The plight of Dulwich Hamlet

[Silver Stone]

Some of you may have heard the stories about this shit, sorry if you haven’t but it’s too long for me to type out.

Last night they were effectively evicted from their ground by the leeches who own the freehold:
http://www.pitchero.com/clubs/dulwichhamlet/news/club-statement-6318-2207406.html

Not entirely sure what that means, though I’m sure a local club will help out in the meantime. Then today, the shady c*** trademarked the name of the club!

I’m not sure what else can be done outside of draw attention to it, these people already rejected a bid to buy them out from Rio Ferdinand.

 

[Cornish Piskie]

They could always move to Millwall.

From Dog Kennel Hill to Dog Shit City.



Sorry Mark.... that was just too good an opportunity to miss.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

its situations like these and some others where the FA should have the legal ability to just instantly take ownership away from people currently in charge,

still the council seem to be on fans side which is an important thing as it will stop developers being able to do much.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

I wonder if Southwark Council could do a compulsory purchase of the ground. I know they’re in Hamlet’s corner on this.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

What a result for them tonight against Billericay ........ absolutely smashed them with a brilliant fightback to win 3-1 to go top of the league.

Clearly hasn't affected the team performance and confidence, and the overall morale of the fan base.
Utter disgrace the way clubs get shafted.

 

[Paddy]

Not that it is the be all & end all of it but it must be a nice warm feeling inside to have a council who actually want to actively help their local team being removed from their home instead of seeing the alternatives as cash cows.

Not sure where Dulwich, or whatever they will have to name themselves, will end up if they are evicted to be honest... there isn't many suitable grounds in their immediate area that will make Isthmian Premier (or more importantly given their ambitions National League South) grading. Millwall was mentioned, but I can only see that happening if Millwall showed some solidarity & gave them a decent deal otherwise I can't see how they will afford to rent such a big stadium by comparison. Tooting probably the nearest current Isthmian Premier ground & I can only assume that would be a last resort.

 

[BigDaveCUFC]

There is bigger issues to this especially in London and its why i think FA need to start possibly looking into it.

With land such a high valuable assett in London it has to be prime for companies to buy up clubs, run them into the ground then sell land for development or build houses to sell at the usual horrid london prices.

I'd think apart from 3-4 clubs in London all others could easily be at risk of the same issues, especially anyone heading closer to central london.

 

[AnimoEtFide]

It's pretty awful that this could happen to a club who, it seems, are a well-run club. If they really are unable to return to Champion Hill, I don't suppose Fisher FC's new ground is up to standard?

 

[Pink Panther]

Not that it is the be all & end all of it but it must be a nice warm feeling inside to have a council who actually want to actively help their local team being removed from their home instead of seeing the alternatives as cash cows.

Not sure where Dulwich, or whatever they will have to name themselves, will end up if they are evicted to be honest... there isn't many suitable grounds in their immediate area that will make Isthmian Premier (or more importantly given their ambitions National League South) grading. Millwall was mentioned, but I can only see that happening if Millwall showed some solidarity & gave them a decent deal otherwise I can't see how they will afford to rent such a big stadium by comparison. Tooting probably the nearest current Isthmian Premier ground & I can only assume that would be a last resort.

The level of support from Southwark Council is indeed most heartening.

Millwall charge over £3k for ad-hoc post-season pitch lettings and may not want any additional matches there during the season at any price.

It's pretty awful that this could happen to a club who, it seems, are a well-run club. If they really are unable to return to Champion Hill, I don't suppose Fisher FC's new ground is up to standard?

Fisher is nowhere near the required standard, it's bare minimum for county league with little space for expansion.

The matter is in hand for next season, although it looks like we will need to find alternative venues for our final 5 league matches plus a county cup semi-final with Balham and possible League Cup semi-final with Met Police. I guess cup ties could just be switched to our opponents' ground.

This situation almost arose in December, at which point both Carshalton Athletic and Metropolitan Police offered us the use of their ground in the event of an emergency.

