The Dulwich Hamlet player of the year ERHUN OZTUMER had a big article about him, in last Friday's edition of the 'South London Press'

Midfielder says big clubs should look beyond his height
SHORT CHANGED

Erhun Oztumer is only 5ft 3ins tall but was a giant figure in Dulwich Hamlet's Ryman Division One South title-winning season.
And now the Champion Hill playmaker is hoping that scoring 28 goals for the South Londoners begins to prove that his size should not be an issue for clubs at a higher level.
Oztumer, on the books of Charlton between the age of nine and 16, has been scouted by Crystal Palace, Brentford and Millwall over the past campaign. But the big issue has been the 21-year-old's tale of the tape.
"I've heard the reports given to the pro clubs have been really good but when they say I'm 5ft 3ins then they get a bit scared," said Oztumer. "That's definately the problem. For me it's not an issue. I'm scoring 28 goals and playing good football-size shouldn't really matter. I can do it against guys that are 6ft or 7 ft. But when you're going to play at a higher level they want a bit of everything- height, skill and strength. I need the right manager to take me on. That's my dream. I want to be a pro and think I can be a pro. But I need a boss who just takes me for my skill and football ability instead of how tall I am or what I look like."
Oztumer believes that was the reason why Charlton did not offer him a scholarship after several years in the youth set-up.
"It was hard to take," he admitted. "They started to get big boys in and I could tell it was going to be hard to get offered something. I knew it wasn't going to work out."
Oztumer took the decision, at just 16, to play out in Turkey. First he played in the reserves for Marisaspor in the first division before signing terms with Sivasspor in the Super League.
He said: "I played only a handful of first-team games.-it didn't go the best. It was no Dulwich season. I had no family out there and I was living in digs. It was a whole new experience for me-different food and my Turkish wasn't very good so I had to learn the language properly. It made me a pro at ironing! I grew up a lot because I went out there qquite young. It was a tough decision to come back but I wanted to be near my family and I wanted first-team football. I didn't trial anywhere before Dulwich. I called Gavin-I was at his Aspire Academy for five or six months before Turkey-and started going training. Scoring all those goals has been a big achievement for me. I play the number 10 role, so it is still a midfield position. You've got to do a lot of defending, but I've also created a lot. It's been a really good year."
Oztumer's eye-catching performances for Dulwich have attracted other suitors. It remains to be seen if he will be part of Gavin Rose's squad when they gear up for life in the Ryman Premier Division. "There's been rumours and bits of talk but nothing has been offered to me yet," he said. I've spoken to Dulwich and Gavin wants me to stay for another year. I've been happy here. I'm not going to make any decision yet. I'll wait and see if anything does come through. Gavin has said if there is anything higher he wants me to go because we are helping each other out. The Premier Division should suit us more because I'd expect pitches to be a bit better. But we won't be looking to just stay in the league, Gav's said he is going to be playing to win it."
Oztumer has also paid tribute to Rose and his backrooms staff-assistant manger Junior Kadi and first-team coach Kevin James-for the way they have dusted themselves dwon from successive play-off defeats to lift the title. "They must have been hurting for those two years and we didn't win it easily,"said Oztumer. "We had a great run in mid-season where we went 19 games unbeaten. We deserved to win it but it wasn't easy. There are quite a lot of standout memories. My first game was at godalming and I came on as sub in the 89th minute, won a penalty and scored to keep us in the FA Cup. But all the games we won were good memories. At the beginning me and Gavin had a talk and he said to me that 10-15 goals would be a good season for me. So with 28 I think it has been good!"
So could Oztumer be the latest Dulwich player to land a Football League move? Striker Daniel Carr trialled with Liverpool last season before joining Huddersfield Town. And there are plenty more tales of success- Paul McCallum joining West Ham while Crystal Palace signed defenders Michael Chambers and Quade Taylor. "Gav, Junior and Keve produce and it's because of the way we play,"said Oztumer. " It's a different style of football when you come into non league. When I first came I was trying throughballs and little flicks. They made me play the Dulwich way-simple football."