By Zac Welshman
Photos by Stuart Tree
From Stockwell to Selhurst and Woking to Tolworth, Nathaniel Pinney has certainly been around the block during his distinguished career. And after making his 100th Corinthian-Casuals appearance against Hornchurch on Tuesday, he became the latest in the club’s long line of history makers. We sat down with the man they call ‘Bozie’ to learn more about his life and his footballing journey.
Nat, let's start by hearing how you got involved in football, can you tell us about your early years in the game?
Yeah, it started when I was like six years old, as soon as I learnt how to kick a ball that was it, it was football from the get-go. I started with the local teams in Stockwell and it just kept on progressing each year until I was onto the books at Crystal Palace.
And that was obviously a big step up, I wasn’t used to the full-time academy training schedule, I was just trying to get up to speed and it was difficult at first, but when you’re in and around it, you get used to it and you start settling in.
And you clearly settled in well, there’s a story that you kept Wilfried Zaha out of the youth team. Can you tell us more about that and your relationship with him?
To be fair, everyone blows that out of proportion! I didn’t really keep him out of the team, he was a year younger than me so he played with his age group and I played with mine, but there would be three or four of the boys from the year below training with us so me and Wilf were in training together.
If he needed any advice or help with anything, I was always there for him. But he’s gone onto bigger and better things, and [to go from] what he was doing at that age to what he does now is magical stuff. I still speak to him now and then when I get the chance, I keep in touch with a lot of the boys that were in my age group at Palace.
You made your professional debut at 19, coming off the bench against Cardiff in the Championship. What was it like walking out as a professional the first time?
Yeah, Neil Warnock gave me my debut at Selhurst Park. I was probably only on for about five minutes, but even for those 5 minutes, it was one of the best feelings ever. To step on the pitch at Selhurst park, it felt surreal, to be honest, training during the week with the first team and being told that I was in the squad, I was just so excited, and then being told I was coming on just topped it all.
It was during a loan spell at Woking that you started to really cement yourself in the men’s game. What was the transition like for you?
Yeah, when I was at Palace we would play the Under-18s games on a Saturday at around 11am, and by 1pm your day was done unless the first team had a home game, and we would go to Selhurst Park to watch. But to go out on loan and get that feeling of men’s football and three o’clock kick-offs was amazing. Everyone wants to be playing football, so to get that opportunity to go to Woking was really good.
Let’s move on to your time at Casuals. You made your 100th appearance for the club on Tuesday against Hornchurch, how did it feel to reach that landmark and to be involved in such a vital equaliser?
To be fair, I didn’t even think I was going to get on! I only got the last five minutes, but every time I get onto the pitch, just to represent Corinthian-Casuals it’s a very good feeling. So when I got the nod from the gaffer and came onto the pitch to get my 100th appearance, I felt over the moon. To reach 100 games for that club is something special, the club has so much history and the players know all the stories so it’s a good feeling.
I was just happy we got the equaliser, to be honest. If we’d have lost that it would have been a hard pill to swallow. Everyone worked hard, and It’s a good point that we can take to Folkestone.
You arrived in the summer of 2019, can you tell us about when you first joined the club?
I was at Whitehawk and we played Casuals on the last day of the season. I knew a few of the boys here at the time and after the game, I was chatting to Prings [Dan Pringle], who was the assistant manager at the time, he was telling me to come down for pre-season, so I came down, and the rest is history.
Can you pick out a highlight from your time here so far?
Just playing for the club! It’s a well-run club and the fans are some of the best I’ve played under. They come to every game, whether it’s the furthest away game or the closest, and from minute one they’re singing. Win lose or draw they’re with us through thick and thin, so the highlight has just been playing for the club in general.
Obviously, I had a spell where I left the club for about a month, but I came back for Justin’s first game in charge, and being back amongst it, being around the boys, and seeing the fans again, I was like: this is home. It was good to be back.
Pulling from all of your experience within the game, what do you think needs to happen in order for us to stay up this season?
I just think we need to stay together, and all be in it together. The last month hasn’t been nice to us fixture-wise, but we’ve done well in games. It’s just that final bit of concentration that’s let us down. But if we can all pull together, I’m 100 per cent sure we can turn this round and stay up. The squad’s capable of doing it, we’ve got lots of young players and lots of energy, and we’re going into the next game to get all three points. The club’s too good to be in the lower leagues.
Obviously, you’ve still got a lot left in the tank, what’s next for you now?
Yeah, there’s a lot more life in me! Until my knees say it’s time to pack it up, I’ll continue as long as I can. But now I’ve got my eldest son following in his dad’s footsteps. He’s just got to keep his head down and keep working hard, and I’m sure big things will come.
Finally, is there anything you want to say to the fans?
Like I said, since I’ve been here they’ve supported us through thick and thin, long may it continue. They’re always our 12th man, even if we lose they’re still singing and it’s a credit to them. Hopefully, they can stay with us, keep fighting with us and I hope I see them at Folkestone away to help us get the three points!