3rd Place Play-Off: Hilltop 1-1 Budapesti AK (Hilltop win 4-3 on penalties)
Final: Corinthian Casuals 0-1 Sheffield
Date: 24/07/2022
Venue: King George Field, Tolworth (KT9 1TR)
Competition: Egri Erbstein Tournament
Admission: £10 (Card, Cash, Online booking)
Attendance: 420 (Official Figure)
It’s not often you’re presented with the opportunity to watch two games back-to-back, in a tournament named after one of the most revolutionary managers of all time. Since the Egri Erbstein tournament was announced back in October, I’ve had it ring-marked on my calendar, large in red Sharpie. I saw it as an opportunity to see much-storied clubs such as the hosts Corinthian-Casuals, Sheffield FC, Budapesti AK, and a very exciting Hilltop side.
Getting To King George Field
For those planning to take public transport the best option is taking a train through to Tolworth Station. Trains to Tolworth run every thirty minutes from London Waterloo, Clapham Junction and Wimbledon. The station is also served by a number of local buses. From there, it’s a 10-15 minute walk along Hook Rise. Unfortunately, Tolworth station doesn’t offer step-free access, so wheelchair users are better off driving to the ground. I can’t confess to having any knowledge of disabled spaces so I would contact the club in advance.
Thankfully, there is a decent amount of car parking available on the other side of the railway bridge to the ground, and it’s free of charge. However, driving to King George Field can only be described as a bit of a faff. As the road leading to the ground is one way, you’ll have to drive to the Tolworth Roundabout, take the exit leading off towards Heathrow and Portsmouth, get into the left lane and be careful not to miss the slip road onto Hook Rise South. The way to the ground along Hook Rise South is sign posted.
Facilities
On entering through the turnstiles, visitors are greeted with the main outside concourse furnished with many tables and chairs. For this event, Casuals went all out with the food options as there was a burger van (which is normally there), a Grenadian kitchen and a van from a local catering company called Rockey Street (more on them later). Football-history buffs have an opportunity to expand their knowledge as on the concourse side of the main stand is a line of photos of significant players for both Corinthian-Casuals and Corinthians Paulista. For those unaware, there’s a long-standing friendship between the two clubs; the original Corinthians FC (before they merged with Casuals FC club to form Corinthian-Casuals) was the inspiration for the foundation of the Brazilian side when the club visited Sao Paulo back in 1910. If you want to learn more about the history of Corinthian-Casuals I recommend checking out the club’s website (read it here). At the very end of the concourse is the club shop operating out of a shed adorned with a ton of stickers; it sells a wide range of Corinthian-Casuals merchandise from pin badges, pens, scarves and football shirts. Training shirts and the commemorative tournament polo shirts cost £15. What caught my eye, however, was the Corinthians Paulista 2020/21 3rd shirt; inspired by the modern-day club. It didn’t take much for the guy running the shop to convince me to part with my £35 and the shirt is now back with me in North West London.
From the entrance, to the right of the concourse is the clubhouse, where more history is on show with scarves of clubs that either Corinthains, Casuals, or the modern-day amalgamated club have played against. Further exhibits include 3 framed shirts: a Corinthian Casuals shirt from 2010 signed by Brazil and Corinthians Paulista legend Socrates, a signed Manchester United shirt from 2004 exchanged after a friendly that marked 100 since the Red Devil’s heaviest defeat (11-3 to Corinthians in 1904), and a matchworn Paulista keepers shirt from a friendly between themselves and Corinthian-Casuals in 1988. Decorated around the top edge of the clubhouse wall are numerous pennants Corinthian-Casuals has exchanged with many clubs across the UK and the world. Amusingly, and I suspect quite deliberately, the pennant of former tenants and local rivals Kingstonian was turned around the wrong way, facing the wall. The bar normally offers a good range of beers but, on this day, with so much demand due to the tournament, most of the draught beers were tapped out and exhausted; luckily they had plenty of cans of beer in the fridge. Paying for food, drink, and merchandise inside the ground is easy as both cash and card are accepted throughout.
The architecture of the ground is quite basic. Behind both goals there is simple, covered terracing. Along the main entrance side is the seated stand which backs onto the ground’s main concourse with sections for press and club officials. Although the view is obstructed by supporting poles, the seats have a decent amount of legroom. Opposite to the main stand are the managers’ dugouts flanked by perimeter fencing supporters can lean against and six poles with flags appropriate for the tournament. Speaking of flags, there are loads of them. Including the poles and the banners from Fiel Londres (London based Corinthians Paulista fan-group). I counted a whopping 42 in total. As for the field of play, the grass looked quite dry in places, but after the lack of rain that was understandable. Having had a casual conversation with one of the club volunteers, I learned it’s been a round-the-clock effort for the past couple of weeks to get the pitch in a playable condition for the tournament, with club officials coming in late at night to water the pitch.
