Corinthian-Casuals vs Haringey Borough Match Programme

Corinthian-Casuals haringey borough Pitching In Isthmian League Premier Division Saturday 19th September 2020

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Directory King George’s Arena, Queen Mary Close Hook Rise South, Tolworth, Surrey KT6 7NA www.corinthian-casuals.com secretary@ccfcltd.co.uk Facebook: /officialcorinthiancasualsfc Twitter: @CorinthianCas Instagram: corinthian_casuals

PEOPLE President: M. J. Stewart OBE Honorary Chairman: B. D. Vandervilt Honorary Secretary: H. Newton Hon Treasurer: D. Moss Vice Presidents: B. Adamson, C.H. Atkinson S. Bangs, N.F.S. Epps, S.C. Hamer, D.G. Harrison, G.G. Howlett, D.J. Marchant, B. Phillips, J.B. Wakefield Football Manager: J. Bracken Coaches: M. Lee, D. Pringle, J. Williams, A Winnett Physiotherapist: C. Doyle For a full list of club officials, please visit the website.

Photos: Stuart Tree. Andy Nunn.

Printed by: Fresh Printing

The Isthmian Football League strongly support recent FA statement that there should be a zero tolerance approach against racism and all forms of discrimination. Accordingly any form of discriminatory abuse whether it be based on race or ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, faith, age, ability or any other form of abuse will be reported to The Football Association for action by that Association.

Corinthian-Casuals is an unincorporated association, operating as a members club.

welcome to King George’s

W

ell here we go again. It’s a delight to welcome you all to King George’s for our first competitive match since the 1-1 draw with Hornchurch in March. It’s been a long time coming.

It’s genuinely lovely to see you all. So much has happened over the last half year, I doubt I have room to update you on all of it. This programme will go someway into telling you some of it. It’s definitely well worth reading James’, Danny’s and Jon’s pieces in here for an insight into the team. We have a few new additions, not least Martyn Lee, who joins as a coach from Westfield. Please give him a warm welcome.

Without the generosity of many of you, we would be in a far more difficult position financially than we are. You helped us raise £15,000 to help keep us operating in the absence of income streams we’d normally have over the summer period. Thank you.

A few of you chose to support us via sponsoring a match, match ball or mascot - you’ll see your names in these pages too.

James and the team have been working hard to be best prepared for this campaign. Up until now, we only suffered two defeats in pre-season and one of those was to a full-strength AFC Wimbledon side. No disgrace there! Otherwise, we’ve faired pretty well and I’m sure optimism is running high.

Players are available to sponsor this season as usual. Please see me or Jon Williams if you’d like your name associated with one of our fine players. They really do appreciate it.

Today will be a tough test as it was against Haringey on the opening day of last season. Tom Loizou always puts out a competitive side and they could easily be a threat to every side in the league this term.

FInally, I’d like to tell you that Tuesday night sees our annual jaunt into the FA Cup and we’ve been drawn away to Little Common, on the Sussex coast with a 7.45pm kickoff. I hope you can join us in supporting the side in three days time.

Stuart Stuart Tree Editor

THE MANAGER James Bracken I'd like to welcome you to King George's for this important piching in ISTHMIAN League Premier Division fixture against haringey borough. I hope you enjoy the match.

Pre season has been mixed for us. I was pleased with the recruitment that we’ve made. Unfortunately, we’ve lost a few to other clubs before the season has even started which is a bitter pill to swallow. I’ve struggled with that because you put a good team together and before you know it, a couple get ripped away from you.

We started off with a friendly against a first team AFC Wimbledon which was probably a little too tough for us. We were disappointed with some of the goals that we conceded.

But Wimbledon are a good side. They move the ball around very well which on a hot day, made us work. But you can’t be leaving large gaps and free headers at any level, let alone against teams like that.

We’d love to have gone out there and scored one or two and conceded one or two less, but they’re League One opposition. We must be realistic. However, the second half was 0-0 so we take the positives from that.

Since then, it had been five games and one defeat which on paper looks pretty good.

We still know there’s a lot more to come and a

lot more work to do but we’re heading in the right direction coming into the game today.

We’ve got healthy competition for places at the moment. Everyone needs to be on their toes – there’s no sentimental feelings this season. We want to get a team out on the pitch that’s competing

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The first few fixtures might look winnable on paper but when have we ever done well against the teams that are deemed ‘winnable?’ We seem to pick up all of our points against the top six and that’s always been the way here. We have to change that. We need to better against the sides we envisage being in the lower

We seem to pick up all of our points against the top six and that’s always been the way here. We need to better against the sides we envisage being in the lower half of the table”

towards the top half of the table and beyond.

It’s good to welcome Haringey here as a reverse to the season opener last year. We deserved a lot more on that afternoon and the last time we played them here at King George’s, we beat them 3-1. They’ve brought in a few new players themselves – I even saw Sebastian Bassong of all people played for them in the pre-season buildup, so they’ve made some decent signings. But we have to make sure that we’re ready – we will be, and I’m sure it’ll be a tight game as they all are.

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 5

half of the table – and that’s no disrespect to anyone.

Come the end of the season, I want to look at the league table and reflect on how we picked up six points against all of the sides in the bottom six. If we do that, then we’ll set ourselves up for a much better year than the last one.

Enjoy the game.

J.Bracken James Bracken Manager Corinthian-Casuals

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THE captain danny Bracken on behalf of the players, i’d like to say welcome back to you all for this season opener against Haringey borough. it’s vital we get this season off to a good start.

It’s great to be back with the team as it had been an isolated few months being on your own, cut off from others. Thankfully, I’ve been busy with working from home. My teaching took up most of my time in the lockdown period. Now, getting to meet up with the squad again is refreshing.

We’d all kept in contact together by doing online quizzes, WhatsApp chats, etc, - there’s a few Liverpool fans in the squad, so they’ve been a little more vocal than usual. All joking aside, it’s been great to see them all again as we’ve got a good bunch of lads here.

Pre season has been a little inconsistent. We’ve had a lot of new players join and we’ve used the time to try out a number of ideas.

The game against Croydon Athletic, which we won 4-1 is somewhere closer to where we need to be. We’ve been a bit predicable in the other friendlies that preceded it.

We haven’t been playing the way you’d need to get results in our league. It’s been more a case of giving everyone game time and everyone chances on the ball.

The Corinthian game, which we lost 5-1 was an interesting one. They’re

a very good side. They also beat Cray and Lewes and are definitely a team above their standard and that showed. A lot of their players could go on and play at our level. They had a massive game in the FA Vase semi-final coming up and you could tell they were playing for a spot in their team. So it was a little unfair reflection on just the score-

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last ten matches are tough, against the bigger sides in the league – those you’d expect to be pushing for promotion at the business end of the campaign.

We also need to put a marker down as to what we expect for the season. If we drift and pick up the odd draw at the beginning, and you’re content with that, then we’re setting ourselves

Our aim is to start high, see how high we can go and after a couple of months, let’s see where it takes us.”

line. However, we were just going through the motions and that’s not acceptable.

It’s always exciting when the fixtures are released, whether it’s the Premier League or our league.

We have a good record against Haringey Borough here at King George’s.

We also should’ve started off at theirs last season with a decent win but unfortunately it didn’t fall for us on the day.

The first couple of months, we’ve got some winnable fixtures. We need to be realistic though and look at last year as an experience. We need to get points on the board early. If you look further ahead, our

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up to fail and certainly not setting the standard that we need to be to compete at this level. Our aim is to start high, see how high we can go and after a couple of months, let’s see where it takes us.

