Born:
Stockport
Roles and responsibilities:
Chair, EDI, governance, stadium planning.
Day Job:
Policy and public affairs for a leading video game company.
I started supporting the Hamlet after growing increasingly disillusioned with the Premier League.
After spending the first half of my first game in the main stand I moved round to join the Rabble behind the goal and, straight away, I knew what a special club this was.
I became a season ticket holder and trust member soon after and am on to my second pair of customised Hamlet trainers now. In recent times, more personally, the Club has been a place of refuge and support for me.
Why did you want to join the Trust Board?
The role the football club plays in the local community is significant. Communities are fragile but a focal point can bring people together. When that is lost it may be gone forever - we must do all that we can to keep it alive.
Promotion Roundabout was a great example of this and seeing the whole team celebrating with the fans, some of them dinosaurs, some of them the nouveau brigade and some of them sadly no longer with us, but all with a shared love of the club and the community, was a truly wonderful thing to be part of.
Whether it is the ongoing issue of our stadium and place in East Dulwich, the challenges witht he National League, the aftermath of pandemic, I want to help to ensure that it survives this uncertain period and moves into a secure and sustainable future so it can be there for the next 128 years and more.
If you’re not at Champion Hill on a Saturday afternoon, what are you normally doing?
If I am not traveling and not at Champion Hill (or following the Hamlet away) I will be most likely at The Menace watching Peckham Town FC
Do you have any pets?
2 cats, Edith and Edgar
If you’d have been a professional footballer, which clubs would you have most wanted to play for?
Whoever paid me the most, Probably Real Madrid so I could emulate Garreth Bale's lucrative bench warming exploits.
Camping or all-inclusive hotel?
All Inclusive
What has been the most difficult things you’ve found on the Board, and what has been most rewarding?
One of the most difficult things has been dealing with the repercussions of our current unprecedented popularity.
It is amazing to see Champion Hill packed out every Saturday but that comes at a cost to the match day experience. But what has been great is the enthusiasm and can do attitude form everyone involved and being able to support the Club in making changes and improvements throughout the season.
Why should others want to get involved with the Trust?
The Club is there for the community. It takes an army of volunteers working tirelessly behind the scenes to put a match on and keep the club running and being part of the Supporter's Trust is a great way to get involved.
We have built our influence in the club over the years so that we now hold just over a third of the shares, this means we have a meaningful say in the way in which the club is run and how it will be run in the future and to do that justice we need to engage as many in the community as we can. It is a hugely rewarding opportunity and our role in the future of the club has never been more crucial.
Jam or Marmite?
Marmite
Cats or dogs?
Cats
North London or South London?
South London
Blur or Oasis?
Blur
Tea or Coffee?
Tea
Give me 3 words that, for you, sum up Dulwich Hamlet FC.
Community, Merch, Rabble
Have you ever won any prizes/competitions?
After returning from an 18-month trip to Australia and South East Asia I won a holiday to Tunisia
Ever appeared on TV?
Several times, including being interviewed a couple of times live on the Kyrgyzstan State TV News channel
Favourite film and/or TV show?
Film: Lawrence of Arabia, TV: The Wire
If you had to pick, who are your top 3 bands/musicians?
Mark. E Smith / The Fall, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Beastie Boys
Favourite pubs/restaurants in East Dulwich?
Gowlet
Do you have any celebrity lookalikes?
No
Favourite author/s?
Cixin Liu, Kurt Vonnegut, Alexander Dumas
Favourite or dream holiday destination?
Barbados
Can you speak any other languages?
No
If you had to pick 4 other players, past or present, for a dream 5-a-side, who would you go for?
Erhun, Nyren, Ethan, Ash , Big Phil Wilson (I’m not playing)
Night out clubbing or in bed with a good book?
Book - I find it hard to see the seals.