This was our Community message yesterday

We're republishing it here, just in case you missed out on a programme

Some people talk about there being no romance left in the FA Cup, and that the FA Trophy has been devalued down the years, with the priority for those at the higher echelons of the National League being promotion to their ‘Holy Grail’ of the Football League. Well this afternoon you’ll hear none of that from me as we welcome Macclesfield Town to Champion Hill for this FA Trophy quarter-final tie.

We are undoubtedly the underdogs but, as the cliché goes, ‘every dog has its day’! I certainly never envisaged such a run in the Trophy again in my lifetime. Whilst still pretending to be young at heart, I am now half a century old, much time and suffering has passed since our only other appearance at this stage when I was a young boy, who was only a few months a teenager. Inside I am like a little kid, butterflies in my stomach, unable to sleep, dreaming of that mythical trip to see my beloved Hamlet under the arch, now that the twin towers are no more.

I’ve been to many a Trophy final down the years; in fact my first ever visit to Wembley was for the 1977 FA Trophy final when Dagenham were the first ever Isthmian club to get there, losing to Scarborough. I’ve always dreamt that one day it will be our turn, and I’m realistic enough to know it will need an immense performance from Gavin’s troops to reach the semi-finals. However, it’s for days like this afternoon that I live. This makes all of the poor performances that we have to suffer as an occupational hazard of being a football fan down the decades worthwhile. I shall enjoy the dream while it lasts and, even if the bubble bursts come a quarter to five, I can honestly say it’s a long time since I’ve felt so much pride in being a Dulwich Hamlet supporter.
Our Football Committee Chairman Liam Hickey has touched, in his column, on the amazing crowds we are currently getting that sustains the team on the pitch. Let us not forget that not too long ago, in Gavin Rose’s first season as our manager back in 2009/10, our average home Isthmian League attendance was one hundred and eighty. We now take more than that to some away games!

So even if my personal Wembley dream ends today, or continues right up to the big day on a Sunday in May, I shall continue ‘living the dream’ that is the Dulwich Hamlet of today. I am in a privileged position of being a lifelong supporter who is able to serve on the Football Committee & am lucky enough to be one of many who pull together on the community side to take us to where we are now.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that in the past, and not the too distant past, the name Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, was treated with indifference, distain or, most hurtful of all, a complete laughing stock in our immediate local community. But now we are part of the life & soul that helps East Dulwich, Peckham, Brixton, Walworth & beyond tick on the sporting front. If I mention to people that I support Dulwich Hamlet they invariably want to find out more. We are a source of pride all over our pocket of South London & credit goes to each and every one of you today; whether that be Football Management, the players, individual supporters, as well as the Supporters’ Trust Board and the Football Club Committee.

I realise I haven’t gone on much about ‘community activities’ in this column, please excuse me for that. I am sure you will have read about our Homelessness Awareness match when we take on a special team representing the Centrepoint charity on Wednesday night, 1st March, elsewhere in this programme & on our social media. EVERY PENNY raised on the night through the gate is being donated directly to Centrepoint, so please make the effort to come along and support the evening. Games like this are just something we do because we think it’s right to do so as a Football Club with a social conscience. However, they make a huge impact not just in raising funds but also in using our Football Club as an important medium to get messages across.

Almost at the end of my column, I’d like to say best wishes and good luck to the new people at the top of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters’ Trust. Duncan Hart has just stepped down at Chair for them, and Al Crane has stepped up to the plate, with Alex Atack taking over his position as Vice-Chair. I am sure, with them at the helm, our Trust will go from strength to strength & be even more popular than it already is.

Finally, if I have to ‘name check’ just one more person in this piece, I’d like to give a big shout to fellow Dulwich Hamlet Football Committee member George Parnavelas, & not just because he wrote this column last week! He has been totally instrumental in setting up the Centrepoint match and I dread to think how many untold hours of work he has put in. So please, come along on Wednesday night as well, in appreciation of the thankless task he has had in getting the game in place.

Mishi Morath (Dulwich Hamlet Football Committee, lead for community initiatives)