Corinthian F.C. (Kent)

Corinthian Football Club is an English association football club formed in 1972 at Hartley in Kent by a millionaire builder named Ron Billings, mainly to give his sons a club to play for. The club fielded an adult side which played at the Gay Dawn Farm sports complex and enjoyed a sudden short run of success in the 1980s. The club returned to the Kent League in 2009 after a lengthy absence.

History

Corinthian FC was founded in 1972 by Ron Billings to provide football in a safe environment, whilst teaching the players the principles that he believed to be important in sport.

The motto was simply “pro omnium beneficio”- for the benefit of all, but on the pitch the principles were simple; “Hard, but fair”. Losing wasn’t considered before the game, but if the result went against them then the team were taught to take it graciously.

For the first ten years of the club's existence they welcomed such teams as Tottenham Hotspur, Charlton Athletic and Norwich City amongst other league teams as well as county and district representative sides as opposition. On top of these games these were many regular visitors to Gay Dawn Farm from local clubs making up a fixture list of 60 games per season.

During the 1980s with the arrival of an experienced football manager, Tony Sitford, they progressed from youth football into competitive men’s football playing in the Southern League, at the time a level 7 league...
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