The Islington Corinthians Football Club is a defunct

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association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

club.

History

Islington Corinthians FC and Dhaka XI team photo in 1937

Islington Corinthians was founded in 1932 by Tom Smith, to raise money for local charities. The club was part of the London Professional Mid Week League, where they competed against the reserve teams of clubs such as

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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and

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswo ...

. In 1936 the Corinthians were selected to play against the Chinese Olympic team in a friendly at

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

. This became the catalyst for a world tour. The tour spanned the 1937–38 football season, taking the club to the

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, Switzerland,

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, the

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, China, Japan,

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, the

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and

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. The club was attacked by the

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in the

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, accompanied the

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raids and visited

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film sets, meeting stars such as

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. The club played 95 games on their travels. However, the club did not survive

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; disappearing after 1940 when plans for a South American tour were cancelled.

Notable players

* L.T. Huddle (Casuals) * Bernard Joy (Arsenal, Corinthians, Casuals) * Harry Lowe (Tottenham) * Sonny Avery (Leyton) * Leonard Bradbury (Moor Green) * Jack Braithwaite (Barnet) * Alec Buchanan (Barnet) * Pat Clark (Leyton, Sutton United) * George Dance (Moor Green) * Cyril Longman (Kingstonian) * Richard Manning (Clacton Town) * Albert (Eddie) Martin (Tunbridge Wells Rangers, FC Antibes) * John Miller (Tufnell Park, Dulwich Hamlet, Margate) * William Miller (Dulwich Hamlet) * George Pearce (Hoxton Manor) * Bert Read (Nunhead) * Johnny Sherwood (Reading, Maidenhead United, Crystal Palace, Aldershot) * Dick Tarrant (Sutton United) * Bill Whittaker (Kingstonian) * Ted Wingfield (Romford) * J.K. Wright (Yorkshire Amateurs, Wimbledon, Dulwich Hamlet)

Sources

*
Islington Corinthians Article
* * * *
WSF Press release
*

References

Defunct football clubs in England Sport in the London Borough of Islington 1932 establishments in England Association football clubs established in 1932 Defunct football clubs in London Association football clubs disestablished in 1940 {{London-sport-stub