The latest from Chairman Ben Clasper, from the programme of our Home game against Braintree Town on Saturday, February 26th.

Firstly, a quick update on the new stadium. Last week we reported that the section 106 agreement with Southwark Council had been finalised (the agreement that defines how a development will be delivered to the benefit of the community) and this week I am pleased to say that we have confirmation that we have planning permission granted with legal agreement for the new stadium and residential development.

With that agreement in place we will now be kicking off the three year plan which will begin with the sharing of the club’s top to bottom review of how the club is run today, how it will need to evolve to manage the interim period before the new stadium is ready and how we will then manage the move into the new facilities. We are looking forward to working closely with the supporters’ trust and hoping to see lots of offers from the fan base to help in areas where people have the time and skills to move the club forward. Together with the trust we will discuss how to communicate those plans with the whole fan base but if you are interested in being involved can I encourage you again to join the supporters’ trust if you are not already a member.

Events on the pitch in the past week also mean we now have a finite number of matches remaining in the regular season at Champion Hill as the men’s defeat at Hendon in the London Senior Cup means that with no more cup competitions after today’s game we have only five more games. We were hoping for a home draw for the women’s team in the semi-finals of the Capital Cup after our victory at home to Crystal Palace’s development team last week to add an extra fixture but have instead been drawn away. This season seems to have gone by in a flash and after three more games we will have reached the 75% completion threshold needed for the season to be resolved on a points per game basis even if the worst happens and another wave of the pandemic brings things to a halt.

Whilst it has been a relief to see some of our players returning from injury with Charlie Grainger, Jordan Higgs and Darren McQueen all re-joining the team in recent weeks our run of bad luck on that front has continued as we have had to add Jazzi Barnum-Bobb, Andre Blackman and Gio McGregor to the missing list over the past couple of weeks. Despite the turnover we are still in the play-off spots going into today’s game and after Dartford’s defeat at Hungerford during the week it is hard to see beyond Dorking and Maidstone for the title race but the picture may become clearer after they face each other today before Dorking then meet Dartford the following weekend. Six teams will qualify for the play-offs and whilst Oxford and Ebbsfleet will be hoping their buffer is enough to see them through to the end of the season there is very little to separate the pack of five teams fighting for the final two spots. The fact that we are in that pack shows the progression we have made compared with prior seasons in the National League.

On behalf of the club I would like to thank you for your support throughout this season and hope that you can get behind the team for the run-in, I know that the support from the terraces is a huge motivating factor for the team. A while ago I wrote about the fact that my biggest disappointment during the pandemic when fans were not allowed to attend was that we had players and a team with whom I thought you would have really connected and keeping those players and finally being able to see that come to life and to hear new songs and hear new names being chanted is a reminder of what this football club is about. We are not alone in seeing crowds increase in non-league football but what I really admire at Dulwich Hamlet is the way that those who have been attending for longer put the effort in to ensure what we stand for permeates through the growing crowds.

I hope you all enjoy the visit of Braintree today whether it’s your first game or you already call Champion Hill your home.