Words & Pics to Follow: Corinthian-Casuals vs Badshot Lea, 23rd March 2024
Look, if I'm going to shine light upon magic, I might as well go all in. I've made my decision over which game to go to this Saturday, so let's see how it matches my previously noted ten commandments.
Something new for a Friday morning. I’ll be confirming which match I’ll be at that weekend every week from now on, and running it through my ten commandments of football match attendance on here as a kind of preview, or at least as some sort of explainer. This first one is free for everybody, but these may go behind the paywall in the future.
For this weekend’s match, words and pictures for which will be with you on Sunday morning, I did want to do something, well, special. This Saturday is Non League Day, after all, so why not cast my net as wide as possible to see who might be playing?
I did say that matches occasionally just jump out at me, and on this occasion that’s what happened when I went to peruse this Saturday’s fixtures. Corinthian-Casuals vs Badshot Lea in Division One South Central of the Isthmian League.
So, let’s see how this match ranks according to the criteria that I mentioned yesterday:
How convenient will this be for me? It’s a bit of a pain in the backside in terms of distance, but the train journey isn’t particularly terrible and at the other end the ground seems to be within reasonable walking distance of the station.
Is it a new ground? It is! I have not been to the King Edward Playing Fields before and do not know much about it either other than it is in Tolworth, near Chessington in Surrey. And this is the first of two successive matches in Surrey for me, since I’m also intending to be at one on Easter Saturday. More on that next week. (Shall I make this a regular thing? I should make this a regular thing.)
Are they playing on grass? They are! Though this is, of course, a double-edged sword this season. Looking at their recent fixtures indicates that they’ve had some cancellations, which is worrying, although I should also add that the weather forecast for the next couple of days doesn’t look too atrocious anywhere across this part of the world. I would expect to know whether it’s on or off close to definitively by 9am on Saturday morning.
How much is this going to cost? It’s affordable. Entrance is £8 and it looks as though tickets can be purchased in advance, though considering what the weather’s been like recently (not least my experience in St Albans a couple of weeks ago), I doubt I’ll be buying one far in advance.
What’s the journey like? It’s not too bad, even though it is just over two hours, all in. There are two changes on the train, first at Hove (onto a train towards London rather than Brighton), and then at Clapham Junction, towards Chessington. It’s actually very similar to my trip to Wimbledon last weekend, just in a slightly different direction out from Clapham.
What’s ticket availability like? Corinthian-Casuals average home league attendance this season is 216, so even allowing for a lot of local interest—they are, after all, a famous name—and from other weirdos like me, some tickets should still be available.
Is there a story to be told? There’s almost too much of a story to be told; not only about the present, but about football’s past as well. Corinthian-Casuals represent something that has arguably never been less fashionable, an ethos which simply doesn’t exist elsewhere any more. It is a fascinating story which started the century before last, and this is one of its last remaining outposts.
Is it likely to be a 0-0 draw? The home side are bottom of the table and have conceded the second highest number of goals in the division (77 in 31 games), so this doesn’t seem likely. They have had one goalless draw this season, at home against Binfield in October. It’s their only clean sheet of the season so far.
Will there be much of a crowd there? While the average home attendance this season at Corinthian-Casuals this season has only been 216, it is worth remembering the level of football at which they play. The Isthmian League Division One South-Central Division (expect NWA jokes on Sunday morning) is the fourth tier of the non-league game, meaning that Corinthian-Casuals are as far removed from the National League as Sutton United are from the Premier League, and despite being bottom of the table with just three league wins all season, that 216 figure is the sixth highest in their division, higher than second-placed Marlow. Given the famous name of the club, it would be unsurprising if there was quite a high attendance there on Non League Day, regardless of the team’s performance on the pitch in general this season.
Any other idiosyncrasies? This particular match is all about the idiosyncrasies, not least of which is the fact that while I have seen them a handful of times before, I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen them play in their extremely distinctive pink and brown (sorry, chocolate) halved shirts before, only ever in their change kit. I’m also rather enjoying that their opponents are called Badshot Lea, who sound like a Roy of the Rovers character from the late 1970s. If they actually have a player called Lee, I may just lay an egg.
Of course, it is necessary to pick back-up games in this day and age. Should I wish to keep it local, Worthing are at home against Bath City on Sunday afternoon and, in an act of extreme weirdness, it’s live on TNT Sport. If my Saturday pick does get rained off early, that’s an obvious choice; the 3g pitch and live television broadcast combined almost guarantee it’ll be on.
But in view of number four above, I’ll keep this as an either/or. Also, I intend to write about the experience of watching it on the TV anyway, because when you’re not used to seeing your local team on the television, it is a very odd experience indeed.
(And also also, while I think of it, we’re hoping to record the first Football Kickback on Sunday evening, to go out on Monday morning. Sam is out of hospital and feeling a fair bit better, though be aware that she’s been pretty unwell, and that as I’ve said before her health and wellbeing come first.)
So, there we go then. It ticks most of my boxes, I’ve got a back-up match, all’s right with the world. Presuming it’s on, words and pics to follow on Sunday morning.