Vai Corinthians!

Dan B. Danny Bracken Club Captain Corinthian-Casuals

Today’s Visitors

Haringey Borough 8 - CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

the scouting report Early season indicators of form are hard to gauge. Pre-season results never really tell us anything substantial. If results are anything to go by, then Haringey Borough are in for a tough time. But friendlies are a different beast.

Results include a 2-0 loss to Sutton, a 3-1 defeat to Hanwell Town, a 2-1 loss to Kings Langley and a 2-0 loss to QPR Under 23s. They did however draw with Aldershot and beat New Salamis 1-0, though their opposition are somewhat lower than Isthmian Premier standard.

The ma jority of Tom Loizou’s squad have re-signed for another season at Coles Park and that’s an indicator of how well they might perform. They’re never to be underestimated.

Although they didn’t hit the heady heights of the playoff places as per the season before last, they were in fifteenth position when the league campaign was voided in March. Casuals will take heart in the fact that they struggled away – picking up just three wins in fifteen attempts.

But make no mistake, Boro will be coming here today to get their season off to a flyer just like everyone else.

Nickname(s) The Borough Founded 1973 Ground Coles Park, Tottenham Capacity 2,500 (280 seated) Chairman Aki Achillea Manager Tom Loizou

HE played for them If you grew up with Football League highlights on ITV in the nineties, you’ll certainly know the name Ricky Otto. A journeyman in the lower leagues he began at Haringey Borough where Leyton Orient took a keen interest. Barry Fry signed Otto three years later for £100k and brought him to Southend. He followed Fry to Birmingham for a princely sum of £800k. Sadly for him, he never really settled and was loaned to a number of other clubs in his time.

the history The club was established in 1973 by a merger of Edmonton and Haringey Borough (formerly Wood Green Town), and was initially named Edmonton & Haringey.

The new club took Edmonton’s place in Division One of the Athenian League, and adopted their current name after finishing bottom of the division in 1975–76. The league was reduced to a single division in 1977 and the club finished bottom of the league in 1981–82. When the Athenian League was disbanded at the end of the 1983–84 season, Haringey joined Division Two North of the Isthmian League.

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I think there will be a lot of teams in a bad place where they will be in debt and won’t be able to pay players so much. Maybe this is what we needed to cap these wages because they were getting ridiculous.”

Tom Loizou on the impact of Covid.

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the place

last 10 seasons

The London Borough of Haringey is a borough in North London which covers an area of more than 11 square miles.

Haringey has 600 acres of parks, recreation grounds and open spaces which make up more than 25% of its total area.

The borough has achieved Green Flag status for eight of its parks - the highest number awarded to any London borough.

Season

League

P

W

D

L

F

A

Pts

Pos

2010-11

SSML-P

44

19

10

15

80

67

67

8/23

2011-12

SSML-P

42

24

7

11 103

68

79

5/22

2012-13

SSML-P

42

18

9

15

55

63

9/22

31

91

2/20

75

2013-14

ESSEX

38

29

4

2014-15

ESSEX

38

34

1

2015-16

ISTH-1N

46

12

2016-17

ISTH-1N

46

25

2017-18

ISTH-1N

46

27

8

11

84

2018-19

ISTH-P

42

21

8

13

73

31

11

7

13

44

2019-20

ISTH-P

14 6

5 103 3 129 20

61

15 108

30 103

1/20

76

50

15/24

74

81

5/24

49

89

4/24

54

71

3/22

47 40

ABAND

Hounors & records • • • • •

Essex Senior Football League Champions • 2014–15 Spartan South Midlands League • Challenge Trophy winners 2011–12 Division One Cup winners 2007–08 • London Senior Cup Winners 1990–91 Best FA Cup performance: First round, 2018–19

Best FA Trophy performance: First round, 2017–18 Best FA Vase performance: Quarter-finals, 1977–78 Record attendance: 2,710 vs AFC Wimbledon, FA Cup first round, 9 November 2018

famous faces Famous names from the area include Bill Nicholson, doublewinning Spurs manager. Actor David Tennant (pic). Ian Rankin, author. Adele, singer. David Lammy, MP for Tottenham. Skepta, rapper, co-owner of Boy Better Know and record producer.

Lemar, soul and R&B singer songwriter. Clare Grogan, singer, actress. Jessie Wallace, actress.

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ones to watch Haringey Borough Profiles MICHAEL ADEMILUYI dimunitive flying winger signed from Thamesmead Town in the 2017 close season; few full backs will catch him but long term injury restricted appearances ov er the last two seasons DANIEL AKINDAYINI - much travelled striker signed from Cheshunt in mid-December 2019 who opened his account with a fine strike at Enfield on Boxing day 2019 GEORGIOS ARESTI - Cypriot International midfielder who numbers AEK Athens among his previous Clubs; 2017/18 deadline day signing and near automatic selection last season JACK BARTHRAM – defender who moved on from Spurs Youth set up to make 87 appearances for Swindon Town and Cheltenham Town between 2015 & 2017 and 60 for National League Barrow in next 2 seasons. Most recently with FC United of Manchester.

BOBSON BAWLING – attacking midfielder who joined us from Enfield Town at the start of this season having previously been with Crawley Town, Woking and St. Albans City QAMIL DERVISHAJ Regularly on the bench as back up goalkeeper. Promising prospect moving up to Senior football after serving the Club’s Under 18 team.

LASTE DOMBAXE central midfield lynch-pin – a great sprayer of telling passes; former Tottenham Hotspur Under 21 player who joined us at the start of this season having previously been with Maldon & Tiptree JORGE DJASSI-SAMBU midfield powerhouse now in 7th season with Club; opponents know when they have been tackled

by this non-stop box to box player. Dangerous in opponents box at set piece situations.

SCOTT OLU DUROJAIYE powerful midfielder who has rejoined us having moved to Woking towards the end of 2018/19. Has played in Scotland for Falkirk and several other National league sides.

ANTHONY McDONALD fast tricky wide player entering his 9th season with us; excellent finisher with 13 League goals in an injury hit 2016/17; first team regular but appearances have been interrupted by injuries.

ROMAN MICHAEL-PERCIL - our first signing of 2020 from Potters Bar Town; a winger who has been with several Isthmian Clubs after moving on from Tottenham Hotspurs Under 21s JONATHAN MILES December 2019 signing; goalkeeper most recently with Ramsgate whose other past Clubs include Ebbsfleet United and Margate after leaving Tottenham Hotspur Under 18s SCOTT MITCHELL - a summer 2017 signing; 22 year old central defender who was previously with Dagenham & Redbridge.

Almost an ever present in 2017/18 season and now an established member of the squad JAMIE-LEE O’DONOGHUE strong running striker re-joining us this season; was with Baldock Town last season and numbers Cleethorpes Town among his previous Clubs. Older brother of our full back, Michael MICHAEL O’DONOGHUE powerful full back rejoining us after a year away at National League side Concord Rangers.

Formerly a professional with Colchester United.

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 11

DAVID “TOSIN” OLUFEMI attack minded full back who rejoins us this season after a year away with National League side Concord Rangers. Also numbers Colchester United among his former Clubs.

VALERY PAJETAT - goalkeeper signed in the 2017 close season with extensive playing time in Portugal and with Margate; commanding presence in his domain. Has won several monthly “Golden Gloves” awards RAKIM RICHARDS versatile player with us since 2010 and most usually to be found in a defensive role but quite at home in midfield and a menace in the opponents penalty area when corner kicks arrive.

