I really can't believe it
Did we play Marine?
I need to pinch myself
Was it just a dream?
A day full of nostalgia
The FA Amateur Cup on show
How much this meant to me personally
You will never know.
It was their 125th anniversary
Just like ours the year before
This was as magical for them
As Altona and maybe more.
The score was immaterial
Even though we won
The only winner was friendship
Under the beating down sun.
I'll never be a northerner
Never mind a Scouse
But if ever I moved up that way
Crosby's where I'd like my house.
Such an open welcome
Greeted from the heart
It was with genuine sadness
When it was time to depart.
The new season starting
Not just Dulwich Hamlet games to go
If anywhere's as great as Marine
They'll have to put on a show.
From the moment we got in the car park
Their Chairman shook our hand
The only thing missing
Was the reception of a local brass band!
A quirky little stadium
Door numbers on the fence
Gave us all free badges
When they could have made a few pence.
I've no idea where my travels will take me
Which strange places I'll explore
But anywhere will be hard to beat
The welcome by the Mersey shore.
No matter where I go
Hamburg will always be the best
But the biggest compliment I can pay Marine
Is that you're the Altona of the North-West.
Dulwich Poet 22nd July 2019
(On 13th July Dulwich Hamlet played a pre-season game at Marine AFC, as part of their 125th anniversary celebrations. This was a year after Dulwich Hamlet had travelled to Hamburg to play our good friends Altona 93 as part of both of our 125th birthday celebrations. In 1932 we had beaten Marine in the FA Amateur Cup final & the FA Amateur Cup itself was there at this special game, brought under security from the National Football Museum in Manchester.)
