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Dulwich Hamlet 0 - 0 Norwich City, pre-season friendly, Tue 12th July, 19:45

Griff_Turnstile said:
Hopefully things are progressing fast on the application for the license to cover outside sales which should alleviate a lot of the problems.
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Clearly things are not progressing fast! At the end of January, someone kicked up a fuss about the proposed outside bar and Southwark Council advised us not to open the bar and apply for a variation in the licence which could take up to 30 days to process. In the meantime we found a way round this by selling tokens in the bar which could be redeemed in exchange for alcohol at an external collection point.

I was expecting this to be sorted before the end of last season let alone the start of the forthcoming season.

Has anyone at the Club - Football Committee, Hadley, the Bar Manager or Operations Manager got any idea what's been happening for the last 6 months bearing in mind the advice given by the Council?

Another season seeing more moans and groans about the operational aspects of a match day at the ground isn't appealing.
 
If people are paying ten quid to see a pre-season friendly game, I don't think it's unreasonable for those people to expect a timely turnaround at the bar. Other clubs seem to manage it, and the problem is only going to get much, much, much worse as crowds increase.

I've given up bothering now.
 
Al Crane said:
Clearly things are not progressing fast! At the end of January, someone kicked up a fuss about the proposed outside bar and Southwark Council advised us not to open the bar and apply for a variation in the licence which could take up to 30 days to process. In the meantime we found a way round this by selling tokens in the bar which could be redeemed in exchange for alcohol at an external collection point.

I was expecting this to be sorted before the end of last season let alone the start of the forthcoming season.

Has anyone at the Club - Football Committee, Hadley, the Bar Manager or Operations Manager got any idea what's been happening for the last 6 months bearing in mind the advice given by the Council?

Another season seeing more moans and groans about the operational aspects of a match day at the ground isn't appealing.
Click to expand...
You, of all people Al Crane should know how long things can drag on...after all wasn't the Mega-Container hoped to be opened for before last Christmas? ;)
 
simple solution - go back to letting people bring their own booze in . if you're unable to provide a service , let people sort it out for themselves . a further matter of interest , has anyone run any sort of cost/benefit analysis since the ban was introduced ?
 
Anyone that thinks the outside bar will resolve the issue is deluded. If the bar can't deal with 656 we are going to need a bar on each corner to badly deal with the attendance on the Saturday.

Just sack the person responsible for the bar and get someone competent in.
 
Dulwich Mishi said:
You, of all people Al Crane should know how long things can drag on...after all wasn't the Mega-Container hoped to be opened for before last Christmas? ;)
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Of course, but no-one was paying me a salary to build the container! My basis for questioning why it hasn't been resolved yet was the suggestion that we needed to submit a licence variation which could take up to 30 days to determine. Even allowing for slackness on the Club's or Council's part, 6 months is a long time for it to drag on.

I suspect the Football Committee have nothing to do with applying for this licence variation but has anyone on the Committee questioned why it hasn't been resolved? It's a constant gripe with a lot of fans so it can't be going unnoticed.

And much like when the Mega-Container wasn't open to be able to sell a greater range of merchandise to make the Trust and the Football Club money, the Club is probably losing out on hundreds of pounds every match by fans choosing not to bother with buying drinks because of the time it takes to get served.
 
Last edited:
Decent write up here:
These days, Dulwich Hamlet are making headlines again – but they’re more likely to be found inside a national broadsheet Sunday supplement than on the back pages. With articles variously describing them as ‘London’s most hipster football club’ (The Guardian) and the fans as craft beer-toting, ukulele-playing, hand-knitted scarf-wearing young professionals (The Independent), such widespread coverage means it’s little wonder that the perception of Hamlet’s support can vary from harmless eccentricity to, for some, seemingly almost offence-inducing.

I hate ukuleles but I do have a propensity to moonlight at various non-league clubs in and around
the M25 on those blessed Norwich-free midweek evenings, and Dulwich Hamlet is the one I most
often come back to – easy to get to, cheap to get in, and some decent football and atmosphere guaranteed. And although I don’t even own one of the pink and blue bar scarves now ubiquitous across the buses and supermarkets of south London, I’ve been going just about long enough to witness the changes in attendance that have piqued the interest of the non-league world.
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And spot on:

Such growth comes not without its own problems. Despite the best efforts of the efficient staff, the clubhouse has increasingly struggled to cope with the huge numbers wanting to retreat back to the terrace with a Hamlet Lager or local real ale in a plastic pint pot (yes, you can do that here), with ten-deep scenes at the bar throughout the game not uncommon for Saturday games. Indeed, the club had previously turned a blind eye to fans bringing in their own beer, until a can in each coat pocket seemingly mutated into the undeniable piss-take of people hauling 24-can cases across from Sainsbury’s. The rule is now enforced via friendly but very un-non- league bag searches at the turnstiles, with a licence obtained to sell alcohol from a terrace stall to take some heat off the bar.

