Fisher/Dulwich

[Gareth]

Martin Eede has stepped down as Dulwich chairman after 12 years....and walked across the corridor to become chairman of Fisher.

Anyone else smell a merger in the vicinity?

[medibot]

Dulfish Hamlethic?

[Amber Aleman]

Duller Hamfish?

[Paul L]

Or make it sound like an item off a fast food menu...

Fishwich FC

[suttonview]

Rumours of a merger have been around (and strongly denied) for a while now. The new name was supposed to be Southwark United. We shall see.....

I always thought there was a rule that a merged club had to start in the league of the lower of the two sides, but the recent merger of Moor Green (Conf North) and Solihull (BGB Southern) indicates this is not so as the new club, Solihull Moors, will be in Blue Square Northern next season. The same applies to next seasons merger of Aylesbury United and Aylesbury Vale.

[Stewart]

It would be sad to see the Dulwich Hamlet name disapear.

[suttonview]

stewart said:

It would be sad to see the Dulwich Hamlet name disapear.

True - at least we now have a Football League team at, er, Dagenham, Redbridge Forest, Leytonstone, Ilford and Walthamstow Avenue .

[bh]

I like Paul's idea, or Fish Hamwich, but please not another traditional non league name disappearing.

[suttonview]

The statement below, from Fisher's site www.fisherathletic.co.uk/news_detail.php?ID=78 seems (?) to end this speculation:

Due to an irregular amount of speculation from supporters of both Fisher Athletic and Dulwich Hamlet, coupled with the intervention of the ‘internet led’ scandal mongers I am pleased to confirm that Fisher Athletic and Dulwich Hamlet will continue to work together as tenant and landlord until Fisher are able to return ‘home’ to their new stadium in the north of the borough. (The return to Rotherhithe has been slow in its progress due to the fact that both Fisher Athletic and the London Borough of Southwark are keen to see the provision of a community led mixed use stadium that reflects the needs of the redevelopment of Canada Water and the surrounding area. Both parties see this as an opportunity to deliver a sustainable leisure/sporting facility that will prove to be a viable concern for many years to come and one that will encourage community integration. We are nearing the end of this consultation process that will allow us to submit a fully supported scheme to the planning department for its approval, and subject to this we hope to be in a position to return home in readiness for the 2009/2010 season).

As far as a merger of the two clubs is concerned I cannot see one valid reason why the board of either club would allude to this. Generally clubs merge when there is a need to do so, and currently under both our independent new ownerships I can confidently say that the future of both clubs is looking very positive. If Southwark United were the reason then either club could rename themselves if they so desired without the need to integrate.

The fact that there is a healthy competition geographically will always mean that there will be personnel who end up representing both clubs (Weymouth/Eastleigh, Maidstone/Tonbridge, Lewes/Worthing to name but three similar set ups where players regularly play for both teams). The current standing of both Fisher and Dulwich in their respective leagues is the sole reason that players may leave Dulwich to develop their career opportunities and nothing more sinister. Should we feel hard done by because our approach for Chris Dickson was thwarted by a move to Charlton? I think not, we are all delighted that a relatively home grown talent has been given the opportunity to play at the highest possible level.

The appointment of Martin Eede as Chairman has only materialised because of the close working relationships of the two clubs. Had we not seen Martin’s qualities at first hand then we would probably not have known what an asset he could be to us, nor would we have been aware of his desire for a new challenge, having successfully concluded a major chapter in Dulwich’s history - Their Future.

Whilst my foremost concern is that of Fisher Athletic I am happy to go on record as being a close friend and ally of Nick McCormack, the owner of Dulwich Hamlet FC, and I realise, like he does, that the future of both our clubs is potentially a very real asset to Southwark in the nurturing and the mentoring of its youth population, and that we are both committed to developing our independent facilities to provide for this in both the north and south of the borough.

In conclusion, whilst control of Fisher Athletic remains in my ownership (and to avoid any insinuation, I propose this to be for a very long time) there will never be a merger between ourselves and Dulwich Hamlet nor any other football club.

Eren Muduroglu

Mind you, I'm not sure what a "regular" amount of speculation would be, and I'm just glad that Sutton United has none of these evil "internet led scandal mongers". We wouldn't want any of THOSE types at our club, would we .