Some new head & shoulders:

Individual mugshots from this season...

Phil Baker:




Matt Hammond:


Ian Gannon:



Louis Grater:


Phil Doyle:



Shaun Dooley:


Callum Smith:



Joel Virgo:


Chris Garrett:



Steve Rickerby:


Alex Margolies:



Jack McInroy:


Mishi Morath:



Larry Marsh:


If anyone is vain enough NOT to like their picture then I will take another one at the next game you are at! ;-)

Wrightie-a tribute from Jacko

This article first appeared in the First Team pre-season programme against Crystal Palace; and also in the Supporters' Team one versus Camberwell Evangelical Church.

Ian Wright

26 October 1957 – 13 June 2011

As we approached Belair Park on our way to another supporters match, Ian told me, “This is definitely going to be my last season.”

He had been thinking about ‘retiring’ for some time, but couldn’t face it. His brain told him to pack it all in but his heart still had a bit of catching up to do. Within weeks, however, the statement Ian had made in the car had become incredibly poignant.

He was always proud to pull on the pink and blue shirt of Dulwich Hamlet, and from his late thirties Ian had been a regular in the Supporters team; not just in the Elevens but in the mid-week Sevens team as well. In the last 15 years he must have turned out hundreds of times. Even into his 50s his kitbag was always on hand if he was required.

In more recent days he was quite content to get fifteen minutes as a late substitute – but that wasn’t always so. He used to frown sometimes about lesser skilled players given a full ninety minutes while he patiently stood by or reluctantly ran the line. “How can those two play ahead of me?” he would ask. And I would reply, “Well, to start with Ian, they’re twenty years younger than you.”

Ian and I went back more than two decades, and we played together on more than 500 occasions. We knew each other’s game inside out, and we both continued into middle age playing for the love of it, well aware of each other’s declining abilities.

I was introduced to Ian when he was about thirty years old. His sister and brother in law have always been among my closest friends. He began to attend my local church, and as we had a couple of dozen men and youngsters who loved playing football at every opportunity Ian fit in very well. Eventually he became a regular attendant at church meetings. It was only recently that we began to see less and less of Ian, and although he spoke to a handful of us of his ailments – he was developing a serious kidney problem – it wasn’t generally recognised that he was in such a bad state.

He lived his entire life in south London. Born in Wimbledon in 1957 he dwelt at various times in East Dulwich, Camberwell, Battersea, Wandsworth and Walworth. Like most post-war kids he grew up with his backside sticking out of his trousers and his toes poking out of his shoes. But Ian remained that way. “How old is that tracksuit, mate? It looks like something out of the eighties” I’d say. And the truth is, he’d probably been wearing it since then. And even when he occasionally forced himself into a suit and tie, the addition of a jersey and baseball cap always made him appear slightly eccentric. It was difficult to prise that cap from his head: the moment he left the pitch after being subbed, out came the fags and on went the cap.

Ian grew up on the Dog Kennel Hill Estate just a stone’s throw from Champion Hill where he would venture over to watch Dulwich Hamlet play, and though he was a lifelong supporter of Crystal Palace, the Hamlet always remained very close to his heart. And yet in the years between 1970 and 1995 he hardly ever saw them play. He was so busy playing his own football for junior sides, and then Cobham Town, Colliers Wood, the church side, or anyone who would give him a game, that he was quite happy to just follow the Hamlet from a distance through the back pages of the South London Press.

He was a real ‘have boots will travel’ chap. So, when he was given the opportunity to play for Dulwich, albeit in the Supporters team, he was very proud to take up the offer.
In his day Ian was a workmanlike left sided central defender. Solid and dependable, confident on the ball and good in the air with a powerful header. For a big man he was also quite agile and when called upon to go in goal he displayed remarkable skill there too. One of Ian’s most memorable skills (if you can call it that, because it was also the most irritating) was his famous ‘step-over’. This was where the ball was coming towards him at pace in central defence and he would shape to make a hefty clearance. The striker usually leapt and spun to block the ball with his side, back or leading leg, only to find that Ian had completely sold him a dummy. But this manoeuvre would often outfox our own goalkeeper who would be left scrambling to keep the ball out of the net!

