Commercial & Community news

Before a new column in tomorrow's programme against Tonbridge Angels, here is what we had to say in the one against Kingstonian in our last home match

Good afternoon everyone,

It really does seem like half a season has flown since our last home First Team match! But if we wanted a game to ‘whet the appetite’ then you couldn’t ask for a much more mouth-watering fixture than the historical one against Kingstonian-the first time we met in the Isthmian League was way back in 1929!
And whilst the local rivalry has been good down the years it’s always been friendly without the intensity of matches against other sides our fans deem to be our main rivals. Since our return to the Premier Divison our visits to their Kingsmeadow home have seen amazing backing from our fans, both at the match last season, and the one earlier in this campaign, which was on a Monday night. We hope the atmosphere at the game today will match those from when we went to their place!

We are fortunate to have both a Match Sponsor & a Match Ball sponsor for today. Our Match Sponsor has a ‘Kingstonian connection’, as we are pleased to have ‘ANDERSON TRAVEL’ backing us today…even though they are the company of Mark Anderson, who is the co-chairman of the K’s! Anderson Travel supply the team coach for Dulwich Hamlet away matches, and have also been the company Shaun Dooley uses when he books the occasional Supporters’ Bus to longer distance matches.

Our matchball sponsor is the ‘HONOR OAK HANDYMAN’, who many of you will know is the ‘day job’ of Dulwich Hamlet Football Committee & Supporters Trust Board member ANDY GREIG, thus providing a vital link between the Club & our independent fans organisation. He helps the Hamlet in many ways, not just through having an advertisement in this matchday programme & a pitchside hoarding, but also generously helping Supreme Engraving & Awards UK, by co-sponsoring our official Player of the Month awards. Every club up and down the length & breadth of the country needs loyal supporters like Andy, & his family. At Champion Hill we are extremely fortunate to have him as ‘one of our own’.

For those of you who didn’t manage to travel into deepest &darkest Essex on Tuesday night for our match with East Thurrock United, you will probably be aware by now that you missed a spectacular goal from Harry Ottaway, to cap his long awaited return from injury. But are you aware that you can re-live the moment by signing up with our Offical Dulwich Hamlet Media Partner FOOTBALL EXCLUSIVES? They cover not just highlights from our matches but also post-match interviews with Gavin Rose and the players. Check them out at their website: http://footballexclusives.com/

To subscribe costs only £5 a month, and you can nominate Dulwich Hamlet to receive £2 of that fee…so not only to you get the pleasure of repeatedly being able to watch exclusive highlights, you also help the Hamlet to boot! As the old saying goes-what’s there not to like? Have a look and sign up today.

I am sure that all of our fans will be aware that here at Champion Hill we are proud to be at the forefront of being a Club that actively promotes the anti-racism and discrimination message. Indeed this season we were honoured to have been chosen as one of only four ambassadors for the ‘Kick It Out’ campaign, back on Non League Day. We have also been at the forefront of campaigning against homophobia in the game, very much led by the active backing of our Supporters Trust. They made rainbow laces available to our players, and sold dozens of pairs in the ground to our fans, on Rainbow Laces Day, as we became the first Ryman League side to actively promote them. And they also facilitated the purchase of a wonderful anti-homophobia in football banner, which you can see pitchside, at the Dog Kennel Hill of the ground. The design is based on the famous German banner carrying the same message, produced by supporters of TeBe Berlin. And our version is a
joint message, paying homage to that, being one from the fans of Dulwich Hamlet & Altona 93, our close friends from Hamburg. Today, a few Hamlet fans from the Trust are missing, as they are in Germany to make a surprise presentation of an identical banner, as well as small button badges carrying the same message. None of this would have been possible without the work from Duncan Hart, of our Trust, in obtaining a grant from Football Against Racism in Europe, whose website is http://www.farenet.org/ if you want to find out more.

Enjoy the game today, & we look forward to seeing as many of you as possible, when we host Beckenham Town, in the London Senior Cup on Tuesday night.