Lots in the papers this week...

There's been a huge amount of Dulwich Hamlet coverage in the local & non league press over the last few days.

Starting last Sunday, in the 'Non League Paper', our latest player to go professional made the front page, with a Hitchin Town lad hogging the headline:

CANARY KIDS TAKE FLIGHT!
Hitchin starlet Kane could follow Norwich-bound DJ to Prem

[The article began..]
Non-League starlets continued to fly the nest with Dulwich Hamlet's Diallang Jaiesimi joining Norwich- and Hitchin Town's Kane Smith could be about to join his fellow 19-year-ol in the Premier League.
Versatile Jaiyesimi, known as DJ, left Ryman League high-flyers Hamlet after a trial with the Canaries led to a two-and-a-half year contract.
[The piece continued with Smith's recent trial at West Bromwich Albion]

On page five of the same 'Non League Paper' there was a seperate article on DJ & The Hamlet:

ROSE LOVES HIS STARLETS TO BLOOM
Gavin Rose should get more credit for propelling Dulwich's stars into the professional game, according to the club's chief executive-because he's happy to sacrifice the team's chances to help make dreams come true.
Ryman Premier Hamlet have set another youngster on his way in versatile 19-year-old Diallang Jaiesimi, who joins the long list of players to step up in the past few years by signing for Premier League Norwich City.
Martin Eede believes more acknowledgement should come Rose's way as the manager puts the careers of his young prospects before results.
Champion Hill boss Rose runs the hugely-successful ASPIRE Academy, which continues to provide a conveyor belt of talent in South East London.
Eede thinks Jaiyesimi could go on to play at the highest level. He said: "Norwich asked if they could take a look at him and, after his trial, said they wanted to sign him. It's fantastic for the boy. DJ is a full-back, a winger or a forward-he's a pordigious talent. His potential is enormous and, even though he's only been in and around the first team this season, he's been a Dulwich player since he was 14. He's signed a two-and-a-half year contract and we think the future is very bright for him."
Dulwich have a knack when it comes to unearthing young stars.
They sold Erhun Oztumer to Peterborough in 2014 for £5,000, plus a healthy sell-on clause and the 24-year-old is earning rave reviews in League One, linked with a big money move to Crystal Palace. They have also sold Frazer Shaw to Leyton Orient, Daniel Carr to Huddersfield and Paul McCallum to West Ham in the past four years.
"Most of this is down to Gavin and the acdemy," aded Eede. "What people need to remember is that every great player we lose effectively lessens our chances on the pitch. As manager, many would fight tooth and nail to keep them in their dressing room, but Gavin sees things differently. He wants these young players to achieve and actively pushes them to take every opportunity that comes their way. There's a lot to be said for that approach. There's no attempt to hold them back. He wants them to reach their potential. Some players come here and prefer to put their trust in agents than allow Gavin to take them under his wing, but they soon realise, if they want to progress, Dulwich is the place to do that and he is the manager to make it happen."

There was also the match report from our game at home to Enfield Town last weekend, in the same copy of the 'Non League Paper':

Mitchell Nelson and Rhys Murrell-Williamson guided league leaders Dulwich to a thrilling victory over play-off chasing Enfield Town before a seson's best Champion Hill crowd.
But Hamlet were made to fight every inch of the way by an in-form Town side who, with steadier finishing, could have gained a draw.
Dulwich enjoyed the better of the first half. Ryan Moss went clear on 20 minutes but Town keeper Nathan McDonald spread himself well to block the shot.
Thirteen minutes later, Dulwich led when Nelson firmly headed home Ashley Carew's corner.
Clunis and Dean McDonald later went close as Hamlet turned round good value for their lead.
But Enfield fought back fiercely after the interval and Dulwich were hard-pressed to stay in front.
A neat back-heel by Corey Whitely set up Tyler Campbell but he shot wide.
And in successive attacks, Campbell was denied by Hamlet keeper Phil Wilson and a goalline clearance by Carew before squandering another opening.
Ten minutes from time, Murrell-Williamson made Enfield pay for their profligacy, slotting home after Dean McDonald's shot was blocked on the line.
STAR MAN: Matt Drage (Dulwich Hamlet)
ENTERTAINMENT: ***** (full five out of five)

On Tuesday, in the midweek 'South London Press' it was also that victory that claimed the headline:

Dulwich march on

Dulwich Hamlet maintained their slender lead at the top of the Ryman League Premier Division thanks to a 2-0 win over Enfield Town at a packed Champion Hill on Saturday.
Nearly 2,300 people saw Mitchell Nelson head the hosts in front in the 34th minute. The visitors gave it a good go in the second half but Gavin Rose's side saw off the threat and made the points safe with 10 minutes to go when Rhys Murrell-Williamson pounced on the rebound following an effort from Dean McDonald.

