Dulwich Hamlet fan who followed club for most of his hundred years dies

A Dulwich Hamlet fan who drank from the FA Amateur Cup after their 1937 win has died two months after he turned 100.

Herne Hill resident for all his century, Bill Kirby passed away in the early hours of Tuesday morning, just two days after moving to St Christopher’s Hospice in Anerley.

Hamlet won the trophy at West Ham’s Upton Park ground and the team brought the cup back to their old Champion Hill ground, where Bill got to sip champagne from the silverware.

He was old enough to have seen the club through much of its 1930s heyday – when their ground was the biggest non-league one in the country, regularly hosting gates of up to 20,000.

A club statement said: “Bill was a regular fan both home and away, in good weather and bad, over many years and was often found at the front of the team coach directing the driver to difficult to locate away grounds.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan added his condolences in a tweet, sharing a picture of him and Bill wearing club scarves.

Kirby, who was born in Cornflower Terrace, saw Hamlet’s legendary pre-war forward Edgar Kail play – the club icon three times pulled on the shirt of the full England team in 1929.

Bill said in an interview with the club’s website: “He was outstanding. He was as good as any other professional in those days.”

But the former salesman for South London stationers Spicers thought the best ever player to pull on the blue and pink was Reg Anderson, who played for England amateur side but died in the Second World War.

Another game Bill would have seen was Hamlet at home against the Nigerian national side in 1948-9 – many of the visiting internationals played in bare feet. The hosts won 1-0, thanks to a goal by Pat Connett, watched by 18,000 spectators.

Hamlet programme editor and friend John Lawrence, who knew him for 50 years, said: “He was not afraid to speak up for himself but he was a very kind gentleman.

“He used to be taken to Millwall as a youngster and started going to Hamlet when Millwall were not at home.

“He went to a fair few home games last season and quite a few away ones. He was mentally as sharp as a button but his legs were causing him all sorts of problems.”

Bill, who had also been president of the Herne Hill society, raised thousands over the years for the Muscular Distrophy charity.

“He was delighted, like the rest of us, about the plans for the new stadium and looking forward to seeing it. It is a pity he will not be around for that.”

Bill is survived by a son George and daughter Julia. His wife Irene died just four years ago.

Picture by Ollie Jarman