Corinthian-Casuals: London's non-league club who handed Manchester United their record defeat and influenced Brazil's biggest football team

London is home to some of the best football clubs in the world. The commercial value of the Premier League means teams like Chelsea, Arsenal, and Tottenham Hotspur lead the way in terms of fame and finance. However, none of them have the history of the little-known Corinthian-Casuals.

Hidden away off a slip road by the A3 in Tolworth, Corinthian-Casuals ply their trade in the ninth tier of English football but are credited with influencing the formation of one of Brazil’s iconic football clubs, Corinthians, a team that produced the likes of Paulinho and Carlos Tevez.

The club, in its modern guise, was formed in 1939 as the result of a merger between two grand old amateur clubs, Corinthian FC and Casuals FC, which helped popularize football around the world during tours to places like South Africa, Central Europe, Scandinavia, North America, and Brazil.

Corinthian FC was founded in 1882, specifically with the England national team in mind. The FA officials were tired of seeing Scotland get the better of their team, and after noting that many of the Scottish internationals played together for Queen’s Park, they set about starting a club that could act as a launching pad for the England national team. In September 1882, an administrator called Nicholas Lane Jackson, known as ‘Pa’ to his players, gathered the best footballers in his contacts book in a small room on the third floor of Number 28 Paternoster Row, under gaslight in the shadow of St. Paul’s Cathedral.

Suffice it to say, it worked so well that it wasn't long before England started to dominate world football, including beating Scotland on a regular basis, with the club providing the entire starting eleven on two occasions, in 1894 and 1895. They were dominant, and their success touched some of the forgotten corners of the world, leading even the mighty Real Madrid to adopt the white jersey that Corinthians wore.

Yet, the Corinthians’ most obvious stamp on modern football is a legacy of their 1910 tour to Brazil, during which their performances so impressed the locals in Sao Paulo that they formed their own club of the same name. Sport Club Corinthians Paulista went on to become one of the best-supported and most successful clubs on the continent.

During the years before World War I, they were the perfect definition of global superstars of football. In 1904, for example, the Corinthians defeated Manchester United 11-3, which remains the Red Devils’ record defeat to this day.

In 1884, Corinthians was also home to the first-ever black international footballer – Scotland full-back Andrew Watson, who chose to represent the Corinthians when he moved to England and significantly influenced their famous sweeping attacking passing style. After the First World War, with England trying to find its feet, the Corinthians merged with Casuals FC in 1939 to form Corinthian-Casuals, wearing the pink-and-chocolate shirts of the Casuals, who had their own proud history.

Formed in 1883, Casuals FC were a strong force in the early amateur game, runners-up in the first FA Amateur Cup Final in 1894, founder members of the Isthmian League in 1905, first holders of the AFA Senior Cup in 1907, and winners of the FA Amateur Cup in 1936.

The club has twice reached the FA Cup first round proper since amalgamation, playing Watford in 1965/66 and Bristol City in 1982/83. 1988 was a truly historic year, as the club returned to Brazil, where they faced a Corinthians All-Star XI featuring Brazilian greats Rivellino and Socrates. Indeed, Socrates played for both sides, pulling on the pink-and-brown of the Casuals midway through the second half, in a moment that has gone down in club folklore.

The new millennium brought plenty more historic adventures for the Corinthian-Casuals. They visited Brazil again in 2001 and then were invited to play a friendly at the recently reopened Wembley Stadium in 2008, when AFC Wimbledon were their opponents. Then, in 2015, they finally played the SC Corinthians Paulista first team for the first time in the two clubs’ history. Thirty thousand people turned up for the momentous occasion in the Corinthians Arena after the English amateur side had been greeted at Sao Paulo airport by crowds of singing supporters. The game ended 3-0 to the Brazilian side, but there was great excitement when Jamie Byatt swapped jerseys with Corinthians captain Danilo and played the last few minutes of the game for the Brazilian side.

Over the weekend, Chelsea star Wesley Fofana was pictured in the stands as they took on Westfield, continuing to show that those who know their football history know about this great club hidden in Tolworth, which has influenced how football is played in this country and the world at large.