Corinthian F.C.

Last updated

Corinthian
Corinthian fc logo.png
Full nameCorinthian Football Club
Founded1882
Dissolved1939;85 years ago (1939) (merged with Casuals F.C. to form Corinthian-Casuals F.C.)
Ground Queen's Club
Crystal Palace
The Oval
League(None)

Corinthian Football Club was an English amateur football club based in London between 1882 and 1939. [1] Above all, the club is credited with having popularised football around the world, [2] having promoted sportsmanship and fair play, and having championed the ideals of amateurism. [3]

Contents

The club was famed for its ethos of "sportsmanship, fair play, [and] playing for the love of the game". [4] Corinthian Spirit, still understood as the highest standard of sportsmanship, is often associated with the side. This spirit was famously summed up in their attitude to penalties; "As far as they were concerned, a gentleman would never commit a deliberate foul on an opponent. So, if a penalty was awarded against the Corinthians, their goalkeeper would stand aside, lean languidly on the goalpost and watch the ball being kicked into his own net. If the Corinthians themselves won a penalty, their captain took a short run-up and gave the ball a jolly good whack, chipping it over the crossbar." [5] Among others, Real Madrid were inspired to adopt Corinthian's white strip, while Sport Club Corinthians Paulista in Brazil and Zejtun Corinthians in Malta adopted their name.

History

Within twenty years the Corinthians were to become the greatest and most attractive team that football had then known. With an intelligent nonchalance and in their tailored shirts and well-cut shorts they brought a quality and culture to the game. [6]

The club was founded on 28 September 1882 by Nicholas Lane Jackson, Assistant Secretary of the Football Association. [1] At that time, football was still amateur, with the English game dominated by southern clubs. In international football (which had not yet spread beyond the home nations), Scotland prevailed, [7] having won three consecutive matches over England by scores of 5–1, 6–1 and 5–4.

Jackson attributed Scotland's success to "the greater opportunities our opponents over the border [have] of playing together", and aimed to counteract this by forming a club "composed of the best amateur players in the kingdom". [7] [1] In order to accomplish this aim, Corinthian took care to avoid playing matches on Saturdays (when players might be playing for other clubs). The first proposed name for the club was the "Wednesday Club", but this was changed to the "Corinthian Football Club" on the suggestion of Harry Swepstone. [7]

From the outset, Corinthian supplied large numbers of players to the England football team. During the 1880s, the majority of England caps were awarded to Corinthian players [1] and, for two England matches against Wales in 1894 and 1895, the entire team consisted of members of the club (a feat achieved by no other club, before or since). [1]

The Corinthian team of 1896-97 Corinthians 1896-7.jpg
The Corinthian team of 1896–97

Given that the club's constitution declared that it should "not compete for any challenge cup or any prize of any description" [8] the team originally only played friendly matches. An exception was later made for the Sheriff of London Charity Shield, for which they competed nine times between 1898 and 1907 (winning three), before the match was replaced in the calendar by the FA Charity Shield. [9]

The club would have been strong contenders for the era's honours had they entered major competitions — shortly after Blackburn Rovers beat Queen's Park in the 1884 FA Cup Final, the Corinthians beat Blackburn 8–1. [1] In 1889, it was written that Corinthians was the only amateur club "which might be pitted against [inaugural Football League champions Preston North End] with any reasonable hope of success". [10] In the 1904 Sheriff of London Charity Shield against Bury (who had beaten Derby County 6–0 in the 1903 FA Cup final), Corinthian won 10–3. [1]

The Corinthian team that toured North America in 1906 Corinthian fc 1906.jpg
The Corinthian team that toured North America in 1906

Corinthian began competing in the FA Cup from the 1922–23 season. [11] They also competed in the 1927 FA Charity Shield against FA Cup winners Cardiff City, losing 2–1 at Stamford Bridge. [12]

Honorary distinctions

Among many others:

Notable players

Notable players who have played for Corinthian include: [17]

Tours

The club's foreign tours are also credited with having popularised football around the world; they were the first club to take the sport outside Europe; [1] the 2000 and 2012 FIFA Club World Champions, SC Corinthians Paulista, are named after the club (indeed, Charles Miller, considered the father of football in Brazil, played for the club in 1892), [20] and the 2015 FIFA Club World Champions, Real Madrid, wear white to this day in their honor. [21]

Their tours included South Africa, Canada, the United States, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Denmark, Holland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Ireland, Jamaica and Germany.

