Sit down Shepherdson, I can't see

Thus said the famously taciturn Sir Alf Ramsey as his assistant jumped up to celebrate England's 4th goal in the 1966 World Cup Final.

Cup finals and league championship deciders are not really there for people to see. In years to come, we will probably not remember much of the play, just that we were there. My activities involve tracking the game, although with Dulwich Hamlet, this is less of a responsibility than with Prescot Cables. I am something of an occasional attender (even more so this season), so if I come up with pictures the club or my friend John from the Southwark News can use, then that is a bonus.

Crowds at Dulwich have been increasing steadily over the last couple of seasons, brought in largely by the attractive football played under the manager Gavin Rose. My friend Richard commented on the forum recently that a couple of seasons ago, if he saw someone in pink and blue, he would probably know them, at least by sight; now he sees colours being worn by people he does not recognise, often some distance from the ground. I first noticed how the support base was widening about a year ago, when I went into a pub 5 minutes' walk from the ground, and found 5 or 6 tables occupied, every one by people wearing items of pink and blue clothing, or with club scarves across the back of chairs.

The crowd for this game was 1137, a majority of whom were wearing scarves and other colours, which suggests people who have come to Champion Hill before and been interested enough to buy something, rather than being people who wandered in because there was a big game. Flags were much in evidence.

The home support was distributed around the ground, as some people like to stand at the end they came in, so I had no trouble finding a bit of railing on which to lean. Playing this way means the light is right for the photographer: even when operating slightly on auto pilot.

Danny Carr plays his last game for Dulwich before joining Huddersfield Town

I do not generally go for many crowd shots, apart from a few people I know, or on a day out with the Cables Train Crew. However, on an occasion like this, the crowd become part of the event, much more than at a "normal" game, so I stood back a few times and snapped a few of the crowd too.

Shaun Dooley, joint organiser of the 12th Man scheme, gets some pictures

Dulwich needed one point to secure the Championship ahead of Maidstone United. A clean sheet would guarantee success, like in 1992, my first season watching Dulwich, when we needed one point from our final game at Hitchin Town to secure a promotion place (no playoffs back then) ahead of Boreham Wood. On that occasion, we created a buffer on 3 minutes, when Jon Egan found the net.

Nerves were not so soothed on this occasion, with Burgess Hill scoring after 29 minutes. Supporters' mood was dampened further at half time when "the Highest gave his thunder: hail stones and coals of fire". Well perhaps not coals of fire, but it was an impressive hailstorm for April. There was talk of how a team losing a commanding position on the final day almost always go on to lose in the playoffs.

From the reports I have been getting, however, Gavin is good at motivating the team to come back from a poor first half performance. I was therefore still optimistic when I squeezed into a place at the Champion Hill end, where most of the standing supporters had gathered. We were rewarded with a goal from Xavier Vidal at 65 minutes.

Xavier Vidal shoots for goal

It is not the best of photos, but the most important goal of the season is the most important goal of the season. There was an ice cream van in the ground, doing a good trade as, apart from the half time storm, the weather was quite sunny. The proprietor was clearly a supporter too, and sometimes ice cream has to take a back seat.

The ice cream vendor pauses mid-cornet to celebrate the goal

Now we were back in control, and "just" needed to prevent Burgess Hill scoring again (still keeping up pressure for an extra goal). Nerves meant attention in the crowd was starting to wander.

Attention seems elsewhere as Ethan Pinnock takes a throw in ...

... but people are looking again when the ball is back in play

The final score of 1-1 meant that Dulwich had secured our first championship since 1978. Winning the Championship at your own ground means the celebrations can get into full swing without an audience of bored home stewards wondering when you will go away.

Lifelong supporter Malcolm Bateman, looking relieved

The League official with the trophy, whose duty we assume was to spend the afternoon following the scores in a layby in the Swanley area, must have set his satnav for Dulwich once Xavier Vidal scored, as the trophy was ready to be presented a few minutes after the final whistle.

Regular goalkeeper Phil Wilson celebrates with Chico Ramos, signed with 12th Man funds when injury ended Phil's season

After that, it was some noisy celebrations in the club bar, the Cherry Tree, back to the club bar, then Goose Green roundabout (for the more fleet of foot). I left at this point, but I understand the East Dulwich Tavern was followed by more dancing on the roundabout, in some cases with less clothes.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.