By a strange coincidence I once wrote a lighthearted piece titled ‘Ian Wright’ about our friend for the Champion Hill Street Blues fanzine in August 1994 following that summer’s Hamlet v Palace pre-season friendly. I’m pretty sure this was Ian’s first visit to the ground in a very long time, and still a couple of years before his first game for the Supporters team. He left before the end, disappointed that no Palace ‘stars’ had been included in the line-up.

One memorable game Ian played in was in May 1997 when he scored the match winning penalty in the shootout that decided the Canary Cup final at the Hitchin Tournament. He was also in the side that were dumped out of the West Bromwich Albion Tournament in the Midlands a month later, when a perfectly good Hamlet goal was deemed to have bounced over the bar when it had in fact bounced under it and through a hole in the net. Several of the players from those early games are still part of our current aging side: Steve Rickerby, Shaun Dooley, Matt Hammond, Mishi Morath, myself. A familiar face from the Premier League, FIFA referee’s assistant Steve Child, was also one of our players back then.

Apart from football Ian was also a keen golfer, and once every six months or so I would join him and Joel Virgo for a round. Some folks may not realise that when Ian turned up looking a bit dishevelled on a Saturday morning at Belair Park for a 10.30 kick off, he had usually been up since five and already played eighteen holes at New Addington with Joel. I always found it very odd, traipsing around a golf course with Ian, because in this realm, he really seemed to struggle with simple arithmetic. He’d take three or four strokes down the fairway, lose a ball, three putt – and still come away with a score of 5.

When Ian left the Post Office, where he had worked since leaving school, he took up a job as a driver delivering cooked meats. The company changed ownership several times over the years but Ian was a mainstay. He hardly ever took a day’s leave; he was a good timekeeper; always reliable; a very good driver; and knew the South East better than anybody. I was his travelling companion on many, many occasions and marvelled that he would just point the car and drive without any navigational aids. He knew exactly how to get to our destination and usually by more than one route. Blowing smoke from the side of his mouth out of his wound down window he would continue his monologue about the state of the nation or some current affair as we inched our way to the match. “I’ve played there.” he’d say as we passed a county league ground. “I’ve played there.” as we passed an open field. The next patch of grass: “I’ve played there.” And I never doubted him.

On the very rare occasion that he consulted a map he would ask me to reach over to the backseat to the door compartment and pass him his book. This was an well thumbed ancient Road Atlas of Great Britain that Alfred the Great may have been familiar with. The maps contained very few motorways, and Milton Keynes did not even exist! But he would never update. And besides, the main A-roads were still there, so why bother? More often than not on the return journey from an away match with the Supporters team we would make a detour to one or other of his customers – a café or a bakers shop where he delivered meat pies – where he could pick up a free lunch. He didn’t like to open up his wallet unless it was really necessary.

One of the few times he abandoned his car was for a trip we made to the continent for a match against the Paris St Germaine supporters at the French club’s training ground in Versaille. We took the overnight coach from Victoria instead. That was a great experience for me, representing our club on foreign soil, yet Ian had “been there, done that” in Prague and in Italy a few years before.

Watching Dulwich Hamlet’s first team with Ian was also quite interesting. He kicked every ball and appreciated the opposition’s play as much as his own team. I once had a very long conversation with him that lasted an entire half about the myriad Hamlet matches he claimed to have witnessed over many years. He wasn’t very pleased when I easily proved to him that he could not possibly have seen as many games as he was making out. To start with he was playing on Saturday afternoons himself throughout the 70s and 80s, and made his reappearance at Champion Hill only in the mid 90s! Yet he honestly believed he was one of the club’s most loyal supporters. And then the opposition scored and he stood up and applauded. “Ian,” I enquired, “Are you sure you actually support Dulwich at all?”

Ian’s final game for the supporters was only a few months ago. I remember it because we scored a particularly pleasing team goal. As I was giving out congratulations to all and sundry for the passing, the movement, the tricky bit of skill, the excellent finish, I could hear someone hollering out my name: “Jacko! Jacko! Jacko!” I turned to discover Ian standing on the edge of our box stabbing his chest with his index finger gesturing for me to credit him some audible praise for his part in the build-up that I somehow missed. It made me chuckle (it still does). “Well done Ian. Good clearance.”

