Non-League and Academy football writer

(Left to right: Toff, Luke, myself, and Edward)

South Bank Cuaco FC have eight Saturday sides, with their men’s first team playing their football in the Southern Amateur League Division Three, under the tutelage of long serving manager and club chairman Edward Watson. South Bank Cuaco were formed as the result of a merger of South Bank (London) and C G U Cuaco (formed in 1919) in 2001. The club who play their home games at Dulwich Sports Ground, in south London, are a fantastic community club. Ahead of their first team’s recent home game (they won 3-0!) against Old Parmiterians, I had the pleasure and the privilege of learning more about the club. As I interviewed Toff Choudhury, the club’s tireless treasurer and match secretary, long serving first team manager and club chairman Edward Watson, and the club’s captain, Luke Howard. I would like to thank Toff, Edward, and Luke for taking the time to speak to me, and I look forward to following their results during the remainder of the 2024/25 season. The great work that Toff, Edward, and Luke all put into the club, truly is very admirable, and it shows just how great and important amateur football is.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football, prior to joining South Bank Cuaco?

Toff: I’m born and raised in Dartford, and I played five-a-side and 11-a-side football at school, and with mates practically four or five times a week. I then went to university and played for the university side, running a halls of residence team, before then coming back to Dartford. I did play for a team in Dartford, but I never really enjoyed it. One of my best mates from university said that I should come down to South Bank, and after travelling (it takes an hour to get to their ground for a home game, for me) there to play one game for them, I though that it was such a friendly club with the post match social afterwards. And I have been here ever since!

Luke: I actually didn’t play much football when I was younger. I only played one season of junior football and then half a season at South Bank youth, before joining Tulse Hill, for half a season. I then didn’t play for a team again until I was 18, when I joined South Bank Cuaco, and I’ve been here ever since.

Edward: I reckon that I’ve been playing football for 57 years. I started coaching 40 odd years ago, and I joined this club in 1992. I became the head-coach here 20 years ago, before then becoming the chairman around nine years ago.

Could you talk me through a bit about the history of South Bank Cuaco FC?

Edward: So when I first joined the club, Borough Polytechnic as they were then (later South Bank), we had a bit of a crisis, with so many pitches, but only so many players at the club. So by that stage we were pretty much down to only one team. Cuaco Union insurance company (they were financed by Cuaco the company) had lots of football teams, but Cuaco had withdrawn funding, and so they didn’t have a ground. And so in 2001 the two clubs merged, to become South Bank Cuaco. With that we had around five teams at one stage, before building that up to ten teams, and now currently we have eight teams. But we are definitely one of the stronger teams in terms of numbers in the Southern Amateur League.

Could you talk me through a bit about some of your recent memories/personal highlights, of being involved with the club?

Toff: My personal highlight would be being on the club committee for the past ten years. And just being a part of that, and the camaraderie that comes with it, that is really special. We’ve recently lost some club legends, Colin Ferris and Ralph Salter, and some of the stuff that they’ve instilled on us has made being at the club a pleasure, and something important that you are helping to contribute towards. Also,  another highlight that I must mention is that we now go on tour, with us currently being on nine footballing tours as a club. And the last one that we went on abroad to, we had 32 club members there.

Luke: I think that my best personal highlight was a cup win around 16 years ago, that I was involved in with the club. Also, getting to 10 teams is a big achievement, and at one point (with two friendly teams) we had 12 teams out on a weekend. The 2s winning a league and cup double, that is part of the history of the club now. So I would say that those are some of my highlights so far, of being involved with the club. Also, the social aspects of the club is something that has come on leaps and bounds since when I first joined, to where we are now. We’ve got a good social core, and there are people who stay around after the games and have a good night out. And the club tours are another great thing, and Toff deserves a lot of credit for helping to make that happen, as he does a lot of the difficult and hard work in order to lead a very good team, to make those tours so successful.

