Things change in life, that’s only natural. Whether that change is for the better or worse is in the eye of the beholder.
Some of the reasons for how our club has changed over the last ten or so years are clearly linked to massively positive things - promotions, winning games, and more importantly the exceptional efforts from so many to not only keep the club alive but to be in a position where over 3,000 people want to attend a League game at the start of October, which in any context is remarkable.
Alongside those positive changes have come other things, a lot of which have already been mentioned - such as the experience at the ground on busy days, the make up of the crowds and the growing disconnection between the management/players and supporters.
For some, those ‘side effects’ won’t matter. For some, they won’t even be noticed. But for me, and from the indications here some others as well, the side effects are starting to outweigh the positives. I realise it’s early days in this season but I’m already considering this year being my last as a season ticket holder, whilst the current conditions maintain anyway.
I also recognise that I haven’t got a divine right to expect things to stay the way I want them to be. I’ve never invested even a tiny amount of the time and effort others have in our club to think I could or should be able to begin to influence that, and I’d hazard that the majority of people there yesterday enjoyed themselves.
I’ll be sad to personally lose something I’ve loved for close to a decade (still very much Nouveau), but it’s on me to find something else to replace that whilst many, many others continue to enjoy it.
Completely echo this. I haven't actually been to a game or pre-season friendly this season. I've been supporting DHFC since the age of 6 and so it's the first time in 22/23 seasons I haven't turned up to a game by August, let alone October.
The pandemic has obviously broken the habit, but I just don't have any appetite to come back. I've lost interest and, frankly, faith in the direction the club is going in. I'm not someone who's bothered by a packed CH (but completely underrstand it ruins the experience for others); what does bother me is the incessant stream of turgid, unexciting, performances, and enormous disconnection between the players and management, and fans. Last weekend, I did the unthinkable and went to see Chelsea v Southampton. There were lots of knobheads, yes, but it was actually great to watch some entertaining football.
Take the other night, for example. Away on Tues night in the arse end of Croydon, dismal performance against opposition several divisions below us, just about squeeze through to the next round thanks to a penalty shootout, and the players couldn't even be bothered to come over and thank the fans for a) turning up b) paying to bloody be there and c) enduring 90 mins of shite. That is absolutely abysmal and everyone responsible for that, the club, management, players themselves, should be ashamed of themselves. That's exactly the kind of dismissive arrogance that alienates fans in professional football and now it seems it's found it's way here.
One of the best things about the Craig Edwards era was that regardless of result the players would come over at the end and shake your hand. Didn't matter if we'd been battered 5-0, or battered someone 5-0 ourselves. It brought a connection and bond between players, management, and fans, and it's the only time I've felt such a strong connection to a Dulwich team. It made me go to every home game, sit in cars for two hours to Dover, freeze my arse off on a Tuesday night at Chipstead, all without hesitation.
You read a lot on here that a lot of the new fans don't pay attention to the game or don't even know the names of the players -
but why should they? They treat it like an outside bar with some football in the background because that's exactly what it's become. When players score, they don't high five or jump into the crowd, they don't engage in any way. We've already established that applauding the fans after a crap performance against Croydon Athletic is a bit too much to ask for. It feels like we are expected to turn up to fund the Gavin Rose football project - hand over your money, drink beer, talk to your mates, but don't interfere or expect anything back from the football itself.
The club's survival is of paramount importance, more so than my own satisfaction, and the crowd's guarantee that, so I'm actually delighted we got 3,343 yesterday. But if this is the way the club wants to go, then fine, but I've come to a point where I'm just finding other stuff to do at the weekend.
(Sorry, that was miles longer than previously planned.)