Ian Wright passed away on Monday 13th June 2011 at work. Having just made a delivery in the City he collapsed and died as he returned to his vehicle. It was an instant death - thrombosis of the heart (blood clot) – and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

His funeral took place on July 11th and his body (along with his Hamlet shirt and Crystal Palace scarf), was buried in the Camberwell Old Cemetery. One particular floral tribute was in the figure of the DHFC club crest, another was a striking pink and blue spray. It was a real honour for me to have been handed one of twelve red roses from Ian’s sister Janice to toss into her brother’s grave. He was a friend of mine. I’m going to miss him.

Jack McInroy, July 2011

Farewell Ian....

This article also first appeared in the First Team pre-season programme versus Crystal Palace & in our own one against Camberwell Evangelical Church:

It's a sad fact of life, being a Dulwich Hamlet fan, that somebody you know will have passed away in the summer. One of the 'occupational hazards' so to speak, when you are part of an historic Club with a relatively old & loyal support base.
It doesn't make it any easier if someone is past their 'three score years and ten', but it is a heck of a lot harder when a person who is nowhere near that age goes 'before their time'.
As one of the founder members of the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team it came as a huge shock to hear the news that one of our own, Ian Wright, had died, after collapsing at work, at the tender age of only 53.
The one thing you find when someone goes so suddenly is how little you really knew them, & how much you wished you should have got to know them better. I, personally, only knew Ian through football. He had been a part of the team for over fifteen years, I'm not entirely sure, we never really kept records. Without a doubt one of the naturally talented players we have ever had appear for us. He only started playing for 'The Rabblers' for fun, when he hung up his 'serious Saturday boots', after a long amateur career, where he was a stalwart for clubs such as Cobham & Colliers Wood United. He also turned out for Camberwell Evangelical Church, for he he laced up on a Saturday, & took a pew at on Sundays. Once the season is underway the Supporters' Team will take on the Church side in a friendly game at Belair Park, in Ian's memory, so we can pay our respects to him doing what he loved most...playing football!
Some might say Ian moaned too much on the pitch, but if you analysed that it was not malicious, but more borne out of frustration, having played at a much higher level than the rest of us. If you listened carefully he always encouraged, no matter how limited in ability you may have been, compared to him. And no mater if he never knew you, he always made a point of talking to new players to the Supporters' Team & putting them at ease.
For sure everyone who has played alongside him over the years will be sure to have a story or two about him, & he will be sadly missed. It was a privilege to have been at his recent funeral service along with a number of the Supporters' Team, & wonderfully uplifting for such a sad occasion to be almost a happy one too, as his life was celebrated.
As well as being a Dulwich Hamlet fan, his first visit to the old Champion Hill was in the sixties, & he could recall amateur internationals being played here, Ian was also a staunch Crystal Palace supporter, so it is truly fitting that he is remembered here this evening with the Eagles as our opposition, & we thank them for agreeing to respect his memory.
No doubt he will be looking down from the 'great football ground in the sky', while chewing the fat with the likes of Hamlet legends Edgar Kail & Tommy Jover, telling them how they should have played!
Among the floral tributes at his funeral were ones from Dulwich Hamlet Football Club & the Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' Team; with the Football club itself being represented by Club Chairman, Mr. Jack Payne.
Rest In Peace, Wrightie.

Mishi D. Morath, team secretary, Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' FC.

Ian Wright laid to rest.

On Monday 11th July a number of the Supporters' Team joined the family & friends of Ian Wright at his funeral service at Camberwell Evangelical Church & then moved on to Camberwell Old Cemetery, where his remains were laid to rest.

Also present, representing Dulwich Hamlet Football Club, was the Chairman, Jack Payne.









This one was the floral tribute from the Supporters' Team, kindly arranged by Steve Rickerby & Steve Bennett:

At the Crystal Palace pre-season match, on Wednesday 27th July, at Champion Hill, a one minute silence was held in memory of Ian, prior to kick off.

Better late than never...

Well that's how the old expression goes!

I must hold my hands up high & openly admit that I have not devoted as much time as I should to this blog over the last year or two, & as a result some stuff will be lost forever, as results are missed, & memories of matches fade.

