By Robert Vaughan
The modern city is carved, or at least consumed, into networks of infrastructure, and with it privilege.
Brixton exists in a part of London – at once abstract and mechanical reality – where a particular shade of blue is worshipped. It is known as ‘Victoria Line’ and Arsenal are the local football club. Yeah. Good luck getting and/or affording a ticket.
In the real world Brixton’s local team is Dulwich Hamlet. More famous than their size would suggest, the pink’n’blues play at Champion Hill, on the Camberwell-most edge of what estate agents demand we think of as East Dulwich.
From glory days of amateur game dominance and 20,000 gates, they now find themselves in the Isthmian Division One South, seven promotions from the Premier League (quick, get to the bookies).
I’m not going to dress it up. This level of football simply fails to compare with the top divisions. Hamlet’s ticket prices are much cheaper, just £8 a head, £4 concessions, and a ridiculous £99 for a season ticket.
This division is much more open than its constipated elite cousins, and the football often end-to-end in exactly the way you’ve wished the World Cup Final would be for decades.
And a team that play in pink! What more could you want? Well, there’s a bar with great view of the pitch. No-one stops you smoking. Hamlet actually play quite decent passing football. And they are challenging for the title.
Hop on the 37 and check them out for yourself.
- Dulwich Hamlet take on Godalming Town at Champion Hill today (Saturday )at 3pm.
- The next home game is against Erith and Belvedere, on Tuesday (31st January) at 7.45pm.
[…] Blog team want some footie on our pages, so we’ve had to go out of our patch and adopt Dulwich Hamlet FC as our local football team. They’re playing Godalming Town at 3pm today, so get dressed […]