This was following by some spectacular coverage, even by their standards, on Thursday, in the 'Southwark News'.

There were two articles in the sport section. The first concentrated on the rest of our League campaign:

The season starts now says Hamlet's Rose
Gavin Rose feels his table topping team should consider their run in as a new season as Dulwich seek to secure a crown that has evaded them for 67 years.
The Pink and Blues have led a tight Ryman Premier League for most of the first half of the season but if they are to emulate the feats of the Isthmian League Champions of the 1948/49 season Rose believes his players need to start with a fresh mind set.
He told the News: “We only have to concentrate on our jobs. If teams have games in hand all we do is keep winning and put the pressure on them. If we keep winning we will look after ourselves.
“There are around 20 games to go and effectively it is like starting a new season. If a team comes along and does better than us between here and end of the season then we have to accept that. But we have it within out control and we just have to worry about winning from game to game now.”
Hamlet picked up three points last weekend by defeating fellow promotion hopefuls Enfield Town 2-0 in front of a bumper crowd of 2,249. Defender Mitchell Nelson scored for the second time in two games at the weekend leaving Rhys Murrell-Williamson to secure the points with a second half effort.
The Hamlet boss said: “Against both Tonbridge and Enfield at the weekend we had to weather the storm to some extent. But the team were able to stick with it and they adapted to get the results.
“We have dominated other games in terms of possession and chances and only came away with a point or lost, so you take games like the weekend where you stick with it and come out on top.”
He added: “It’s a very tight league this season and of course it is always good to win against those teams in and around you, but we feel we may have given away some points already too. We are only midway through the season but we do feel things are very much in our hands.”

In the same 'Southwark News' there was a preview of the big game against Guiseley:

Hamlet pressure free FA Trophy shot

Hamlet players should be able to play with the shackles off this weekend, according to manager Gavin Rose, when they take on Guiseley AFC in the FA Trophy on Saturday.
The Pink and Blues will be in the unusual position of underdogs this weekend with the Yorkshire side considered the big hitters due to their lofty league position. Guiseley operate in the Vanarama National League, one promotion from League Two and the fully professional leagues, which is two steps above Hamlet in the non-league game.
The Leeds based club are currently in the lower reaches of the top tier of the semi-professional game and the second round contest is easily Hamlet’s toughest fixture in the competition this campaign.
Nevertheless, Rose believes his team have a good shot at winning. He said: “It’s a one off game. We won’t be treating it as a game to measure how good we are [against higher level opposition] and as we are at home we will be looking to win the game.
“In many ways this could be a good game for the boys as they have nothing to lose really and that can take the pressure off mentally so they can work hard and express themselves.” Hamlet’s Jordan Brown and Osei Sankofa are back in training this week and Rose expects to have close to a full squad to pick from for the weekend game.
Dulwich will also be in action next Wednesday night when they travel to Lewes for a league encounter.
The Sussex club are currently bottom of the Ryman Premier League and Hamlet will consider this contest a must win game in a season where the title race looks set to be a tightly run affair.

In the main news stories part of the paper there was a full page piece dedicated to our fans:

Fans flood to a new way of football and it's nothing to do with hipsters!