With only 500 seats in the stadium and some distinctly inadequate steps of terracing behind the goals, a decent sightline can be a precious commodity on a busy day. “At least we get a good view in these games”, comments one passing home fan, with 652 ultimately coming through the turnstiles on Tuesday, a fair few of them in yellow and green. A great turnout for a midweek friendly from both sides, with the home fans congregating behind the goal – ‘The Rabble’, if you must – finding their voices as the night wore on.
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One night in Dulwich
 
Al Crane said:
Of course, but no-one was paying me a salary to build the container! My basis for questioning why it hasn't been resolved yet was the suggestion that we needed to submit a licence variation which could take up to 30 days to determine. Even allowing for slackness on the Club's or Council's part, 6 months is a long time for it to drag on.

I suspect the Football Committee have nothing to do with applying for this licence variation but has anyone on the Committee questioned why it hasn't been resolved? It's a constant gripe with a lot of fans so it can't be going unnoticed.

And much like when the Mega-Container wasn't open to be able to sell a greater range of merchandise to make the Trust and the Football Club money, the Club is probably losing out on hundreds of pounds every match by fans choosing not to bother with buying drinks because of the time it takes to get served.
Click to expand...
Yes, the Football Committee are constantly questioning things.
 
editor said:
If people are paying ten quid to see a pre-season friendly game, I don't think it's unreasonable for those people to expect a timely turnaround at the bar. Other clubs seem to manage it, and the problem is only going to get much, much, much worse as crowds increase.

I've given up bothering now.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I gave up a while ago but I thought it would be OK last night as the crowd was relatively small - missed a huge chunk of the first half just trying to get drinks, maybe 20 minutes or so. While the outside bar would help there's a lot they could do to be quicker IMO. It doesn't seem like speeding things up is a priority at the moment.
 
B.I.G said:
Anyone that thinks the outside bar will resolve the issue is deluded. If the bar can't deal with 656 we are going to need a bar on each corner to badly deal with the attendance on the Saturday.

Just sack the person responsible for the bar and get someone competent in.
Click to expand...
This. The bar is badly run. I've been at other grounds which have been as busy and still managed to get served.
 
sleaterkinney said:
This. The bar is badly run. I've been at other grounds which have been as busy and still managed to get served.
Click to expand...

Its now been established that its Hadley that is responsible so I guess all we can do is contact them and/or Matt Rimmer on twitter or via email.

It needs to be sorted before the season starts.
 
What a crazy problem to be carrying on with. Loads of people outside your business looking like this:

3tapsu.jpg
 
B.I.G said:
editor can you DM him on twitter? And ask him to sort it, he is usually very responsive, and it will have big weight coming from you.
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Who do I need to ask? The last time I made a direct approach concerning the bar, I was given very short thrift indeed. :(

Not really sure what I could add apart from: serve beers faster, FFS.
 
Did I see a noodle bar instead of the hot dog stall in a picture?
 
The food from the curry/noodle place was sensational. And they were actually selling food before the match, which was a bonus. The bratwurst place never seemed to be ready to actually sell anything until almost half-time.
 
editor said:
Who do I need to ask? The last time I made a direct approach concerning the bar, I was given very short thrift indeed. :(

Not really sure what I could add apart from: serve beers faster, FFS.
Click to expand...

@ matt freedom

No spaces on twitter.

If you get a bad reply I will as him in person and that will go badly :) as I will be drunk.
 
B.I.G said:
@ matt freedom

No spaces on twitter.

If you get a bad reply I will as him in person and that will go badly :) as I will be drunk.
Click to expand...
I don't understand why he doesn't come on here and talk to the fans directly. That's what I'd do if I was running the show.
 
Matt Rimmer is not currently "running the show". I believe all 3 of the food people are supposed to be opening eventually
 
liamdhfc said:
Matt Rimmer is not currently "running the show". I believe all 3 of the food people are supposed to be opening eventually
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Thanks Liam. Do you know who we can contact to speak to about the bar?

Preferably someone with the power to change who runs it.
 
B.I.G said:
Thanks Liam. Do you know who we can contact to speak to about the bar?

Preferably someone with the power to change who runs it.
Click to expand...

I know it's not the answer you want but hold fire on that as there are a few changes happening so I will try to find out the right person.
 
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