Corinthian-Casuals vs Merstham Matchday Programme

of an impact on other people when I have to
explain to them what team I play for. In 2015,
people were asking me, “Why did you go to
Brazil?” because they just did not know the
history. So it feels better that I’ve told them
something they didn’t know about this club –
they’ve learnt it from me.
Since that trip to Brazil, Corinthian-Casuals
have gone from strength to strength, gaining
promotion to the Isthmian Premier League,
and remaining there too. Both that league
and the one below it are semi-professional,
and your club is completely amateur. How
have you done it?
That’s probably the biggest achievement.
Staying up in the league below this was an
achievement, but to then get promoted? No
one thought that was going to happen, with no
budget. Some of the teams in the league have
got a ridiculous amount of money, so the fact
that we’ve got promoted and then stayed up is
an achievement in itself.
Why do footballers choose to play for
Corinthian-Casuals when they could be
earning money at others?
I know why I play for the club. I play for this
club because I think it’s a good setup and
the fans are always there, regardless of
the score, or where we’re playing. It’s like
a professional setup here, but when I
went to other teams the setup wasn’t
like this. I really enjoy playing here and
that is why I came back for another
spell at the start of the season. They
do things the right way. I think it’s
just a changing room full of winners.
Not one player thought we were
going to go down, everyone
thought we were going to stay up.
We never really spoke about the
possibility of getting relegated –
all we spoke about was having to
do better.
"As a youth, me and my
friend went to Crystal
Palace for a trial together,
and he got in, but I didn't.
That was Wilfried Zaha."
countries. Does that resonate with you?
The majority of us know the history. Maybe
some of the new players don’t but once they get
told, they will realise how good an opportunity
this is for us. The history of the Corinthian Cup in
Hungary…that’s as big as the Brazil thing for me,
to be honest. This club created history.
Since the Brazil trip, everyone keeps asking me,
“Are you going back to Brazil this season?” It’s
like they think it’s a yearly thing and I had to tell
them that was the first time it’s ever happened!
So we never really expected something like this
to happen again. It’s not like anyone has come
to this club because they thought they might
get to go away – no one knew this was going to
happen this summer. We’re just looking forward
to it.
The club played a pre-season
tournament in Budapest
in the Summer, with great
success. Once again, this
demonstrates the impact
Corinthian-Casuals have
had on football in other
CORINTHIAN-CASUALS MATCHDAY PROGRAMME - 31