Chairman notes | Hendon | 4/10/25

Welcome back to Champion Hill, where today we take a break from our Isthmian League campaign as the focus turns to one of the knockout competitions.

This time it's the start of our FA Trophy campaign. Whilst of course the magic of the FA Cup is all about seeing how far minnows, including all of the non-league clubs can progress, in the FA Trophy, two non-league clubs are guaranteed a trip to Wembley next May for the final. 

We have made no secret of our desire to deliver a marked improvement in what fans can expect of our team in the knockout competitions. It has been six years since we made the FA Cup First Round Proper and eight years since we reached an FA Trophy Quarter-Final before bowing out in a replay against eventual finalists Macclesfield Town. Since that run we have seen our peers Concord Rangers reach the 2020 final and Hornchurch go one better and lift the trophy whilst still an Isthmian Premier side one year later. So, it's about time we made our own mark on this competition once again.

Our opponents today are Hendon with whom we have plenty of recent history. Our survival last season came at the Greens' expense, with them finishing just one place below us in the final relegation spot. Then of course there was our penalty shootout play-off victory against them in 2018. Inbetween, the north Londoners got some revenge when they won on penalties in a 2022 London Senior Cup Quarter-Final.

They come into this match reinvigorated. After a difficult, winless start to the season in August, their two previous victories in this competition – against Littlehampton and Beckenham Town's – formed part of an unbeaten September. Goals have been easy to come by of late too – Hendon have racked up 19 in their last four matches! So, whilst it's good to welcome them back, don't let their mid-table Step 4 league position lull you into thinking this will be anything but a tough, competitive contest.

Our own fortunes have wavered recently with some tough results – albeit against some of the division's top sides – following our blistering August start. Mark Dacey’s team will be looking to bounce back quickly, and I’d like to thank you for your support in both good and less good times. I’d also like to remind you all that we are now at home next Saturday with the re-arranged league visit of Cray Wanderers moving from the original Tuesday 14th date to Saturday 11th October – in just seven days. Fixtures should become more static during October, but I'd still like to thank you all for your patience with the myriad changes of the past weeks... 

Ben Clasper

MANAGER NOTES | Whitstable Town | 30/08/25

Hello and welcome back to Champion Hill on what is a special day for the club, our 100th campaign in the world's oldest knockout competition – the FA Cup. Today's match will bring a close to what has been a decent first month in charge. Last Monday's fixture down at Whitehawk was disappointing.

The way we chose to set up was, in retrospect, something we didn't quite get right. I’ll hold my hands up. Lessons have been learned and it is something to build on when that situation arrives again. I’d like to welcome all of those associated with Whitstable Town including their manager Jamie Coyle. I'd also like to offer my belated congratulations on winning the FA Vase.

It's a dream of everyone’s to reach Wembley and win and the Oysters did just that back in 2024/25. After today, we face a tough September with league fixtures against the sides sitting above and below us in the table.

It will be a real test of our character and of our squad depth. But three games on the spin at Champion Hill excites us. There is nothing better than playing here in front of our fans.

You’ve been amazing so far, keep getting behind the boys. Enjoy the warm weather and more importantly today's game.

Mark.

CHAIRMAN NOTES | Whitstable Town | 30/08/25

Welcome to Champion Hill and thank you for joining us for the start of our 100th FA Cup campaign. Last season’s FA Vase winners Whitstable Town are the side that stand in the way of us progressing beyond the First Qualifying Round for the first time since we returned to the Isthmian League back in 2023.

Since we've been back at Step 3, the last two seasons have seen us draw at home, before replay defeats away against opposition from leagues below. So we know only too well that there is no room for complacency, especially against a side with a recent Wembley triumph fresh in the memory and 16 goals in their two FA Cup ties this season.

The games are coming thick and fast and we are still waiting on a few players to regain match fitness, so it wasn’t a huge surprise to see our unbeaten start come to an end in extremely tough conditions at Whitehawk last Monday.

We knew it wouldn’t be a pitch on which we would be able to play the way we prefer, but even I was shocked at just how dangerous it was with many of the Whitehawk team succumbing to non-contact injuries during the match – some of them on multiple occasions.

We can only wish them all a speedy recovery and thank our lucky stars that we escaped with only a cut to Danny Mills’ head. That trip to East Brighton came after a resilient victory at home to Canvey Island just 48 hours earlier. This was the sort of match we have become almost used to losing recently – often to a sucker punch after failing to break down oppoents set up in a low block.

