Dulwich Hamlet F.C.

Dulwich Hamlet

Full name	Dulwich Hamlet Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Hamlet
Founded	1893
Ground	Champion Hill, London (Capacity: 3,000 (500 seated))
Chairman	Jack Payne
Manager	Gavin Rose
League	Isthmian League Division One South
2008-09	Isthmian League Division One South, 12th
Home colours Away colours

Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is an English football club who play at Champion Hill stadium in Dulwich, in the London Borough of Southwark. Formed in 1893, they joined the Isthmian League a few years later, winning it a total of 4 times, between 1920 and 1949, and wear a famous pink and blue strip.

They currently play in the Ryman League Division One South, at Step 4 in the non-league pyramid, (and Step 8 of the National League System) and have played at this level since their relegation from the Premier Division in 2000-01. Currently, Fisher F.C. are tenants due to their ground being redeveloped. As well as the tenants, their chief local rivals are Tooting and Mitcham United and Kingstonian, although with none of these sides in their division, their nearest league rivals are Croydon Athletic.

History

The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson, and a plaque next to their stadium commemorates him to this day. Their greatest ever player was Edgar Kail, who scored over 400 goals for the club. An amateur footballer, he won three full caps for the England team against France, Belgium and Spain in 1929, and shunned 'big money' moves to professional clubs to play for his beloved Dulwich Hamlet. Bert Coleman also won an England cap while playing at Dulwich in 1921. At that time, they had attracted crowds of up to 20,000 - though now they have around 300 supporters on match day.

The club has produced some professional players such as George Ndah, Simeon Jackson, Albert Jarrett, Carl Asaba, Leon Cort, George Elokobi and Marlon King. Chris Dickson is most recent pro to come out of the club, moving to Charlton Athletic in January 2007, securing a two-and-a-half year deal with the club. He was signed for £400 from Erith & Belvedere, and sold for £35,000, a fee that could rise to £50,000. Dickson left with a record of 37 Goals in 41 appearances, in his one season.

The 2007-08 season saw big changes at the club as Martin Eede stood down as chairman and manager Wayne Burnett parted company with the club. They were replaced by Jack Payne and Craig Edwards respectively.

Recent times

Dulwich's Isthmian League triumph of 1948-1949 has been the highest point in 60 years, with the club now playing in the division below the Premier League. The club remained in the Premier League until 1973, when a second division was formed. They soon however, won promotion back to the Premier League, and a highlight was finishing 3rd in the league in 1980. After relegation to the Division One in 1990, the club were promoted in 1992, and remained there until 2001, with a fifth place finish in 1995 the highest position. In 1998-99, Dulwich saw off Deal Town, Thurrock, and Newport IOW, to reach the first round of the FA Cup, where a record attendance of 1,835 saw them lost 1-0 to Southport. However, since relegation from the top flight in 2001, the club have failed to regain their place, with the most heartbreaking moment, a play-off penalty shoot-out defeat to Wealdstone in 2004. In 2006-07, under Wayne Burnett, one of the most promising sides in years brough Dulwich close to promotion. Despite leading the table for all but the last few months of the season, with Chris Dickson scoring for fun, Dulwich slumped to an 8th place finish. During the summer, chairman Martin Eede and manager Wayne Burnett departed, taking the majority of the squad with them. Despite a slow start, as new manager Craig Edwards assembled his squad virtually from scratch, Dulwich finished an improved 6th place, with a run to the FA Cup 3rd Qualifying Round to boot. The following season, Edwards' second in charge of the club, saw the Hamlet finish a slightly disappointing 12th, having been hit by a 3 point deduction for fielding a ineligible player in the opening game of the season. On 1st May, the club confirmed that they had parted company with the manager and his assistant Paul Downes, with former youth team coach and Beckenham Town manager Gavin Rose appointed with immediate effect. ^[1]

Youth academy

Recent players to come from the system are Chris Dickson, who left the Hamlet last season for Charlton Athletic, George Elokobi, now playing in the Premier League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Albert Jarrett, who until last season was at Watford, Simeon Jackson of Gillingham and Jason Hawes, who represented England Schoolboys in 2008. Other players to come through Dulwich Hamlet in times gone past are Marlon King of Wigan Athletic, Leon Cort of Crystal Palace, and before that former pros Carl Asaba, George Ndah and Alan Pardew.

