John Wragg

Former Corinthian Casuals footballer John Wragg (pic, back left) died on 5th Nov 2021 aged 94.

John’s playing career with the Club stretched from the late 1940s to 1961  playing in the defence in the back or centre-half position, and featured in all the Club’s sides from the Schools XI up to the First team. Apart from one season - 53/54 - when he made 35 appearances, he was not a regular First team player, nevertheless, during his career he made at least 71 appearances. His debut was in October 1951 when he played at left-back against Cambridge University at Kennington Oval and, in his first Isthmian League game against Woking in February 1952, also at the Oval, the CCFC newsletter reported “The defence was quite impressive with John Wragg playing a strong game at centre-half.”  C-C won the match 7-2. At Easter 1952, John went on the first of his two foreign tours with the club to France.

Possibly as a sign of his ‘strong game’, the Newsletter reports that playing for the Reserves against Leytonstone Reserves in December 1952, “JW Wragg had to leave the field with a broken nose”. In April 1953 the Club undertook an ambitious tour to Tripoli in Libya and John is described in the tour brochure as “a rugged player who never knows when he is beaten has been kept out of C-C First team by the consistent form of Dennis Eastland. [He] is an architect employed by the London County Council.”

His only full season in the First XI, 53/54, was completed when he played at right-back in the Surrey Senior Cup Final against Epsom at Crystal Palace FC, Selhurst Park; Corinthian Casuals winning 2-0, the first trophy they had won since the amalgamation of the Club in 1939.

Unfortunately, John missed most of the 1954/55 season with a back injury and lost his place. Subsequent seasons saw sporadic appearances in the First team, but regular football for the other Club XI’s. His last First team appearance was in August 1958 when the side suffered an 1-8 defeat in an Isthmian League match away to Oxford City.

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