From The Boardroom

This is what I had to say in Saturday's programme; particularly regarding action that needs to be taken by 7th March

From The Boardroom

Good afternoon and welcome to Champion Hill. I would especially like to welcome all our guests from Macclesfield Town and say what a pleasure it is to be able to have a team of their standing here today for this tie in the Buildbase FA Trophy.

Of course, none of this would be possible without the achievements of our management team and their dedication to making Dulwich Hamlet a name that is respected on the field. I think I speak for most of our fans when I say we are very lucky to have Gavin, Junior and Kevin guiding us on the pitch and personally I wouldn’t swap them for anybody else. They are now in their 8th season and each one has been better than the previous one plus, on the back of their on pitch success, our team of dedicated volunteers have put many other clubs with paid employees to shame with their achievements off the pitch.

From a mid table Division One South side to one consistently challenging for promotion to the National League South and from an average attendance of 180 to now touching 2000 most Saturday afternoons is some success story. To do it all without compromising our values and principles and without anybody putting in substantial capital is a real achievement.

However, we have one very big battle that we need to win if we want to still be able to have special days at Champion Hill and that is the battle to secure our new stadium as part of the proposed development. This is now at a crucial stage as the local council have been unable to reach a decision and it has been passed to the Planning Inspectorate to make a decision. As a result, we all have only until 7th March to show what this club means to our community.

Therefore, please make sure you read the leaflet handed to you and then make sure you take action. It really is that important.

I am not scaremongering when I say that the very existence of our club is at risk.
But let’s not just focus on the football team and our enjoyment of football at Champion Hill. Instead let’s also reflect on all the things that make this football club the centre of its community. My view, for what it’s worth, is that the loss of this club would mean reduced opportunities for young people to aspire to play for it and to get involved with good quality coaching, no more schools able to bring families to a live game for the first time, no more support for so many local and national good causes, no opportunities for our more vulnerable members of society to find a place that embraces everybody without question and a significant drop in trade for local businesses.

Surely all that has to be worth fighting for? Not to mention all the facilities a new stadium with a 3G pitch will provide for new and existing local state schools that have little or no outdoor recreation facilities.

So I urge you, don’t put it off until tomorrow or assume that it’s ok because somebody else will do it. It’s time to act decisively now if we are to protect a club with a glorious past and a great future ahead of it, if only we can make this happen.
Go to http://dhst.org.uk/your-club-needs-you-supportourstadium and find out more about making your voice heard.

Finally, talking of great community work and supporting good causes, don’t forget to support the charity game here next Wednesday, 1st March, when a Dulwich Hamlet XI take on a star studded Centrepoint team , with all money raised helping to support their invaluable work with homeless young people. In a world as rich as ours there is no valid reason why anybody should not have a roof over their head.

Thank you all for your support of The Hamlet and let’s make history by roaring on your team into the semi finals.

Liam Hickey
Chair of the Football Committee.