Corinthian F.C.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corinthian Football Club were a football team based in London playing at various venues including Crystal Palace and Queen's Club. They were founded in 1882 by N. Lane Jackson, assistant secretary of the Football Association, with the intention of developing a squad capable of challenging the supremacy of the Scotland football team and Queen's Park.
The team originally determined to play only friendly matches and often played other amateur clubs, especially teams in the London area. They also supplied large numbers of players to the England football team. During the 1880s, the majority of England caps against Scotland were awarded to Corinthians, and for two England matches against Wales in 1894 and 1895, the entire team was from the club. However, these records are not recognised by the FA, who point out that most Corinthian players had another primary club affiliation - in many cases one of the university sides.[1]
Corinthian refused to join The Football League or to compete in the FA Cup due to one of their original rules forbidding the club to "compete for any challenge cup or prizes of any description." but finally competed in a competition in 1900 when they beat Aston Villa, then League champions, in the Sheriff of London Shield. They might have won the FA Cup many times if they had competed - for instance, shortly after Blackburn Rovers beat Queen's Park in the 1884 final, Corinthian beat Blackburn 8-1. Similarly, Corinthians had a 10-3 win over ten of the Bury side that beat Derby County 6-0 in the 1903 final.
After joining the Amateur Football Association and being banned from playing the top home opposition, all of whom were members of The Football Association, the team increased its touring of the world, popularising football. Real Madrid adopted Corinthian's white shirts and Sport Club Corinthians Paulista in Brazil adopted their name. After a visit to Sweden in 1904, a Swedish tournament called the Corinthian Bowl was set up to commemorate them.
In 1904, Corinthian beat Manchester United 11-3, which remains United's biggest defeat. After World War I, the team began to compete in the FA Cup, but with limited success. They also played the 1927 Charity Shield, losing to Cardiff City 2-1.
In 1939, Corinthian amalgamated with the Casuals to form Corinthian-Casuals Football Club.
[edit] England international players
Corinthian's famous amateur players include the likes of Max Woosnam and C.B. Fry. Whilst the only professional player to play for Corinthian after playing professional football was Fred Spiksley, the England and Sheffield Wednesday footballer, who played his very last match for Corinthian in 1907. This match was a 2-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, with Spiksley scoring Corinthian's goal in the dying minutes. Spiksley was given a lap of honour and a standing ovation.
Many players played for Corinthian as a secondary club while playing for another primary club, as well as the England national side. The 17 players listed below are those that had Corinthian F.C. as their principal club.:[2]
- Claude Ashton (1 cap)
- Alfred Bower (5 caps)
- Bertie Corbett (1 cap)
- Norman Creek (1 cap)
- Graham Doggart (1 cap)
- Tip Foster (4 caps)
- C. B. Fry (1 cap)
- Kenneth Hegan (4 caps)
- Arthur Henfrey (4 caps)
- Cecil Holden-White (2 caps)
- Anthony Hossack (2 caps)
- Vaughan Lodge (2 caps)
- Bernard Middleditch (1 cap)
- William Oakley (12 caps)
- Basil Patchitt (2 caps)
- G.O. Smith (7 caps)
- Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson (2 caps)