There is something a little bit special happening at Champion Hill.
It would be easy to simply point to the attendance sizes as evidence of a Southwark footballing revolution, with the number of people visiting Dulwich Hamlet FC’s picturesque stadium growing season after season.
Just five years ago, crowds rarely exceeded the low-hundreds. Last week, however, at a rainy mid-season league match against unglamorous Enfield Town, 2,249 fans packed into the ground – a higher draw than some Football League clubs three divisions above.
“I couldn’t believe it,” fan and Forward The Hamlet podcast creator Ben Sibley told the News. “When I first started coming two years ago, I used to stand by the turnstiles when people were arriving and I knew almost all the faces. Now I watch as people come in and I recognise hardly anyone!”
He may have recognised at least two new faces at the last game: former England football captain Rio Ferdinand and comedian Mickey Flanagan (who, admittedly, was decked out in Enfield colours), just two of the most recent fans to be drawn down to the Hamlet.
The crowd size, however, is only the half the story, as anyone who has attended a game at the Hamlet will know. But, despite what some reports in the national media may have you believe, it’s not all to do with the “h-word.”
Ben said: “One paper did a feature calling us ‘London’s most hipster football club’, going on about craft beer and other things taken out of context. It was trash. Yes, some of it is true, but it’s missing the point. Dulwich Hamlet is one of the most famous, if not the most famous, non-league club. It has a fantastic history which has been ignored by other reporters.”
Hamlet’s 123-year history is certainly storied. Players as varied as Hussein Hugazi, who went on to become an Egyptian footballing icon, to Edgar Kail, the last non-league player to represent England at full international level, have pulled on the famous pink kit, while Dutch giants Ajax Amsterdam are counted among the teams beaten by the south London side. It’s impossible to ignore history at Dulwich, even when ordering a pint: at next Saturday’s match, the clubhouse bar will debuting a new beer named after a player who last wore a Dulwich shirt 83 years ago.
But it is the evolution of the club’s unique ethos over the last few seasons which has really catapulted Dulwich Hamlet into the limelight and seen attendances first double, then quadruple, and continue to grow still.
Last season, the club played a milestone friendly against Stonewall FC, Britain’s first gay football team. Gay pride flags and union banners line the pitch and the crowd boasts a diversity of ethnicities and ages rare in football. On the path running alongside the pitch, groups of children play pick-up games while their parents watch the real action on the field. Even the crowd’s chants of “sexy football!” and “transpontine!” stick out as unique. It’s as much a place to take a date as to meet your friends for a drink – craft beer or not.
The players on the field are also doing their best to keep up with the progress off it, with the club currently sitting proud at the top of the Isthmian League – the seventh tier of English football. With a season run-in that includes home clashes with some of Dulwich’s main promotion contenders, it is likely that attendances will continue to rise as the season reaches its climax.
Ben said: “We thought it might slow down last season after the play-off loss but this season has seen crowds rise again. I just don’t know when it will stop. Obviously the crowd will be limited by the stadium’s 3000-person capacity so that might be it.”
With a proposed new, larger stadium on the horizon, however, even that limit may soon be breached. In a world of £70 Premier League tickets and millionaire footballers, a corner of Southwark has found itself at the heart of a new way of football, focusing on inclusivity, affordability and fun. Just don’t call the fans hipsters!

On the adjacent page was a piece about the newly brewed Edgar Kail Pale Ale:

And supporters cheer greatest player with his very own beer

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club will honour its greatest ever player next week with the launch of a special new ale in the clubhouse bar.
The tribute tipple will be called Edgar Kail Pale Ale, a tongue-twisting nod to the club legend on the 40th anniversary of his death.
Shaun Wilkinson, hospitality manager at the club’s Champion Hill stadium, predicted that the 4% pale ale would be as popular with Hamlet fans as the player it is named after.
He said: “It’s a spin-off of a previous drink by brewers Late Knights, who sponsor the kit, so it should be a big seller. The crowds keep getting bigger so we hope it gets a good reaction.”
Kail, who made his debut at the age of just 15 in 1915, scored more than 400 goals for Hamlet during his time with the club.
The Camberwell-born striker was called up to the England squad in 1929, becoming the last non-league club to ever represent the Three Lions.
Despite the attention of professional clubs, Kail remained with Hamlet’s amateurs throughout his entire playing career.
Although he last pulled on the famous blue and pink strip in 1933, Kail’s name is still sung by the ever-growing crowds at every game.
In recent years, a Blue Plaque commemorating the Dulwich icon has been put up at the stadium, with the road leading to the stadium also renamed Edgar Kail Way.

As if all of that coverage wasn't enough...there was even the main 'Southwark News' editorial comment on The Hamlet!

Don't let the hipsters take the credit

In the last couple of years newspapers have been obsessed with placing every crowd-pulling success down to some sort of hipster craze – when in fact local people might just be realising what great attractions we have right on our doorstep.
Our look this week into the growing number of people flocking to Dulwich Hamlet matches on a Saturday afternoon is a case in point. This is a club with a 123-year-old history and in the last couple of years especially, the club has gone out of its way to make the ground a place at the centre of the local community. They hit the headlines a few months ago when they became a major collecting point to help with the refugee crisis in Europe, and last week fans turned out in force to support junior doctors.
But the club is a place that families can come to enjoy the national game at a fraction of the cost. Last year Hamlet did some great promotions to draw in the crowds including a ‘pay what you want’ exercise with the money going to local charities. This proved extremely popular.
Non-league football is having an up-surge nationally. Last year fans from all 20 Premier League clubs protested outside each league game in a bid to get new regulations on ticket prices. The vibe at Hamlet and other non-league grounds is far more unique as local volunteers with a passion are behind making each match day an enjoyable experience. Unlike the games at major grounds you are not treated like a flock of sheep and can even enjoy a pint while watching on the terraces.Non-league clubs like Hamlet can relax the rules and you can even get to know your neighbours.
Plus with the FA Cup rounds and, especially in the case of Hamlet – a team sitting pretty on the top of the league – the football is of a very high standard. This is semi-professional football after all and not a Sunday league game.
As Fisher FC plan to make their return to Rotherhithe this year – let’s hope they manage to do the same in the north of the borough.

