From David Ham : Dulwich Hamlet – my AFC vaccine
Hey Myles,
I’m 40 this year, used to be a home and away chap at The Arsenal, Europe too, loved the club to the core.
But the Emperor Nero has killed not just my enthusiasm for Arsenal but football in general, I don’t even care when Spurs win. I was laughed out of the Herbert Chapman 7 years ago by my mates for saying we’re done under Nero. Christ knows how you feel.
Anyway, I’ve found my tonic. My fix. My substitute.
I read this article last year: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/dulwich-hamlet-non-league-football-109 and sent it to a few people who are also South East based, and all of them (among them a Spurs fan, Manure, Chelsea, Charlton and Millwall) had all fallen out of love with our sanitised game, knew someone who had given up with Prem or Championship football and had begun gravitating down to Dulwich Hamlet.
I went last season and enjoyed it so much, the banter, pint in hand on the terrace, people there for football alone, and the quality is great, the intent and drive of the players never less than 100%, I actually spend much of the game laughing out loud to some of the songs, and I hope you might publish this so that fellow ‘floaters/ given-uppers’ might come down and add to the fun and help push the ‘amlet to promotion. They just missed out last year and the crowds are now always above 1400 (league average c300 I think).
The premise there is the St Pauli model – who I also go and watch a few times a season (for 10e!!!!) – staunchly left-wing, anti-fascist/ sexism/ homophobia.
Anyway, if you ever fancy it yourself hit me up and we can have a pint down the ‘amlet.
It’s the vaccine for the modern football loving but disillusioned supporters.
Keep up the good work, you seem to have found a new gear of late, lucky Germany couldn’t be arsed to do the same eh!
PS. For any music heads, I host a monthly show on Soho Radio called The Jukebox Show playing tracks from across the decades and genres, and the next show (15th April 10am) has a die hard LFC fan James Walsh from Starsailor on to take listeners through his dream LFC 5-a-side team, dedicating a track to each one from their respective eras.
I’m thinking I might continue this monthly and am talking to some diverse but renowned musicians to feature. You might enjoy.
Myles says:
Only regime change can give me a new gear.