I can only apologise for this, & will try to devote more time to it in future, as I know people enjoy looking here, & when I put my mind to it, I thoroughly enjoy publishing stuff on here.

With a trip to Glasgow this coming weekend, for the Queen's Park Supporters Sixes, as our 2011 Summer Tour, it seems an opportune moment to mention our debut in the competition last year, which was back on the 29th May 2010.

Twelve months ago our main summer trip was to Namur, in Belgium, for their cometition, photos & a write up to be added by me again, sometime over the summer!

Glasgow was not a 'tour', simply a small number of us who wanted to take part, with the blessing of our management duo of Mick O'Shaughnessy & Mark Hutton, who weren't interested in taking part themselves.

As it was there was only a small group of us from London who took part, aided, thanfully, by two Scottish friends of Ian Gannon, who were from Glasgow.
(I can't remember their names, so if anyone can remind me I'll edit this, but for the moment I'll simply call them both Jock!)

Back row(left to right): Ian Gannon; Jock One; Jock Two; Lawrence Marsh; Paul Griiffin.
Front row (l. to r.): Mishi Morath; Matt Hammond; Steve Rickerby.



Ian & his McAmigos!



We took part, unsurprisingly & thankfully, in the Veterans part of the day, competing in the Gary Brooks Masters tourney, rather than the main/fitter Ian Younger Sixes.

In the main competition were our close friends from over the Channel, led by Nicolas Lucas, the Belgian Branch of the Paris Saint Germain Supporters Club, with Lawrence Marsh once more 'guesting' for them, as he did in 2009. By doing so this led to our friendship with Queen's Park, which resulted in our eleven-a-side trip there back in March last year, & the invite to the Sixes themselves.



The tournament itself is a bit sketchy to say the least, from my point of view. Somewhere, which means absolutely anywhere in my flat, is a notebook with scribbled notes. Although I've not got the time as I belatedly typpe this up to locate it, I am grateful to Iain for his excellent Queen's Park Supporters Team site, in recording the results, at least, for posterity.

Even so, I am happy to be corrected for any 'schoolboy' errors, & hope I am!

Both ourselves & the Belgians were cheered on by our combined force of WAGS, in Danuta & Melanie!



Our first match was a three nil thrashing by St. Mirren, which I suppose realistically ended any chances we might have had of doing well!















Our next match was a much closer one, only going down by the odd goal in three, against Ormond Saints. Which probably gave them the impression that we were fairly evenly matched! not so, as our 17-0 record defeat up there, in our mid-season 2010/11 tour showed!














After that we were hit for five, with no reply, by Oxford United supporters. A friendly bunch, who myself & Larry had 'guested' against, for UR Namur supporters, the previous October.










For the last 'competitive' game tiredness was kicking in, and another 5-0 reversal followed, against Bristol Rovers.














We had an equal record, nil points, one goal & 14 conceded; to Leyton Orient supporters, who were the wooden spoonists in the other Masters group. Maybe we should have had a 'crappest of the crap' play-off, but instead we had one more run out, in the Plate competition, where we lost by a single goal to MacDonald Rovers.










Our friends from Belgium did well, qualifying from their group, then overcoming the Ayr United supporters team Kaisayr on penalties in the quarter finals; before bowing out in the semi final, by the odd goal in seven, to Partick Thistle.









There now follows a few random snaps I took not involving 'The Rabblers':






Special mention must go to 'Crossers', one of the Queen's Park mob, who was attempting to play for as many teams as possible, raising money for charity. I'm not sure how many he managed, but it was well into double figures!






And after it was all over it was time to retire to the adjacent social club, to cap a wonderful trip north of the border. I had brought along some Haggis flavour crisps I'd seen in a Glasgow ASDA
...the English jury was undecided about them!




The presentations were conducted by the Queen's Park first team manager on the left! Great of him to give up some time for the supporters.




The Plate was won by Oxwell United, a mix side from our mates from Oxford United & Motherwell.




A huge thank you to everyone at Queen's Park for their hospitality. Everyone really enjoyed themselves, it was great to mix with old friends, & make new, as always.

Though we didn't get close to this Queen's Park Spider, whose home is in their club shop...& in case you're wondering, yes it IS a tarantula!