Easter Saturday Tournament

With the First Team game having been switched to Good Friday, this now leaves the Saturday clear for us to compete in a memorial tournament being organised by Old Westminster Citizens Football Club; of which our own Ian Gannon is a member.

I'm not entirely sure of how it will be done, but I beleive it's a mixed competition, and we will be entering a joint side with Peckham Village WFC, for whom another of our players Dawn Taylor plays for.

I've no further information yet, apart from the following, about the rules, which is on the Old Westminster Citizens website:

EASTER SATURDAY TOURNAMENT – FOR STEVE BENJAMIN – SATURDAY 22nd MARCH 10am – 1pm 1.TEAMS WILL PLAY 30 MINUTE GROUPS GAMES x3 2.WINNERS OF EACH GROUP WILL PLAY RUNNERS UP OF THE OTHER GROUPS THE WINNERS THEN TAKE PART IN THE FINAL. THE THIRD TEAMS WILL PLAY EACH OTHER AND THE FOURTH TEAMS WILL PLAY EACH OTHER. 1.POINTS ARE SCORED IN THE USUAL WAY PLUS 1 POINT FOR EACH GOAL SCORED. THEREFORE A 4-2 WIN GIVES THE WINNING TEAM 7 POINTS AND THE LOSING TEAM 2 POINTS. 4.NORMAL 11 A SIDE RULES APPLY. GROUPS WILL APPEAR HERE SOON. ANYBODY CAN PLAY – ITS TO BE PLAYED IN A TOTALLY FRIENDLY SPIRIT.

When I find out more I'll publish it here.

Summer tour starting to fall into place...

For our Summer Tour we will be going back to Tallin, the beautiful caputal of Estonia.
We will again be playing our good friends from JK Jalgpallihaigla, who beat us 10-6 last summer.

The tour will be on the weekend of 25th to 28th July. It's suggested that people get either the Thursday or Friday morning flight to Tallin, with Easyjet (linked from the Anoraks Corner column, down on the right of this blog, near the ned of it, under Travel).
We are planning to play them on the Friday evening, then head to Helsinki for a game, in the process of hopefully being arranged, against either HJK Helsinki Supporters', or a local eighth level side in the Finnish pyramid. We would get to Helsinki by boat from Tallin, which is a two hour crossing, and will get the boat back, if all goes to plan, late on the sunday evening, having taken the opportunity to watch a HJK Helinki top flight Finnish League match.

We would then suggest people fly back from Tallin on the Monday lunchtime flight. Unless you choose to have a longer break yourself.

If you would like to put yourself forward to play, and you don't have to be a regular to turn out, then please speak to Mick O' Shaughnessy for more info, as and when it becomes available. Supporters' are more than welcome to come along on the tour even if you have no desire to pack your boots!

A bad day at the office...

so to speak, as "The Rabblers" crashed out of the IFA Cup at Belair Park this morning.
Of course there are bound to be a few 'shirkers' when the boss is away. And this seemd to be the case with our new man at the helm basking in the sunnier climes of Spain this weekend! His right hand man Mark Hutton couldn't be said to be at fault, as it was the other half of the 'three-eyed monster' that is Hutty & the kit man Phil Baker, who took control of team affairs for the morning.
Something hopefully never to be repeated as "The Rabblers" crashed to their all-time IFA record defeat, going down by thirteen goals for no reply!
This equalled our previous record defeat, way back in early 1995, when we lost 15-2, in a friendly, against a Dulwich Hamlet Junior FC parents & coaches XI, on the Crystal Palace all-weather pitch. That was the 'infamous' game where Mishi Morath accidentally stabbed our keeper Matt Hammond in the hand, resulting in nerve damage and a weekend in hospital, causing him to miss out on his Sunday team Cup semi-final!
To be fair, the result this morning was partly of our own making. Our perofrmance was below par, and probably our worst of the season. But that's not to detract anything from current IFA League leaders Watford, who were still a more organised outfit than ourselves. They would certainly have still eliminated ourselves from the competition, but not by such a great margin! Other than the score, they were decnet opposition to play!
But let's just hope we avoid them in next seasons draw, and give someone else the chance to tonk us! ;-)

Team:

Matt Hammond; Chris Wheeler; Steve Rickerby; Jon Tennison; Jack McInroy; Andrew Tucker; Andy Murphy; Chris Garrett; Keri Ryan; James O'Shaughnessy; Lawrence Marsh. Subs used: Joel Virgo; Dawn Taylor; John Prendergast; Ian Wright; Chris Tabrett.

