EGRI ERBSTEIN

The Egri Erbstein Tournament was played out last Sunday at the United Business Group Stadium, King George's Field, Kingston-u-Thames, Surrey, last Sunday. The home of Corinthian Casuals hosted a little bit of history; the first meeting between two World famous clubs for 128 years. Their first "coming together" was in the FA Amateur Cup First Round Proper in 1894, it's first season of competition. Avoiding the three Qualifying rounds arranged by the Football Association, The Casuals (the original name of the club) met the Sheffield Club at their home ground.  

This time, a last minute header by Connor Cutts gave the Sheffield club a win in the seCond playing of the tournament, named after Erno Egri Erbstein, the mastermind of the great Italian club of the 1940s, Torino. Torino won the Italian, Serie A titles for five consecutive years in that period. 

A book titled "Erbstein", writen by Dominic Bliss, brought into footballing history, yet another fascinating celebration of this great game. Erbstein's story was about a talented  Jewish-Hungarian "coffee house" manager who served in the Austo-Hungarian Army in  the First World War. Having made a name for himself as a football coach, despite antisemitic persecution from Mussolini's regime, Erbstein survived the Holocaust in Italy and went on to manage Il Grand Torino. He tragically died in the Superga Air Crash on May 4th 1949, when the club's aeroplane crashed into the Basilica of Suerpga on the outskirts of Turin.

Bliss' book inspired a Hungarian club, Budapesti Atletika (BAK), where Erbstein had made his debut and spent many years playing, to reach out to an English club of some history. He chose Corinthian-Casuals FC, which as many will know, lies at the heart of English football and indeed, has historically, spread the "word of football", globally through tours. 

The Corinthians, before they merged with The Casuals, had enjoyed a trip to Budapest, just before WW2 began in 1939. It was the club's first tour and they bequeathed a trophy called the Corinthian Cup to the amateur clubs of Hungary to compete for.  BAK and the well known Ferencvaros, modern day football giants in the country, took part in the first ever playing for the BAK Cup.

In 2019, BAK hosted a biennial tournament which the Corinthian-Casuals won. The Pandemic prevented the Corinthian-Casuals from hosting the tournament last year, in England, but things have improved! Combined Counties League (Div 1) club , Hilltop FC, a north-west London club with roots in the Somali community, joined in at the last minute, when the American visitors, Fall River, were unable to travel. The Hilltop FC come from Ruislip, groundshare with Hillingdon Borough FC and was founded in 2005.

To complete the four, Sheffield FC, officially the World's oldest club and BAK came to play in the tournament. 

On day one, the C-C  beat Hilltop 2-0 and BAK lost 0-7 to Sheffield. BAK then drew 1-1 with Hilltop, regaining some dignity! whilst Sheffield conquered in the "Final". The winners really were all the folk who turned up to witness the celebration of  Erbstein's story. Erbstein's grandson, Stefano de Bosio, presented the trophy and plans are already in place for a third edition  of the tournament and celebration; keeping "the legacy alive". Nice story!