It was therefore extremely positive to see our new look team remain patient and find a way through to earn a fourth straight win. Being unable to find a way to overcome such stubborn defensively-minded opponents was another negative trait we set out to fix as part of our offseason reset.

It was good to see an early season performance offer such promise. Today we can take a breather from the Isthmian League and concentrate on the first of the cups. Hopefully that’s another negative trait we can tick off. It’s understandable why Dulwich fans believe that they have a passion for the knock-out competitions that has not been shared by Hamlet's recent managers. They are right to want and expect more.

In Manager Mark Dacey we have someone who led Rayners Lane to a Middlesex Senior Cup triumph last season, whilst First Team Coach Junior James was part of AFC Whyteleafe's run to that Wembley FA Vase final against Whitstable Town.

Everything points to an exciting afternoon of football and I’d like to thank you all for your support, as I know it’s tough when we are at home, week in, week out, during the early stages of the season...

CHAIRMAN NOTES | Chatham Town | 26/4/25

Our win at home to Canvey Island last week may have secured our status in the Isthmian Premier League, but it did nothing to paper over the cracks that would be brutally exposed again just 48 hours later at Carshalton.

When we changed the manager in January, my forecast suggested 46 points was a realistic outcome if we could arrest the slide and we find ourselves three points short going into our final game. But we have to remember how far those expectations have dropped since August. It is not a cause for celebration.

It’s been a poor season on the pitch and once again we are club widely admired in all areas except the results and performances of our men’s team. I believe that stems from one simple fact: we have not run the footballing side in the same way we run everything else and whilst we have discussed that inconsistency before we have always found a reason not to hit the reset button.

Not this time. Everyone I have spoken agrees that a new approach is needed, one that reflects what Dulwich Hamlet FC should stand for and builds on what has made us successful in other areas. We need to start with what is expected of the manager and the structure in which they operate.

To date, our input has been limited to appointing a manager and giving them a budget. All other decisions have been the manager’s: staffing, player recruitment, contracts, fitness, physio, training schedules... everything. This is far from the collaborative approach that works for us elsewhere.

Recent history has taught us that such an approach only functions when things are going well. In tough times, the current structure too often becomes a source of conflict and division. Time and time again this has resulted in a long run of poor results that consecutive managers have been unable to halt.

Our team have been working on a new framework for the past few months that I believe will have everyone pulling in the same direction and working first and foremost for the benefit of the club.

It is also clear that we have failed to communicate to the players what it should mean to play for Dulwich Hamlet and failed to create the right sort of environment to keep them all playing and have the right sort of accountability that motivates performance. This season has seen 20% to 25% of our playing budget unavailable for selection every single week.

That’s an average of four or five first team players being absent. We have also failed to break the on-pitch patterns from the 2023/24 season – conceding late goals, collapsing at the first sign of adversity and seeing most of the goals we concede arising from our individual mistakes, rather than goals being earnt by opponents through their good play.

It’s been incredibly frustrating for fans who both struggle to build connections with players who are in and out of the team or identify with and get behind a team that lets them down with the same mistakes occurring match after match. Fans are desperate to support the team and get behind the players, but it’s a tough ask when people are starting to dread the away days, fear the inevitable outcome after the first mistake and approach the last ten minutes of every game with trepidation.

Our recent situation has meant that we have had to have two plans ready to go for next season and the only positive from last Saturday is that we now know which level we will be playing at in 2025/26 and therefore which plan we will put into motion. We are ready to act quickly and we are committed to taking the decisions I believe are necessary to break from the failures of our recent past.

I would also like to address the news that was circulating after our London Senior Cup semi-final defeat away at Hanwell Town earlier this month. It is correct that Hanwell’s 'Man of the Match' that night - Joe Waight - was in fact ineligible for the game. As soon as this was discovered, it was reported. However, the London FA committee have decided not to expel Hanwell from the competition, so they will still progress to the final.

I spoke with their representatives and they were understandably distraught about both the error and the prospect of losing their place in the final. I can assure you that there was certainly no deliberate attempt to gain an unfair advantage. It’s a no-win situation: this is not the way they would have wanted to progress and we certainly don't want to reach a final by default on a technicality.

On the night, they were excellent hosts and we wish them well in the final, while once again consoling ourselves with 'The Moral Victory'. So, that means today will be the final outing of the season for the men’s team. I know the players are disappointed with how the 2024/25 campaign has finished and I hope they can give you an afternoon deserving of your wonderful support.

On behalf of the club I would like to say thank you for continuing to show up, for backing the team home and away, and for always being respectful when delivering criticism - which has been wholly justified. I hope our upcoming decisions are deserving of your support in future.

Ben