Have you ever been writing or typing something whilst
conducting a conversation, only to realise that you have accidentally written some
of the words the other person said instead of what you intended to write?
I think that is what may have happened in this loose sheet
from a 1930s autograph book currently available on Ebay.
The sheet contains the names of nine of the triumphant Dulwich
Hamlet team who won the FA Amateur Cup in 1932. The match, played at West Ham
United’s Boleyn ground, saw a rampant Hamlet side destroy Marine of Liverpool by
seven goals to one. It was a record equaling score in the final. Six of
the Dulwich strikes arrived in a fertile twenty minute spell just after the hour mark. Jack
Moseley scored four of the goals, George Goodliffe one, and the legendary Edgar
Kail bagged a brace.
The autograph collector, who probably attained the
signatures of the Hamlet players after the game, put little boxes round the individual
autographs and neatly noted some of their playing positions.
The two columns of names consist of WG Goodliffe, LB Morrish,
HS Robbins, E Kail, T Hamer, AJ Hugo, CF Murray, AS Aitken, BE Osmond and AH
Hamer. The eagle eyed will notice that R Miles and HC Moseley are missing – one
of them has obviously been removed from the bottom left corner. Oddly, club
captain Hamer’s name is recorded twice and in different hands.
As I mentioned
at the top of the article, my guess is that either Miles or Moseley wrote Hamer’s
name instead of their own. In my scenario the player is about to sign the sheet
when the collector asks, “Who was the best player today?” “Taffy Hamer”
he replies. And as the words leave his lips he automatically signs ‘T Hamer’ by
mistake. I say this because it is without question that Hamer would have put
his actual initials in keeping with everyone else. Also, the Welshman never
ever referred to himself as Taffy, and it is known that he was not fond of the
nickname.
Of this great set of players Edgar Kail retired at the close of the following season, Jack Moseley immediately joined
Millwall, while Cecil
Murray, Horrie Robbins, Jack Hugo and Leslie Morrish each collected a further
two Amateur Cup winners medals in 1934 and 1937. George Goodliffe was a member
of the family business that later owned the Champion Hill ground and did so
much to keep Dulwich Hamlet alive during the darker post-war days.
Brief cinema
footage of the Marine v Dulwich Hamlet match can be seen here.
The two teams are set to meet again. Dulwich Hamlet have been given the great honour to play a
friendly match against Marine this summer as part of the Merseyside club’s 125
anniversary celebrations. The match will take place on Saturday 13 July 2019 in
Crosby.
