Contrary to what I have seen written, the current DHWFC are not the first DHWFC but the second. There was a women’s team from 1995 until 1997, I was their programme editor on the rare occasions they played at Champion Hill.

As with the current team, the first DHWFC were an existing two team outfit which took on the name Dulwich Hamlet. Truth be told, that’s about where the similarities end. The first DHWFC were not closely aligned to the men’s set up. They didn’t wear pink and blue instead retaining their existing red and blue striped kit. (I believe some of the club founders were Crystal Palace fans.) Only Women’s F.A. Cup matches were held at Champion Hill, other fixtures were played on park pitches. The men’s set up showed little interest in the women’s section, who reciprocated. The Saturday before their first match as DHWFC the Committee, who usually stayed as far away from the Rabble as possible, descended requesting we represented the club at the match. Largely because they didn’t want to go. A few bleary-eyed rabble members dragged themselves to the fixture, against Watford. Having lived in Liverpool prior to my arrival in London, I clocked a Scouse accent on the Watford team. Future megastar and Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm was playing for Watford around that time. I don’t know whether it was her.

Many of the team were from the era when it was difficult for girls to play football. Consequently, the standard was mixed. The first team included some good players, one centre back wouldn’t have been far off the men’s first XI had she been male. The two sisters who were mainstays of the set up were good players too. Others were less impressive but competent. The second team was a poor standard. When they played teams consisting of younger players, among the first to play regularly at school, the difference in basic skill sets was clear. The rising standards in women’s football didn’t surprise anyone who saw the first Hamlet set up a few times. Whilst some of the old team would have a real chance of getting into the current first XI, I firmly believe the standard is higher than the first set up. 

Like the current set up, the first DHWFC reached a cup final, the 1996 London League Cup Final playing Spurs at Hampton. They lost in a match mainly notable for the lack of a crowd, the rabble turned up mob handed and were just about the only people not related to a player present. Had you said that day Spurs would later play in front of tens of thousands, I would have laughed. There was also a very poor refereeing display, not unusual in women’s football back then. It made no difference to the result.

The first DHWFC were two teams rather than a club. At the end of the second season key players, who were also officials, decided to retire. The club promptly collapsed. Whilst the Football Association decision to promote Queens Park Ranger not DHWFC upset many, those who remember the first DHWFC can probably understand the FA’s decision to prioritise set ups who have a full club set up. 

Champion Hill also hosted two Women’s F.A Cup Semi Finals in the 1990’s. Both drew poor gates. The club failed to produce a match programme for the second match, breaching the hosting agreement with the FA. Unsurprisingly the fixture didn’t return. The old Champion Hill had hosted the Final in 1977, Queens Park Rangers defeated Southampton 1-0, watched by a reported 3,000 strong crowd.