In yesterday's weekend edition of the 'South London Press' they had another of their superb features on one of our players:

LETHAL WEAPON

Mitchell Nelson is proving a point - let him attack the ball in the opposition box and he will score.
The Dulwich Hamlet defender netted his fourth goal for the club this season when he opened the scoring in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Enfield Town.
That helped keep the South Londoners at the top of the Ryman league Premier Division. It was his second in as many games, having netted against Tonbridge Angels the week before.
The 26-year-old’s other two goals came in separate matches against VCD Athletic, and all four of his goals have been headers from set-pieces.
“At the beginning of the season I wasn’t allowed up for corners but I convinced everyone I was very good in the air,”?Nelson said. “I’ve got a few goals now. If you put a ball in the air, I’ll attack it.”
Nelson is reigniting his non-league career following 14 months of injury hell.
He started in the youth system at Colchester United before moving to South Londoners Tooting &?Mitcham United. He was part of the Terrors’ FA Cup run that took them to the first round in 2009, and they helped earn him a move to Bournemouth.
He made the bench a few times but did not get another chance after Eddie Howe left for Burnley in 2011.
“I was young and just needed games, so I moved into non-league,” said Nelson, whose career in the National League and below has included spells at Eastleigh and Sutton United before he pitched up at Margate.
It was while at the seasiders that his problems began.
“Two summers ago, in our first pre-season game, I dislocated my knee and with that came a fractured tibia, cartilage damage and ligament damage,” he said. “I had to have complete knee construction so I was out for 14 months in total. This is my first season back. I’ve had to work really hard. Dulwich play quick football so I have to keep up with that. I’m getting used to it now and hitting a bit of form. I really want to kick on and make up for lost time.”
Nelson made an appearance in Margate’s final league game of last season, but did not make it into the squad for the play-offs - when Ryan Moss scored to knock Dulwich out in the semi-final.
Moss ended up following Nelson to South London after being a victim of the now National League South side’s heavy player recruitment. Moss told the South London Press last week that he felt they should have kept more faith in the players who got them up, and Nelson agrees.
“It was mad,” he said. “The players who won Margate promotion were easily good enough for the next level - especially Mossy. Look at all the goals he scored.They should have kept the core squad together and just added a few, but they gave it a complete overhaul. They told me they couldn’t offer me anything because I’d been out all year, even though I got back for the last game of the season. I felt good and that I had plenty to offer, so I spoke to Gavin Rose, came down to training and he said he wanted to give me a chance. Before Mossy came here, Gav came to me in a training session to ask about him as a person - he already knew what he could do as a player. I said he was a good lad and we were good friends. We had a bit of banter and I told him he was moving to a proper club.”
It’s been the switch move for Nelson, who has been a regular since moving to Champion Hill.
“It’s close to home for me,” he said. “I live on Camberwell New Road. I grew up there until I was 17, when I left for Colchester - then I came back after leaving Eastleigh. I would love to settle down here. A few players have done that. This club is amazing - the staff, the players, the facilities, the fans. And we play in front of big crowds at home. Growing up in a pro football environment, you carry what you learn throughout your career. Gav and Junior [Kadi] treat our training sessions the same way a professional club would - with really high standards. The training is unbelievable - the best I’ve had in non-league by far.”
Those standards are one of the key reasons Nelson is so confident that Dulwich can maintain their position at the top and make the leap into National South.
“Dulwich had a lot of youngsters before but Gav has brought in a lot of experience over the last couple of years,” he said. “With that and our character, I’m sure that is enough to maintain what we have been doing and fend off everyone else. We didn’t play that well on Saturday. Enfield were one of the better teams we’ve faced so to get a clean sheet and three points says a lot. We want to go up as champions. The play-offs can drag on and add pressure but even if we did end up there, we have the squad to win them.”
Nelson sees his future as a centre-back but has plied his trade at right-back in SE22.
“I can see myself being a centre-back more regularly when I am older but I love playing right-back in this team and joining in the attacks,” said Nelson. “Dulwich like to play good football. I enjoy being part of that.”
Nelson’s injury woes have led him to start casting an eye on life after football. He is studying engineering at a college in Basildon.
“That taught me that anything can happen to you in a game and you can only play for so long,” he said.
Gavin Rose’s side are expecting another bumper crowd tomorrow. They are back in FA Trophy action as they host Guiseley of the National League North.