JOSEPH RUSSELL - defender/ misfielder; January 2020 signing from Cheshunt who played against us in an August 2019 fixture; numbers Ware, Northwood, Hoddesdon Town and Egham Town among his previous Clubs.

CLAUDIO VILCU - tall, strong central defender signed shortly before the early close down last season; a very experienced player .who numbers Dinamo Bucharest, Enfield Town, Wealdstone, Kingstonian, Cambridge City, Hampton & Richmond Borough, Wingate & Finchley and FC Romania among his previous Clubs ANTHOS SOLOMOU – former Greek Cypriot international who played in the Champions League for Apoel Nicosia in 2011/12. Versatile all rounder, quicjk and strong, plays right.

the stadium Not the only football team to play on White Hart Lane, the club have played at Coles Park since their establishment; the ground had been home to Wood Green Town since 1930.

The ground currently has a capacity of 2,500, of which 280 is seated. The club’s record attendance was set on 16 December 2017 when a crowd of 1,133 saw Haringey lose 2–1 to Leyton Orient in their first appearance in the first round of the FA Trophy. The ground was one of the venues used for the 2018 ConIFA World Football Cup. There’s little chance of bad weather postponements since the installation of a 3G surface.

from the archives

“

If the London Borough of Haringey’s mixed sauna experiment catches on nationwide, it could put a new slant on courting. Instead of the back row at the flicks, or a candle-lit supper in a bistro, a man will be able to take his girl to steam it out, cheek to cheek, at the sauna. Saunas may sound sexy. But let me warn courting gentlemen that after half-an-hour’s exhausting sweating in the punishing heat, all a girl wants is to sleep. Alone.

Marje Proops - column in the Sunday Mirror - November 1975

classic prog A thing of beauty... this could easily be made into a poster or wall art.

Simplistic and striking is the design from Haringey’s match against Billericay Town in 1978. Haringey finished in 11th (out of 18 clubs) whilst Billericay were crowned Champions of the Athenian League.

in the news Haringey Borough Women’s FC are delighted to announce that Bobby Cato has joined as Head Coach.

A former Boro player returns to lead the women in the Eastern Region Premier League, formerly of Women’s Super League teams Derby Ladies FC and Leciester Ladies FC.

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“

I thought we looked every bit the side I want us to be. Another day, I back us to take those missed chances and we come out of here with a 4-1 win, raising some eyebrows.”

James Bracken ruing missed chances after the opening day 1-0 defeat last season.

we’ve met before

“

Haringey Borough started the new Isthmian Premier season with a 1-0 win at home to Corinthian-Casuals on Saturday thanks to summer signing Chid Onokwai.

The former Eton Manor, FC Romania and Hayes & Yeading United forward marked his competitive debut with a well-taken finish in the 50th minute.

It proved enough to hand Tom Loizou’s side a narrow victory on the opening day in front of a healthy crowd of 424 at Coles Park.

A strong wind made life difficult for both teams, especially in the first half and it was the hosts who settled better before Casuals started to create chances.

Following a goalless opening 45, Borough came out fired up for the second period and made it count five minutes after half time.

A ball into the area caught out the visitors’ and Onokwai took a touch and fired home to open the scoring. Jordan Edwards nearly increased Haringey’s advantage not long after, but with the lead only one, Casuals always had a chance. Loizou’s men managed to defend resolutely, however, and saw out the rest of the encounter to clinch a hard-fought three points.

Haringey 1-0 Casuals. Ham & High - 12th Aug 2019

last three results 10 Aug 2019 2 Mar 2019 23 Oct 2018

Haringey Borough Haringey Borough Corinthian Casuals

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1-0 2-2 3-1

Corinthian Casuals Corinthian Casuals Haringey Borough

the statistics Last Season League & FA Competitions

Corinthian-Casuals

Haringey Borough

35

Games

37

41

Goals For

59

51

Goals Against

55

23% (8)

Wins

43% (16)

23% (8)

Draws

43% (6)

54% (19)

Losses

41% (15)

1.17

Goals For per Game

1.59

1.46

Goals Conceded per Game

1.49

25 (71%)

Over 1.5 Total Goals Per Game

29 (78%)

18 (51%)

Over 2.5

22 (59%)

11 (31%)

Over 3.5

11 (30%)

3 (9%)

Over 4.5

9 (24%)

19 (54%)

Both Teams Scored

22 (59%)

7 (20%)

Clean Sheets

8 (22%)

7.20

Corners per Game

8.67

1.80

Corners for per Game

4.33

5.40

Corners against per Game

4.33

9 (26%)

HT Wins

10 (27%)

12 (34%)

HT Draws

16 (43%)

14 (40%)

HT Losses

11 (30%)

19 (0.5)

HT Goals For

20 (0.5)

25 (0.7)

HT Goals Against

22 (0.6)

27 (77%)

Over HT 0.5

26 (70%)

13 (37%)

Over HT 1.5

12 (32%)

4 (11%)

Over HT 2.5

3 (8%)

last three results 10 Aug 2019 2 Mar 2019 23 Oct 2018

Haringey Borough Haringey Borough Corinthian Casuals

1-0 2-2 3-1

Corinthian Casuals Corinthian Casuals Haringey Borough

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the men

in middle Referee in charge today is

Mr Daniel Simpson Daniel is from Sunbury and is a level 3 contributary referee, having officiated a number of our matches in this league.

His last time here at King George’s in charge of a Casuals game was in the 1-1 draw against Bognor Regis Town in January 2020. He had also led the match against Horsham earlier in the season.

Daniel is a Project Manager for a national Housing Association. He is also a qualified football coach and has ran youth teams in the past. I know it won’t sit well with too many, but Daniel is an Arsenal fan (good man in my eyes!)

Today, Daniel is ablely assisted by Mr James Barry from Greenford and Mr Fernando Costache from Uxbridge.

Please Respect Our match officials We couldn’t play this game without today’s officials. Respect is the collective responsibility of everyone involved in football, at all levels, to create a fair, safe and enjoyable environment in which the game can take place. Remember, we’re all human - so please give our referee and his assistants the respect they deserve.

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 15

opposition

viewpoint Jamie Scott sings because he’s Haringey, and also because he’s happy that way Ian Townsend asked supporters of our Isthmian League clubs to preview the new season, reflect on the old and predict the final outcome. He spoke to Haringey fan Jamie Scott about the home of ‘that bus stop near Tottenham’.

How do you feel about the return of football?

Mixed emotions really, I’m absolutely gasping to be back at a match in real life, but I’m also without any misconceptions and know that I’m going to have to wait a little longer to be down Coles Park with my mates.

The world has changed enormously since you were last able to watch a live football match. Will the pandemic change your approach to watching the game- will you attend as many matches as you used to, and spend as much time at the ground/in the clubhouse, etc?

I’m expecting it to be very different for a while. I could foresee that we would only be able to attend home matches, which would knock a few games off my regular totals, but it would just encourage me to make it to every home match. I’d also imagine this will be much easier as I doubt my social and holiday calendars will be very busy in the current climate.

I also won’t right now be going into the clubhouse but as with our bigger cup matches of the last few years have shown we’ve got the ability to run a nice little outside bar and our carpark isn’t the worst place to discuss the game over a pint.

Last season had many exciting moments before its premature end. What was your favourite moment?

Has to be our 3-2 win against Potters Bar Town in January. An absolute thriller, trailed early on, got a one goal lead in the second half, they came back to equalise, we nicked a late winner and then with what was basically the last play of the game saved a penalty to keep all three points.