Well at least we had some heart...

...unlike the Hamlet first Team, in the 'big boys' game in the afternoon at Kingsmeadow, athough we did go down by the higher scoreline!
The game was on the outer pitches, at the Metropolitan Police complex,Imber Court, East Molesey, but it wasn't a case of 'we woz robbed' more of us being 'under the cosh!'. It was a younger, and quicker K's outfit that once again had, what is becoming, their annual home victory over us, to complete a comprehensive IFA double.
Matters weren't helped as a large squad, on paper, was decimated by late pull outs due to work commitments and injury, this on the day we just had twelve on parade, many the usual motley assortment of old, limited, some with a bit of talent, but all still with the famous Hamlet heart!
The less said about the game the better really, except it was an inproved Rabblers second half performance, having gone in at the break three behind. A goal was pulled back by Chris Garrett, who maintains this seasons' crown of our top domestic goalscorer, but that was it, with any chance of a Hamlet rally finally snuffed out as Ian Wright turned the ball into our own net, past a hapless Hammond, who had no chance with it, for their fifth.
Two late goals flattered the K's somewhat, but did not mask the fact that were well and truly deserved victors.











Not the most auspicious start for new manaager Mick O'Shaughnessy, who may be tempted to pull his boots back on for the IFA League & Cup 'double header' at Belair Park next week.
There follows, below, some photos I took during the game.

Thanks to Jack McInroy for allowing me to use his camera, & for posting them on here. Just click on each snap to enlarge it.

Team: Matt Hammond; Phil Baker; Steve Rickerby; Jon Tennison; Chris Wheeler; Jack McInroy; Dawn Taylor; Keri Ryan; Lawrence Marsh; Chris Garrett; James O'Shaughnessy. Sub: Ian Wright.

Kingstonian Supporters 7 The Rabblers 1

Kingstonian Supporters' 7 The Rabblers 1

Kingstonian Supporters' 7 The Rabblers 1

Kingstonian Supporters 7 The Rabblers 1

Nicolas says hello!

I've received a nice email from our good friend Nicolas Lucas, who set up the match against the UR Namur fans.

Here it is:


" I send you this e mail to thank you for your presence last week end. I think I can speak for everyone involved in the Namur team and to tell you that it was a great week end.

I'd like to thank all the Namur players and fans involved in that week end!!!! And also a big thank you to Gabor Bukran and Amhed Gursever ( First Team players ) for their support and presence during our game. I'll try to scan any articles issued in the local press. They spoke about our game and a little about your club. And there's also a pic of both teams.

The organisation was almost perfect.

I think a few moments will be forever in my memory....By example : the kick off given by Gabor Bukran, the kick off given by Andy and Lawrence in front of 1500 people cheering and shouting, the friday night in the café upstairs ( great atmosphere, lounge music,....), the VIP meals at the "Stadium ".

What to say again about our game : 6-6.....Like always it was a crazy but friendly game. I know that you'll tell me " You never beat the Hamlets"....I know I know....But I'll be back. I hope we can arrange a game in May to play you at Belair Park or Champion Hill ( who knows???) .

So and forever there'll be always a link between Namur and Dulwich.

Don't forget a few of us will come for Dulwich Sittingbourne the friday and we'll stay overnight in London.....that will be a great week end...

Allez l'Union
Up the Hamlet

Nicolas


Cheers Nicolas, we all look forward to seeing you at Champion Hill soon!

And we even made the local press!

Click here for details.
It's easy to blow up and read, if you understand French!
Just click on the middle report, then click again on the magnifying glass symbol, above it, just to the right.
Any translators out there? ;-)

Plenty of links to snaps from Namur:

There were quite a few people out with their 'box brownies' at the weekend!

First up, are the ones from our very own Paul Griffin: Click here.

And for some Belgian ones, thanks to Nicolas & Stephane for the links, click here here, here, here, here, & here.

For a video link on the First Team game that mentions our game in it click here.

And for LOTS of video clips of our Supporters' game click here & type DULWICH into the search!

Enjoy them all!