 

[The Jovial Forester]

New fan group website: https://savedulwichhamlet.org.uk/
Seems meadow have backed down on the farcical attempt to trademark the name after the inevitable social media reaction.

 

[PuB]

I understand why a company might want to get their grubby mitts on a prime piece of land, but what's with trying to claim copywrite of the clubs name?

 

[The Jovial Forester]

I understand why a company might want to get their grubby mitts on a prime piece of land, but what's with trying to claim copywrite of the clubs name?

Read some speculation that it was just done as a bargaining chip so that they could then make a gesture like they have done or else as a way of tying the club up in fighting for its name when they need to be fighting for their stadium. Either way, glad it seems to have backfired and here's to a swift compulsory purchase order on Champion Hill.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Long time rivals Tooting and Mitcham United have agreed to a ground-share until the end of the season -

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

According to the DHFC Facebook page, Southwark Council have agreed to release the funds necessary to buy Champion Hill. Now, Meadow are expected to refuse the offer to sell, in which case the council can pursue a CPO.

 

[Pink Panther]

This war could last for years but so far I'm confident Hamlet are winning the battles.

 

[Jemfy]

New fan group website: https://savedulwichhamlet.org.uk/
Seems meadow have backed down on the farcical attempt to trademark the name after the inevitable social media reaction.

I may be wrong but it was my understanding that trademark law in this country worked on a rather informal basis until there is a need to make it formal. As such it would then be my understanding that unless the company owned the football club at the time they tried to trademark the names associated with it then it wouldn't actually be possible for them to do so (any transfer of the club trading under that name would lead to an implied transfer of any IP relating to the football club unless specifically stated otherwise).

 

[DarkSithLord]

Latest DHFC Statement. Very well put.

Meadow's claims in the press, and Southwark Councils support.
On March 13th, we were made aware via the local press that Meadow had said we were allowed to play at Champion Hill again. However the club have received no official communications from Meadow Residential or Meadow Partners since Andrew McDaniel refused to pay the bar profit owed via email on February 21st. We do not accept being served legal notices as 'communication'.

There are many conditions that would need to be met before we could return home to Champion Hill:

• Full payment of all bar profits back dated to November 1st, 2017

• A new, fair, License until the end of the 2018-19 season

• Re-instating the bar and offering employment to all staff let go due to Meadow's actions

• Returning DHFC as the Primary Tennant, so we can use space allocated to us whenever we need, as per the Stadiums construction and purpose.

However even if these conditions were guaranteed, we'd still be wary of working alongside a company like Meadow. Their actions speak incredibly loudly, and we're not sure we need to hear much more.

The Chairman Liam Hickey went into some detail as to what Meadow have been up to in his latest programme notes:

"Since the moment we were asked to sign a new licence at Champion Hill, I knew that our landlords would invent some trumped up reason to move us out. However, their other attempts to silence the club and its fans through taking the rights to our name are something else.

I am also extremely grateful for all the support that we continue to receive from Southwark Council and assure you that we will be challenging the grounds on which we have been excluded from the stadium.

In brief, the reasons given for our licence being terminated were our lack of Public Liability insurance, which is in fact provided through the Bostik League, our inability to meet the costs of Meadow’s legal action against Southwark (taken in our name), which Southwark are not asking us to pay, the payment of back rent that Meadow conveniently “forgot” to take when they handled our finances on behalf of our majority shareholder. Finally, we apparently didn’t pay our rent for the last home game but have clear evidence to show it was not due. All in all, it’s a load of trumped up nonsense to achieve their aims.
We always knew that they wanted us out at the end of the season at the latest.

Whilst the above is shocking enough, to receive papers saying that we could no longer use our name was just ridiculous and shows that Meadow Residential have lost all sense of reality in their attempts to destroy our club. This was a flagrant attempt to silence the club and its supporters that has made them look ridiculous. None of us buy the excuse they came out with that this was done to protect us and to be handed over to the club. Despite what they think, we weren’t all born yesterday.