It was the best match I had been to since our playoff final win against Canvey Island in 2018.

And what was your worst moment?

The FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round match against Yeovil for obvious reasons.

How will you do this season?

Last season became quite the write off for us before the pandemic. We had a solid start bouncing on from making the playoffs the season before, but then it all started to fall apart. I think we’ve got the quality to be back up there this season, that was never the issue last year, I definitely see us in the top 7.

Which matches are you most looking forward to going to- and why?

The first one! I in all honesty can’t think of anything I’m looking forward to more at the moment… and I’m supposed to be getting married.

What is your favourite away ground?

Lewes’s Dripping Pan. Two reasons: first it’s an absolute corker of a ground. Really 16 - CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

beautiful and a great set of supporters to be in it with. Secondly, the trip itself is always a cracker for the selection of beer available, not just from the Harveys Brewery but also places like Long Man and Gun who are also fantastic Sussex brewers.

Who do you consider your biggest rivalsand why?

I’d say we’ve got three local rivals in the league. Enfield, Potters Bar and Wingate and Finchley. Our matches against Enfield always tend to be good and we get nice crowds at ours and take a number away. It’s a good game on that front as well since there’s a lot of friendship between the two groups.

Potters Bar tend to play a very opposite style of football to ourselves and so games tend to get quite niggly and can produce tight scorelines. Wingate and Finchley aka the 221 Derby after the bus that goes between the two of us has also been the New Years day game for the last two years, which is always a curious affair mostly in how on earth some of the crowd have managed to make it out after the previous evenings revelries.

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 17

What advice would you give to any away supporter visiting you for the first time?

As I’m sure you’ll find throughout the league we’re a very friendly bunch and you’ll have a good time. If you’re avoiding going inside for a drink at the moment, the Prince in N22 just round the back of Wood Green has a great contact free system for having a pint on the grass just outside the pub. It’s a short walk from the W3 bus which will take you right to the ground.

Who is your favourite player of all time (for your club)- and why?

Anthony McDonald. Macca has got some of the best feet I’ve seen at Boro and he has scored some unbelievable goals.

I recommend anyone reading this to check out on YouTube Haringey’s 2017 2-1 victory against Dereham where in injury time he scores the winner after weaving around 5 defenders in the box. Scenes.

Who will be in the top five at the end of the season?

Cray Wanderers, Carshalton Athletic, Worthing, Folkestone Invicta, Haringey Borough

“I t’s like a real-life game of Football Manager.”

Jonathan

Williams C

oach, Goalkeeper, Groundsman, KIt Manager... the list of Jon Williams’ jobs is impressive. Does it suggest he’s a Jack of all trades, master of none? Certainly not if you know the man. His exacting standards are exactly why Manager James Bracken is so keen to call him a loyal, honest and hardworking friend for the past decade. We caught up with the multi-talented Jon - a vital cog in the Casuals machine.

We’ll jump straight into this season coming; how optimistic are you about the upcoming campaign?

Being with James for ten years, every season we’re optimistic – we’re going to win the league, so we’ll go with that until it’s mathematically impossible to do so.

You joined the club along with James and Dan in 2015 – is this the best squad you’ve seen to date? How so?

Yeah, I’d say so. The gulf between Step 3 and Step 4 leagues is absolutely huge. Going from the playoff final in the South division to being 5-0 down on the opening day of the Premier season at Margate was an eye-opener. The difference in standard was stark. We’ve always improved our squad and we’ve done that again. It shows the strength of the league though when we’ve continually improved and we’re still down near the bottom.

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and I’ll admit I’m not the best, ability-wise but I can stop a ball if it’s coming toward me. I’ve always nagged James to get an appearance for Casuals, be it a Surrey Senior Cup tie or something like that. He obviously had it in the back of his mind to give me playing time, which is really nice of him and for Danny Bracken to give me the Captain’s armband as he was coming off was a real classy touch. That’ll do for me!

You’ve found yourself on the bench a number of times as reserve keeper – probably hoping never to be called upon should an injury or sending off occur. But I take it you’d be ready to step up if need be?

I’d have confidence in myself right up until the moment and then I’d be a little shaky.

What are your outstanding memories in your time here?

The Greenwich game where Coskun Ekim was sent off but we won 4-3 is probably in my top three games in my lifetime. That playoff semi-final was unbelievable. It was just unfortunate that it was followed up by the Dorking Wanderers match where we dominated for 120 minutes but lost on penalties.

Out of curiosity, what are your other top two games?

Wales vs Belgium in Euro 2016 quarter finals. Winning 3-1 after going 1-0 down with that Robson-Kanu turn and slotting past Courtois was sublime. The other is Sutton United beating AFC Wimbledon in the FA Cup 3rd Round replay where we were 1-0 down and come back to win it late on. That was absolutely ridiculous.

Touring to Budapest last year was special for all who went, but for you, it was a proud moment as you got to captain the side in the first match. Tell us about that.

I was James’ keeper on and off at Sutton

Is it not the case that once you’re out there, the nerves disappear or is it different for a goalkeeper?

It’s 100% different for a keeper. You can be watching the play for ten minutes doing absolutely nothing before you’re suddenly thrust into the action. It gives you time to think about the situation you’re in which isn’t necessarily a good thing. However, I do think I could do a job!

It must’ve been frustrating that you weren’t named when Ibby Ugradar injured himself in the first five minutes against Potters Bar and you had to watch Ben Cheklit don the keeper’s gloves?

That was a weird one because I didn’t know that Danny had an illness going into the game. Bill Gardner come up to me at the beginning and said ‘just enjoy yourself, relax – there’s no pressure on you.’ I asked, ‘what are you talking about Bill?’

‘You’re playing aren’t you?’

That was the first I’d heard of it. However, James had called up Ibby in the morning to play. He had an ACL injury but was confident enough to play. We did think I should be named on the bench just in case but we went with five outfield players. So I don’t know if it was a blessing in disguise

“james had it in the back of his mind to give me playing time, which is really nice of him and for Danny Bracken to give me the Captain’s armband as he was coming off was a real classy touch.

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or not (laughs).

Ben Cheklit did okay though?

Cheks was decent. He made a couple of good saves. I don’t think it helps when an outfield player has to go in goal so early on but I don’t think he did any harm either.

Whether there’d been a big difference to the result had Dan been in goal, we’ll never know but obviously it affects the performance.

If you were given the chance, would you like to have a run in the side? Or are you happy to be a backup as an aside to your coaching roles?

I’ve mostly given up on the idea of playing, due to my profession being very physical and I’m quite injury prone. I wouldn’t want to play regularly, get injured and miss out on work which is my bread and butter. I’m content in what I do. If the opportunity came to step in, then of course I would – I’d want to be ready to step up to the mark and be prepared but I’d need to train to the high standards that James expects.

You also had to convince your brother, Gareth, to return to us as a backup keeper and when Dan broke his ankle, stepping in after retiring to play a pivotal role in our promotion in 2018. Was that a difficult conversation?

It was a couple of days before the deadline for registration and James messaged me asking if we could register my brother just in case Dan gets injured, because I was the only other keeper on the books. That would’ve been the Thursday before the Bank Holiday when Dan broke his ankle.

He had retired but he really dug us out of a hole that season.

Not only are you coach, kit manager and goalkeeper but you’re responsible for our wonderful pitch. For those who don’t realise, describe what effort and commitment it takes to get a playing surface as good as this?

Lots of luck with the weather!