Edward: Like Luke said, our cup win in 2008 was something that we weren’t supposed to get anywhere near to achieving, but in the end we won it. So that would be a big memory for me, and also from a coaching perspective the way that the first team has been playing, and also some of other teams as well, that is something that I’m proud of. As we’ve been working towards that for about 20 years, and we have made big progress as a club. I suppose that the ultimate highlight however, is taking the club into a team of volunteers who put in a lot of work to make this club a a very social club, but also a professional club, as well. We might not always agree as a committee, but we seem to have managed to build one of the strongest clubs in the league, so that is definitely a highlight for me.

Could you talk me through a bit about last season (2023/24), for South Bank Cuaco and their first team? 

Toff: They play good football, play well against the top teams but dropped points against those near the bottom. Ed has really helped to create a very good footballing philosophy in the first team and the results will come.

Luke: I think that like Ed said, we just haven’t been able to beat some of the lower sides in the league in recent seasons. But the first team improving and hopefully getting promoted, is something that has a really big and positive impact on the club and its teams as a whole. 

Edward: Last season was a bit of a disappointment. We started off very well, but I think that not having an out and out goalscorer was an issue last season, even though as a team we created a lot of chances. Also, I think that we played really well against good sides, and we beat good sides last season. But we play really well on a good pitch, and on a wide pitch as well. We beat most of the good teams in our division last season, but we just couldn’t beat some of the other teams. 

For their quality as a team, who would you say was the toughest team that the first team played last season?

Toff: I was impressed with Bank Of England as a team, when we played them last season.

Luke: Although I don’t get to watch many of the first team’s games, going by the league table from last season as well, I would say West Wickham and Nottsborough.

Edward: West Wickham 2s. They won the league last season, and we drew one of our games against them, and lost one last season. 

What have you made of how the current Southern Amateur League (Senior Division Three) season (2024/25), has gone so far, at this very early stage of the season for South Bank Cuaco, and in general?

Toff: It’s been a bit of a stop start season so far, with some interesting results. But things have improved and we now have a number of teams in the title hunt or promotion.

wo, for next season.

Luke: I think that down from second to eighth in the table, there is maybe a difference of one or two points between the teams who are looking to go up, and then the ones who are trying to avoid relegation to division four. So I think that it’s going to be a really tight league this season.

Edward: I think that it’s going to be a very tight league this season. There are enough teams of a good enough quality to go up to division two. But it is still very early days in the season. 

What are some of your hopes for all of South Bank Cuaco’s teams this season, in their respective divisions?

Toff: Things can change a lot in the space of a few weeks. Three weeks ago we had a run of three weeks where we only won one game. We had good sides out for those games which we were losing by the odd goal, but no one complained about things, and instead they just got on with. If the 1s win today against Old Parmiterians, then they go third in their league, for example. So it would be nice if the ones won the league, and it would be huge for the club filtering down.

Luke: It would be nice if any side won their respective league this season. Obviously I’d love it to be the first team, as they are the flagship side in any club, but honestly if any team at the club wins a trophy this season, then that would be great, and it’s also something that no one can take away from us. Also, promotion for any side, including the first team, would be brilliant.

Edward: I couldn’t agree more with what Toff and Luke have said, in regard to some of our hopes as a club for this season.

What are some of your hopes for the club (South Bank Cuaco) in the future?

Toff: Away from the on field success I just want the club to continue to be a club of really good guys, and somewhere where you feel at home, and where you look after people as well. The community side of the club is very important to me.

Luke: I think that the foundations of the club are there, from the committee to the ground. Like Ed said, it’s just about getting even more talent into the club, but it has been a long road to get to where we are today, and getting the 1s to where they are today. It’s just about doing the best that we can for the club. It’s also great for all of the players to get out and meet each other on a Saturday, and it’s great for your mental health as well.

Edward: I think that we’re always building, and it would be good just to build on the successes of this year. We do need to get the 1s and the 2s up a league, just to attract more talent to the club. We’ve got a very good and solid social base at the club, and everyone loves being at the club, and so we’ve got that sorted out. But what we need to now is to get the player strength up, which is where we are going next. Also, one of the things that is very important to me is that the club brings people together, and that they enjoy their football on a Saturday.