Corinthian-Casuals Football Club is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, Kick (football), kicking a Football (ball), ball to score a Goal (sport), goal. Unqualified, Football (word), the word ''football'' normally means the form of football tha ...

club based in

Tolworth Tolworth is a suburban area in the Surbiton district, Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Greater London. It is southwest of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Long Ditton, New Malden, Kingston, Surbiton, Berrylands, Hinchley Wo ...

in the

Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames is a London boroughs, borough in southwest London. The main town is Kingston upon Thames and it includes Surbiton, Chessington, Malden Rushett, New Malden and Tolworth. It is the oldest of the four List ...

, England. Affiliated to the London Football Association, they are currently members of the and play at King George's Field.

History

The club was established in 1939 as a merger of amateur clubs Corinthian and Casuals. The new club played a single match before football was suspended due to World War II. After the war the club took Casuals' place in the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

. In 1953–54 they won the

Surrey Senior Cup The Surrey Senior Cup is the senior Saturday cup competition of the Surrey FA. It is currently competed for by teams playing in the top nine levels of the English football league system who are affiliated to the Surrey FA. The competition was i ...

, beating

Epsom Epsom is the principal town of the Borough of Epsom and Ewell in Surrey, England, about south of central London. The town is first recorded as ''Ebesham'' in the 10th century and its name probably derives from that of a Saxon landowner. The ...

2–0 in the final.Club History
Corinthian-Casuals F.C. Two seasons later they reached the final of the

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within foot ...

; after a 1–1 draw against

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history sur ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

, the club lost the replay at

Ayresome Park Ayresome Park was a football stadium in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, England. It was the home of Middlesbrough F.C. from its construction in time for the 1903–04 season, until the Riverside Stadium opened in 1995. It was demolished in 1997 and ...

4–1. They reached the semi-finals of the competition the following season, losing 4–2 to Wycombe Wanderers. In 1965–66 the club reached the first round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

for the first time, losing 5–1 at home to Third Division

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

. The late 1960s and early 1970s saw Corinthian-Casuals struggling in the league, finishing bottom in 1968–69 and then for four consecutive seasons between 1970–71 and 1973–74, after which the club were relegated to Division Two, which had been created in 1973. The division was renamed Division One in 1977, and the club were relegated again (to the renamed Division Two) at the end of the 1977–78 season. In 1983–84 they reached the first round of the FA Cup for the second time, drawing 0–0 with Fourth Division

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and losing the replay 4–0. At the end of the season the club were excluded from the Isthmian League after new groundsharing rules were introduced, resulting in a drop into the Premier Division of the

Spartan League The Spartan League was a football league in England covering London and adjacent counties. Established in 1907, it merged with the South Midlands League in 1997 to form the Spartan South Midlands League. History The Spartan League was establ ...

. Their first season in the league saw them relegated to the Senior Division, but they went on to win the division at the first attempt, the club's first ever league title, to earn an immediate return to the Premier Division. In 1988–89 Corinthian-Casuals toured Brazil, which included a match against Corinthians, in which

Sócrates Sócrates Brasileiro Sampaio de Souza Vieira de Oliveira (19 February 1954 – 4 December 2011), simply known as Sócrates, was a Brazilian footballer who played as a midfielder. His medical degree and his political awareness, combined with styl ...

played for both teams. In 1994–95 they won the Spartan League Cup. In 1996 the club switched to the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...

. After finishing as runners-up in their first season in the new league, they returned to the Isthmian League as members of Division Three in 1997. After another tour to Brazil in 2001, league reorganisation in 2002 saw them placed in Division One South. Further reorganisation saw them become members of Division One in 2004 and then Division One South again in 2006. In 2010–11 they won the Surrey Senior Cup for a second time, beating

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leathe ...

2–0 in the final. The club returned to Brazil in 2015 to play Corinthians again, with the Brazilian club winning 3–0. In 2016–17 they finished fourth in Division One South, qualifying for the promotion play-offs. After beating Greenwich Borough 4–3 in the semi-finals, they lost on penalties to Dorking Wanderers in the final after a 0–0 draw. The 2017–18 season saw Corinthian-Casuals finish fifth in the division, again reaching the play-offs. They defeated Greenwich Borough 3–0 in the semi-finals, before losing the final 4–2 on penalties to Walton Casuals after the game ended 0–0. Despite the defeat, the club were promoted to the Premier Division after results in other divisions meant that they were the play-off finalists at step 4 with the highest points per game ratio from the season.

Ground

After their formation the club played their first match in the grounds of

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...

,Corinthian-Casuals
Pyramid Passion but after World War II they played at Kingstonian's Richmond Road ground, which had been used by Casuals.Football grounds
Corinthian-Casuals F.C. However, they left in 1946 and played at numerous other grounds; the Polytechnic Ground in

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...

(1946–1950),

the Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since i ...

(1950–1963; the club played at the Vauxhall End of the ground), Dulwich Hamlet's

Champion Hill Champion Hill is a football stadium in East Dulwich in the London Borough of Southwark. It is the home ground of Dulwich Hamlet. History Dulwich Hamlet began playing at the ground in 1912. 'The Hill' was formerly one of the largest amateur gro ...

(1963–1968), Tooting & Mitcham United's Sandy Lane (1968–1983), Molesey's Walton Road (1983–1984 and again from 1986–1988) and Wimbledon Park Athletics Stadium (1984–1986). In 1988 the club merged with Tolworth and took over their King George's Field, marking the first time the club had owned their own ground. The ground originally had a running track around the pitch, which was later removed. Covered standing was installed behind both goals and a stand built along one side of the pitch which includes a small section of seating, with the seats coming from

Plough Lane Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...

, Champion Hill and Havant & Waterlooville's Westleigh Park. The ground currently has a capacity of 2,000, of which 161 is seated and 700 covered.

Honours

*Spartan League **Senior Division champions 1985–86 **League Cup winners 1994–95 *Surrey Senior Cup **Winners 1953–54, 2010–11 *Victory Cup **Winners 1966–67Managers and achievements
Corinthian-Casuals F.C. *Egri Erbstein Tournament **Winners 2019

Records

*Highest league position: 5th in the Isthmian League, 1953–54, 1959–60 *Best

performance: First round, 1965–66, 1983–84 *Best

performance: Finalists, 1955–56 *Best

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

performance: Second round, 2002–03 *Best

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English football ...

performance: Fifth round, 1983–84 *Most appearances: Simon Shergold, 526Mike Williams & Tony Williams (2012) ''Non-League Club Directory 2013'', p602 *Most goals: Cliff West, 215

References

External links