UK’s small football clubs fight evictions in race for city land
trend for sites of community value — our cultural assets — to be judged as having no value, in the face of the juggernaut of global property speculation,” said author and University of East London academic Anna Minton.
“Cultural assets like small football clubs create viable communities and these assets are being lost throughout London and in other British cities,” said Minton, who lives in the area.
Other London clubs from second-tier Millwall to ninth-tier Clapton FC have faced threats to their grounds in recent years, and other examples can be found across the country.
Truro City FC in Cornwall will be evicted to make way for a retail park, while Newbury FC in Berkshire is fighting to maintain its venue, in use for over a century, which the local council wants to turn into an industrial estate.
“We’re not the first club this has happened to and we certainly won’t be the last,” said Neil Cole, who runs the Twelfth Man, Dulwich Hamlet’s fundraising campaign.
“Communities in London need things like Dulwich Hamlet; they need things to gather round and bring the community together.”
Meadow Residential, an affiliate of US real estate firm Meadow Partners and owners of ground since 2016, has proposed an £80 million project to deliver 155 apartments, while building a new stadium on adjacent public land.
The club’s fans voted for the original development, but the local council repeatedly refused planning permission, because it fell well short of its requirement for 35 percent affordable housing, and it required the rezoning of protected green space.
In October, with relations worsening, Meadow cut its financial support for the club, leaving it reliant on fan donations, raffles and bucket collections at games.
Last month, it evicted Dulwich Hamlet from Champion Hill, and demanded £121,000 ($170,000) in backdated rent. Meadow also claimed ownership of the club’s name and trademarks, but backtracked on that after widespread outrage.
Southwark Council, the local authority, took the unprecedented step of releasing funds to purchase Champion Hill at its current market value. It also discussed issuing a compulsory purchase order on the site if no deal is reached.
The council plans to build at least 60 units of social housing next to the stadium, while seeking external funding for renovations to the existing grounds.
“The concept of a new stadium is quite welcome,” said Southwark Council leader Peter John. “The way in which it was being delivered is not.”
Meadow Residential said it stood by its decision not to sell the ground and to continue its bid to develop the site for housing, a spokesperson said.
“Meadow have noted the council discussion and decision and won’t be making any comment on discussions with the council going forward,” the company told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
At a time when British football has become a rich man’s game, Dulwich Hamlet, playing in the seventh tier, is a notable exception.
One of the few non-league teams left in London, supporters can buy a match day ticket for only £10 ($14), a fraction of what Premier League clubs charge.
The club’s attendance has risen dramatically over the last decade, and it is not unusual for a Saturday game to draw 2,500 people, numbers the envy of teams several leagues above it.
Dulwich Hamlet prides itself on its outsized character, and draws a vibrant mix of families, life-long season-ticketholders and new supporters from nearby hipsterfriendly Peckham.
The club has received public support from London mayor Sadiq Khan and other football clubs, including Millwall, which recently fended off a compulsory purchase order from another London council on its ground.
Back on unfamiliar terraces, as the team struggles to a late defeat against Metropolitan Police Football Club, fans chant and bang on the steel hoardings, remaining ever sanguine.
“The club has been around for 125 years, a lot longer than Meadow Partners,” said supporter Laird, eyes fixated as Dulwich Hamlet break with the ball. “And we’ll be around for another 125 years ... ”