What a wonderful trip!

What more can you say about the fans of U.R. Namur except pay them the ‘highest compliment’ of all and say they really are as crazy as Dulwich Hamlet fans! This was a wonderful trip to play our counterparts from the Belgian Second Division, and to say they rolled out the red carpet and made us welcome was a understatement!
Thank you is too small a phrase to proffer to our first contact Nicolas, and Stephane, the top fan of the Union Boys, but from the bottom of our hearts we do thank them for their hospitality. I am certain that there will be many games in the coming years between “The Rabblers” and the Namur Boys. From small acorns wonderful footballing links grow!
I, personally, arrived on the Wednesday morning in Brussels, a couple of days before everyone else. I decided to do this after discovering that Namur were away to AFC Tubize in a Belgian League game that night. After all, even though I’m not a proper groundhopper-I just like to visit different grounds-let’s be honest, there is something of a ‘latent’ groundhopper in us all!
But I so nearly never got there… Having arrived at the spanking new St Pancras International Eurostar terminus in plenty of time for my 7.00am train to Brussels, I actually boarded the 6.55am service to Paris on the adjacent platform. Oops! I was in the right carriage, and correct seat. Just the wrong train. Mine I could see across the platform! Luckily (extremely fucking lucky to be honest!) they announced this was the Paris service moments before it departed & I grabbed my bags & jacket in a panic, & dived off, literally. Actually falling onto the platform with a stumble, heavily dropping my camera. It took a whack, and was playing up, but it seemed to return to normal after a couple of days, luckily. Though I had another ‘spare’ in my bag anyway. After that there were no mishaps. And I ‘glided’ along to Brussels in just over two hours. After finding my accommodation I had booked for the night I headed back to Midi station & went to Tubize. Nicolas had told me not to get there too early, as there was nothing there. But I ignored him, on the premise that I’d never, ever go back to Tubize, so I had to stroll around the town. I got there just after one, and he was meeting me at seven. Unfortunately he was right. To say it was a small town, with nothing much there was an understatement. But I took a look at the ground, so I could get some nice snaps of it in daylight, and just wandered around. After dusk settled there was not much to see, so I just sat in the waiting room at the station, perusing the backlog of “442” magazines I had brought over for him. And got high from passively smoking the joints from the local teenagers who were using the place as their ‘drug den!’
The game itself wasn’t that bad, and worthy of more than the 0-0 scoreline, which might indicate it was a load of rubbish. The pitch was heavy in places, and cut up easily. Tubize had more of the first half, but were higher up the table, so it was half expected. Nicolas had told me beforehand he would be happy with a draw. But at the final whistle he was an annoyed little Belgian, as he felt that Namur had wasted enough chances in the second half to sneak a win. And you know what? He was right! I was pleased with a point, but we could have won it! Did I say ‘we’? It’s that infectious..a part of my footballing heart is already reserved for UR Namur! At a rough ‘guestimate’ there were around seventy fans in the away half of the covered terrace on the halfway line. And the support was superb. Constant singing and encouragement. The players all came over and applauded at the final whistle, which was superb. Roll on the home game on Saturday!
On Thursday afternoon I got a train for Namur from Brussels & met Nicolas at the station just after five. I was to be his guest at his house that evening, and he was taking me to a local sixth division match at RFC Meux, which is a fourth division ground, but for some unknown reason was playing host to sixth level RAC Leuze versus Ohey. Before we set off to that we dropped my baggage off at his house, and I had the pleasure of seeing Danuta, not to mention their cuddly cat Elliot, again! She managed to rustle up some delicious ‘Croque Monsieur’, which are actually the simple snack of cheese & ham toasties. But they sound so much more exotic, & are that little bit more tasty, when knocked up by Danuta herself! I was also shown the ‘spare room’ on the top floor of his house. Which is actually a small attic room ,which he has ‘converted’ into his own private ‘Football Museum’! Packed with scarves, pennants, shirts, books and –naturally- the ‘PA’ WILSON CUP, which his PSG Belgium Supporters’ Team lifted at Champion Hill last May. If any of you return to Namur then make sure you beg Nicolas to take you to his home so you can view his little museum! J’adore la Cathedral in Namur, and the Citadel isn’t bad either, but “Le Lucas Museum de Football” really is the place to visit!
