Dulwich Hamlet 0 Lewes 2

Saturday 28th October 2023 – The FA Trophy – Champion Hill, Dulwich

Champion Hill is one of a few grounds, used at the semi/professional level where I can claim to have played at, and scored.  However, like old Wembley Stadium (MPs XI vs The Football Trust at half-time as a photographer, circa 1997), it wasn’t at the current incarnate.  My moments (note the plural) came during the 1985/86 season playing for Fleetdown United against a side called Park Vista, in a cup final at Champion Hill. Two second half headers, museum pieces in my fledgeling career, were my moments, securing a 2-0 win.

Back then, the ground had one huge stand had had seen attendances topping 20,000 in Dulwich Hamlet’s heyday.  In fact, a fact for you trivia fans out there, the ground held the record for the highest attendance at a league match outside of the English Football/Premier League at 16,254 for a 1931 Isthmian League match between Dulwich Hamlet and Nunhead until Notts County topped that last season. The ground was also used for football at the 1948 Summer Olympics, staging a game between Mexico and South Korea in front of around 6,500 fans.

A new stadium was built on the site of the old Champion Hill stadium, funded by the sale to Sainsbury’s of the surrounding grounds, opening in 1992.

The transformation of the club has also been remarkable.  Eleven years ago this weekend there had been 352 watching Hamlet play Faversham Town in the Isthmian League South.  A year later and word was spreading about the club, its work in the community and the start of the “hipster” image with double the crowd (plus 2) at 706 for the visit of Billericay Town. A year later, over 1,000 for the visit of Hendon.  1,700 against AFC Sudbury in 2016 and now, over 3,000 for the last home league game against Kingstonian.  Today, there would be marginally less (2,754) but with no season tickets allowable, it was a stunning crowd.  “You’re only here to see the Lewes” as the Youth Wing sang in the second half.

At heart it is still a relatively basic ground.  A decent sized main stand, that backs onto Sainsbury’s gives a great view of the action, a covered terrace on the opposite side and that’s about it – it’s shallow concrete standing around the rest.  Fans flock in, buying local Brick Brewery beers and eating Brautwurst, whilst chatting to mates, often oblivious to the game itself.   

It’s a dilemma for the club – they naturally want to maintain and grow their support at home, as with everyone coming through the turnstiles, they spend money.  Locally sourced craft beer, and hand cooked German sausages aren’t cheap but give fans what they want, and they will spend.  But on the flip side, the tag of being a “hipster” club, does them no favours.  But does the club really care if nobody is watching the game, or cheering, when they are 2,750 people spending on food and drink in the ground? The community work the club does is often forgotten by those looking in and for that they should be applauded, and as a result of that, people come to games.

It wasn’t the draw that neither side wanted at this stage. Both sides know that the chances of progressing to even the last 16, or even 32 of the competition are slim, and for every round that you win, another league game is shunted to midweek, causing fixture congestion. 

My first game not being a director of the club meant I could enjoy a pre-match beer as a fan, with the fans, or at least one of the small groups who travel to every game.  It would be great if we saw more fans getting behind the team away from home, especially at a time where there is so much comment about the club’s future on Social Media.

Dulwich had taken some time to adjust to life back in Step 3, effectively building a new squad from scratch, but one look at the back page of the programme gave you an idea in the difference in squad sizes, and thus resources, between the two sides. Coming into the game, Hamlet had lost six of their first twelve league games and the omen wasn’t good for this one.

As we enjoyed a pint in the rammed East Dulwich Tavern, the Chelsea game against Brentford was being shown on the TV. A Chelsea fan sitting next to us said “whenever Chelsea lose, Dulwich lose”. The last two seasons have been tough on Blues fans, and consequently, Dulwich fans. Would their 2-0 home defeat against the Bees be a sign of what was to come?

Injuries picked up on Monday night on a poor surface at Carshalton Athletic to midfield maestro Marcus Sablier and Keiran Murtagh stretched the Rooks squad, with only five spots on the bench filled, but you’d have never realised it watching the opening spell of the game.

Former Dulwich players Ronnie Vint and Deon Moore revelled in being back, but the star of the show in the first period was Bradley Pritchard. The 37 year old shows no signs of slowing down and his strike, after a corner wasn’t cleared, in the 11th minute opened the scoring.

Dulwich came close to an equaliser when a cross-shot from the left hand side hit the top of the bar, raising a brief “ooh” from the home fans but they had little to shout about, with the Vint and Jake Elliott solid as a rock.

The Rooks grabbed a second in the 39th minute when Tommy Wood smashed home from close range, his six of the season. The striker has big boots to fill after Joe Taylor’s departure but his work rate often doesn’t get the end product, but four in the last five games is a reflection of the work that goes on in training.

Unsurprisingly, Dulwich upped their game in the second half, but with the rain falling again, it was the Rooks who raised the proverbial umbrella across Nathan Harvey’s goal mouth and bar a superb free-kick that hit the inside of his post and bounced to safety, it was rarely breached. At the other end, Deon Moore came close on two separate occasions, as well as a blatant penalty for a pull back going unnoticed by the officials.

There was a suggestion last season that the club didn’t take the cups seriously. Five wins so far this season equals the best cup performance the club has had in over a decade, with the Fenix Trophy and the next round of the Trophy to come. The pressure that the rearranged fixtures will have on the small squad continues to grow, but for now, let’s enjoy the journey.