During 'The Split', the 1907–1914 dispute about professional clubs being admitted to membership of the country Football Associations, Corinthian pledged its allegiance to the Amateur Football Alliance, as did Oxford University and Cambridge University. Corinthian therefore, banned from playing top home opposition by The FA, increased the frequency of their foreign tours; "Corinthian F.C. had little option but to concentrate on their [footballing] missionary work overseas and of the 131 matches played before 'The Split' was resolved in January 1914, 72 were played abroad". [1]

The club played at various venues including the Queen's Club, [22] The Oval, and the old Crystal Palace. On 12 April 1939, the Corinthians played their last match. [1] They merged with Casuals F.C. to form a new club, Corinthian-Casuals F.C.

Honours

Sheriff of London Charity Shield: 3

England international players

In all, Corinthian had 86 England Internationals (the most of any club), 16 England captains (the most of any club), 12 Welsh Internationals, 8 Scottish Internationals and 2 Irish Internationals.

Many players played for Corinthian as a secondary club while playing for another primary club. The 17 players [23] listed below are those that had Corinthian as their principal club: [24]

Danish international Nils Middelboe played for Corinthian after finishing his career with Chelsea.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Sheriff of London Charity Shield, also known as the Dewar Shield, was a football competition played annually between the best amateur and best professional club in England, though Scottish amateur side Queens Park also took part in 1899. The professional side was either the Football League champion or FA Cup winner from the previous season while the amateurs were usually represented by Corinthians, a renowned amateur side of the time. The first game was played on 19 March 1898, after being devised by Sir Thomas Dewar and ratified by the Football Association, whose president Lord Kinnaird and former president Sir Francis Marindin sat on the Shield's committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Joy</span> English footballer and journalist

Bernard Joy was an English footballer and journalist. He is notable for being the last amateur player to play for the England national team.

Kenneth Edward "Jackie" Hegan OBE was an English amateur footballer who played on the wing and made four appearances for England in 1923, scoring four goals. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club, and a professional soldier.

The Reverend Andrew Amos MA was an English amateur footballer who played for Cambridge University, Old Carthusians, Corinthian and Hitchin Town, as well as making two appearances for the England national side. He subsequently became an ordained minister in the Church of England

Alfred George Bower was an English amateur footballer who played at full back. He made five appearances for England between 1923 and 1927, three times as captain. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club and made nine appearances for Chelsea between 1923 and 1926.

Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson was an English amateur footballer who played at inside left. He made two appearances for England in 1900, scoring once. He was a member of the Corinthian amateur club and made three appearances for Southampton in 1901.

Charles Plumpton Wilson was an English amateur footballer who played at wing-half. He made two appearances for England in 1884. He was also capped for the England national rugby union team in 1881, and was one of only three players to be capped for England at both Association football and rugby football. He became a schoolmaster.

Walter Evelyn Gilliat was an English amateur footballer who played for Oxford University and Old Carthusians, as well as making one appearance in the England national side, when he scored three goals. He subsequently became an ordained minister in the Church of England

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Brann</span> English cricketer and footballer

George Brann was an English amateur cricketer and footballer who had a long career with Sussex County Cricket Club at the end of the 19th century, and played three matches for the England national football team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Percy Melmoth Walters</span> English footballer (1863-1936)

Percy Melmoth Walters was an English amateur footballer who played as a defender for the Old Carthusians and the Corinthians in the late nineteenth century as well as making thirteen appearances for England, five as captain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Mills-Roberts</span> Welsh footballer and surgeon

Dr. Robert Herbert Mills-Roberts was a Welsh footballer. A Welsh international, he was a member of the Preston North End side which became known as "The Invincibles".

Percy Fairclough was an English amateur footballer who made one appearance for England in 1878.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Veitch (footballer)</span> English footballer

John Gould Veitch, Jr. was an English amateur footballer, who played for the Corinthian club in the 1890s. He made one appearance for England playing at inside left in 1894, in which he scored a hat trick.

Stanley Shute Harris was an English footballer who represented and captained the England national football team. He also played first-class cricket for various clubs, appearing in a total of 16 first-class matches.

Thelwell Mather Pike was an English footballer who earned one cap for the national team in 1886. Pike played club football for Cambridge University, Brentwood, Swifts, Thanet Wanderers and Corinthian.

George Herbert Smithies was an English footballer who played as a centre forward in the Football League for Preston North End and Birmingham. He was capped several times for the England national amateur football team.

