Casuals to Help Commemorate War Centenary

Corinthian-Casuals and Walton and Hersham, along with all other Ryman League clubs are to commemorate the centenary of one of the most iconic moments of the First World War - the 1914 Christmas Truce.

As part of a week of remembrance activity taking place throughout the game for 'Football Remembers Week' from 5-14 December, all 72 clubs will help to create a unique photographic record of football one hundred years later by having mixed squad photos taken before kick-off on Saturday 6 December for posting on new commemorative website www.footballremembers.com.

A joint collaboration between The Football Association, the Premier League, the Football League and the British Council, the aim is to engage football fans and players at every level about what took place on Christmas Day on the battlefields in Belgium when soldiers from both sides put down their weapons and crossed into ‘no man’s land’ to share in an impromptu ceasefire.

First-hand accounts from the time include references to football being played and photographs being taken up and down the front during the first Christmas of the global conflict that is estimated to have cost the lives of at least nine million combatants and seven million civilians between 1914-18.

Matches from the Premier League, Football League and throughout the national league systems are taking part. All photos uploaded to social media using #footballremembers will be automatically uploaded to the website which will act as a moment of record of football in 2014, a century on from the First World War, and will be preserved for future generations.

HRH The Duke of Cambridge, President of The FA, said: "It promises to be a powerful way to engage and educate young people about such an important moment in our history. We all grew up with the story of soldiers from both sides putting down their arms on Christmas Day, and it remains wholly relevant today as a message of hope over adversity, even in the bleakest of times."

Football Remembers kicked off in May 2014 when the Football Association and the other partners launched a Football Remembers education pack that was sent to more than 30,000 schools across the UK. It includes resources to help children learn about the truce – including eye-witness accounts, photos, drawings and letters from soldiers, some of which have never been published before.

Other Football Remembers activities taking place between now and the end of 2014 include a Christmas Truce International Tournament in Ypres for the Premier League’s youth footballers and a competition for schoolchildren to design a poster for the National Football Museum. A Corinthian War Memorial, listing all of the names of those who perished whilst playing for the club is also on display at the Museum.

Corinthians are believed to have lost the most number of players during the Great War of any sporting organisation in the country.

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