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Dulwich Hamlet FC versus Maidstone United
Isthmian League Division One South action, Saturday, March 24, 2007
(Photos ©urban75)
Games don't come any bigger for Dulwich Hamlet than a tussle with table toppers Maidstone United, so fresh from our Starbucks protest, we hot footed it down to the Champion Hill stadium in Dulwich to cheer on the local boys.
Number one Maidstone fan!
Thanks to a deal which saw Dulwich Hamlet flogging off a big chunk of their former stadium's land to Sainsburys, the ground has excellent facilities, including this bar.
Initially, the club didn't like punters watching the game from the bar and pulled down the shutters during the game, but the bar now stays open through the match.
Hamlet loyal!
Dulwich play in a rather jaunty pink and navy blue strip.
Old school cardboard signs for announcing substitutions.
Action from the game.
View showing the main stand, bar and training block.
Around the 1930s, Dulwich were one of the biggest amateur teams in the country, attracting crowds of up to 20,000.
The capacity is now just 3,000 and the attendance today was 611, a figure buoyed by Maidstone's vocal support.
The linesman Wayne Ingram keeled over towards the end of the game - it looked quite serious at first.
The linesman was escorted and the game suspended while he had treatment.
The pitch took on a rather surreal air while we were waiting for the linesman to return, with balls flying all over the place.
We went off for a cup of tea, courtesy of Dulwich's rather basic facilities. The best was can say about the tea was that it was hot.
It was end to stuff for the last ten minutes, with chances at both goals.
Dulwich looked the strongest by the end and were unlucky not to snatch a last minute goal.
Despite the final score being 0-0, it was an exciting game.
Plaque outside the ground celebrating Dulwich's greatest ever player, Edgar Kail, who scored over 400 goals for the club in the 1920s and 30s.
 Match report (Dulwich site)
Match report (Maidstone Utd site)
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Dulwich Hamlet
