Programme notes

s been a while since I’ve managed, make that remembered, to share the Commercial & Community column

So here is a bit of a ‘backlog’ to clear, for those of you who never saw the programmes, from our last three home games; with apologies for the delay in sharing them on here, our official Club website:

From a month ago, at home to Tonbridge Angels-

Good evening, tonight we welcome to Champion Hill Tonbridge Angels.
We are also pleased to welcome our Official Match Sponsor tonight, namely the renowned after dinner speaker and comedian, Bob ‘the cat’ Bevan…but more famous in Hamlet circle for being the “Who’s that bloke in the photo with the cup?” after we clinched the Division One South championship in April 2013, on the last day of the season, when we clinched the title against Burgess Hill Town, after the Ryman League hierarchy had no spare officials on hand to do the honours themselves! And if you are a comedy aficionado but have, shamefully, not heard of Bob, you can check him out by heading to his website at: www.bobthecatbevan.com

We are also grateful to have an Official Match Ball sponsor this evening. I must confess I have no idea who the generous benefactor is, but the ‘name’ they have chosen ‘Thoughts Inside Of Dreams’. Thank you to both parties, we hope they enjoy their brief stay in the boardroom tonight, as part of their respective sponsorship packages.

There are still a few gaps in our matchday sponsorship deals. It could be YOU who helps our Club & fills up the remainder. A Match Sponsorship costs a mere £99, & for this you get four VIP tickets for the game of your choice, to include full boardroom & directors’ box access, pre and post match, as well as the half time interval. A namecheck in the matchday programme on the day, as well as on the sponsors page for the rest of the season. Complimentary programmes for your party on the day and numerous namechecks over the public address system, to suit your needs. A similar deal applies to Match Ball Sponsorship, but for two people. For both offers we can widen the size of your party, at a small cost to be negotiated with our Commercial Team, just contact Liam on 07967212353.

You may recall that back at the beginning of November, when we hosted Chalfont St. Peter in the FA Trophy, we were honoured to have some collectors from the Dulwich branch of the Royal British Legion, shaking their rattling tins around the ground for the annual Poppy Appeal, more poignant than ever with 2014 being the one hundredth anniversary of the outbreak of the Great War. Our Club Chairman, Jack Payne recently received a lovely letter from them thanking all at the Club for their support. They specifically thanked all of our fans for their generosity, with a wonderful sum of £254.05 being collected, which includes the proceeds from the 50/50 fundraiser at that game too.

For those of you who can recall my last column, you may remember that I mentioned that the magnificent anti-homophobia hoarding, which is displayed permanently at the Dog Kennel Hill end of our stadium, was actually one of two, and the other was taken over to Hamburg, as a gift to our good friends from Germany, Altona 93 fussball club, a couple of weekends ago by some individuals from our Supporters Trust. By all accounts this has only strengthened links between both clubs even further, which is great! There are some who say that ‘you should not bring politics into football’…but I am very much from the school of thought that ‘life is political, therefore football IS political’. And that is why, as a Club aspiring to be at the heart of its local community we are proud to be at the forefront on many anti-racism & discrimination campaigns, which are supported by our governing bodies, the Football Association and the London FA. But we are also
very conscious of the fact that we do not want to be seen to so ‘lip service’ and merely make ‘token gestures’ by including a few lines in a programme, then pretending that we have ‘done our bit’. This is why we, as a Football Club, will be actively working in the South London Lesbian Gay bisexual Transgender community during February 2015. For those of you who are not aware, just as October is well known as ‘Black History Month’, February is LGBT History Month. And we are proud to announce a double-pronged show of support, as well as ‘showcasing’ Champion Hill Stadium as a welcoming place to watch football for all, by having a Club XI play Stonewall FC, of the Middlesex County League & the Gay World Champions, on Wednesday 11th February, 7.45pm kick off. Admission will be set at Reserve Team prices, only three pounds for adults, & a mere quid for concessions. ALL gate receipts, programme sales & proceeds from 50/50 tickets that
night will be donated to a charity of our opposition’s choice, so we understandably won’t be accepting season tickets for admission at the game.

Further to this, as we did for events like the home game earlier in the season against Bognor Regis Town, which we designated ‘Student Day’, we will be flyering gay pubs & clubs with posters & free tickets, to the home match on 21st February, versus Metropolitan Police, to give people who may like football, but have a misconception that they might not be welcome at games, to come along and support us, and experience top quality non-league football.

We hope all Hamlet fans back the Club in this community work, and we look forward for any other ideas you may have to take Dulwich Hamlet Football Club out into the wider community, and to attract more new fans to our matches.

That’s all for tonight, we look forward to seeing you all at our last home match before Christmas, on Saturday 20th December against Witham Town.

