Corinthian-Casuals F.C. - History

History

Corinthian-Casuals were formed in 1939 following the merger of the two amateur sides bearing those names.

Despite an almost immediate break for World War II, in 1945 they took Casuals' place in the Isthmian League, and gradually dropped down its divisions. In 1988 the team acquired its first home ground, King George's Field in Tolworth, and on a tour of Brazil, Sócrates played a match for the club, because he was a player of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (club founded in 1910 inspired by Corinthian, which played in São Paulo, Brazil, that year). A proposal has been mooted for Corinthian-Casuals to move back to Queen's Club, where Corinthians had played until 1922.

In 1954 the club beat Epsom 2–0 to win the Surrey Senior Cup and in 1956 got to the Amateur Cup Final where they drew 1–1 with Bishop Auckland at Wembley, with a headed goal from Norman Kerruish. The Bishops won the replay 4–1. A year later another good run in the Amateur Cup saw the club reach the semi-final.

After this high point the club slipped into a long decline, a rare moment of success seeing them reach the FA Cup 1st Round in 1965–66 but Watford won 5–1. In 1973 Corinthian-Casuals were relegated for the first time into Isthmian League Division 2 and they would stay here until 1978 when further relegation to the basement occurred.

Some steady seasons were played out before new ground sharing rules created by the Isthmian League saw Casuals thrown out in 1983/1984. Ironically the year this occurred was the best in quite a while after the club reached the 1st Round of the FA Cup holding Bristol City to a goalless draw at Dulwich Hamlet’s ground before losing 4–0 in the replay. This same season the club finished fifth and also progressed to the 5th Round of the FA Vase.

The first season in the Spartan Premier League was a disaster and a second consecutive relegation occurred. Next year the Casuals' fortunes took an upturn and they bounced back as Champions, remaining in the Premier Division for 12 seasons. 1988 was a historic year as the club secured its first ever home ground after merging with the crippled Tolworth F.C. and taking over the running of their facilities. This season also saw Casuals tour Brazil and the legendary Brazilian international Socrates donned the Casuals colours in one game.

A runners-up berth in 1993 and winning the League Cup in 1995 were the highlights of the Spartan League era before Casuals switched to the Combined Counties League in 1996. The Combined Counties was a great experience and in the first season a runners up spot was achieved to at last win back a place in the Isthmian League.

The first three seasons in Isthmian Division Three saw them finish 10th, 11th and 10th again, the club winning a Best Disciplinary award in the Ryman League in 1999–2000.

Their best finish for many years, fifth in 2000–01 saw the club miss promotion by three points and the reserves won the Suburban League South and London Intermediate Cup. In May the Casuals toured Brazil again and won the São Paulo Athletic Invitation Cup. Victories were achieved over Paulistano and São Paulo AC but Corinthians Paulista U-21s inflicted a 2–0 defeat.

2001–02 saw the reorganisation of the Isthmian League with a top six finish guaranteeing a place in the new Division One South. Although being in the running for much of the season, a late slump saw Casuals slip to finish tenth place. However, thanks to some astute thinking the ground was improved anyway to gain a Grade B award and due to circumstances elsewhere, the promotion places sank to as low as 11th and the club got to play its highest level of football since 1978.

The new Division One South only lasted two seasons and on each occasion Casuals finished in the bottom four. The 2004–05 season saw a reversion to a single Division One and, presented with its most exciting squad for many years, New Year passed with the club in third place. However, a heavy loss at Horsham started a stunning descent and with just two wins in the last 18 fixtures the club sank to 13th. Much of that side were picked off by wealthier neighbours and the remainder of the squad had a horrendous season in 2005–06, rarely emerging from the foot of the table. Lady Luck, however, came to Casuals' aid once more with further tinkering of the non-league set up across England, as well as some clubs either resigning from Level 4 or disappearing altogether.

Casuals have built on this and have stayed up on merit for three consecutive seasons 2007–08, 2008–09 and 2009–10.

• 1939 – Merger of the Corinthians and the Casuals, took Casuals' Isthmian League place on its resumption after War
• 1955–56 – FA Amateur Cup runner-up
• 1974 – Relegated to Division Two
• 1977–78 – Division Two renamed Division One; Relegated to (new) Division Two
• 1984 – Left Isthmian League
• 1996–97 – Joined Combined Counties League. Combined Counties League runner-up
• 1997–98 – Rejoined Isthmian League, in Division Three
• 2001–02 – Promoted to Division One South on league re-organisation