Good evening everyone and welcome back to Champion Hill for what is now am annual visit from our good friends from Crystal Palace. We are always delighted with the support they show to The Hamlet and it's good to see local professional club's helping their non League neighbours.

Our first game against Beckenham Town ended early due to a serious injury to their goalkeeper, Graham Loki. The horrendous injury will leave him out of action for a long time and so your magnificent support at the Crawley Town game that resulted in over £600 being raised was a great gesture, but nothing more than I expected from our kind hearted and fair minded fans.

For those who have missed pre season so far, you will see many familiar names returning for another shot at a place in the National League set up. The team was so close to promotion last season and I am sure we will be there or thereabouts this season. Although pre season results have disappointed so far, it is all about getting players and systems honed for the real stuff that starts on 12th August when we play Staines Town. Following that we have two other mouth watering home games before August is done against title "certainties" Billericay Town and the return of our derby fixtures with Tooting & Mitcham United.

This is also a big season in terms of the club’s ability to be able to grow and thrive. The decision on planning permission for the new stadium will come sometime in the middle of the season and I cannot stress enough just how much we need this to go in the club’s favour. Without it there will be a genuine uncertainty about the future, as I stated in the Southwark News.

When people talk about Greendale and the loss of the undeveloped area from the all weather pitch to the boundary of the current stadium, I

The level of community work is second to none; engagement with local schools, support for local and national charities, the fight against any form of discrimination in our society and support for those who are vulnerable will always be the way we want the club act. No brash statements just real hard work by a dedicated team. We want to be the best that we can be through hard work and determination to make a real difference to our community. This is undertaken by fans who do it without reward and have to plan it around their paid work. That’s before we mention the amount of money generated for the local economy by the spending power of fans on a matchday in the pubs and restaurants locally. Local businesses would certainly miss Dulwich Hamlet FC if it wasn’t here.

You will notice a change to our sponsors this season. I am very grateful to Benji and the team at Picfair for their support so far and believe their values are ones that fit with those of the Club and their involvement is attractive to other businesses that are looking for sponsorship opportunities with a business that has excellent values. I would also like to thank Unison who are our back of shirt sponsor and have been consistent supporters over the years.
However, we are still seeking sponsors for many items so a big thank you to those who have put forward suggestions over the summer. We have followed them all up and we are confident that they will lead to business. However, securing sponsors is something that takes some time and we are only a team of volunteers.

We are holding a sponsors/kit launch event here on Friday week, 28th July. If you know any businesses that should be invited then just email commercial@ dulwichhamletfc.co.uk and we will get them an invite. It’s free and there will be no hard sell; just a chance to network and talk to other businesses.

Talking of the kit, the new design shirts are available from the Mega Container tonight, and the players are wearing them for the first time tonight.

I am also delighted to welcome The Flying Pig as a new sponsor and also our guests tonight, particularly those from our main sponsors, Picfair, and also The Honest Burger Company.

In terms of the Boardroom, then Club Secretary Martin Eede decided to call it a day at the end of last season. He has been traveling from Wiltshire for the last couple of years and there’s only so long some body can do that. He has given many years’ service to the club and I think we all owe him gratitude for the work he has done as Manager, Groundsman, Secretary & Chairman during his many years.

The Secretary role is the most vital in a football club, and also one of the most demanding and time consuming, so there aren’t a queue of people waiting to take it on. Therefore, I am very grateful to Ravit Anand who has come forward to take over from Martin and is showing himself to be a great addition to the club. He even fills in for our cameraman when he's late for the second half.

Rav is well known to many at the club through his work with our former filming partners, Football Exclusives. He already works in the football industry and has an excellent relationship with our management team.

I am also pleased to confirm that Dulwich Hamlet TV will be available for another season. It’s free and consistently excellent. We have acquired some new equipment that we hope will improve coverage further this season. However, the more sponsors we can secure, the better we can make it. I can also confirm that every penny you spend in the Mega Container also helps to keep it going as the Supporters’ Trust donate a percentage of their profits to the TV coverage.

Finally, look out for a new club website that we are hoping to launch in the next few weeks. The current site is good but we are restricted by the Pitchero brand and want to give it a real feel of our club.

Thank you for your continued support

Liam

Liam Hickey
]Chair of the Football Committee
Email – commercial@dulwichhamletfc.co. uk
Tel 07967 212353