Today we welcome Chelmsford City and their supporters to Champion Hill. Chelmsford have consistently been one of the top teams in the National South in recent years and this season is no exception with the team currently sitting fourth in the league table.

We have now had crowds of around 3,000 for our first 3 league fixtures back at Champion Hill, with a number of people unfortunately having to be turned away at our last home league fixture against Bath City. Whilst it is great to be playing home games back in East Dulwich, the current form of the team has been a concern for us all of late. It is clear that Gavin Rose and his coaching staff are working hard to improve results on the field, and with fans’ support off the field, we know that they will be able to turn it around, hopefully starting with a positive result today.

Plenty of hard work has been put into making the stadium ready for the club’s return. It’s clear however, that improvements are still required to make sure that everyone has a great match day experience. That starts with the introduction of 10 portaloos which, at the time of writing, were due to be delivered yesterday in time for today’s game.

Duncan Chapman, the Trust Co-Chair, commented: “It was fantastic to have three sell-out games over Christmas and New Year but this did put a lot of pressure on the facilities at the ground – including toilet provision. The Trust has always tried to promote a good matchday experience for fans and standing in a queue isn’t much fun for anybody. We have therefore been working hard with the club to identify and implement a solution as soon as possible. There will now be 10 portaloos available on the ‘toilets opposite’ side of the ground for the rest of the season. These will be thoroughly cleaned and serviced after every match.” He continued: “If supporters have any concerns or suggestions on how the club can improve the matchday experience at home games, we would encourage you to contact us.”

Duncan also informed me that due to recent works undertaken at the stadium, the Trust has helped to save 2 litres of water (1.94 to be precise) on every loo flush in the toilets in and under the main stand!

We would encourage anyone, Trust members or not, who have any suggestions regarding the current ground and possible ways to improve it, to contact us via email: info@dhst.org.uk

The football club Directors will be holding an open meeting in the club bar this coming Monday, January 28th at 7:30pm. The purpose of the meeting is to update fans and the local community on the status and future of the football club after the events of the past year and answer questions on any subject.

Meadow Residential have recently announced an exhibition of their planning proposals for Champion Hill which will take place in the club bar on the February 1st and 2nd. This exhibition will be held as part of the planning process.

The Trust Board continues to work with other parties towards the goal of securing a long-term home for the club on the wider Champion Hill site. We would encourage Trust members and all fans of the club to attend both of these events.

The Trust Board welcomes the preparation of a revised application, and will, as throughout the process to date, make constructive contributions to discussions to ensure that the interests of the club, its fans and the wider community are safeguarded.

We recently consulted supporters on coach travel to away games and published our findings on our website and via social media. Thank you to all those who gave us feedback. We have provisionally booked a coach for next weekend’s game away to Concord Rangers priced at £15 adults and £10 concessions. Bookings can be made today (full payment and contact details required) at the Mega-Container club shop, but please note that we cannot run coaches at less than 50% capacity. In the unfortunate event that we have to cancel a coach, we will give fans as much notice as possible and your money will refunded.

The Mega-container shop is now again fully stocked with woolly hats and scarves, including our new “Champion Hill” scarf which is on sale today for the first time.

Finally, following on from last year’s successful LGBT History Month scarf, I am proud to announce that the Trust has produced a new rainbow flag inspired scarf which will be on sale at the next home game. LGBT History Month takes place every February and all the profits from the sale of these limited edition scarves will be shared between Football v Homophobia (www.footballvhomophobia.com) and the Gay Football Supporters Network (gfsn.co.uk).

Enjoy the game

Mark (Scolly) Scoltock