There was then quite a break, until our next home match, which was on the Saturday just before Christmas, against Witham Town-

Good afternoon, and welcome to our visitors from Witham Town.

With this being the last home match before Christmas it goes without saying (although I will now, of course, say it...!) A Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year, to all who follow The Hamlet, as well as Gavin & his staff, the players & all of my fellow Football Committee members.

And for those of you, like myself who aren't the Christmassy type, of follow another faith or none at all, enjoy the holiday season, and the break from work or whatever.

Looking forward, weather & hopefully lack of a white Christmas permitting, to seeing you right at the start of 2015, on the first of January when we host Leatherhead, in what has become quite an important fixture for supporters over the last couple of seasons.

Back to the present. Today we are pleased to welcome Witham Town, from memory I don't recall us having played them before, we certainly haven't visited them in my lifetime. I have been there once before, a pleasant ground, not too far from the train station, and an away game I'm sure lots of Hamlet fans are looking forward to. Those with long memories will recall you can catch a glimpse of the ground from the railway, on the left just before you pull into the station. Now that might have made a little for fun Christmas teaser...how many grounds can you see from a train as you ride past...ok, I'll get my coat, sorry!

Good afternoon, and already here we are...with our last 'Commercial & Community Column' of 2014!

Many thanks to our Official Match sponsors today, DULWICH TANDOORI, and our Match Ball sponsorship which is to celebrate the 21st BIRTHDAY OF GEORGIE PAYNE, WITH LOVE FROM MUM, DAD and POPPY.

With this being the last home match before Christmas it goes without saying (although I will now, of course, say it...!) A Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year, to all who follow The Hamlet, as well as Gavin & his staff, the players & all of my fellow Football Committee members.

With Christmas not quite upon us have you thought about supporting some of our sponsors? How many times have you had your Christmas dinner ruined by leaving it too late to fill up your dinner table? Avoid the mad rush & the crazy queues at the supermarkets & treat yourself to a quality turkey, make up a proper platter & feast like a lord. And at the same time support a local business that has consistently backed our local team, here at Dulwich Hamlet! Head down to Bellenden Road, if you're local for top notch meat from the renowned local butchery Flock & Herd. Even if you haven't been there before the name will be familiar. You will see it in this match programme; on boards around the stadium; on the back of the dugouts & on the players' warm up tops and t-shirts! The staff are welcoming and friendly, and will be even more so, if you're wrapped up in a Dulwich Hamlet scarf when you visit! Their opening hours are Tuesday to Friday from 9:00am to six
o'clock & on Saturday from eight in the morning until four. So you'll have no excuse not to pop down there before our last home game prior to the big day, when we take on Witham Town, at three o'clock this coming Saturday, the 20th of December!

And once you've bought your meat for the break I doubt if you'll want to slave over the cooker until them. A good way to avoid getting hot under the collar in your own kitchen is to head down to Lordship Lane & treat yourself to a quality authentic Indian meal! The problem is which establishment to choose? It's a tough choice...and there's nothing worse when you're hungry than arguing over where to eat! So make it simple...for somewhere that offers friendly service & really decent food head to DULWICH TANDOORI...like Dulwich Hamlet FC they are best locally at their craft! And that's why we're proud to have them as our official 'Back of Shirt sponsors'! So if it a tandoori or a balti, madras or vindaloo...DulwichTandoori is the place for you!

All you need now is to 'smarten yourself up' for the big day! And there's no better place for the discerning Hamlet supporting chap to go for getting his barnet done nicely than another of our matchday programme advertisers, namely Barry Road Barbers, consistent supporters of our Club, with a regular programme advertisement. After that you can then let the winter breeze flow your partially shorn locks, by strolling across Peckham Rye, for a much deserved pint or two at another of our advertisers, the Ivy House pub, which is at 40 Stuart Road, and the first community owned pub in the whole of London! The beer is excellent, as is the pub grub...one of the best boozers in South London, and with a history almost a great as ours!

Once you get 'bored' of the break, usually just after the Queens Speech kicks in, and you realise there's nothing much on television at all...it pays to prepared. And for only five pounds a month you can treat yourself to Premium Membership of our official media partner Football Exclusives! Escape from yet another mouthful of sprouts and awful jokes from your cracker, and turn on your computer, logging in for re-run after re-run of your favourite Hamlet fixtures this season ,as exclusively filmed in an extremely professional way, coupled with player & management interviews, by Football Exclusives. You won't be able to view them anywhere else...the 'clue' is in the name..'exclusives'!

Look through the rest of this programme, I'm sure lots of you just flick through the adverts, and rarely glance at the Match & Match Ball sponsorship page, nor look at our 'Poster Partners'. Please do....they are helping our Club by supporting us, it would be great if supporters could support them too, while mentioning that you are a Hamlet follower at the same time.

