Before the Hamlet

Before the Hamlet: Football in Dulwich from the 1870s to the 1890s

Before the Hamlet: Football in Dulwich from the 1870s to the 1890s by Roger Deason is the latest instalment from the Hamlet Historian. It goes on sale in February on match days at Champion Hill, the home of Dulwich Hamlet FC. Copies of this limited edition will be available for £5 with all profits going to the club's Twelfth Man Scheme. 

The Victorian era was a momentous time for the development of football in the UK. The amateurs in the south created the laws, the codes and organised the competitions. Advancement was made by the schools and churches promoting muscular Christianity, whilst half-day Saturdays saw the rise of factory teams and association football as a spectator sport.

The game soon became a profession with the advent of the Football League dominated by the giant northern clubs.

London Caledonians 1891

Roger explores how the game developed in the Dulwich area before Dulwich Hamlet came into being, and during the club’s early years, as it gained more and more popularity, progressing from junior football to being a top senior side. 

The clubs covered include the Bohemians, the Vampires,  the Rangers, the Mosquitoes, Champion Hill and Dulwich St Peter’s.

This is the second of Roger’s books published by the Hamlet Historian. The first, When Shall Their Glory Fade? tells the story of the Hamlet’s 22 World War One fallen. He has also published a history of Dulwich Hamlet during the same era: QuiteWrong To Do So being a summary of the club’s activities on and off the pitch during World War One.

The Townley Park ground (with horse pulling roller)

Roger has dedicated Before the Hamlet to the late Mishi Morath, who sadly passed away in December 2019. It was Mishi who originally put together the Hamlet Historian as an occasional magazine back in the 1990s. The HH has since developed into the current website as well as a Facebook page. In recent years we have produced a number of small books relating to the rich history of Dulwich Hamlet.

Jack McInroy, January 2020.

January Sale

Some of you will remember that back in March 2019 the Hamlet Historian published my book Hussein Hegazi: Dulwich Hamlet’s Egyptian King. The launch took place at Champion Hill at the Football and War seminar.

For those who missed that event, a video recording was made by Jamal Watts and has since been uploaded onto YouTube. The video is in two parts and can be found at the following links.

Part One

Part Two 

I still have a good number of copies of the book, which are available from me at the reduced price of £5.00 each plus postage from jackmcinroy@yahoo.co.uk  

Hussein Hegazi was Dulwich Hamlet’s very first African player. He began his three year career with the Hamlet in 1911 and made a huge impact on all those who saw or played with the footballing wizard. Before the Egyptian returned to Cairo in 1914 he made a handful of appearances for some of England’s best known amateur sides gaining a Cambridge ‘Blue’ in the  process. Hegazi went on to have a fascinating career in his homeland.

Jack McInroy

The legendary Mishi Morath, RIP.

(Photo: Ollie Jarman / DHFC)

We were extremely sad to hear of the untimely death of Mishi Dulwich Morath. There are few people who can be regarded as a legend, but Mishi certainly was. A read through the myriad posts and threads on social network at news of his passing is proof of that. I have never met anyone else like Mishi, and I’m going to miss him immensely.

The very first conversation I ever had with Mishi was sometime in the mid-1990s. It was the final game of the season, which I happened to miss because I was at a friend’s wedding. With my football boots sneakily hidden in my bag, I was able to slip away for a couple of hours to Champion Hill to see if I could play in the Supporters versus Club match at 6pm.

When I arrived in the bar I introduced myself to Mishi, who was running the supporters’ team at the time, and asked if I could be included in the side. I was a bit taken aback when Mishi told me that he already had far too many players and there was no room for me. However, when he registered my disappointment he told me, to go down to the dressing room and get changed into the Hamlet kit and he might be able to find a few minutes for me near the end of the game.

Fortunately, as I ran out of the tunnel onto the pitch where the players were warming up, a loose ball came towards me and I struck a sweet shot into the top corner of the net at the Dog Kennel Hill end. “You’re starting!” said Mishi, and wrote my name in his pad. And thus began a connection between the two of us that lasted twenty five years.

Along with lots of low times supporting Dulwich Hamlet, we enjoyed some great times together. I’ll never forget that rainy evening in 1998 when Dulwich beat Newport Isle of Wight to make it through to the First round of the FA Cup for the first time in fifty years. At the final whistle I scaled the fence and ran onto the pitch in celebration to find a weeping Mishi overcome with emotion. I put my arm around him and gave him a big hug.

Another time we were at a game at Hendon and we noticed the perimeter wall behind the goal was wobbly, and an accident waiting to happen. When Dulwich were awarded a penalty, and Peter Garland fired it in, Mishi put an extra bit of weight onto the wall knocking a huge section over and saving people from a Leatherhead moment.

But he was always the same old Mishi, in love with everything Pink and Blue. Few have done more for Dulwich Hamlet over the past century and a quarter than Mishi Morath, and he was well known throughout non-league circles. When he attended a forum to save Hitchin Town’s Top Field ground, his fervent words in support of a rival club saw them put his picture on the cover of their next matchday programme!  

It was Mishi who founded the Hamlet Historian magazine. He had a real fascination with the history of the club, and enjoyed hearing about old things being revealed to a new generation. He was always a great encouragement to me after I took over the reins of his magazine, and I was always pleased when he supplied his inimitable articles or pointed me towards a good story.

It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Sometimes we fell out with each other – he could be exasperating or charming in equal measures – but I had a great deal of time and respect for Mishi and unashamedly shed a few tears at news of his death.

To his brother Ferenc and the rest of his friends and loved ones we send our sincere love and condolences at this time of great loss.  

Jack McInroy

Eminent Victorians

The excellent Historical Kits website has updated its Eminent Victorian Clubs page to include Dulwich Hamlet. The illustration of the kit carries the date of 1896, three years after the foundation of the club.  

In the very early days the 'club colours' were red and blue, with playing kit a basic “white sweater and dark knickers.” By January 1896 the Hamlet were wearing its famous colours, the South London Press newspaper referring to them as‘the pink and blues’.  

The earliest Dulwich Hamlet team photograph we have dates from the 1900/01 season at the very end of the Victorian era. It shows the players wearing a buttoned-up shirt of pink and blue halves, which the 'historical kit' is clearly based on.. However, we cannot assume the style of the playing strip had been the same for the previous six or seven years.

As the twentieth century progressed Dulwich began to sport a variety of stripes and the occasional hoops, before finally settling on the bold blue stripe, pink sides and blue sleeves, which remained unchanged for four decades. See Gentlemen's Outfit for our own article about the many changes to the Dulwich Hamlet strip.

At the Historical Kits site you can check out all your other favourite teams.