Champion Hill is a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
stadium in
East Dulwich
East Dulwich is an area of South (London sub region), South East London, England in the London Borough of Southwark. It forms the eastern part of Dulwich, with Peckham to the east and Camberwell to the north. East Dulwich is home to the Dog Kenn ...
in the
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...
. It is the home ground of
Dulwich Hamlet
Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill.
History
The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. The ...
.
History
Dulwich Hamlet began playing at the ground in 1912. 'The Hill' was formerly one of the largest amateur grounds in England, with attendances often reaching 20,000 and beyond. Currently, it holds the record for the highest attendance at a league match outside of the
English Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...
at 16,254 for a 1931
Isthmian League
The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...
match between Dulwich Hamlet and
Nunhead
Nunhead () is an inner-city suburb in the London Borough of Southwark, England,Southwark Council Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council southeast of Charing Cross. It is the location of the Nunhead Cemetery.BBC London Nunhead Cemetery/ref> ...
. The ground was also used for
football at the 1948 Summer Olympics
The Association football, football tournament of the 1948 Summer Olympics was won by Sweden men's national football team, Sweden. This remains Sweden's only international title at a senior male football level and was the first international appea ...
, staging a game between Mexico and South Korea.
When Dulwich Hamlet suffered financial problems, much of the land they owned was sold for development of a
Sainsbury's
J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.
Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
supermarket. As a result, a new stadium was built on the site of the old Champion Hill stadium, and the Sainsbury's supermarket was built on what had been the training pitch before the 1980s. The new stadium was opened in 1992.
The ground was also used by
Corinthian-Casuals from 1963 until 1968,
Fisher Athletic from 2004 until they folded in 2009, and then by the new
Fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
* Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elec ...
club between their formation in 2009 and 2016 when they moved to their own ground on Salter Road.
It was listed by
Southwark London Borough Council
Southwark London Borough Council, also known as Southwark Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour major ...
as an
asset of community value
In England, an asset of community value (ACV) is land or property of importance to a local community which is subject to additional protection from development under the Localism Act 2011. Voluntary and community organisations, parish councils, ...
in 2013. The club's record attendance at the new ground of 3,336 was set at an
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
First Round game against
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system.
They have played their ...
on 8 November 2019.
In March 2018 Dulwich were forced to leave the ground by Meadow Residential, a property development company.
Dulwich offered groundshare by rivals Tooting & Mitcham
BBC Sport, 10 March 2018 They returned to the ground in December after groundsharing at Imperial Fields
Imperial Fields is a football stadium in Mitcham, London, which is home to Tooting & Mitcham United. It is also the former ground of Chelsea Ladies and Kingstonian. The stadium opened in 2002, and has a total capacity of 3,500 (612 seated). ...
for several months.
Facilities
The stadium has the covered Tommy Jover main stand along the north side of the pitch, a smaller covered terrace on the opposite side (known as the "Toilets Opposite" stand), and uncovered terraces behind both goals.
The main stand incorporates the changing rooms, clubhouse and other ancillary facilities.
Transport
The ground is close to and stations.
References
{{Olympic venues football
Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Southwark
Football venues in London
Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Southwark
Dulwich
Sports venues completed in 1912
Corinthian-Casuals F.C.
Dulwich Hamlet F.C.