The Islington Corinthians Football Club is a defunct
English
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* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
club.
History
Islington Corinthians was founded in 1932 by Tom Smith, to raise money for local charities. The club was part of the London Professional Mid Week League, where they competed against the reserve teams of clubs such as
Arsenal,
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Fulham.
In 1936 the Corinthians were selected to play against the
Chinese Olympic team in a friendly at
Highbury
Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington
in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads.
The manor house was sit ...
. This became the catalyst for a world tour.
The tour spanned the
1937–38 football season, taking the club to the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Switzerland,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Burma
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
,
Malaya,
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
,
Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
, the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
,
China,
Japan,
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
, the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
The club was attacked by the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in the
Khyber Pass, accompanied the
Hong Kong police
The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...
on
opium den
An opium den was an establishment in which opium was sold and smoked. Opium dens were prevalent in many parts of the world in the 19th century, most notably China, Southeast Asia, North America, and France. Throughout the West, opium dens were fr ...
raids and visited
Hollywood film sets, meeting stars such as
David Niven
James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...
. The club played 95 games on their travels. However, the club did not survive
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
; disappearing after 1940 when plans for a South American tour were cancelled.
Notable players
* L.T. Huddle (Casuals)
* Bernard Joy (Arsenal, Corinthians, Casuals)
* Harry Lowe (Tottenham)
* Sonny Avery (Leyton)
* Leonard Bradbury (Moor Green)
* Jack Braithwaite (Barnet)
* Alec Buchanan (Barnet)
* Pat Clark (Leyton, Sutton United)
* George Dance (Moor Green)
* Cyril Longman (Kingstonian)
* Richard Manning (Clacton Town)
* Albert (Eddie) Martin (Tunbridge Wells Rangers, FC Antibes)
* John Miller (Tufnell Park, Dulwich Hamlet, Margate)
* William Miller (Dulwich Hamlet)
* George Pearce (Hoxton Manor)
* Bert Read (Nunhead)
* Johnny Sherwood (Reading, Maidenhead United, Crystal Palace, Aldershot)
* Dick Tarrant (Sutton United)
* Bill Whittaker (Kingstonian)
* Ted Wingfield (Romford)
* J.K. Wright (Yorkshire Amateurs, Wimbledon, Dulwich Hamlet)
Sources
*
Islington Corinthians Article *
*
*
*
WSF Press release*
References
Defunct football clubs in England
Sport in the London Borough of Islington
1932 establishments in England
Association football clubs established in 1932
Defunct football clubs in London
Association football clubs disestablished in 1940
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