I could go on, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to say next year, so it just leaves me to 'get a bit personal'...first of all many thanks to all on the Football Club committee, for supporting me in whatever 'madcap' idea I've had to try to integrate the Club even further into our local community. Long may it continue. Also thanks to the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters Trust, hands up, an independent body I have been-rightly or wrongly-critical of in the past. But over this season they have really shown their worth, and it has been a pleasure to be involved with them on a number of projects, in particular the help & support I've had from Duncan Hart & Jack Bagnall. There are so many other people I could name, but on a personal note, having started up the matchday 50/50 draws, I am indebted to both Andy Greig & Finn Roberts-Bond, who have stood in for me, when I have missed home matches through work.

And lastly, a HUGE thank you to all involved at Hadley Property Group, with their support since buying the ground, and subsequent astute financial management of all of our facilities, to try to get the Club on track, after disastrous financial mismanagement by the previous owner. With Hadley stepping in to save our Club by taking control I have no doubt that I would not be typing this now...as we would not have had a Football Club left to support!

Here's looking forward to both them & all of us getting their just rewards for their backing, with a victorious planning application for Hadley & The Hamlet next year, with a new, modern, purpose built ground that will safeguard the long-term future of our great Club!

And the last, belated column to share from you, was our first of 2015…which was from our home match with Leatherhead on New Years Day-

Welcome to Champion Hill this afternoon, for the start of a brand new year! 2015 already…to think the world was supposed to end on this day fifteen years ago, as the clocks ticked into the year 2000!

Well we are still here, but apart from the bricks, mortar & the green, green grass of home, we are still at the same Champion Hill that we were a decade & a half ago, but one that has changed so much for the better.

The century began with relegation to Division One, for a third time. Previously we had bounced back after a single, & them two seasons respectively. I don’t think that anyone ever thought that it would take us a long twelve seasons to regain our Isthmian League Premier Division status. And in doing so play such attractive football under Gavin Rose that we see played on a regular basis.

So what does the future hold? Well I’m not into that ‘looking into a crystal ball’ lark, so I’m not out to make any rash predictions. All I can hope, and dream for, is that our Club continues to make sure & steady progress, with the team under the steady wing of the ‘Holy Trinity’ in the dugout, that is Gavin Rose, Junior Kadi & Kevin James. It’s an ‘open secret’ that they turned down overtures from Conference National outfit Welling United recently, and that speaks volumes for what both they, and us-as fans & committee-are trying to build here at Champion Hill.

Without a doubt the latter part of 2013 & the start of last year were some of the most traumatic off the pitch EVER, in the long & proud history of our Club. Debts were coming to the surface that had appeared to have been hidden away & it would be no exaggeration to say that Dulwich Hamlet Football Club were actually days, if not hours from closure!

We have been very fortunate that Hadley Property Group, who became our new landlords, stepped in to keep our Club alive, by taking control, and steadying the heavily listing Hamlet ship, into the boat that, maybe not quite shipshape, but certainly steering it’s way cautiously & confidently forward, into football craft that it is today.

Aside from the Hadley support that has kept our Club afloat, there have been huge changes elsewhere off of the pitch. Season tickets are the highest they have been this century, as are our attendances, which continue to grow. From a personal point of view, I feel it has been a long, long time since the whole Club has been pulling together in the same direction, and the ‘feel good’ factor that is rippling through Champion Hill is something I have not experienced since way back at the old ground, in the late Eighties. Some may disagree with this, but these are my personal opinions, don’t forget, & this is my column in the programme, so once in a while I will indulge in making you ‘listen to the sound of my own voice’.

It’s not been easy…I joined the Football Committee in the summer of 2012. I wasn’t sure what my ‘role’ was, ostensibly to do with ‘fundraising’, although that wasn’t truth be told, a strength of mine. I had ideas to help the Club make inroads into the local community. A number have been a success, some not. But none would have been possible without the backing & help not just from my fellow Football Committee members, but also the ‘new breed’ of fan that is steering our independent Supporters Trust in the right direction as well.

Some ideas have worked, others have floundered. But the important thing is to be brave enough to give them a try…And that’s what I hope we all continue doing over the next twelve months. EVERYONE pulling together, aiming to get the best deal possible with our proposed new stadium developments, while our crowds and community work continues to grow.

I started off by saying I didn’t want to look into any crystal ball. In truth the only reason I don’t want to do that is because I have faith in the future, as we are all slowly but surely building our Club together as one. I don’t want to get carried away on the crest of wave…no need to go overboard. Simply ‘Full Steam Ahead…on the Good Ship Hamlet’. All rowing together, pulling in the same direction, as we have been doing. What could be a better New Year Resolution for us all than that?