Before we got to Meuze we stopped off at the training ground of Namur, where the team were training. The team is a mix of part time & full time, with the full timers training in the daytime, and the others having an evening session. We walked around the ground, and then had a quick drink in the bar, and I was actually introduced to their captain Gabor Bukran, who sepaks perfect English. He is actually Hungarian, and has played also in Spain & Austria. But he had a spell at Walsall too, when they were in the Second Division (That’s the Championship to ‘youngsters’!) & told me he loved his stay there. He went to places like Ipswich Town, Nottingham Forest & Manchester City! He said he would actually be at our supporters’ game, & would be making the ceremonial kick off! And it gets better…he would pick our two best players to actually kick off the Namur First Team match in the evening! Bloody hell! I managed to persuade Nicolas to let us nominate our two players to do the honours. And we decided it would be fitting for Andy Tucker & Lawrence Marsh to be on the pitch, as it was their last game in charge of “The Rabblers” before handing over the reigns to Mick O’Shaughnessy & Mark Hutton. Sadly we couldn’t stay and chat as we had to go to Meuze. And the game itself wasn’t that bad at all. The genuine away team, from Ohey were worth the points in their solitary goal victory, but RAC Leuze might have found themselves a shade unlucky not to sneak a draw, as they came back into the game in the second half. The football was excellent, both teams attacking and passing well. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t expect such a standard at a lowly Belgian level.
And so it was Friday. The “Rabblers” invasion was commencing! By evening our tour party would be at a full fifteen strong strength! Nicolas & Danuta were off to work, and kindly let me sleep in, leaving me the key to lock the front door. Honest guv, I had no thoughts at all of doing a runner & ‘cleaning out’ his Museum! I spent the morning wandering around the main Namur cemetery, making a point of stopping at the Commonwealth War Graves plot, signing the visitors book on behalf of “The Rabblers”, and then came a pleasant surprise. Nicolas phoned me, and said he would come and meet me in ten minutes time (It was just after twelve) as he had finished his work early! After stopping home briefly, he then took me on a tour of all the local grounds in the Namur region! We visited seven in all, including the actual Namur ground, where we would watch the First Team game the next night! I won’t bore you with details of them all, I’ll be saving that for a more ‘anoraky’ forum elsewhere!
By now Andy Tucker was due to arrive at the station, so we went there to pick him up, and after a quick coffee or coca cola at Chateau Lucas we headed for the hotel. There were a few ‘teething problems’, but not many. Those who had been booked into triples had one single bed & a double, but it was all ‘lads on tour’ so a bit of ‘topping & tailing’ went on! I’m not sure how much ‘tour virgin’ Andy Murphy enjoyed being ‘teased’ by his room-mates Chris Garrett and Andy Tucker. I would say more but this is a ‘family blog’... No it’s not really, but as the saying goes: ‘What goes on tour, stays on tour’ After settling in we went to a local bar for the evening, which was the smokiest place we’d all been in for a long time, as you can still light up in Belgian bars! A delight for those who indulge, but even they had eyes streaming as we have been so unaccustomed to it, thanks to the draconian ban imposed by the ‘English Health Police’! There’s nothing better than being one of the first of a crowd to arrive. It’s a real buzz as more of the squad arrive in dribs and drabs as each train brings a few more of your party into town. The ‘highlight’ of the night was being introduced to the Namur ‘main man’ Stephane. Not just because it turned out he was a thoroughly decent bloke, but he is a 100% dead ringer for our very own Chris Wheeler! Two peas in a pod. Separated at birth! It really was uncanny! And they spent most of the evening chatting to each other at the bar. No doubt swapping life stories at the bar, before realising they were both put up for adoption a quarter of a century or more ago!
It was an early start in the morning, so some of us drifted off as the early hours of the morning hit. Due to tiredness, out and out comatosed drunkenness, or a combination of both! When I left the dirty tricks were coming into play, and the pesky Belgians were playing their “It’s A Knockout” let’s get him knocked out style Joker, by plying our keeper Matt Hammond with treble vodkas, which he obligingly downed, earing him the nickname of ‘animal’ from them. Boy, were they shocked when he turned up to play, and raring to go a few hours later! This was the last public sighting of Phil Baker’s “Ladywell FC Bologna 2008” tour polo shirt, which he was showing off, & bragging about, prior to his trip there, this coming weekend, I believe. It wasn’t seen again on the trip, which was perhaps unfortunate, as he should have kept it more in his sights. As, what Big Nose has since described as a ‘snivelling coward’ walked into his room and chopped the emblem from it, leaving the shirt looking somewhat like a Romanian flag, once Ceausescu had been overthrown! So beware in Europe, as “The Rabblers” easily metamorph into a Wimbledon style “Crazy Gang!” Fortunately it has been agreed to reimburse him for the damage to the garment, not least because he has threatened to dump the entire Supporters’ Team kit into his dustbin if someone doesn’t…
