The first of a series of new articles on the Commercial side of things, from the opening programme against Ramsgate:

Good afternoon & welcome to Champion Hill for our first home match of the season, which promises to be almost as exciting OFF the pitch, as on it!

Contrary to the 'urban footballing myth', while football are supporters without a doubt ARE the lifeblood of any Club, whatever the level, up & down the country, & we do put money in through the gate, Clubs like ours cannot survive on turnstile cash alone!

The Limited Company & its owners are not unlike most people, & are feeling the pinch. It is no secret that the playing budget was cut over the summer, as reported in the local press. On the positive side Gavin Rose & his management team have agreed to work with this setback, & will be going all out for promotion this new campaign, hopefully making it 'third time lucky', after coming so close in the last two play-off finals.

As Dulwich Hamlet fans we can all pull together & do our bit to help, not just by getting behind the players on a match day, but by all chipping in to help the Club with a variety of fundraising schemes. One you will see elsewhere in today's programme is regarding individual player sponsorship. In the past this has not always been as subscribed as we would have liked, so we have re-vamped the idea & double the price! BUT...although it now costs £60 to sponsor a player for the year once the season is over you will be sent the actual First Team shirt in the post to keep forever. In addition, we can arrange for you to have the shirt signed by the player you choose, with your own message, if you so wish. As you will notice, this has already proved extremely popular, so we have EXTENDED the scheme to include the away kit, which we are hoping will be soon fully subscribed, as these have never been on general sale as replicas for Hamlet fans to wear. Sixty quid is a lot of money to shell out in one go, so we are more than happy to accept staggered payments of three lots of twenty, or even six tenners, over the season. The only things to bear in mind is that shirts will only be distributed once the season is over AND the Club have the following season shirts from suppliers, in case there is any sort of delay, as Isthmian League rules do not allow us to play in 'skins'! In addition, if your chosen player leaves during the season, we reserve the right to change the player of your sponsorship with another squad member.

If you wish to add your name to any gaps on the kit sponsorship page then simply speak to Liam Hickey, Mishi Morath or Tony Squires, who now form The Hamlet voluntary fundraising team, along with the rest of the Committee.

Moving on, we would like to thank Mr Bernard Shannon, of the Dulwich Hamlet Junior Football Club, for the donation of a deluxe presentation pennant, which was handed over to our guests from RFC Temploux-Suarlee, the Belgian team who a Hamlet XI played on Sunday 5th August, in an international pre-season match. The gesture was much appreciated by the committee of the Senior Club. Incidentally, once their season starts in mid-September, we shall be having round-ups of their eight sides now & again in this match day programme.

For those of you that were here early, pre-match, you will have noticed that the price of a pint was reduced by a POUND before kick off! We are hoping this will continue before all home Hamlet First Team games...but for it to be worthwhile we need Dulwich fans to support it. If you have not been in the bar for a while why not pop in & enjoy the pleasant surroundings, feel the buzz with both home & away fans, catch up on the Premiership & Football League scores on the box & chat to the management & players post-match, who are always approachable. Especially for your youngsters, who they are more than happy to have their photo taken with, & sign autographs for. If you ask nicely, they will do the same for us 'big kids' too! Reducing the price of a pint is a gamble, & strong show of faith in us all by the Club owners, so let us all make the effort before future matches...

What can you do with the money you save? Well we would be lying if we did not say we want some of it back. To this end, Shaun Dooley is launching a wonderful fundraising scheme, that could potentially be the difference between gaining promotion or not! A number of clubs have fans that dig deep into their pockets week after week, paying in to a fund that will be added to the playing budget, on top of what it is set at, by the Club. It is a simple idea, whereby you donate a pound a week, every week, preferably direct from your bank, to a dedicated account, to boost the playing budget. In effect, the fans will pay for an extra player, when enough of us subscribe...we will become the 12th MAN! If you like a drink, why not make yourself healthier in the process, by giving up one pint a week, & donating the cost of that? After all, when you have had a few then you are not going to be in much of a state to miss one more! Likewise, for smokers, try to smoke a cigarette or two a day less & give us the cost of your box of ten! Together we can all help & boost the team by signing off for a handful of loose change a week. There will be leaflets handed out around the ground today. We are NOT after a penny right now. Simply fill in your contact details to express an interest & we will get back to you, once our account is up & running, we plan to start collecting your contributions by the beginning of September. So fill in those forms and hand them back to any committee member today, around the ground, or in the bar afterwards.

We have many ideas, & want yours too. However, it is not just about take, take, take. We want you all to be part of the Club, when you help us. The Club Committee are more than aware that in the past there have been very few, in fact no, social functions for-well let us be honest-a good few seasons. I know that our fans would support them, if we have some. Therefore, what we are looking at is for some of you to come forward & join a small 'Social Sub-Committee' for a few of us to bounce around some ideas, & then arrange them. It would be a small ad-hoc group, working to get even more of a buzz back to our club, as players, committee & fans from both the terraces & the stands are all working together to make our Club stronger. If you want more details then speak to either Shaun Dooley or Mishi Morath, & we will get back to you.

To finish, this column today is all about fundraising, but our 'commercial department' is also about 'community'. We will be striving to attract more fans through the gates, with a number of ticketing incentives, for certain games, aimed at all over our part of South East London. More of that for you to read about in the next programme.

Any ideas you have, and then please approach us, we will not bite, but we WILL listen. It is a steep learning curve for us; we are just volunteers & lifelong fans, like yourselves. We want to take our Club forward, boost the crowds & the coffers...EVERY PENNY COUNTS!

Mishi Morath