Gary Strodders shank 10:04 Fri Dec 27
WHU v Non league
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Anyone else switched from watching West Ham to non league ?
After becoming totally disillusioned watching overpaid players in a totally sanitised and soulless bowl (OS) I switched a couple of years ago to watching my local team Wealdstone fc and now follow home and away,
I prefer the atmosphere and being close to the action, very much a throwback and feel part of something,there are also some very good players at CS level.
Before Christmas i met up with two former colleagues I hadn’t seen for many years, both absolute Charlton stalwarts previously and was amazed to find that neither had been to the Valley in over 3 years now preferring to follow Dulwich Hamlet instead, in there words “the modern games finished.”
I still have great memories of Upton Park and the atmosphere growing up on the north bank and chicken run but can rarely bring myself to visit the OS nowadays as this is a totally alien environment from what I was bought up on hence my defection.
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Replies - Newest Posts First ( Show In Chronological Order)
Northern Sold
5:59 Mon Feb 17
Re: WHU v Non league
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Yeah he posts on here as Vexed...
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dealcanvey
5:56 Mon Feb 17
Re: WHU v Non league
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is the Wealdstone Raider still about.
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Northern Sold
4:22 Mon Feb 17
Re: WHU v Non league
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... and take your dog...
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Hammer94
4:12 Mon Feb 17
Re: WHU v Non league
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Another real plus about non league is you can drink in the stand also..
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eusebiovic
9:35 Mon Jan 6
Re: WHU v Non league
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Top Non-League Attendances
https://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/global/attendances/
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eusebiovic
1:41 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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southbankbornnbred 1:22 Sun Jan 5
Touch wood (my skull) I think that they will be alright.
The reason being it's not just a few punters from Camberwell or Peckham that they can rely on these days. It does seem to be a more of a SE London thing in general.
Plenty people from Brixton, Lewisham, Crystal Palace and Croydon and the rest show up these days (even Charlton/Woolwich)
Also the whole business community has got behind them - posters in practically every shop window on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich - that never used to happen and it's not just hipsters it's mums and kids who are getting behind it.
It's gonna be alright
p.s - I've been to watch Dagenham about half a dozen times - I have a mate at work who grew up there.
The Eastbrook is a fine pub - Always enjoy a drink in there.
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southbankbornnbred
1:40 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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This piece did Dulwich Hamlet no favours.
https://www.theguardian.com/global/2015/aug/23/dulwich-hamlet-londons-most-hipster-football-club
You know your club is in posh, contrived art-school trouble when The Guardian (which, I read and write for, but-love/hate) opens up with a line about "hipsters" and actors wearing the club's scarves, which are a "must have accessory".
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southbankbornnbred
1:22 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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Yeah, I know what you're saying. And I would still encourage anybody to go along to their local non-league club (when they can't watch West Ham, naturally).
But my concern for Dulwich Hamlet is that it could all be a bit of a fad. The art-school Peckham Rye "meeja" types, who are always on the lookout for the next thing, will eventually tire of it and move onto something else they think is more "cool". What will that leave behind?
Hopefully it will still leave a healthy club. But I'm not certain.
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eusebiovic
1:15 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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southbankbornnbred 1:07 Sun Jan 5
I know what you're saying but I did go to games before it got fashionable!
The demographic of the area has changed and it is a short journey from quite a few arts colleges so I guess it was only a matter of time.
The core of the club are still all the old skool locals who granted now have some help with marketing and promotion which helps are club which was on it's knees to thrive again.
A double-edged sword but I'm glad the club is still here.
You can always go and watch Fisher Ath instead :-)
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southbankbornnbred
1:11 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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Go to Dagenham.
It is the antithesis of contrived football.
Nothing against non-league football - in fact, I'd encourage anybody to go along (even to Dulwich!). When I lived in Liverpool, I used to go to Marine quite a lot. It was mad. Loved it.
Always good, and important, to support grassroots football.
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southbankbornnbred
1:07 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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Euse,
I haven't to Dulwich been for a season, but I went with some friends who live nearby two seasons ago and it was a decent enough experience. But there were, quite genuinely, a lot of desperately trendy types desperately trying to be seen to be desperately enjoying "the football".
It was a bit too contrived and middle-class for my liking. Banksy-style graffiti on the walls etc. Felt like being at the non-league version of Arsenal or Chelsea.
Not my cup of tea. I prefer the off-the-cuff spontaneity and anarchy of places like (the old) West Ham.
Dulwich Hamlet feels like art school-approved anarchy. Usually led by posh twenty somethings taking selfies in front of ironic graffiti by the toilets.
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Admiral Lard
1:04 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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Interesting post.
For my sins I go along to Dover Athletic and Crabble Stadium 2 or 3 times a season. Mid table in the Conference with an average home gate of around 1,200 it can be quite lively.
In the end the standard of football is watchable but not a patch on the Prem for obvious reasons.
I would agree with the premise that people go because they have a genuine love for the club but recently the gate prices went up to £18 which is very much on the high side for that level of football and in area of extreme poverty by British standards it has affected attendances.
Its great to go and support your local team, particularly if you are a long distance from the London Stadium. Dover Athletic are my "bit on the side" so to speak!
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eusebiovic
12:58 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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southbankbornnbred 12:08 Sun Jan 5
It's nowhere near that bad...and you know it
A few hipsters for sure, but the press use that as an easy to understand thing to tar everybody with the same brush.
It's feels quite heartening to see something healthy bubbling away - there are no plant based burgers either
proper burger and chips, fish and chips and pies donated by pieminster due to the fact they are a sponsor
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RM10
12:18 Sun Jan 5
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It’s a fad, but they are enjoying it and that’s the main thing
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southbankbornnbred
12:18 Sun Jan 5
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So is Halifax Town, but I'm not rushing there either.
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,
12:14 Sun Jan 5
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Sounds like it is also full with a couple of thousand people every other week, something that Dagenham would love to be happening.
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southbankbornnbred
12:08 Sun Jan 5
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Dulwich Hamlet (who my dad used to play for) is now full of wannbe pan-sexual Peckham trendies with sculpted beards paying £12 for "gourmet" plant-based burgers while boring the living shit out of anybody who will listen about real ale.
No thanks.
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,
12:07 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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WHU home games and non league games on available Saturdays and occasionally mid week.
Works for me.
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southbankbornnbred
12:05 Sun Jan 5
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Nope.
I love watching all levels of football. I'll stop and watch shite Sunday League games if I'm wandering past.
But I will never actively choose to give up West Ham for any other side. It's in the blood.
I don't watch as many West Ham games as I used to (work commitments), and I generally try to avoid home games at the London Sterile (still go to some). But I will try to get to as many away games as I can - particularly in London and the south-east.
I hate the way West Ham is run and want these clowns out of the club. But I still love the club's fans and wouldn't want it any other way.
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RM10
12:00 Sun Jan 5
Re: WHU v Non league
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Will all that change when they aspire to be in the football league-prem.....
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eusebiovic
11:12 Sun Jan 5
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nerd 11:00 Sun Jan 5
Non-League football at least as far as Dulwich is concerned ain't just old gits taking their dog for a walk anymore. All age groups particularly 20-30's.
Lots of youngsters wearing the Dulwich shirt around SE London these days and the amount of women who attend games is off the scale.
The time's are a changing....
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