Food Review
I thought I would take advantage of the variety that was on offer at the ground and try something a little different: the loaded hash browns from Rockey Street. This was possibly the best food I’ve had at any sporting venue: they were beautifully crispy on the outside and soft inside, bits of crispy onion offered an extra layer of flavour and texture, the jalapeños and chipotle sauce added a noticeable spicy kick without blowing your head off and it was all topped off with a light sprinkling of grated cheese. It was all so good I even went back to pay my compliments (or I might just have needed a napkin). A fiver very well spent.
Although most of the draught beer was gone, there was a club branded ale called ‘The Casual’ available. Naturally I went for that. It’s a pleasant, bold session ale full of flavour and went down a treat. £4 a pint for a locally brewed ale. I found it reasonably priced.
The Matches
Due to a lack of numbered team sheets from BAK, Hilltop and Corinthian-Casuals. Players from those teams will be referred to by their squad number on the day. If anyone has a team sheet available please contact me.
The previous day, hosts Corinthian-Casuals beat Hilltop 2-0, in the later fixture Sheffield put seven past Budapesti AK (BAK). This meant the day started with Hilltop v BAK in the 3rd place play-off, and Corinthian-Casuals would take on Sheffield FC in the final.
Third place play off: Hilltop v Budapesti AK
Hilltop had the first opportunity of the game, in the seventh minute their number 9 found himself in the box after a great through-ball but his shot was well saved by the BAK keeper. Although Hilltop were arguably the better team in the early stages of the game, it was BAK who took the lead, the ball fell to the left side of the box after it was saved by the Hilltop keeper where it was expertly dispatched into the bottom corner. Hilltop were nearly gifted an equaliser just before half-time, a mistake by the BAK keeper allowed the Hilltop number 22 to latch onto the ball and round the keeper before his shot was miraculously cleared off the line by BAK’s number 20. It wasn’t the only piece of last ditch defending by the Hungarian side, sixty-five minutes in there was another BAK keeping error which allowed the ball to fall to the Hilltop number 9 who then went on to round the keeper before another BAK defender denied a certain goal. Hilltop would eventually grab their equaliser in the seventy-eighth minute, the club from Brent were given a free-kick on the edge of the box which their number 11 shot low and squirmed its way into the bottom corner. With no further goals the game went to penalties. Hilltop would come out eventual winners and bronze medalists after they dispatched all of their penalties and BAK missed their fourth and had their fifth saved.
Final: Corinthian-Casuals v Sheffield FC
There was a carnival atmosphere for the final provided by Fiel Londres with constant drumming and chanting throughout the tie. It was the first meeting for the two clubs since 1894 and it was certainly a fiery affair. Sheffield had the first real opportunity of the game eight minutes in, an audacious overhead kick from Nathan Modest sailed just past the Casuals post. Twenty-one minutes in, Sheffield’s Adam Watson made a rash challenge on Casual’s number 9 with Watson being booked, mere moments later the Casuals player retaliated with a rash challenge of his own on Watson with him also walking away with a booking. An ill-timed Sheffield challenge allowed Casuals the best opportunity of the first half, a well-taken free kick from the left wing found number 7 who headed just wide of the post. Sheffield nearly took the lead on the seventy-minute mark in spectacular fashion, Josh Nodder latched onto a ball across the edge of the penalty box with his shot rattling the bar. Casuals found themselves down to ten men after their number 8 was sent off for a second bookable offence. As full-time was approaching, the side from South Yorkshire took the lead. A ball across the face of goal from Maasai Dearlove found Jack Birks who had his effort well saved, from the resulting corner Connor Cutts headed in what would be the winner to take the cup back up the M1.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I had an excellent time in Tolworth. Although I’ve been here a few times it’s always been a pleasant experience. You can tell there’s a real pride in the club’s history and their brotherhood with their Brazilian name sake. I should give a shout out to the staff/volunteers of Corinthian-Casuals who were just fantastic and really informative. They’re a credit to the club especially with the efforts to get the pitch in a playable condition. Both games were an enjoyable watch and I thought all BAK, Hilltop, Sheffield and Corinthian-Casuals put themselves in a good light. Of course, congratulations go to Sheffield FC for winning the whole thing. Lastly, a massive well done to the organisers of the Egri Erbstein tournament for putting on a fantastic feast of football and if a third edition is on the cards I seriously hope I can make it.
View From The Kit Room 