This season, the Under 18's managed by first team manager Gavin Rose beat Uxbridge, Enfield Town and Chelmsford City in the FA Youth Cup to reach the First Round Proper, where they took the academy team from Norwich City to penalties, after drawing 1-1 in normal time; losing 4-2 on penalties.

The club currently runs sides from Under 8's to Under 16's in the South East London and Kent Youth League, as well as two Under 18 teams in the Kent Youth League.

Current squad

Squad as of 17 December 2009.^[2]

No. Position Player –– GK Phil Wilson –– GK Kieron Thorp –– DF Osa Obamwonyi –– DF Dean Palmer –– DF Justin Bowen –– DF Kalvin Morath-Gibbs –– DF Nic Plumain –– DF Yinka Salami –– DF Dean Carpenter –– DF Aaron Dalhouse

No. Position Player –– MF Alim Sesay –– MF Junior Kadi (Assistant Manager) –– MF Luke Hickie –– MF Nyren Clunis –– MF Alex Tiesse –– MF Sanchez Ming –– FW Sol Pinnock –– FW Frankie Sawyer –– FW Roy Odiaka –– FW Paul Scott

Out on loan

No. Position Player — MF Sean Sinclair (at Redhill) — FW Dan Akpoveta (at Croydon)

Notable former players

• Leon Cort
• Peter Crouch
• Chris Dickson
• George Elokobi
• Carl Asaba
• George Ndah
• Alan Pardew
• Simeon Jackson
• Damian Scannell
• Edgar Kail
• Gordon Jago
• Peter Garland
• Wayne Burnett
• Derek Ufton
• Tommy Jover
• Jermaine Darlington
• Carl Emberson
• Andy Gray

Major honours

FA Amateur Cup

• Winners: 1919-20, 1931-32, 1933-34, 1936-37.

Isthmian League

• Champions: 1919-20, 1925-26, 1932-33, 1948-49.
• Division 1 Champions: 1977-78

London Senior Cup

• Winners: 1924-25, 1938-39, 1949-50, 1983-84, 2003-04

Surrey Senior Cup

• Winners: 1904-05, 1905-06, 1908-09, 1909-10, 1919-20, 1922-23, 1924-25, 1927-28, 1933-34, 1936-37, 1946-47, 1949-50, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1973-74, 1974-75. (Record 16 Times)

Club records

• Most first team appearances: Reg Merritt, 576 (1950-1966)
• Most consecutive first team appearances: Chris Lewington, 290 (1977-1982)
• Most first team goals in career: Edgar Kail, 427 (1919-1933)
• Most first team goals in a season: Edgar Kail, 53 (1925-1926)
• Biggest Isthmian League wins: 10-1 v West Norwood (1920-21); 9-0 v Worthing (1990-91)
• Heaviest Isthmian League defeats: 1-10 v Hendon (1963-64); 0-9 v Walthamstow Avenue (1945-46)
• Biggest cup win: 13-0 v Walton-on-Thames, Surrey Senior Cup (1936-37)
• Heaviest cup defeats: 0-9 v Hornchurch FA Cup (2004-05); 0-8 v Barnet, London Charity Cup (1962-63)
• Full England international caps: Edgar Kail (3), Bert Coleman (1)
• Highest attendance (new stadium): 1,835, Dulwich Hamlet v Southport (1998-99)
• Highest attendance (old stadium): 20,744, Kingstonian v Stockton, FA Amateur Cup Final (1932-33)

• Best FA Cup appearance: 1st Round Replay, twice, in 1930-31 and 1933-34, losing both times to Newport County.^[3]

References

External links

• Dulwich Hamlet's Official Website
• Dulwich Hamlet's Youth Club Site
• Dulwich Hamlet's Unofficial Forum