Hidden away at the end of a slip road off the A3 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 Bostik Premier League – 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 the late 1800s, 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.
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.
Among the stars in their midst were Andrew Watson, the first-ever black international
footballer and Charles Wreford-Brown, a charismatic centre-half who is often credited with having
coined the term “soccer” as an abbreviation of “association football”.
Corinthians played with a stylish swagger, so much so that Real Madrid decided to adopt
white jerseys in their honour.
Yet, 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 best-supported and most successful
clubs in Brazilian football, winning the World Club Championship as recently as 2012
.
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.
They reached the FA Amateur Cup final in 1956, with England cricket star Micky Stewart among
their number, but lost at Wembley.
By 1988, they had a permanent home in Tolworth and celebrated the occasion by finally returning
to Brazil, where they faced a Corinthians legends side featuring Brazilian greats Rivellino
and Socrates.
Indeed, Socrates played for both sides, pulling on the English club’s jersey midway through
the second half, in a moment that has gone down in Corinthian folklore.
They visited Brazil again in 2001, and in 2015 finally played the Corinthians Paulista
first team in front of tens of thousands at the new Arena Corinthians.
It was a symbol of the rejuvenation of the Corinthian-Casuals, who have gone from strength
to strength in recent years, achieving promotion to the Bostik Premier League this season – the
highest level the club has reached.
If you make your way to King George’s Field these days, you will most likely find Brazilian
fans making the pilgrimage to cheer on the English amateurs who inspired the founding
of their club.
You can find out more about these transatlantic sibling clubs by subscribing to the podcast
documentary series Broadway to Brazil, or by streaming episodes on their website, broadwaytobrazil.com