They were the greatest team in the world, they are the basis of the term “Corinthian Spirit”, they introduced football to Brazil and Europe, they inspired Real Madrid, they were early exponents of the combination game, they inflicted Manchester United’s heaviest loss (11-3), they beat the Brazilian national team and they even invented the word “soccer”. Today, they languish in the 8th tier of English football, all but forgotten. The story of Corinthian FC certainly is a fascinating one. The club were founded in order to champion the virtues of amateurism, love for the game, fair play and sportsmanship as well as to act as a feeder of quality players to the England national team. 20 years after foundation, they had become the greatest and most attractive team that football had ever seen.

 

The term Corinthian Spirit, meaning the highest standard of sportsmanship, was coined in their honour. This was exhibited in their attitude to penalties, which they believed were simply ‘ungentlemanly’. When one was awarded to them, they would deliberately miss, and when one was given against them, their goal keeper would stand off to the side and watch the ball go into his own net. If their opponent lost a player through injury or a sending off, they would remove one of their own to level the playing field. Their constitution declared that they would not challenge for any cup or prize, and subsequently they only played friendlies. Many of their victories indicate they would have won anything they entered. Wins include 8-1 over reigning FA Cup champions Blackburn Rovers in 1884, 10-3 against Cup champions Bury in 1903, a defeat of league champions Aston Villa and 11-3 over Manchester United, their biggest loss ever.

 

Corinthian decided to become football missionaries, and travelled the world on numerous tours, spreading the love of football, playing dozens and dozens of games and beating every team they encountered. They began close to home touring northern England in 1884, then they visited South Africa in 1897, 1903 and 1907, Hungary and Scandinavia in 1904, North America, Germany and Holland in 1906, France in 1908 and Czechoslovakia and Switzerland in 1909. Corinthian’s 1910 Brazilian tour had the greatest impact. Five blue-collar workers were inspired to start their own club after watching Corinthian play. This club became SC Corinthians Paulista, built in the image of the original Corinthians, Brazil’s top club, world champions and the world’s most valuable team outside of Europe.

 

More tours followed: 1911, North America and Spain, 1912, Czechoslovakia, and a return to Brazil in 1913 when their journey was enlivened by a wedding, a birth, two deaths (one a suicide) and the escapades of a cook who suddenly went crazy. Corinthian briefly returned to Brazil in 1914. When their ship arrived, they first heard news of the outbreak of World War I. After months of travelling, they spent one single day in Rio de Janeiro before catching the next ship all the way back to England in order to join the British army. Their journey back home was fraught with danger as their ship was stalked by a German U-Boat that fired a warning torpedo across its bow. Luckily, the players made it back in one piece, however, tragically, the war would tear the club apart.

 

Having brought football to the world, no less than 22 Corinthians players lost their lives fighting for its freedom. Others lost limbs or became POW’s. Almost all never played football again. After the end of hostilities however, a new batch or Corinthians toured again, travelling around Europe and North America until 1928 and then merging with Casuals FC to become Corinthian-Casuals FC, who can be seen today playing at King Georges Ground in the Isthmian League Division 1, still maintaining their core values and beliefs of amateurism and good sportsmanship. Also to this day, both Real Madrid and, some say, the England national team (to whom Corinthians supplied over 200 players) wear white as a direct homage to the original Corinthians. In addition there are multiple sporting teams around the world who bear their name, inspired by this group of legends.

 

Achievements: Sheriff of London Charity Shield – Winners x3

 

Star Player: Max Woosnam DoB 6 September 1892, Liverpool, England

Possibly the greatest sportsman of all time. Woosnam’s resume of sporting achievements is, quite frankly, ridiculous. At Winchester College, he captained the school cricket and golf teams and represented them at football and squash as well. He then enrolled at Cambridge and represented the university at football, cricket and tennis. He is a Gold and Silver medal winning Olympian in tennis at the 1920 Olympic Games. He won the doubles at Wimbledon. He compiled a 147 break in snooker (the maximum break possible). He made a century in cricket at Lord’s Cricket Ground. He captained the British Davis Cup team. He captained Manchester City FC and he captained the England national football team. He also played for Corinthians and Chelsea. He was one of the players who arrived in Brazil at the outbreak of WWI, who then got on the first ship back home to sign up for the war effort. On the battlefield, he fought alongside famous war poet Siegfried Sassoon on the western front and at Gallipoli. Straight after the war, he became a finalist in the 1919 All England Plate tennis tournament. As soon as his season with Chelsea finished, he took part in a number of other tennis tournaments. Once, he even defeated Charlie Chaplin at a game of table tennis, playing with a butter knife instead of a bat. Despite his immense talent in a variety of sports, he refused to turn professional in any of them, describing the idea as “vulgar.” He refused to be paid for playing for Chelsea or Manchester City, only signing on amateur terms.  He was selected to captain the British football team at the Olympics, but refused as he was already committed to captaining the tennis team. Woosnam died of lung failure in 1965 - incredibly, he had been a heavy smoker all his life.