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GERMANY CALLING!
03.08.12
Dulwich Hamlet followers are coming back to the 'bread & butter' of the English non-league terraces, following the Supporters' Team summer trip to Hamburg, where they took on the fans of Altona 93.
To celebrate ten years of touring "The Rabblers", as they call themselves, played the fans of the German regional fifth division side, at their actual first team Adolf-Jager-Kampfbahn stadium, going down by 13 goals to eight! The Hamlet lads, with only one player UNDER forty, gave their all despite their weary legs. Lester Ford led the way with no less than five goals. Andy MacDonald hit the back of the net on his first European excursion. With veterans Ferenc Morath & the surprisingly agile one eyed 62-year-old Mark Hutton also claiming a goal! There was even time, in finest English tradition for Steve Rickerby to have his penalty saved by their keeper!
The match was billed by the Altonians as an "87th Anniversary Revival Match" as the Hamlet First team had previously played there in their 1925 German tour, when the legendary Edgar Kail hit a hat trick in a 4-1 victory.
Said Supporters' Team supremo Mishi Morath: "It is a great experience following in the footsteps, so to speak, of the Hamlet teams of almost a hundred years ago. We love our foreign trips, & spreading the name of our Club on the continent."
He continued: "It was a truly amazing weekend, their hospitality was superb, & we saw their big boys play in an away friendly in the afternoon. Genuine friendships have been made, & they now hope to come over to play us next year."
The foreign trips continue when the Hamlet Supporters return to Belgium in late October to take on their Belgian friends, the fans of Union Royale Namur.