The game itself: well I’ve never been one for reports. But suffice to say we did ourselves proud. Each and every one of us! The final score was 6-6, and we were leading 6-4, with five minutes to go. Once again Nicolas played his dirty little Blegian cheating trick and played his ‘played at a far higher level than Wrightie ever did’ brother who waltzed through us each time he was on the pitch. In fact it wouldn’t be unfair to say that if he wasn’t turning out then we would surely have won. But the record books now show that we have played Nicolas THREE TIMES over ninety minute games (2 v. PSG Belgium, & now once against Namur) and HE is yet to be victorious! That must be what they mean by ‘cheats never prosper!’. What with always bringing his brother in as a 'ringer' AND having his dad referee the matches! To be fair Papa Lucas was ok in the middle, a guilty conscience after his Parisien debacle last year perhaps? But this match wasn’t about winning or losing, or even drawing. It was about making friends, and building relationships between set of fans from across Europe. And if that was our sole aim then we certainly achieved that! After the game crate upon crate of beer (& a couple of bottles of coca cola for the non drinkers!) were brought out as we chewed the fat & chatted with each other in the car park! Bizarre, but fun. In truth we’d have been just as happy to rest out weary legs in a local bar, an-eventually-that’s what we did. Going to one of their local ones where they meet up for their bus before away games. The chap behind the jump being a former player of theirs. Some of us went back to the hotel to dump our bags, & have a quick shower or ‘power nap’. But those who stayed (sadly I’d buggered off) were delighted when the actual Namur first Team manager & his right hand man, both from Chile, popped in to say hello!
The match itself was an eight o’clock kick off, but we were due to be at the ground at six, as Nicolas had persuaded us all to purchase VIP tickets for 42 euros a pop. Sounds a lot, but that is just under thirty quid. And for that we got, wait for it, a three course meal, a ticket in the Kop (which would have been 15 euros alone) and a team sheet. I mention that because they didn’t do a match programme, and they weren’t available on the normal turnstiles, so it was a nice little souvenir. Talking of souvenirs I snaffled the menu card on our table which I got all of our party to sign! How sad is that eh? Oh and as if that wasn’t all value enough for money there was also free coffee and biscuits at half time in the partitioned off VIP part of the main bar at half time! And as the saying goes: ‘good manners cost nothing’. Which proved to be the case as the actual President of the UR Namur club took time out from his meal to personally come over to our two tables and shake hands with us all!
The game itself? Well let’s just say it was the only letdown of the weekend! Namur put in, what must have been, one-if not the-worst performance of the season, going tamely down 2-0 to the visitors KV Red Star Waasland. Perhaps it was Andy & Larry who jinxed them when they took the kick off, along with one of the Namur Boys?
The support was excellent, and we were in their section of the ‘Kop’ where the main Namur Boys go. In the seats behind the goal, but standing up all the way htrough. As football should be! We joined in some of the songs, some of which were in English. One or two of which we will ‘nick’ to use behind the goal back home! Others were just too undecipherable or plain crazy for us to understand! Their top man Stephane was a superb double act with his sidekick who had the big drum. I don’t know about you but four days later I’m still walking down the road humming ‘la,la,la,la,la,la! UR Namur, UR Namur!’ to myself. And as for the one where they were rattling their keys in the air & starting singing ‘we wish you a merry christmas’ to us in English, & we responded with ‘jingle bells’…you just had to be there! And yes, we know it was in January…
At the final whistle half of the team came over to applaud the home fans, and us I suppose by association. You could tell they meant it, but looked embarrassed to do so, knowing they didn’t, perhaps, deserve such excellent support on this occasion, as they had performed well below par. Contrast the away fans going mental in their enclose, as their squad ran over to applaud them. But they just looked like muppets, as there were more players than fans. In fact more Dulwich Hamlet supporters had travelled all the way from England to support Namur, than had made the short trip across Belgium to get behind Waasland!
The atmosphere in the clubhouse was, understandably, a bit flat. But the beer wasn’t. And a few more farewell glasses were sunk. We were then dropped off back at our hotel. It was with heavy hearts that we bade farewell to our Belgian guests, but also with hope in our hearts, as we knew that without a doubt we will return next season to play them again. Hopefully, with a match in Namur, before going on to an away match with them, simply to please the ‘little bit of a groundhopper’ that is in us all!
At Sunday lunchtime we briefly saw Danuta & Nicolas at the station, before eight of us went to another Second Division match in Brussels: Union Saint-Gilloise versus United Overpelt-Lommel. Thankfully a bit better than the match the previous night, with the visitors winning by the odd goal in three. The Stade Joseph Marien is one of the most traditional, magnificent grounds in the country. With the outer brickwork on the main stand being listed, and a huge, open terrace on the other. If ever you are in Brussels check out to see if they have a home match. You won’t be disappointed! In their club/pub under the stand there was a t-shirt on the wall from a Supporters’ tournament last year. This is the one that Nicolas has mentioned, and Namur fans’ entered. This year it is on 31st May, & is a 7-a-side competition. And we are hoping to enter at least one team. Watch this space for further details. And there is also the possibility of Namur Supporters’ coming over to play us once their season is over in mid-May this year.