Gerard Powys Dewhurst J.P. was an English cotton merchant and banker. He was also an amateur footballer, and earned one international cap for England in 1895, playing as an inside forward.

John Edward Leighton was an English amateur footballer who played on the wing for Nottingham Forest and the Corinthians in the 1880s and made one appearance for England in 1886.

William Charlton was an English footballer who played at centre-forward in the Football League for various clubs in the 1930s, including Southampton, Hull City and Queens Park Rangers. He also played for the Corinthians and the England national amateur football team.

The 1891–92 season was the seventh since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. For the first six years, the club had been restricted at first to friendly matches and then in cup tournaments organised by the Hampshire Football Association. In 1891, the team entered a national competition for the first time, when it competed in the qualifying rounds of the F.A. Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Cavallini, Rob (2007). Play Up Corinth: A History of the Corinthian Football Club. Tempus Publishing. p. 99. ISBN   978-0-7524-4479-6.
  2. ↑ Cavallini, R. (2007). Play up Corinth. Stroud: Stadia, p.7.
  3. ↑ Taylor, D.J. (2006). On the Corinthian Spirit. Yellow Jersey Press. p. 50. ISBN   9780224075855.
  4. ↑ Minto, Peter (2013). The Flying Sportsman: A Biography of FNS Creek. Memoirs Publishing. p. 41. ISBN   978-1-86151-030-3.
  5. ↑ Lacey, Josh (2005). God is Brazilian. Charles Miller: The Man Who Brought Football to Brazil. Tempus Publishing. p. 71. ISBN   0 7524 3414 4.
  6. ↑ Grayson, Edward (1955). Corinthians and Cricketers. Yore Publications. p. 24. ISBN   1-874427-71-2.
  7. 1 2 3 Corbett, B. O., ed. (1903). Annals of the Corinthian Football Club. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. pp. 3–5.
  8. ↑ Taylor, D.J. (2006). On the Corinthian Spirit. Yellow Jersey Press. p. 50. ISBN   9780224075855.
  9. ↑ Corbett, B. O. (ed.). Annals of the Corinthian Football Club, page 159. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  10. ↑ Arthur Budd, "The Effect of Professionalism", in Vassall, Harry (1889). Football: the Rugby Game. London: George Bell & Sons. p.  48.
  11. ↑ "Football Club History Database - Corinthians". www.fchd.info. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  12. ↑ "Corinthians Beaten by Cardiff City". The Times. 13 October 1927. p. 6.
  13. ↑ "No Bom Retiro, em 1910, Começa Esta História" [At the Good Retreat in 1910, This Story Begins]. Folha de S.Paulo (in Portuguese). 12 May 1976. Archived from the original on 2 November 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Rowley, Christopher (2015). The Shared Origins of Football, Rugby, and Soccer. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 184. ISBN   978-1-4422-4619-5.
  15. ↑ Sutherland, Adam (2013). Andrew Watson. Hammersmith: Collins. p. 2. ISBN   978-0-00-749855-0.
  16. ↑ Williams, Jean (2019). "'We're the lassies from Lancashire': Manchester Corinthians Ladies FC and the use of overseas tours to defy the FA ban on women's football". Sport in History. 39 (4): 395–417. doi:10.1080/17460263.2019.1678068. hdl: 2436/622883 . S2CID   210354805.
  17. ↑ Cavallini, Rob (2007) Play Up Corinth: A History of the Corinthian Football Club. Tempus Publishing. p. 99. ISBN   978 0 7524 4479 6.
  18. ↑ Collins, Mick (2006). All-Round Genius: The Unknown Story of Britain's Greatest Sportsman. Aurum Press. p. 46. ISBN   1 84513 137 1.
  19. ↑ "Corinthian Casuals Player Profiles". Corinthian-Casuals Football Club. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
  20. ↑ Lacey, Josh (2005). God is Brazilian. Charles Miller: The Man Who Brought Football to Brazil. Tempus Publishing. p. 71. ISBN   0-7524-3414-4.
  21. ↑ Heralta, Alvaro (29 May 2013). "Corinthian, the reason why Real Madrid dress in white". Real Madrid News. Archived from the original on 19 August 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  22. ↑ McKelvie, Roy (1986). The Queen's Club Story, 1886-1986. Century Hutchinson. p. 54. ISBN   0-09-166060-2.
  23. ↑ "England Player's Clubs". England States. Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  24. ↑ "Club Affiliations – Corinthians". Archived from the original on 17 June 2007. Retrieved 23 April 2007.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.