The easy bit is mowing the grass. With non league pitches, you don’t have your drainage and irrigation up to standard so in the

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“I’m content in what I do, but If the opportunity came to step in, then of course I would – I’d want to be ready to step up to the mark and be prepared” Summer, you pray for rain and Winter, you pray for it to stop raining. I do a lot of work at Fulham’s Craven Cottage and the contrast is completely different but there’s a lot of transferable skill-sets.

Money would be one contrast? I imagine Fulham’s budget is probably huge.

The budget for fertiliser alone is £25,000 a season, just for one stadium pitch. That’s over double what we spend here on the pitch for everything including maintenance and labour. It’s a challenge but we do the best we can with what we have. I have a good team with Conor, Taylor and Dan Harris. I wouldn’t be able to do it without them.

Another of your roles was to play Manager in the season opener last year. Following the touchline ban to James and Dan, you wore a headset to relay their messages

from the dugout. I remember you lost your voice, shouting. Was that an odd experience? Did it give you a taste for one day being a Manager?

I absolutely loved it. I was a real buzz.

It was a shame that the headsets didn’t work very well. I couldn’t hear anything that James or Dan were telling me from the stands. So I just went off on my own tangent. I’ve managed cricket sides at Beddington and I enjoy the challenge. With football, I’m happy to be in the background supporting James. I don’t think I’ll ever match the standards he sets for himself.

Good teacher though?

Fantastic. Any new player that comes here, you’ll not meet a better man-manager. It’s not just about the team either. He’ll help you regardless if he’s known you for five

minutes or five years. He’ll always give you an honest opinion which says everything about the man.

You’ve also been integral in a number of initiatives and ideas for improving the club all around. What ones are you most proud of and tell us about your ideas for the future?

If money was no object, then wow!

First and foremost, I’d like to dig up the pitch, level it out, get a new irrigation and drainage system fitted. We’d love a 9-a-side floodlit astro pitch out the back for use by the whole club. A gym and sports rehab which we could sub-contract out during the week whilst we also benefit from it. The ideas are endless. It’s like a real-life game of Football Manager.

“The budget for fertiliser alone is £25,000 a season, just for one stadium pitch. That’s over double what we spend here on the pitch for everything.”

a tribute to norman kerruish over the summer, former corinth amateur cup finalist, norman ‘flash’ kerruish sadly passed away aged 92. David Harrison pays tribute.

N

orman “Flash” Kerruish, sportsman, mathematician and university lecturer has died aged 92. He was one of Corinthian-Casuals’ most distinguished players in the 1950’s.

In the F.A. Amateur Cup Final against Bishop Auckland in 1956 in front of 80,000 spectators at Wembley he was credited with getting the last touch for the Casuals’ goal in the 1 – 1 draw, heading in a corner from cricketer Doug Insole. In the semi-final against Dulwich at Stamford Bridge he’d scored a hat trick.

He was born on 15 Jan 1928 in Hindley, just outside Wigan, His father William was the manager of the local Co-op insurance. His mother Mabel was

a seamstress. Norman won a scholarship to the local grammar school where he was outstanding at sport and maths.

At 17 he won another scholarship, this one to St Johns College, Cambridge, a young student among veterans returning from the war. He won blues for football against Oxford in 1945 and 1947. In the second game, won 2 – 0 by Cambridge, he scored the second goal. He went on to play nine games for the newly formed Oxford and Cambridge side, Pegasus, in their first two seasons in 1948/9 and 1949/50.

Graduating with a First in Maths he was invited to join the engineering firm British Thompson Houston, in Rugby, as an engineering mathematician and spent much of his time teaching maths to engineering graduates at the local 24 - CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME

technical college.

In April 1950, aged 22, he played his first game for Corinthian-Casuals against Sutton United. Over the next eight seasons, soon nicknamed “Flash” because of his speed, he averaged over 30 games a season making a total of 257 appearances and scoring 104 goals.

Micky Stewart, now club President and another of Casuals’ cricketers – he was captain of Surrey and manager of England - remembers playing inside left with “Flash” on the left wing in the 1955/56 team. “Norman was right footed. He would often cut inside to get the ball on his stronger foot.

That’s how he scored a lot of his goals”. At the Oval in December ‘55 he scored four goals in the 7 - 2 defeat of Barking. He also played and representative football for the Isthmian League and the London F.A. and later some games with his local club Rugby Town F.C. In 1950 Norman had also married his childhood sweet Marion and they had two children. He took the train every Saturday from their home in Rugby to play for Casuals despite suffering from travel sickness on virtually every trip. During this period he attracted interest from two Football League clubs, Spurs and Aston Villa, but didn’t take them up. The maximum wage, of course, was only £20 a week. As the Rugby Advertiser reported, “That wasn’t a viable option for Norman with a young family.”

At the age of 30 he decided to retire from senior football, inspiring a nostalgic note in the Corinthian-Casuals’ Newsletter: “Norman is still a fine player and we very much hope he may change his mind about wrapping up. We base our hopes on several factors. Marion (his wife) is bound to get fed up with having him home all day. Flash himself may miss the abuse from behind the goal. We don’t know, but we can hope”.

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Career But Norman had a serious career away from football. In 1965 he left his job with British Thomson Houston when he was appointed Reader in Engineering Mathematics at what became Aston University in Birmingham. Commuting daily from Rugby he taught Maths over a 20 year period to both undergraduates and postgraduates and supervised PhD students. He was elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and also Fellow of the Institute of Maths.

Soon after the death of his wife Marion in 1980, Norman took early retirement, but was still very active, playing golf and squash to a high standard.

Daughter Alison remembers him playing three times in the British over 55s section of the British Open Squash Championship. including winning a match against the great Hashim Khan, eight times British Open Champion.

At golf, with a handicap of 4, he was club captain and a regular competition winner at Rugby Golf Club. He played for and captained the mid Warwickshire League team and won the Warwickshire foursomes in 1978.

Although not in the best of health in recent years, with doubtful knees after so much contact sport, “Flash” still got around at high speed on his wheeled zimmer. He had a special 90th birthday celebration with son David and daughter Alison, four grandchildren and three great grandchildren. He died peacefully on 15 May with son David at his side.

Among the tributes grandson Jamie wrote: “His accomplishments sound like a work of fiction really.” Another online tribute read: “He was a charming and self-effacing chap, who hid his academic and sporting prowess to build open friendships with all around him”. At Corinthian-Casuals we remember him with great affection, a long time member of the club and a man whose prowess on the field and intellectually was certainly anything but flash.

Meet the Casuals Player & Management Profiles Danny Bracken Club Captain, goalkeeper and Casuals legend who has passed 400 competitive appearances since joining in 2010. Now a schoolteacher, Danny began his career at West Ham United before joining us from Tooting and Mitcham - originally on loan, but fell in love with the club and has stayed ever since. Was named Isthmian League South keeper of the year for three consecutive seasons amongst multiple club honours. Once attracted serious interest from Hoffenheim!

Jack Tucker Now in his third season with the Casuals, popular full-back Jack joined the Casuals from Eastbourne Town where he received Manger’s and Player’s player of the season plaudits before joining Corinth. Was a firm fan favourite at the Saffrons and is already the same here at King George’s, playing an integral part of last season’s Premier campaign.

JACK STRANGE Young defender with a promising future and scooped all of the player awards at the last complete season. Despite his age, has still notched up over 150 appearances for the Casuals. Joined from Sutton United where he captained the Youth side under James Bracken to unprecedented success.

Mark Jamison Forged a great partnership with Jack Strange last season, keeping our defence as one of the best in the league. Can play across the back line or

as a defensive midfielder.

