Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
First one announced:
Men's team pre-season fixtures 2024/25
- Thread starter Pink Panther
- Start date
Paula_G
Flitting in & out like Tinkerbell on Meth
Apparently there’s a visit from Hornchurch too on 23rd July Dulwich Hamlet vs Hornchurch - Hornchurch FC
Moroccan Sunset
Well-Known Member
Now confirmed on our side:
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Another one.
Moroccan Sunset
Well-Known Member
And another.
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
pompeydunc
Well-Known Member
Only looking forward to the Merthyr Town match this far. All the other matches are familiar clubs / grounds to visit.
Hoping that the 27 July match will pull out something interesting - a seaside away day perhaps?
Hoping that the 27 July match will pull out something interesting - a seaside away day perhaps?
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Pre-season fixtures are little more than public training sessions these days. Most of them are almost worthless as a spectacle, with up to 22 players per side and anonymous triallists. I'm as partial to an away beano or a new ground tick as anyone, but the only real purpose is for the team to hit the ground running for the games that matter, which hasn't happened for several years now. We may as well minimalise overheads by visiting local opposition unless it's feasible to have a team bonding type weekend, like the Marine/Chester trip. I'm not sure how we've ended up hosting Merthyr. We played them home and away in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round in 1989. The home game was played at Fisher due to the reduced capacity at our crumbling old ground, then the replay on a Tuesday night was played in front of a 2,000+ crowd in South Wales.
I always like to do the first one just to see the latest recruits for the first time, and Fisher is my local ground so that's easy for me. I might do the next two Saturday games against Dagenham and away to Dorking, which is a nice town for an afternoon out, but that's probably it for me. Most of the county leagues start on 27th July, so there should be plenty of options to pick a new ground to visit for a proper game with something riding on it. The FA Cup Extra Preliminary round is probably going to be on 3rd August, so that's another opportunity for a new ground tick for a game that matters.
pompeydunc
Well-Known Member
I think Mel has connections at Merthyr.
Very happy that my wish was acted on (!?), as we have Hythe Town away on 27 July. Beach time!
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
That's tempting if it happens. *Neither club has announced anything yet, as far as I can see. The ground is walkable from Sandling Station, which has a direct hourly service from London Bridge, or a longer walk/bus ride from Folkestone Central.
We played there in each of our last two seasons in D1S and lost both times. They were the only team to beat us at Champion Hill in our promotion season.
The Three Mariners was an excellent pub not too far from the ground, and there's now a micropub in the town called the Potting Shed, which looks very basic but obviously a must visit! A friend of mine moved to Hythe a few years ago and has a smoking shed (fish, not tobacco) and a market stall at weekends.
*edit: just seen it's been added to the fixture list on the club website, although I check the club Twitter every day and haven't seen it there.
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club - Men's Fixtures & Tickets
Dulwich Hamlet FC Men's team fixtures and tickets
dulwichhamletfc.co.uk
Last edited:
Don't Slow Down
Well-Known Member
Clicked on the link and the game isn't on there.
Moroccan Sunset
Well-Known Member
Oh weird. It definitely was earlier.
Always baffles me that we so rarely get a game out of Millwall U21s given their proximity.
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
I wish someone would just make a clear explanation when something like this happens instead of discreetly deleting it when it's obvious some of us will have seen it. It was certainly there at 5.30pm this evening
I'm pleased we don't, it's been a dismal spectacle the last couple of times I've seen us play them. Young professionals who've been drilled in all the dark arts and cynical gamesmanship of modern football, taking maximum advantage of the custom that you don't get booked or sent off in a pre-season game. It's not a moneyspinner at the turnstiles and we've already got a game against the nearest other pro academy team. I'd rather host Hornchurch and Dagenham instead.
Moroccan Sunset
Well-Known Member
Fully agree with the first point. Just say what's happening.
Re: Millwall: I would have thought it's more beneficial to play them than, say, Haringey away? Think it would draw a reasonable crowd (certainly better than something like the 150 of us knocking around for the game v Erith & Belvedere last summer.) I get we might want to protect the pitch, but I think maximising pre season income is prudent, given that we all know our midweek home fixtures rarely break the 1,000 attendance mark and attendances also drop off on Saturdays during the colder months.
