By Stuart Tree

​It’s five past five on Saturday the 9th of November and Jerson Dos Santos had just poked home a 96th minute winner at Guildford City to give Corinthian-Casuals a hard fought tenth win of the season. The feeling was good. Ask any Casuals fan if the season had been a success up to that point and there would be a resounding yes!

Fast forward to April and Casuals had embarked on an 18-game winless streak that had seen Casuals plummet from playoff outsiders to hovering around mid-low table. A win against relegated Spelthorne Sports on the last day of Mu Maan’s inaugural managerial campaign lifted spirits and also Casuals’ position to 13th in the league. Had the season been a success? The answer might not be so resounding.

Maan’s task was set in three parts; Stabilise the club on field, bring back that ‘Casuals’ feeling, especially with the fans and obtain at least a mid-table finish. Arguably, the first two objectives were complete. Following two relegations and a season which saw 99 players wear the Chocolate and Pink, it was imperative to bring a sense of identity back. The appointment of Mu Maan was a popular decision amongst the faithful. A former player who began his career with Corinth and amassed over 100 appearances, Mu scored goals that lived long in the memory (that free kick against Greenwich in the playoff semi-final for instance). Alongside him was former striker Gabriel Odunaike, his brother and Isthmian League South winner Mo Maan as well as Richard Blackwell.

An away pre-season visit to Tilbury to see Casuals take on Grays Athletic was fan's first viewing of this new look side and many were delighted to see old stalwarts Warren Morgan and Reyon Dillon amongst the new look Casuals side. Joining them was Shea Cascoe-Rogers, the shining light of an otherwise dull previous season. Notably, a host of talented Brazilian players joined the cast – all the more poignant considering the club’s South American ties.
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Brian Adamson brings us up to speed with the latest from the club, as we begin work on ground improvements and announce a new development squad…
 
As the 2024/25 season has now ended, we are already planning for the next campaign, which will be Mu’s second as manager, giving us a sense of stability going into the summer. We very much look forward to what 2025/26 will bring for Corinthian-Casuals and we already have a few updates to bring you, both on and off the pitch.

This summer, we are launching a Development Team, completing the pathway for players between the Under-18s and the first team. They will play in the Suburban League, which is made up of other Development, Under-21s and Under-23s sides, depending on the various structures of the clubs involved.

The games will be on Saturdays at 3pm, with a maximum of eight home league matches to be held at King George’s Field on weekends when the first team are away, which supporters are very welcome to attend, while our Under-18s team have agreed a deal to play their home games at Banstead Athletic FC next season.

With the Epsom & Ewell groundshare now over, there will be far fewer games on the main pitch next season, which should benefit the first team as it will hopefully keep the pitch in better condition.

The development team will be managed by Paul Hill, who was previously in charge of our Under-18s, and I think it will help Mu as well, because players from his first-team squad who maybe haven’t got time on the pitch one week could have an opportunity to play in the development team the following weekend, and he has the option to alternate players between the first-team bench and the development team depending on the situation.

We’ve also begun improvement works at the ground ahead of next season. We are well underway with the construction of a new beer cellar and a bigger club shop, which will be housed in a new building next to the clubhouse, where a storage container previously stood.

The club shop will include a storeroom to help us keep it neat and tidy and there will be room to display the shirts and lines of merchandise, as well as to sell programmes on matchdays.

Meanwhile, a new outside bar behind the main stand will soon be complete – the brewery are coming down this week to plumb in lines for the four best sellers on tap, and will provide us with fridges as well, while we will extend the astroturf from the Fan Zone to incorporate the new bar area too.

We’ve also secured a grant from the Premier League Stadium Fund to lay new tarmacked hard standing on the spectator side of the pitch perimeter fencing that was installed last summer. Then we have ordered new front gates to the car park and new perimeter fencing between our car park and the park next door.

Finally, if we get planning permission for the nine-a-side 3G pitch and padel courts behind the far end of the stadium, that installation will also begin as soon as possible.

So, there is plenty of work ahead this summer but hopefully we will see a big improvement in the facilities next season, which we can all enjoy.

We will be hosting volunteer work parties on Saturdays throughout the summer to help get the ground in good shape ahead of pre-season, starting this weekend. So, if you can spare some time between 10am and 3pm this Saturday or in weekends to come, please do come down and lend a hand as we cannot do this without our brilliant volunteers.

Thank you all for your fantastic support and I look forward to seeing you all soon.
 
Brian