So that’s my ‘little’ review of our trip to Namur in January 2008. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I’ve enjoyed being a part of the trip.
As I said the Namur Boys were wonderful hosts, we know what a great host Nicolas has been to us in the past, both in Namur and Paris, but I still think that the sheer joy of this tour exceeded most of our wildest expectations.
Once again thank you to all from Namur for making us so welcome, we look forward to visiting again in the not too distant future.

If anyone else has any tour reviews & memories which they would like to share-especially if they differ from mine!- then please feel free to email them to me at:
mishi.morath@southwark.gov.uk
(In English please though. Sorry Belgians!)

A tour summary of our trip to Namur

It was UR Namur fans 6, DULWICH HAMLET SUPPORTERS 6!

Four goals from player-manager Larry Marshand 1 each from Andy Murphy and Chris Garrett ensured honours were even.Andy Murphy was voted man of the match,we all had one vote each, and deserved his award but I thought everyone played their part in a hard fought draw. Oh, & from a personal point of view, 'greedy' Chris Garrett still won't pass me the ball to me! ;-)
This is just a brief post till Mishi gets back with a proper update. It was another superb trip.
Big thanks to Larry & Andy and Nicolas as well as all the lads from Namur. Once again our hosts were superb in the way they treated us royally, even arranging for Larry and Andy to start the 1st team game by kicking off along with a Namur fan on the Saturday evening.

In case your not aware Larry and Andy have stepped aside and Mick O'Shaughnessy andMark Huttom are now in charge. I know how hard it is to run the side at times,speaking from experience having done the job myself in the past, and would like to thank them for all their hard work and time during their time in charge and hope the new managers can build on the foundations they have been left by the previous duo. I'm sure Griff and Mishi will post some pics later and if your really lucky we may see the opening of the Namur 1st Team kick off on the Saturday night if we can get the highlights downloaded.

(This report kindly posted by Steve Rickerby)

A legend is born...

Now a lot of us have been playing alongside Steve Rickerby for many years, & know what a talented player he is.
There's always a trick or two that he can do with the ball that you can honestly say that you've never seen before.
Don't take my word for it. Take it from Millwall.
This was a snippet posted on their forum about one of his skillspots on Saturday morning from someone called Danger Mouse:

"I was also pleased to be a part of it not only to help raise mney ut to witness the funiest thing i have seen at a football match for those not there here is a rough description....

Dulwich are defending the ball lops high into the air, the big centre half lines himself underneath and aims a volley to clear. he swings and instead of connecting witha sweet volley it hits him on top of the head"

What more can you say?

Over to you Steve...what exactly were you trying to do?

Not long now....