A former Poole Town youth player, Mark has also played for Staines Town and Hanwell.

Stortford. An intelligent player who knows how to use both feet, Coskun has notched up a century of caps for Casuals.

Andrew Mills Imposing centre-back Andy returns to the Casuals after originally playing at King George’s under previous Manager Matt Howard back in 2015. A product of the Woking academy, Andy was named under-18 player of the season before going on to make several first team appearances for the Cards.

robert paratore Robert joined the Casuals midway through last season.

An Ex-Leicester City player who represented the Foxes in the Hong Kong International Soccer Sevens, Robbie is a lawyer with interests in human rights, sports and commercial law. The 24 year old Australian also counts Stourbridge and Telford as former clubs.

Lewis Taylor Though Lewis’ natural position is in defence, once kept goal for Godalming in front of 1,700 Hereford fans at Edgar Street – and saved a penalty! Former captain of the G’s, Lewis made his debut for the Casuals against Horsham last season.

Kevant Serbony A mercurial talent – strong yet skilful, Kevant originally joined Corinth back in 2015 along with Manager James and immediately impressed with his combination of strength and dazzling footwork.

Has notched up over 120 appearances for the club.

Scored a belter of a hat-trick against Redbridge in the FA Trophy. Had brief spells at Hastings United and Walton Casuals.

Hakeem Adelakun A former Crystal Palace youngster, Hakeem is a powerhouse midfielder who signed from Horsham in 2018. Hakeem has had spells at Margate, Whitehawk, Carshalton Athletic, Lewes and Havant & Waterlooville amongst others. Scored from the halfway line at Brightlingsea Regent and is alarmingly quick.

Coskun Ekim ‘Tolworth’s Iniesta’, Coskun (‘Josh’) began his career at Tottenham Hotspur where he had a two-year contract before moving onto Turkish side Trabzonspor. Since returning to the UK, the midfielder has played for the likes of Hayes & Yeading and more recently, Bishop

Harry Carter Midfielder Harry joins the Casuals over the summer from Westfield FC, where he made over 40 appearances. Has also played for Chertsey Town.

SONNY BLACK Another summer signing from Westfield, Sonny was part of the Walton Casuals side who won promotion at King George’s in 2017-18. Another Casuals player who’s held a professional contract at Crystal Palace in the past.

Max Oldham Max is back! The pacy & tricky

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winger returns to Casuals this season after notching up over a century of appearances in his first spell at the club. Max has represented Cascadia at the CONIFA World Cup and was named player of the tournament by one newspaper.

Ben Cheklit ‘Cheks’ is once again a fine addition to the squad.

Starting life with Anderlecht and playing for several recognisable Belgium clubs, the pacey midfielder was with James Bracken at Sutton United before moving back to Belgium. Not only talented on the pitch but also with a microphone in hand – a lyrical master.

Kieron Cadogan Joined Casuals before lockdown in March and we’re delighted that the attacking midfielder has re-signed.

Played 21 times for Crystal Palace making his debut in 2009, scoring on his debut against Coventry City. After four seasons at Palace, he’s since starred for Aldershot, Barnet and Sutton United amongst others.

Bradley Wilson This exciting attacking midfielder joined Casuals in October 2019 after signing for Lewes. Bradley scored twelve times for Whyteleafe and was rated as their player of the season in 2018/19.

Nathaniel Pinney Now in his second season at the Casuals, striker Nat began his career at Crystal Palace where he made two senior

appearances before eventually finding his feet in non-league.

Wilfried Zaha once named Nat as the player he could not displace in the Palace youth set-up! Pinney has featured for several clubs, notably as player of the season at Eastbourne Borough.

Management James Bracken James already has a fantastic managerial record which includes steering Sutton United reserves to three consecutive Suburban League Premier title wins. Bracken picked up no less than seven trophies in 2015 with the U’s as well as picking up Ryman Youth ‘Championof-Champions’ in 2016. Since coming to Casuals, James has broken club records abound and steered the club to two playoff finals, a promotion and the highest level in the club’s history – all with no playing budget!

Martyn Lee The former midfielder has a wealth of Football League experience with both Wycombe Wanderers, including the famous 2001 FA Cup run and Cheltenham Town before turning to non-league football with Maidenhead Utd. He scored the winning goal in the Surrey Senior Cup final for Kingstonian versus AFC Wimbledon in 2006. Martyn was most recently Assistant Manager to Tony Reid at Westfield F.C. Dan Pringle Dan is very much a part of the success of recent years and integral to James’ staff.

Dan started his football career at Crystal Palace, regularly turning out for their youth sides and playing in the FA Youth Cup. Still in his midtwenties, he’s the youngest of the coaching set-up but with a serious knee injury preventing him competing, Dan has taken to a coaching role.

Alan Winnett Goalkeeping Coach; Alan is a long serving member of the club having had involvement managing the reserves and then progressing to the first XI. Puts our keepers through real punishment during training sessions, pushing all of Casuals’ stoppers to be the very best.

Carly Doyle Physio who works hard getting the players back to full fitness, Carly graduated in Sports Rehab at St Mary’s in 2006. In her spare time Carly enjoys long distance running and has completed the London Marathon in under 3 hours.

Travels abroad more than Judith Chalmers. Always wears odd socks.

Jon Williams Kit manager and coach. In a family of goalkeepers, Jon is the younger brother of Gareth Williams and a fine stopper in his own right.

Previously playing for Sutton United reserves, Williams is also registered as a deputy for Corinth. Proudly wore the captain’s armband for ten minutes in the Egri Erbstein Tournament over in Budapest last Summer.

sponsor a casual £60 - Sponsor a Player Sponsor your favourite Casuals player or Management for just £60 and get your name associated with them. Have your photo taken with them too. Under 16s can sponsor a player’s boot laces for just £5. See Jon Williams or Stuart Tree on a Matchday or email stuarttree@gmail.com

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 27

your sponsorship Thanks to the below fans for their amazing support which helps to keep our wonderful club running. We couldn’t do this without you.

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support us £250 - Matchday Sponsorship 4 free matchday tickets to a match of your choice. Programmes & team sheets. Pre-match meet the manager session. Gift bag. PA announcement before, during and after the game. Company logo (or your name) and match sponsorship announcement in the programme. Man of the match selection with picture taken with your chosen player. £100 - Match Ball Sponsorship In return for your sponsorship, you will receive 2 match tickets to a game of your choice, a free drink each and acknowledgement of your support in your complimentary programmes. £30 - Matchday Mascot Let your little ones lead the team out on matchday as our official Mascot. They’ll get to have a kickabout with the team as they warm-up before leading Casuals out and having their photo taken with the captains as a memento of the day. Both parents/guardians will also get free entry to the match. Kids absolutely love this experience and will guarantee bring smiles to faces all round.

To grab one of these offers, simply email Stuart Tree - stuarttree@hotmail.co.uk or call 07801 858973 and reserve your game of choice today.

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E M M A R G O R P E H T H IT GET W In Parity with today, we look back at the matchday programme from Casuals first home game of the 199192 season against our visitors.

A new season and new beginnings for Casuals as they took on Haringey Borough in the first home fixture of the 1991-92 season. Editor Jerry Williams brings us up to date with the goings on around King George’s over the Summer break. The biggest news being Geoff Harvey who’d stepped down from his chairman role at the club after being integral to bringing Corinthian-Casuals to Tolworth for our first ever permanent home. As Jerry states, “Geoff will be especially missed, as during his spell here as Chairman guided us through the 80’s, via the disappointments over Wimbledon Park, to the Club winning its first ever League Championship, and finally securing us our own home ground here at Tolworth and getting us ready for the 90’s. If I say so myself Geoff has done as much for this club than possibly anyone else in the last 50 odd years, and we thank him for it, plus we look forward to him visiting us at a later date when possible.”

