Many factors can cause a football match to be delayed. Some of the most common are bad weather, riot supporters before the match, and terror attacks.
Commonly, a football match will only have one day to a week’s delay. For example, the match between Borrusia Dortmund and Atletico Madrid, which should originally take place on 12 April 2017, had to be postponed due to a bomb attack on the Dortmund team bus. The match was then held the next day.
There was also the match between Man United vs Bournemouth in the 2015/16 primary league which had to be canceled because there was an item suspected to be a bomb at Old Trafford. The audience at that time was sent home so that the police could sterilize the situation. The match was held three days after and Man United won 3-1.
The two matches above are only a few of the many matches that were canceled due to certain circumstances. But what would happen if a football match was delayed for 100 years? The match brought together Brazilian club Corinthians against English club Corinthian-Casuals.
It began when the power of professional clubs in England grew, Corinthian-Casuals, formerly called Corinthian FC, began a tour of Brazil in 1910 after receiving an invitation from Charles Miller, a man generally regarded as the founding father of Brazilian football and also a former Corinthian player FC.
During their first tour in Brazil, Corinthian FC was unbeaten. They won the matches including winning over the Brazilian All-Stars team and the Sao Paulo Athletic Club.
But the more important thing was that their game was able to captivate and inspired five train workers in Sao Paolo who happened to watch the match, namely Anselmo Correa, Antonio Pereira, Carlos Silva, Joaquim Ambrosio, and Raphael Perrone.
These five men then held a meeting to set up a football club in Sao Paolo. And that was when the new club was officially founded. Since it was lured by the eleventh game they watched, the name Corinthians was finally used.
The birth of SC Corinthians Paulesta also has a long history with English football. Brazilian football at that time could only be enjoyed by the upper classes, nobles, and rich people.
During this period, the English club Corinthians FC became one of the most famous teams in the world. They were getting so famous that they were invited back to Brazil on two occasions.
Corinthians FC returned in 1913 and scheduled a match against SC Corinthians Paulista in Sao Paulo in August 1914. But when the Corinthians Casuals ship anchored in northeast Brazil, they learned that there had been a war that brought England together with Germany.
For this incident, the British club decided to return to their country. Thus, the first match that should bring together Corinthians FC against SC Corinthians Paulista was canceled. During the First World War, many Corinthians FC players died.
The delayed match was then resumed on January 24, 2015, which coincided with the founding date of Sao Paolo. A warm welcome was felt by Corinthian-Casuals when they arrived at the airport after a long journey from London to Sao Paolo.
Something they had never felt so far. The excitement and warm welcome were still received along the road and at Corinthians Arena Stadium where they had their practice and match.
Although it was a friendly match, the game still ran in a competitive atmosphere. Both teams played with all their hearts, trying to win the match. Some players also exchanged uniforms and teams during the match, following the previous traditions. The match itself ended with the score 3-0 for the host’s victory.
The Corinthians still thought that the final score was not important to them, as long as young fans understood and remembered their histories.
Since it was founded in 1910, SC Corinthians FC has grown to become a football giant in Brazil. They won Campeonato Brasileiro for seven times and lifted the Copa Libertadores trophy. In 2000 and 2012, they won the World Cup of Club, beating Vasco and Chelsea in the finals.
With 30 million fans, they also became the most supported club in the country of Brazil with great and famous players including Rivellino and Socrates.
Meanwhile, a different fate experienced by Corinthians Casuals. After tasting their victory in the early 1900s under the name Corinthian FC, they then experienced a decreasing performance due to the death of some players during the first world war.
Corinthian FC could not return to its heyday so that in 1939 they changed their name to Corinthians Casuals which was the result of a merger between two teams namely Corinthian FC (1882) and Casuals (1883).
Currently, this team which is called “The Chocolate & Pink” is in the Isthmian League or the eighth division in the pyramid of the English Football competition. As an amateur team, their match has never been watched by many people. The supporters who attended their match ranged from 75-150 people on each game. Even Corinthian-Casuals Stadium is also small.