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
We played Millwall U21 2 and 3 years ago. I don't think those games pulled more than about 500. We've also played Palace, Brentford and Arsenal U21 and an Orient senior squad in recent seasons without pulling many more than that. The last big attendance I can recall for a pre-season game was Spurs U21 5 years ago, which pulled nearly 3,000. I don't recall whether the club marketed that differently in any way, but maybe the novelty of having crowds of 3,000 has worn off now. The ground isn't really comfortable at that figure, so I suspect a lot of the people who are now regulars for the league games are less interested in pre-season games that are generally soon forgotten.
You've picked Erith & Belvedere as an example, but that's a lower division club with little support, and far from typical. We rarely arrange a home friendly like that, so I imagine something more glamorous fell through and it must have been the best we could get for that date.
Rightly or wrongly, we charge full price admission in pre-season when most other clubs at our level charge a tenner or less. I'm not complaining, as I doubt half price would mean double the attendance, but personally I'm not really interested in most of these games at any price. I'm sure we had a "pre-season ticket" in the past (4 games for the price of 2 and a half, or something like that) but I haven't seen that advertised this year.
I don't really see why it's less beneficial to play away to Haringey than at home to an U21 side. We need a variety of fixtures, and we already have 4 at home this time. It's an opportunity to play on a 3G pitch, which is something we'll have to cope with in some league games. I would think a team one division below us will be a greater approximation of what we'll encounter in the league games than a team of young professionals, who may be playing in either the Premier League or the Isthmian League in 5 years time. So far we've arranged matches against 3 higher level clubs, 2 lower level clubs, 1 at the same level, plus the Palace U21 game. The fixtures arranged may not all have been first choices, it obviously depends whether it suits opponents to visit us or host us on the same dates we wish to play them. Maybe "better" options were declined or fell through, but it looks like a reasonable balance so far, with a couple of dates still free to add more.
editor
hiraethified
For fuck's sake, This is really amateurish stuff.
I've twice updated the Buzz article and now they sneakily remove a fixture without bothering to tell anyone so I'll have to edit it again.
Update: Dulwich Hamlet announce eight pre-season friendlies
Dulwich Hamlet have announced no less than eight friendly matches ahead of the 2024-25 season, including three evening games. These are:
www.brixtonbuzz.com
gnar182
i am an okay person
Cheers for another essay mate.
johnny clash
Well-Known Member
..
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Turns out this game is on after all. Presumably someone mistakenly included it in the fixture list on the website while it was still provisional (which would be fair enough, we all make mistakes) but why it couldn't be edited as "provisional" instead of confusing everyone by deleting it altogether, I've no idea.
editor
hiraethified
And still no one has bothered to update Buzz, the site run by volunteers that has literally given the club more coverage than any other media outlet (and also provides this forum at zero expense to the club).
It's slapdash, unprofessional and disrespectful and I'm really pissed off about it. And now I'll update the article for the fourth time.
Paula_G
Flitting in & out like Tinkerbell on Meth
Think the big crowd came from a variety of reasons. It was announced as a “Spurs XI” and the first team were on an overseas tour playing in Singapore, Shanghai & Germany with only one preseason game in the UK. Even so it was strange to get that many when there were no recognised names in the Spurs squad.
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Reduced admission (£10 adults) for this year's men's pre-season home games:
Dorking have put tickets on sale, £6 in the away end. It seems segregation is enforced at all matches, the Farnham Town friendly match also sees away tickets being offered.
dwfc.ticketco.events
Dorking Wanderers vs Dulwich Hamlet @TicketCo
Dorking Wanderers vs Dulwich HamletSaturday 20th July - 3pmMeadowbank StadiumPlease note: Season tickets DO NOT apply for our pre-season fixtures but seats will be reserved where applicable.Disabled tickets fall under the concessions bracket, if a carer is required they will enter the ground...
dwfc.ticketco.events
Pink Panther
Well-Known Member
Merthyr game OFF:
It appears they've been given a wildcard entry to the League of Wales Cup (along with Cardiff, Swansea and Newport) and the 2nd Round of that competition is scheduled for the weekend they were due to visit us.
It appears they've been given a wildcard entry to the League of Wales Cup (along with Cardiff, Swansea and Newport) and the 2nd Round of that competition is scheduled for the weekend they were due to visit us.