John Mounsey took the reins as the new Chairman and is introduced to the reader as a former player and manager of the club. Alan Steene, written as “Grumpy” by the editor (can’t be the same Steeney we all know and love, surely?) took over as Vice Chairman and Mickey Frewin as the incoming Treasurer… and ‘A’ team manager.

In fact, it was changes all around as a new Secretary and Press Sec was also announced, coming in from Hillingdon Borough, along with Ken Nicholls taking over as General Manager.

There’s a look forward to the Vets game against Moscow Dynamo at King George’s to be played in December and a small preview of Casuals’ trip to Leatherhead in the FA Cup the following week.

On the field, it’s a little more stable with Steve Bangs taking charge for another season in the London Spartan League. It’s been positive stuff from the first two results of the season. A 2-2 draw at Hanwell Town, described as a dominating performance was followed up with a 4-1 win at Hillingdon Borough with Steve Gettings grabbing a brace whilst Garry Greenaway and Martin Clark were also on the scoresheet. Bangs actually gave the lead to Hillingdon after planting the ball firmly in his own net. Keeper Gary Brigden saved a last minute penalty to ensure the scoreline remained as it was.

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The Supporter's Club membership form interestingly asks if prospective members have their own‘motor car or van. For £1.50, you too could become a member of the supporters club, in which you'd receive a membership card, a free pen and travel by coach to any away game with the first team.

There’s cup fever in the form of the draws announced for the FA Vase – away to Portfield – a club who eventually merged with Chichester City (Casuals won 1-0); a London Senior Cup fixture at Southgate Athletic with the potential of a 3rd round tie against Danson Furness United (who existed as that name for just two seasons) and the wonderfully named Surrey Demolition and Excavation Senior Cup tie at Cranleigh, who have also left the ‘senior’ stage. Although this programme is 28 years old, it’s amazing to see how many clubs no longer exist or have merged in that time.

The programme also features the results from the Wirral Programme Club Non League Programme Awards which was won by Oadby Town with Sutton United in 2nd. An impressive feat considering there was 1,047 entries!

A groundhopper article, penned by Mark Page bemoans Casuals pre-season tour as extending only so far as Tolworth, Tolworth, Tolworth, Tolworth and Tolworth, the author ventured north of the border to witness the ‘Scottish Corinthians’ Queens Park.

The Supporter’s Club membership form interestingly asks if prospective members have their own ‘motor car or van’. For £1.50, you too could become a member of the supporters club, in which you’d receive a membership card, a free pen and travel by coach to any away game with the first team. There was also newsletters published on a regular basis. Along with a 28 page programme each match, supporters certainly got their money’s worth.

Finally, the ‘Brick Fund’ was filling up quite nicely.

Though perhaps it should’ve been called scaffold fund as it was to be used to build the main stand that you may be sitting in as you read this. We often forget that this ground had just a clubhouse. No stands, no terracing… it was very basic. There was absolutely no cover and this fundraiser was put in place to give onlookers a place to shelter.

How did the match go? Well, if we go by the numbers penned on the copy I have, then it was a rout. Casuals winning 6-0 with Robert McNamara, Gary Greenaway, all time leading scorer Cliff West, Steve Gettings and Hilton Goring all getting on the scoresheet.

Despite the result, Haringey had a better season than their hosts, finishing in 3rd, eleven points behind champions Northwood. Casuals sat in mid table, 9th out of 19. They’d carry on meeting each other until Casuals joined the Combined Counties following the merger of the league with the South Midlands League.

Two years later and Haringey’s programme from the reverse fixture was a modest 8 page affair in which Manager Dave Hall bemoaned the 3-1 loss to Tower Hamlets but believed they’d be challenging for honours by the end of the season. Was he correct?

Unfortunately not, finishing 12th - though with 6 points docked.

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The History Corinthian-Casuals H idden away in the suburbs of south-west London is King George’s Field, home to one of the most significant clubs in the history of world football: Corinthian-Casuals.

Today Corinthian-Casuals are the leading amateur club in English football, plying their trade in the otherwise semi-professional Isthmian League Premier Division – the seventh tier of English football. Yet they can lay claim to a heritage as impressive as almost any team in the land.

The club in its modern guise was formed in 1939 as the result of a merger between two grand old amateur clubs, Corinthian FC and Casuals FC, and it was the first of those famous teams that are often credited with popularising football around the world.

The Corinthians were founded in 1882, specifically with the England national team in mind. The FA suits were tired of seeing Scotland get the better of their team and, after noting that many of the Scottish internationals were taken from one particular side, Queens Park, they set about starting a team that could act as a launching pad for the England national side. In September 1882, an administrator called Nicholas Lane Jackson, known as ‘Pa’ to his players, gathered the best footballers in his contacts book in a small room on the third floor of Number 28 Paternoster Row, under gaslight in the shadow of St Pauls cathedral.

The plan worked: it wasn’t long before England were handing out trouncings to Scotland on a regular basis. In fact, in those early days the Corinthians provided the entire England XI for two international matches, in 1894 and 1895.

Yet they stood for much more than that. In 1884, the first-ever black international footballer – Scotland full-back Andrew Watson – chose to represent the Corinthians when he moved to England. There were characters everywhere you looked at the club in those days. The team’s captain during the late Victorian period was Charles WrefordBrown (pictured right), a charismatic centre-half who is often credited with having coined the term “soccer” when he used it as an abbreviation of “association football”.

The Corinthian team didn’t believe in professionalism or in entering league and cup competitions, but they often played the FA Cup winners in a forerunner of the Community Shield and they were the most popular opponents when the top professional teams were looking to bring the crowds through the gate.

In a sense, they were the first global superstars of football. In 1904, for example, the Corinthians defeated Manchester United 11-3 in an exhibition match in Leyton, east London which remains the Red Devils’ record defeat. (pic below).

Corinthians played with a stylish swagger, so much so that Real Madrid decided to adopt white jerseys in their honour.

They also took football round the world, touring in South Africa, Canada, the United States, South America and across Europe, including Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Denmark and Germany. The Corinthians’ most obvious stamp on modern football is a legacy of their 1910 tour of Brazil, during which their performances so impressed the locals in Sao Paulo that they formed their own club of the same name.

Corinthians Paulista went on to become one of the bestsupported and most successful clubs in Brazilian football, winning the World Club Championship as recently

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as 2012, when they defeated Chelsea in the final.

A further to trip to Brazil was aborted upon the team’s arrival in 1914, owing to the outbreak of the First World War. After hearing the news, the players made the decision to return home immediately.

Devastatingly, more than 100 former players of the Corinthians and the Casuals lost their lives in the war.

In 1939, the Corinthians merged with Casuals FC to form Corinthian-Casuals, wearing the pink-and-chocolate shirts of the Casuals, who had their own proud history. They were a strong force in the early amateur game, runners up in the first FA Amateur Cup Final in 1894, founder members of the Isthmian League in 1905, first holders of the A.F.A Senior Cup in 1907 and winners of the Amateur Cup in 1936.

The newly merged Corinthian-Casuals reached the FA Amateur Cup final in 1956, with England cricket star Micky Stewart among their number, but after drawing at Wembley were defeated by Bishop Auckland in a replay at Middlesbrough. They reached the semi-final the following year, but after this high point, the club slipped into a long decline, a rare moment of success seeing them reach the FA Cup first round in 1965/66, where Watford won 5-1.

