The time is 4.50pm on a chilly Boxing Day and in a pocket of south London a final whistle blows. The sharp shrill of the whistle from referee Matt Russell is greeted by a roar from the huge crowd as the players embrace after a hard-fought victory at their home ground, Champion Hill.

Dulwich Hamlet FC are back.

Dulwich Hamlet FC or ‘the Hamlet’ as they are often referred to are a non-league football team currently playing in the National League South, the sixth step in English football. They are one of the oldest clubs in London, having been founded back in 1893, and are well-known for their support with crowds often reaching 2,000. This may seem small in comparison to the Premier League giants, but this figure regularly exceeds some of the teams playing in up divisions higher up the football pyramid than Dulwich.

In recent years the club has developed a reputation as a ‘hipster club’ with a strong left-wing ideology flowing throughout their distinctive pink and blue scarves. In 2015 the club played a landmark friendly against Stonewall FC, a LGBT charity, in order to raise funds for the Elton John Aids Foundation. The club also makes weekly collections for foodbanks at home games for the local area. Put simply, Dulwich Hamlet are no ordinary footballing side.

That is why then on the 6th March 2018 the world stopped turning in this part of London. Champion Hill, the home to Dulwich Hamlet since 1912, would be taken away from them. Not only that but the club was warned to stop using its very own name, which fans had followed and treasures for years. The property developing company that owned the Champion Hill site, Meadow, withdrew permission for them to play highlighting the fact that the club ‘had repeatedly breached’ its license agreement.

Meadow demanded a £120,000 bill for backdated rent which was a huge financial burden for anon-league side. At this level clubs are reliant of the precious work of volunteers who dedicate hundreds of hours to maintain the club and with ticket prices starting at just £10 the club was seriously threatened. This also came as a complete shock to the club who had always maintained an agreement with Meadow that they would support the club economically. At the time the club branded the decision as ‘disgraceful’ and ‘pure pettiness’ but the fans rallied round the club in its most desperate hour of need.

Meadow’s eviction of Dulwich meant that the club had to find a new ground and fast. This was happening mid-season after all. As metal fences were placed around their beloved Champion Hill and turnstiles locked shut Dulwich accepted an offer from Tooting and Mitcham to play their ‘home’ games at Tooting’s Imperial Fields – over eight miles away from their previous home ground!

All of these off the pitch issues could have threatened to derail their season but not for the resilient Hamlet. Under the guidance of club icon Gavin Rose, 39, who has managed over 350 games for the Hamlet since taking the reins, Hamlet kept winning. A 3-0 success in their first match in the unfamiliar surroundings that they would now call ‘home’ at Imperial Fields against Worthing would prove the catalyst for a remarkable close to the season. A run of seven wins in ten matches qualified Hamlet for the playoffs, where they would compete in an end of season winner-takes all series of games to decide if they would be promoted to the next division.

A victory against Leiston set up a huge playoff final against fellow rivals Hendon FC at Dulwich’s ‘home ground’. Having lost to Hendon earlier in the season it would proved to be a pulsating clash played on in the searing heat of the early summer. Disaster struck early as Hendon took the lead, however Hamlet showed strong determination and forced an equaliser. 90 minutes could not separate the sides with the score locked at 1-1. Thirty further minutes could also not separate the sides and so it would be penalty kicks to decided Dulwich’s fate.

Rarely has such a tumultuous season come down to such fine margins. Nine months, 48 league games and countless sleepless nights over the ground issues would come down to ten strikes of a football, just six yards from goal.

An outstretched arm from Dulwich Keeper Amadou Tangara clutched the ball and thus secured promotion sparking wild scenes as the fans stormed the pitch to share in this collective moment o euphoria. Dulwich Hamlet after going close for so many years would be playing National League South football for the first time in their history.

Yet the ground dispute would still not go away…

The club kicked off their 2018/19 campaign still playing at Imperial Fields, however glorious the playoff final victory had been, that wasn’t their home. It wasn’t Dulwich’s home.

The club gained support from Premier League manager Roy Hodgson who expressed that he had ‘a lot of sympathy’ over their dispute. He bought a Crystal Palace side for a friendly match in the October of 2018 to raise some much-needed funds as finances were tight without a steady flow of gate money.

Before the game Crystal Palace chairman Steve Parish said in a statement that Palace wanted to “support a club whose treatment at the hands of property developers has been well documented in the press. As a club, we feel it’s important to support other teams in our patch who need our help.”

The game which Palace won 5-0 was never about the result and the phrase ‘more than football’ would become apparent as fans, players and management united in their struggle for the club and its beloved ground.

Months would go by before the dispute was resolved. Eventually the local council, Meadow and Dulwich Hamlet FC themselves sat down with mediators and hammered out a deal. On Monday 22nd October it was at last agreed that Dulwich would return to their hamlet.

Dulwich issued a statement. "We'd like to thank Tracey Crouch and our local MPs Helen Hayes and Harriet Harman for facilitating and attending the meeting which led to this positive outcome," but this almost muted official line did not mask the sheer joy and adulation of the fans who could begin dreaming of their first game back where they belonged

And so it was that Dulwich lined up for the first time in 313 days at Champion Field against Eastbourne Borough FC. The ground, a traditional old non-league ground with its weathered concrete, was packed to the rafters with over 3,000 jubilant fans in attendance. Football had won. The fans had won. And most importantly Dulwich had won 2-1 on their return to put some precious breathing space between them and the dreaded relegation zone.

Dulwich Hamlet FC were back.