Dulwich Hamlet vs Chippenham Town, Saturday 29th September 2018, 3pm

I did, and then everyone took the piss as I thought they were playing in blue, not green.

 

they were playing in blue - chips fan near me in replica kit ...

 

My friends who used to come to Champion Hill broadly fell into two catogories – the one’s who love football and, over time in inevitably, fell in love with Hamlet too. All those seem to still to Imperial Fields exactly as often as they used to visit CH, be that almost every home game in some cases or about once a month in others.


Then there’s the other type, those who lived localish, who were less arsed by both the game in general and the club, and, frankly, mainly wanted a day out al fresco drinking in Dulwich, as long as the weather was good.


They’ve all been once to see us since the 'relocation', all for different games, and all seem to have concluded, sadly, that it’s too much hassle to be worth their effort.


It’s hard not to be dispirited when you send a grouWhatsApppp suggesting people join you just to get the reply ‘Oh yeah, I would if it was still in East Dulwich’.


I resisted the temptation to ask ‘Oh yeah. They should have thought of that’

 

Sadly, rightly or wrongly, that is the very nature of your occasional football supporter. Like it or not a large proportion of our 'East Dulwich support' are there to watch a local game, and aren't really interested in away games, or travelling a distance. I don't hold anything against them, each to their own, they are just a different type of supporter to you or me.
The sooner we return to East Dulwich the better. It's not a problem unique to us, but to any club that's had to move away from their local heartland.

 

Some away fans would have boosted the attendance too. There were about 10, one of which I brought with me!
I hope we take more to their gaff!!

 

Taking of Chippenham's gaff, my mate (the Chippenham fan) said they only had drinking in the bar not pitch side. They told them it was league rules, but that's bollocks right? It's not until you get to the Nation League that the ban comes in I though?
He also said their bar has a very very poor selection of beer too.

 

You’re right it is bollocks. Its not league rules its up to individual clubs at this level whether they allow you to drink pitchside. There’s some decent pubs in Chippenham so you won’t be dissapointed when we visit.

 

It's League rules for the National Division.
At South level it's down to individual clubs to decide, or whatever their local licencing regulations say.

 

People would visit the pubs anyway. The query was about drinking inside the ground. And that would be during the match. So away fans would hardly be in the pub then would they?

 

No, respect to those Chippenham fans who made the long trek - it is amazing that a small town like Chippenham can sustain a team at such a level given its population
so lets not forget not everyone is as fortunate as us, despite our present off the field problems

 

It's a lot bigger than Hungerford, isn't it?

 

only by 40,000
Hungerford at 6,000 is indeed a small town to host a team in our League

 

......might be in a local graveyard though , eh Mishi ?...........

 

Dipo's two goals get him named in the Conference South team of the week.

 

Technically the made up Team of the Week from the 'Non League Paper'....

 

Firstly, where does my post NOT let him enjoy his moment?
Secondly, good on you Dipo for looking in on this forum, sorry if I ruined it for you, with editor graciously taking offence on your behalf.
Thirdly, it puts a smile on my face when one of our players gets selected for our divisional team of the week, but it's based on someone's total guesswork based on, in the main, cobbled together biased match reports and basic matchday stats. Forgive me for treating such lists with a pinch of salt...

 

With a bit more serious imput. This isn't a proper award! It's the view of one individual journalist, cobbled together for the 'Non League Ppaer' as a spacefiller, nothing more nothing less. It's hardly like the Isthmian Team of the Year, when it's voted for by all the managers, for example, and thus a bit more scientific, is the point I am trying to make, and I'm sure most people will understand that...

 

Unless the person is doctor who and can simultaneously watch all the games at once it's not worth the paper it's printed on.

 

Doctor Who ?

 

How do you think the choose non scoring players such as defenders for the team of the week? Mind blown?

 

I presume it is the same as Step 3 matches, so each report has a Star Player and they mostly pick from those? The Star Player awards are a bit arbitrary - I used to pick them when reporting for another club and they rarely tied in with the sponsors' MOTM.

 

The MOTM things in the paper are done by the home club reporters, club volunteers who are in the main rather more biased to the home side, so hardly 'scientific'. As I've suggested, it's all a bit of fun, but not worth the paper it's written on.

 

I tried to be fair when I did it but there was probably a bit of unconscious bias!