1988 was a truly historic year, as the club returned to Brazil, where they faced a Corinthians legends side featuring Brazilian greats Rivellino and Socrates.

Indeed, Socrates played for both

sides, pulling on the pink-andbrown of the Casuals midway through the second half, in a moment that has gone down in Corinthian folklore.

The new Millennium brought plenty more historic adventures for the Corinthian-Casuals. They visited Brazil again in 2001 and, in 2007, were invited to play at the newly reopened Wembley Stadium to celebrate 125 years of Corinthian football. Then, in 2015, they finally played the Corinthians Paulista first team for the only time in the two clubs’ history (pic below).

30,000 people turned up for the momentous occasion in the Corinthians Arena after the English amateur side had been greeted at Sao Paulo airport by crowds of singing supporters.

The game ended 3-0 to the Brazilian side, but there was great excitement when Jamie Byatt swapped jerseys with Corinthians captain Danilo and played the last few minutes of the game in the white and black jersey of our Paulista brothers.

It was a symbol of the rejuvenation of the CorinthianCasuals, who have gone from strength to strength in recent years under the leadership of inspiring manager James Bracken. In 2018, after two years of pushing, they achieved promotion to the Isthmian Premier – the highest level the club has reached – and retained their status despite being the only amateur team at that level of English football.

A SNAPSHOT Between 1883 and 1890, 52 of the 88 caps awarded against Scotland went to Corinthian players. In fact, in 1894 and 1895, Corinthians fielded the full England side twice… the only club to ever manage this feat.

It’s acknowledged that England wear white in homage to the Corinthian strip. It’s also a fact that Real Madrid, inspired by Corinthians, adopted their white strip.

However, Corinthian’s greatest contribution to the game was their missionary work; touring overseas across Europe, South Africa, USA, Canada and South America.

It was on a tour to Brazil in 1910 which inspired locals to found their own team in Corinthian’s honour… that club has since gone on to be the largest in South America and the only team to win the FIFA World Club Championship twice (defeating Chelsea in 2011).

Corinthians were the English club to field the first ever Black International player.

The Corinthians were so good, they regularly defeated league and FA Cup winning opponents. In fact, in 1904, they defeated Manchester United 11-3 – their heaviest defeat to this day. The centenary of that match was played in 2004 with United claiming a 3-1 victory.

In 1939, Corinthians merged with another famous club, Casuals to become the club that, to this day, resides in Tolworth, Surrey.

Corinthian-Casuals are the only club to be honoured with a Royal Coat of Arms.

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 33

CORINTHIAN-CASUALS ROLL OF HONOUR The Corinthians 1882 - The ethos that would later be formalised as Rule No. 7 may explain the scant nature of this section; “The club shall not compete for any challenge cup or any prizes of any description whatever.”

Sheriff Of London Shield - forerunner of the FA Community Shield.

Winners 1897/98 (shared with Sheffield United), 1899/1900 (beat Aston Villa), 1903/04 (beat Bury), Runners Up 1900/01 (to Aston Villa), 1901/02 (to Tottenham Hotspur), 1902/03 (to Sunderland), 1904/05 (to Sheffield Wednesday), 1905/06 (to Liverpool), 1906/07 (to Newcastle United), 1930/31 and 1932/33 (to Arsenal on both occasions), and 1933/34 (to Tottenham Hotspur) FA Charity Shield Runners Up - 1927 (to Cardiff City) Torneo Internacional de San Sebastian - Winners 1911

The Casuals FA Amateur Cup - Winners 1935/36, Runners Up 1893/94 (to Old Carthusians in the inaugural final) London Senior Cup - Winners 1887, Runners Up 1888, 1889, 1893, 1895 and 1896 London Charity Cup - Winners 1891, 1894, 1897, 1901, 1904, 1905 and 1907, Runners Up 1887, 1888, 1903, 1906 and 1925 AFA Senior Cup - Winners 1908 and 1913, Runners Up 1909 and 1911 Southern Amateur League - Runners Up 1914 Surrey Senior Cup - Winners 1930 Isthmian League - Runners Up 1935/36, Reserve Section Runners Up 1930, 1931 and 1932 AFA Junior Cup - Runners Up 1925/25 (‘A’ Team)

Corinthian-Casuals FA Amateur Cup - Runners Up 1955/56 (to Bishop Auckland), Semi Finalists 1956/57 FA Cup - 1st Round Proper 1965/66 (vs Watford) and 1983/84 (vs Bristol City) Sheriff Of London Shield - Runners Up 1965 and 1966 (both to Arsenal), 1967 and 1983 (both to Watford) Surrey Senior Cup - Winners 1954 & 2011 London Senior Cup - Runners Up 1957 London Charity Cup - Runners Up 1951 AFA Invitation Cup - Runners Up 1966 Victory Cup - Winners 1967 London Spartan League - Senior Division Champions 1986, Premier Division Runners Up 1993 London Spartan League Cup - Winners 1995, Runners Up 1992 Combined Counties League - Runners Up 1997 Isthmian League Fair Play Awards - 1999 (Division 3) and 2005 (Division 1) Isthmian League South Playoff finalists - 2017 & 2018 Sao Paulo AC (Brazil) Invitation Cup - Winners 2001 John Mills Invitational Trophy - Winners 2015 Egri-Erbstein Tournament for the Corinthian Cup - Winners 2019

The Reserves London Intermediate Cup - Winners 2001 and 2007 Runners Up 2005, 2012, 2014 Isthmian League Reserve Section - Runners Up 1960 Surrey Combination - Division 2 Champions 1983 Suburban League - Premier Division Champions - 2017 Southern Division Champions 2001 and 2005, Runners Up 2008, Premier Div B Runners Up 2013 League Cup Winners 1974 and 2018. Runners Up 2005, Champions Cup - Winners 2007, Challenge Shield Winners 2008

haringey

Casuals

Manager Tom Loizou

Manager James Bracken P

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Danny Bracken Jack Tucker Hakeem Adelakun Jack Strange Mark Jamison Kevant Serbony Coskun Ekim Bradley Wilson Max Oldham Ben Cheklit Keiron Cadogan Nat Pinney Sonny Black Andrew Mills Jon Williams Rob Paratore Harry Carter

Match Officials Referee

Daniel Simpson

Assistants

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Jonathan Miles David Olufemi Michael O’Donoghue Rakim Richards Scott Mitchell Laste Dombaxe Roman Michael-Percil Georgios Aresti Daniel Akindayini Scott Durojaiye Anthony Mcdonald Bobson Bawling Jorge Djassi Sambu Callum Ismail Michael Ademiluyi Claudiu Vilcu Sami Bessadi Jamie-Lee O’Donoghue

Valery Pa jetat

James Barry Fernando Costache

today’s fixtures Bishop’s Stortford v Bognor Regis Town Brightlingsea Reg Margate

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Carshalton Athletic v Potters Bar Town Cheshunt v East Thurrock United Corinthian-Casuals v Haringey Borough Cray Wanderers Kingstonian

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Enfield Town Lewes

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Hornchurch v Merstham Leatherhead v Horsham Worthing Folkestone Invicta

Next Home Fixture

Casuals vs Bishop’s Stortford Saturday 3rd Oct 2020 - 3pm Pitching In Isthmian League Premier

match ball sponsor

Ann & Robin Hutchinson

Thank you both for your loyal support.

It means the world to us at Corinthian-Casuals.

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