Football marriage

By Trevor Davis

This summer will see my wedding to Samantha take place. July 28th is the date but it's no church do for us. We're tying the knot at halftime of the preseason "friendly" between local rivals Dulwich Hamlet and Fisher Athletic at Dulwich's Dog Kennel Hill ground.

Ever since I proudly represented Fisher Athletic under 11s, 12 and 13s, the London Docklands team has been a constant source of enjoyment and frustration in my life. While my success with the club consisted solely of winning the Mercury League five-a-side competition in 1992, the senior team has not fared much better in its history. In fact it is only in recent years that Fisher's descent through the upper echelons of the non-league pyramid was halted with that all important "cash injection". No longer are we wallowing in the Beazer Homes League Southern Division 2, it is the Nationwide Conference South for us.

While a part of the youth team, I was an avid fan of the big side. When the youth system petered out at the age of 14 I kept on turning up to the odd home game for a few of the coming seasons but while there would be the odd triumph, too often we were on the receiving end of thumpings from the likes of Welling and Gloucester City. So I drifted away and spent my money in other pursuits, with the result that I met the lovely Samantha three years ago.

Samantha is a Dulwich Hamlet fan. Hamlet are slightly below the Fish in the non-league system and have the duel pleasures of having once had Peter Crouch on loan and getting to turn out in a natty pink and blue strip each week. They have also had the honour of hosting Fisher's home matches during recent seasons while our Salter Road ground gets a makeover. Meeting Samantha rekindled my lust for football and we have been off to the Fish and to watch Dulwich all over the south of England during recent seasons. When the fixtures come out, it is always a case of agreeing which are the big Fisher matches that can't be missed, while seeing which Dulwich games it is thought I should be dragged along to - normally Tooting and Mitcham.

While some may call it tacky, the place that non-league football has in our hearts makes getting married at the football a perfect choice for us. And while I wish that the wedding could take place at our ground, the bride's prerogative meant that that was never going to be the case. So this summer, while everyone else is enjoying the cricket, we will be gearing up for spending the rest of our lives together, and the new football season of course.