Dulwich Hamlet and Altonaer FC von 1893 are pleased to announce that Altona 93’s men’s first team squad will be traveling to South London this July to celebrate the 130 years since the foundation of both clubs.

As part of these celebrations, our men’s teams will meet each other on the pitch for the fourth time in our history, with a game taking place at Champion Hill on Saturday 8th July 2023, 3pm kick off.

Between Thursday 6th and Sunday 9th July there will be a number of events taking place, and more information on these will be published shortly.

Both clubs have had a close friendship ever since Dulwich Hamlet fan, the late Mishi ‘Dulwich’ Morath, attended a game at their stadium in November 2010, purely because the German side had also formed in 1893, and got talking to Altona supporter Jan Stover. A bond was quickly formed, and the two shared fanzines with each other, and it was discovered that the two clubs had faced each other during the 1920s.

Back in April 1925, the Hamlet had visited Germany on one of our famed Easter tours abroad, playing three matches, with the first coming against Altona 93. Both sides had their greatest ever players on show that day, Adolf Jäger in the black, white, and red colours of Altona, and Edgar Kail in the pink and blue of the Hamlet.

Both players found the back of the net that day, with Kail bagging a hat trick in Dulwich’s 4-1 win, whilst Jäger would strike late to secure his side a consolation.

Since the chance meeting between Mishi and Jan, the friendship has grown amongst both fanbases, which led to the "return leg" of the fixture some 90 years later in July 2015, when Altona travelled to South London and left with the spoils after securing a 5-3 victory.

The last fixture between both clubs saw the Hamlet travel to Hamburg in July 2018, and brought the Jäger-Kail Cup back to London in the process by earning another 4-1 victory.

There have also been several Supporters' Team matches between the two clubs over the past decade, with the teams able to grace both the Adolf-Jäger-Kampfbahn and Champion Hill pitches.

Mirja Grupe, Altona 93 Secretary commented, “It's nearly 8 years, when I first visited Champion Hill and met so many wonderful people.

Over the years the friendship became more and more intense, and we really celebrated an outstanding anniversary in 2018. Sometimes I feel a bit melancholic when I think of Mishi, without whom this friendship probably wouldn't exist. I feel deeply connected with our friends and I don't want to miss the friendship anymore.

And it´s way more than about football. Lots of love from Altona.”

Dulwich Director Mark Scoltock added, “I was a relatively new supporter to Champion Hill when the 2015 fixture took place, but straight away I could see that both clubs had a very special relationship. The friendship, to this day, continues to grow and it could not have been more fitting to be able to celebrate both our 125-year anniversaries together in Altona back in 2018.

Unfortunately, world events delayed the next game between the clubs, but I am sure that both sets of supporters will be excited for this latest leg of fixtures between the two clubs this summer.”

Both sets of fans have already commenced fundraising for this tour and if you are interested in getting involved, be it assisting with the fundraising or volunteer to help with events, please email the Supporters’ Trust at info@dhst.org.uk