Dulwich Hamlet F.C.

Dulwich Hamlet

Full name	Dulwich Hamlet Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Hamlet
Founded	1893
Ground	Champion Hill, London
Capacity	3000
Chairman	Jack Payne
Manager	Craig Edwards
League	Isthmian League Division One South
2007-08	Isthmian League Division One South, 6th
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 Athletic are tenants due to their ground being redeveloped. As well as the tenants, their chief local rivals are Tooting and Mitcham United and Kingstonian F.C.

History

The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson, and a plaque next to their stadium commerates 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 recored 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. This season, with more stability during the close season, Dulwich hope for a possible promotion challenge.

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 Championship for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Albert Jarrett, who until last season was at Watford and Simeon Jackson of Gillingham. Other players to come through Dulwich Hamlet in times gone past are Marlon King of Wigan, Leon Cort of Crystal Palace, and before that former pros Carl Asaba, George Ndah and Alan Pardew. Omari Coleman was also another player to come out of the youth system and he enjoyed spells with Watford and Lincoln before eventually drifitng back into Non-League Football. The club currently runs sides from Under 8's to Under 15's in the South East London and Kent Youth League, as well as Under 16's and Under 18's in the Kent Youth League.

Current squad

Squad as of 14 September 2008. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
––	GK	ENG	Jamie Lunan
––	GK	ENG	Sheikh Ceesay
––	DF	ENG	Ryan Bernard (captain)
––	DF	ENG	Marc Cumberbatch
––	DF	ENG	Kyle Graham
––	DF	ENG	Billy Chattaway
––	DF	ENG	Peter Martin
––	MFF	ENG	Cedric Ngakam
––	MF	ENG	Mohame Coly
––	MF	ENG	Benson Paka

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
––	MF	ENG	Fas Koroma
––	MF	ENG	Junior Kaffo
––	MF	ENG	Tom Bolorinhua
––	MF	ENG	Jon-Paul Collier
––	MF	ENG	Darryl Plummer
––	FW	ENG	Gary Noel
––	FW	ENG	Henry Darko
––	FW	ENG	Laurent Hamici
––	FW	ENG	Scott Simpson
––	FW	ENG	Walid Matata

Notable former players

• Marlon King - Watford and Wigan Athletic
• Leon Cort - Stoke City
• Luke Cornwall - Played for Fulham and Grimsby Town amongst others
• Peter Crouch (on loan) - Portsmouth and England
• George Elokobi - Colchester United and Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Carl Asaba - Former professional for Brentford, Gillingham, Stoke City and Millwall
• George Ndah - Former professional for Swindon Town, Crystal Palace and Wolverhampton Wanderers
• Alan Pardew - Played for Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace and now manages Charlton Athletic
• Albert Jarrett- Gillingham
• Simeon Jackson- Gillingham
• Damian Scannell- Southend United
• Shawn Beveney- International player for Guyana, now at Cray Wanderers

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. (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: fourth qualifying round 6 times, last in season 2000-01.

External links

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

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