Tuscany

Dulwich Hamlet  2  Slough Town  3

National League South

I do like a trip to the smoke.

We’d had it planned for a while that we’d head down to London on August Bank Holiday Sunday, take in the sights and sounds, before picking up a game somewhere in area.

Mrs L had it all sorted, we set off on the Sunday morning before most people had done their first fart of the day, and to be honest, the journey down the M1, M11 and into the Docklands was trouble free, except of course the final couple of miles when finding our hotel was a touch troublesome.

Suitably in place, we spent the Sunday doing the usual stuff like museums, Harrods, Westminster, Covent Garden etc, before retiring back East for a few jars in the Hotel bar.

The plan for Sunday was a simple one, jump in the car after breakfast, park up at the football ground, get the train back into the middle and finish off the sightseeing by taking in Buck House and Regent Street. Once all of that caper had been taken care of, it was back to London Bridge and the Beckenham bound train for East Dulwich.

That’s right folks, the Hatt’s were going to Dulwich Hamlet, a club with a rich history, and of course, quite a rollercoaster period over the past few seasons.

It’s not been a bad season so far for Hamlet, prior to the game they sat second in the National League South behind early leaders Wealdstone, and if results were to fall right they could well be top of the pile by the end of the Bank Holiday.

The visitors from Slough had moved towards mid-table after a slower start and looked to be gaining in form and confidence, so it promised to be an interesting game.

On the field, the story of Dulwich Hamlet is all about one of the biggest amateur clubs of the day playing in the Isthmian League since before the War, while also having success in the famous old Amateur Cup, winning it four times.

Since the early Seventies the club has been predominantly an Isthmian Premier outfit, barring the odd short spell in the First Division, but this pattern reversed in 2001 when they began a twelve season spell outside of the top flight.

Promotion was won back in 2013, and by the end of the 2016-17 they had won promotion to the National League following a Play-Off Final victory against Hendon. This made up for the disappointment of the previous two seasons when they lost in the final to both Bognor Regis Town and East Thurrock United respectively.

Last season, their first outside the Isthmian League since God was a lad, saw them finish 14^th.  

It’s been as much about events off the pitch as much as it had been about footballing matters though.

The old Champion Hill ground, just off Dog Kennel Hill, was an absolute belter of a stadium. A large arena with grand terraces and a large main stand, it was immense, but it also fell foul of the Taylor Report. The ground was demolished in 1991 and some land, which was owned by Kings College, ended in the hands of Sainsbury’s, but as part of the deal a new Champion Hill was built on the site of the old stadium. They played their first game at the newly built ground in 1992.

All was good in the World, the ground was listed as an Asset of Community Value in 2013, but due to a technicality this was then withdrawn. The ground ended up in the ownership of developers in 2014, and so it transpired, did the club. The developers took over the running of the club, cleared the debts, and had plans to develop (as you would expect) and with that modernise the stadium. But, a battle with the council ended with stalemate and as a result the developers decided to pull the funding leaving the club in a mess.

It went from bad to worse, by March 2018 the developers had forced them from the stadium and consequently they had to ground share with Tooting & Mitcham United. Not only that, they were being threatened with being unable to use the name Dulwich Hamlet. A battle commenced, public support was gained, it got discussed in parliament, and finally, by the start of this season, they were allowed back into Champion Hill.

Support over the past few seasons has increased dramatically. From averaging just a few hundred in the early noughties, by 2015-16 that was over 1,300. Last season it was around 1,800, while for the game today it was over 2,000.

The support base is an interesting one, they have a large activist element. ‘The Rabble’, who reside behind the goal have a Guardianista approach and have campaigned against discrimination and homophobia, amongst other things. They have links, and indeed draw support, from clubs around Europe, one being a German club called Altona 93, who the club and it’s supporters have a very strong bond with.

Arriving at Champion Hill, you can feel the vibe as you walk through the park to the turnstiles. The support base is of all ages, wearing their colours of pink and blue proudly. Once inside the ground, it’s a very friendly and welcoming place, with seemingly no boundaries of any nature. Without doubt this is a community club that is open to absolutely everyone.

Once inside the ground, the large main stand straddles the half way line, while at the back of it is the very impressive clubhouse with superb décor. If you want, and arrive early enough, you can watch the game from the windows at the front.

Behind both goals is open terracing, while opposite the main stand is a small area of covered terrace. Interestingly, a banner hung over the barrier in front of the terraces and all it said on it was ‘Tuscany’.

I notice during the game the fans were singing about Tuscany, so I did my research, or at least Mrs H did the research!

Turns out, when they applied for planning to build the new ground back in 1991, a local resident complained, saying that it would spoil her views, which she felt reminded her of Tuscany. Not being funny, or disparaging or owt like that, but this is Sarf London innit? No, she found her pleas fell on deaf ears, but the fans of Hamlet never forgot it!

So, the game then, played in a sweltering heat.

Slough took a surprise lead in the fourth minute through a Warren Harris header, but just two minutes later and the scores were level thanks to Reise Allassani.

Dulwich took a 28^th minute lead when that man Allassani pounced and that was how it remained at half time.

Dulwich had chances to make the game safe in the second period and their inability to take these proved costly when in the 78^th minute George Wells scored with a terrific shot from distance to grab the equaliser. 

With just five minutes remaining, disaster struck when Ben Chapman gave away a penalty for Dulwich, and up stepped Matthew Lench to score the winner, and on balance it was probably the right outcome.

Disappointing for Dulwich on a sweltering day, but a very enjoyable afternoon all the same for the Hatt contingent.

The sat nav did us no favours going back, we got to drive past the Oval, over Vauxhall Bridge, down past Hyde Park, along Park Lane to Marble Arch, before heading out along the A5 to the motorway.

It wasn’t as scary as it may sound, certainly not as scary was when a lorry smashed into the side of us as we exited the M1 at Derby, it was either take the impact or drive into a concrete wall at high speed, and with little time to make that decision, I went for the lorry!

All were safe and undamaged, the car, well that’s another story, but it won’t take away from a great weekend in London, and a visit to a super football club in Dulwich Hamlet.