoring once in six appearances for the Canaries.
Finally, I reserve pride of place to Trevor Putney who is, I believe, the only player to have played not only for Norwich City and Colchester United, but also Ipswich Town as well.
After starting with Ipswich Town in 1982 he saw the light and moved to Norwich City in January 1986.
After spells with Middlesbrough, Watford and Leyton Orient he finally joined the U's in October 1994 under George Burley after having been on loan here earlier in the season.
At the end of that current campaign, Putney retired to a job in the City but can often be found at Layer Road watching games in a press capacity.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there have been many players who have played for the premier clubs in Norfolk and North Essex stretching back to United's formative years.
Indeed, three of the first players to play for both clubs were members of the U's side that won the Southern League in 1939.
Robert Morris and Alf Worton hardly missed a game for the U's during the club second season.
Wing-half Morris played an incredible 65 games during that campaign, with Worton just a game behind.
The two players had been team-mates at Carrow Road for the previous three seasons.
Sadly, the Second World War limited George Law and Ken Burditt to just a couple of games for the U's following their moves to Layer Road.
Both player did survive to resume their careers after the war but Burditt returned to his Scottish roots and Law, who scored two goals in the four games for the U's ended his career with Lowestoft Town and Folkestone Town.
Fred Cutting never made a senior appearance for The Canaries following his move from Leicester City, but his name will forever be etched in United history as a member of the team that knocked Huddersfield Town out of the FA Cup in 1948.
It was a result that sent the same shockwaves around the football world as our victory over Leeds would later do, as it was the first time that a non-league club (the U's were still in the Southern League at the time) had knocked a First Division club out in the modern history of the competition.
Cutting stayed with the club when the won election to the Football League in 1950
Aubrey Darmondy didn't have quite such an illustrious time at Layer Road as he made just three appearances for the club.
The Welshman was also involved in heated discussions in the Boardroom after failing to put in an appearance for a game - ironically enough against Norwich City Reserves.
After withholding his wages, the club Treasury was asked to pay Darmondy following his explanation as to why he didn't attend the game.
When United were elected to the League, it was clear that the team would need strengthening.
Ted Fenton looked to the Norwich club and paid £1,200 for winger John Church, who had been part of the Carrow Road side since before the War.
Church would stay at Layer Road for three whole seasons, scoring eleven goals before signing for Braintree side Crittall Athletic.
Joining the club later in the season was fullback Trevor Rowlands who United paid Norwich City £1,000 in March 1951.
He had been at Carrow Road for the previous two seasons and would return to Wales after leaving Layer Road in May 1953.
Arriving from Wales a season later was winger Cliff Birch who played five games for Norwich in the 1949/50 season scoring three goals.
His stay at Layer Road was restricted to just a dozen games as the U's were forced to seek re-election.
One of United best ever signings was Duncan Forbes from Scottish side Musselburgh Athletic.
Though the Edinburgh-born central defender didn't get in to the side until early April he would go on to play over three hundred games for the U's in all competitions.
He was sold to Norwich City in 1968 for £10,000 and went on to represent the Canaries in even more games than he had the U's!
A remarkable career for one of United's greatest players.
Winger Mike Foster moved to Carrow Road in exchange for Roy McCrohan who had played nearly four hundred league games for City since 1951.
The U's seemingly got the better of the deal as McCrohan played seventy-five time for the Layer Road outfit while Foster never appeared in Canary yellow.
Another man with plenty of appearances under his belt at Carrow Road was goalkeeper Sandy Kennon.
The South African replaced legendary shot-stopper Percy Ames as the regular U's custodian after some six years in deepest Norfolk.
Team-mates of Kennon's at Layer Road included Gareth Salisbury, Jackie Bell and Ray Price who had all also been team-mates of the shot stopper's at Carrow Road.
Another former Kennon team-mate at Carrow Road - striker Jim Oliver - joined the U's in February 1968 from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Winger Trevor Painter played just one game for the U's - a 1-0 defeat at home to Chester City on 18th December 1970, and in 1967, had played twice for City.
Similarly, goalkeeper Des Kelly represented the blue and white stripes just once in November 1972.
Moving on to the mid-70s, Terry Anderson had two spells with the U's.
He initially joined the club in February 1974 on a month's loan from Norwich, but despite having the chance to move to Layer Road, returned to Norfolk to fight for his place.
He returned to Layer Road in July 1975 but failed to find the net in sixteen attempts and moved to America side Baltimore Bays.
Peter Silvester was the last man in the 70s to play for both sides following his loan move in 1973 - the striker had played 99 league games and scored 37 goals for City.
Some nine years after Anderson's departure, Darryl Godbold was the next to find themselves having played for both Norwich and United.
He'd made two substitute appearances at Carrow Road before moving to Layer Road in 1984. He scored one goal during his short spell in North Essex before returning to Norfolk to play for Wroxham.
Finding themselves without a goalkeeper at the start of the 1987 campaign - Alec Chamberlain had moved to Everton during the close season - United borrowed Graham Benstead from City.
When Norwich refused permission for him to play in any Cup games following Trevor Lake's career-ending injury at Fulham, United borrowed another Norwich keeper in Mark Walton.
The U's would subsequently make the loan deal permanent.
There are two more loanee goalkeepers to play for both clubs in Roger Hansbury, and Jon Sheffield.
In-between them - and whilst the club was in the Conference - Shaun Elliott was a regular at the heart of the U's defence. He had spent two seasons with City from 1986.
Moving right up to date now with two strikers who had tough times at Layer Road.
Keith Scott looked to be playing himself towards a permanent deal at Layer Road before picking up an injury in a game at Peterborough.
When he returned towards the end of the season, he didn't look fully fit and the U's interest in the former Wycombe striker fell away.
Prior to the start of this season, one of United's joint record purchase was Adrian Coote who Steve Whitton spent £50,000 on.
The Northern Ireland international never settled at Layer Road - perhaps as the result of not getting a run in the side - and eventually moved in to non-league football.
Currently on loan at Notts County, Ryan Jarvis also spent two months with the U's in 2005.
A highly-rated striker he seems unable to break in to the first team at Carrow Road on a regular basis.
Rumours are that he'll be one of those to be released at the end of the season and I happen to think he might well be a useful signing for the U's should he become available.
There's no doubt that the villain of Saturday's game in U's hearts will be Jamie Cureton who controversially moved back to Norwich City at the end of the season.
There's no doubt that Cureton played a pivotal part in the U's success - both last season and in a promotion year - and maybe over time those feelings of hurt following his departure may ease.
Two of United's current squad have also spent time at Carrow Road.
Danny Granville moved there on loan for a month from Manchester City in October 2000.
Kevin Lisbie's month in Norfolk was in September 2005 with him scoring once in six appearances for the Canaries.
Finally, I reserve pride of place to Trevor Putney who is, I believe, the only player to have played not only for Norwich City and Colchester United, but also Ipswich Town as well.
After starting with Ipswich Town in 1982 he saw the light and moved to Norwich City in January 1986.
After spells with Middlesbrough, Watford and Leyton Orient he finally joined the U's in October 1994 under George Burley after having been on loan here earlier in the season.
At the end of that current campaign, Putney retired to a job in the City but can often be found at Layer Road watching games in a press capacity.
Advertisement