Until our next 'European Invasion' begins! We're not so much missing Walton & Hersham at home on Saturday afternoon, as we like to see it a representing the Club wearing our Pink 'n' Blue playing in another game!
We are off to Belgium once again, this time to play the Supporters' Team of Union Royale Namur, of the Belgian Second Division, who we have not yet encountered.
The match has been arranged by our good Belgian friend, the Paris Saint Germain, UR Namur & 'adopted' Hamlet fan, Nicolas Lucas.
As with all of our previous trips across the Channel the result will be immaterial. It's all about having fun, promoting ourselves as a Club, spreading the name of Dulwich Hamlet across our continent!
Most of our group will be arriving on the Friday in Namur, & we play our match on the Saturday morning. It's then time to 'socialise' in the afternoon, and hope that most are not too drunk for the nig match in the evening at eight o'clock: UR Namur versus RS Waasland!
Of our squad travelling over, only Andy Murphy & Chris Wheeler are 'tour virgins'. The rest of the group is: Matt Hammond; Paul Griffin; Ferenc Morath; Andy Tucker; Steve Rickerby; Chris Wheeler; Phil Doyle; Lawrence Marsh; Chris Garrett; Dawn Taylor; Mishi Morath; Mark Hutton; Mick O'Shaughnessy & Phil Baker.

Depending on whether we can access a computer somewhere in Belgium, we may-or may not!- post the result on here before we return, for the home match with Metropolitan Police on Tuesday 29th!

Some photos from the Millwall Online match

Have already been published!

Click here for the report & snaps from Onionbagblogger;

And here for the pictures by Griff.

Thanks to them both, for taking the time, when not actually on the pitch themselves!

And a report from their perspective...

From their website:

By Bexleyheath_lion:

That's right, do not adjust your screens, but MO have recorded their first official 11 aside victory and as is always the way, you wait so long then give out a bit of a thrashing when it does happen. As said previously though, the real winners on the day were the Royal Marsden and at last check the collection stood at around £700, but I am led to believe that may increase.There will be an opportunity for people to donate when the article goes in the Southwark News next week. Anyway to the game, the lads went a goal down thanks to an own goal by captain Ellasandlilysdaddy, but he redeemed himself with the scores at 1-1 by making a brave block on the line!! The goals today were scored by: 3 from JF lion, 3 from Charlie (on his debut), 1 from our left back Billy (on his debut) a 40 yard stunner and one from the genius that is Dwall. Katie's elder brother Jamie became the youngest player to appear for MO aged just 12 and did score himself only for a very very dodgy linesman and referee decision to disallow the goal. All in all a big thank you to the whole squad:Mfc TelTel lionBaslionMitchamMilroarEllasdaddyTommyBilly CharlieWakey Wakey McCluelessJF LionLetsaveitRM1 LionDwallZakSloffBexOwainJamieI would also like to add, that I found the whole event quite emotional, especially the presentation of the KP Shield to the winning captain Ellasdaddy. It brought a tear to my eye and a lump to the throat, a brilliant cause and will hopefully become an annual event. I also got to meet young Katie, who, despite her illness, was a gorgeous young girl who seemed to be a really cheerful young lady, an inspiration to a lot of people, very brave young girl, and it was an absolute pleasure and an honor. Thank you to everyone that contributed in any way towards making today as worthwhile as it was. Our man of the match was Charlie, who duly passed his trophy onto young Jamie who probably deserved it in equal measure for his efforts when he came on.

Where are they now...

For those of you wondering what had happened to supporters team ‘prodigy’, and left-back, ahem, maestro Ian Hunt, it turns out his reason for a lack of appearances this year is that he has gone over to the darkside. Outgoing supporters’ team organiser Andy Tucker was on his way to Champion Hill on Thursday, and was minding his own business when he heard the ominous phrase ‘tickets please’. Scrabbling around for his ticket, he looks up, only to see that it is none other than Chris Tabrett’s sidekick, sporting a particularly unimpressive bit of bumfluff. He's only a bloody 'Blakey!' (And before you say it, yes I know that Blakey worked 'On The Buses') Those of you who remember Ian will recall that when travelling to away games, we were always somewhat envious that Ian got to go everywhere for free thanks to his dad’s employment on the trains. He evidently gave up on college and has decided to follow in daddy’s footsteps. So next time you need letting off a fare, at least we know who to call …