Pic: Stuart Tree
WE don’t like to accept it, but even in the bowels of Non-League blood, sweat and tears can quickly dry up for an extra couple of quid.
“You speak to some managers really, really low down the Pyramid, County League level and lower, and they lose players to another club because they’re offering an extra tenner a week,” assesses James Bracken, the razor sharp manager of Corinthian-Casuals.
It’s sad, but it’s true. There’s plenty to adore about the game at that end of the spectrum, but we can’t put our fingers in our ears to the fact gluttony certainly exists.
Every club has it at some point, losing a key player because someone down the road has opened their wallet. Some give in to demands, but they all experience a bit of greed somewhere along the line.
Every club that is except Corinthian-Casuals. In their world, money just doesn’t exist.
Drawbacks
“We’re strictly amateur here and we’re proud of that fact,” added Bracken. “We always will be forever and I think that’s a great thing.
“Of course it has its natural drawbacks. When you don’t pay players a penny it means you can’t just pick up the phone and sign yourself a 25-goal a season striker!
“You need a particular type of player, and every one of them here buys into what this club is about and why things are why they are. Work goes into all that.
“You don’t sign for Casuals to get rich, that’s for certain! But you sign because you believe in the ethos and that you want to be a part of something different. It’s a real club with real people.
“Every player is here for the love of football and the love of the club, and there’s no better feeling than seeing them be successful.”
Success? Surely not possible for a club whose players essentially pay to play for them – remember, there’s no travel kitty, no reimbursement for expenses for trips from south west London to Hastings, or to Faversham on a Tuesday night. Certainly no win bonuses.
“It’s all part of the fun of it, I suppose!” added Bracken. “They have to get to games and to training themselves, sort extra socks out if they need them – basically it ‘costs’ to be a Casual.
“It does for me as well. I don’t get my phone calls covered like most managers will and I love to talk. Good job I’ve got a good mobile deal!”
When there’s no movement on the fact that your club’s players have to fund their own football, most would expect a relegation battle each and every season. Far from it.
They want promotion in Tolworth, and things are so good this season that already they are guaranteed their highest ever finish. They want to get up to the Ryman Premier and the chances are high.
Mantra
The mindset has been held since the club’s inception, to remain strictly amateur as they believed sport should be played only for enjoyment. They are champions of fair play.
The club’s formation was at a time when everyone was amateur, and as nearly all the rest made the transition into semi-pro and professional football, they toured the world to spread their message.
Their mantra was sounded out in Brazil in 2015. The club’s lucky players treated like heroes on arrival and they enjoyed the week of their lives in South America.
Corinthian-Casuals was the merger of Corinthian and the Casuals in 1939. Corinthian was formed in 1882 and the Casuals a year later.
With history like no other, the English side played in front of 26,000 in Sao Paulo (see above). Their usual crowds peak at just over double figures if they’re lucky.
Moments
“If we were to get promotion, then I stand by the fact that it would be the biggest achievement in Non-League football inside the last decade,” manager Bracken said.
“When I tell you one of the clubs currently in the top five of the Ryman South have a budget of £9,000 a week – and that figure came from their assistant manager – then it paints the picture for everyone to see.”
Of course it helps when your goalkeeper wouldn’t dare walk out, even if something special did come along.
“Danny is my brother and he’s turned down moves away from the club before,” added boss Bracken. “We beat Molesey last Tuesday 1-0 and it was his 300th appearance for the club.
“I’m never one to take the gloss of his big moments, but I’d be lying if I said he was the hero of the hour on his special night – he hardly had a save to make!
“Anyway, if he ever left he knows the size of his birthday and Christmas presents would reduce quite drastically! Is it worth it? No way.”