On this note, they have been served with papers asking for the immediate return of our rights to use our name, together with the other forbidden phrases of “The Hamlet” and “dhfc”. We have also asked for further adjustments to other entities that use the phrase Dulwich Hamlet and which they own."

Truly remarkable actions from a company that promised we'd be at the ground for another 100 years, and who even had their head Andrew McDaniel go live on TV and claim they support the club.

On the other hand, Southwark Council have taken the extraordinary step of releasing funds to try and acquire the site. Their support could not be any better demonstrated. Peter John and all at the council have been incredibly supportive, and have looked at many ways to safeguard the future of DHFC. This plan includes building 60 much needed social housing units on the 'car wash' car park, and protecting the stadium as it is for the long term. Investment in the stadium and greendale would lead to a community sports hub focused around the club.

With this in mind, and the fight for The Hamlet's future only getting fiercer with Helen Hayes MP's adjournment debate on our situation scheduled for 2:30pm in the House of Commons on Friday (16th), we urge Meadow to do the right thing and move on from the site. If they'd like to talk to us about a return to Champion Hill, might be worth picking up the phone to us, and not the South London Press.

 

[bobbycbe]

“The manager before me was old school. He’d often go and drink with the supporters and they liked him. When we went in, it was: who are these little upstarts?”

https://www.coachesvoice.com/playground-politics/

 

[DarkSithLord]

“The manager before me was old school. He’d often go and drink with the supporters and they liked him. When we went in, it was: who are these little upstarts?”

https://www.coachesvoice.com/playground-politics/

Welcome to the forum. Being a Chelsea fan how did you come to be interested in Dulwich Hamlet?

 

[Luke_ciderhead]

Despite all their problems, it looks like they could well win the league. What an achievement that would be.

 

[Darlo On Tour]

Doesn't look as though Billericay want to win the league with another 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tonbridge Angels. Certainly gonna be a close call come the end of the season between Dulwich Hamlet and Billericay Town. Especially if they keep losing (which is good) their games in hand.

Dulwich Hamlet - Played 37 - Points 75
Billericay Town - Played 32 - Points 70

 

[Pablosammy]

Doesn't look as though Billericay want to win the league with another 2-1 defeat at the hands of Tonbridge Angels. Certainly gonna be a close call come the end of the season between Dulwich Hamlet and Billericay Town. Especially if they keep losing (which is good) their games in hand.

Dulwich Hamlet - Played 37 - Points 75
Billericay Town - Played 32 - Points 70

Billy Ricky are still potentially 10 points clear if they win their games in hand. I don't think they'll cock it up, but boy will I laugh if they do! Come on Dulwich!

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Billy Ricky are still potentially 10 points clear if they win their games in hand. I don't think they'll cock it up, but boy will I laugh if they do! Come on Dulwich!

Looking at the fixtures backlog, Ricay will be playing 3-4 times a week from now on... fatigue has to play a part in that.

 

[Farleigh]

Billericay failing to go up? What a tragedy that would be, for the rest of the Bostick League.

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

Hamlet won 3-0 at Needham Market today, while Billericay lost 4-1 to Hendon

They could actually do it!

 

[Raymondo316]

Apparently 2 Billericay players walked out before the game & Tamplin stormed off with 20 minutes to go

https://twitter.com/we_are_the_dons/status/977586845658775552

 

[Etienne Vermeer]

I still think in a spectacularly Dulwich twist, Folkestone will take the title while they lose in the playoffs... again.

 

[DarkSithLord]

Apparently 2 Billericay players walked out before the game & Tamplin stormed off with 20 minutes to go

https://twitter.com/we_are_the_dons/status/977586845658775552

Tweet has been removed. What did it say?

 

[doveranddover]

Apparently 2 Billericay players walked out before the game & Tamplin stormed off with 20 minutes to go

https://twitter.com/we_are_the_dons/status/977586845658775552

Tweet deleted?

 

[Raymondo316]

Tweet deleted?