Dulwich Hamlet appoint Paul Barnes as interim head coach

DULWICH HAMLET have appointed Paul Barnes as their interim head coach last night after parting company with Gavin Rose and Junior Kadi after 13 years on Monday.

A club statement said: “Paul brings a wealth of coaching experience to the club of more than 20 years, having worked in the professional game at Chelsea and Millwall, before moving into coaching and managerial roles within non-league football at the likes of Welling United, Margate, Ashford United, Greenwich Borough, Staines Town, Guildford City and Redhill, where has been the manager since February of this year. Paul is also holder of a UEFA 'A' coaching licence.

“Paul is already well-known to many of the people at the club and has a strong background in developing clubs both on and off the pitch and the club are looking forward to Paul working with the board, in particular Dumebi Dumaka as director of football on the evolution of all teams at Dulwich Hamlet, and also Mark Weatherald, our director responsible for planning on the development of our plans for training facilities, the new stadium and expanding our sporting provision.”

Senior players Jack Holland and Danny Mills took charge of Tuesday night’s Vanarama National League South game, which ended in a 3-1 home defeat to Hemel Hempstead Town.

The Hamlet slipped down a place into the bottom three, having collected one win and two draws from their opening eight games and have now lost their last four league games.

Barnes’ first game in charge of Dulwich Hamlet is against a former club in Margate in the Second Qualifying Round of The FA Cup at Champion Hill on Saturday (15:00).

Margate are in ninth-place in the Isthmian League Premier Division table having picked up two wins, two draws and two defeats from their opening six league outings and thrashed newly-promoted side Herne Bay 4-0 at Hartsdown Park on Tuesday night.

Barnes said: "This is an amazing opportunity to be involved at Dulwich Hamlet who have a great pedigree and history.

“I introduced myself to the players during Tuesday's game with Hemel Hempstead and I'm looking forward to working with them, including some that I have had the pleasure of working with before, and hopefully help this club move into a new chapter.

"I love the ethos of the club, and its unbelievable atmosphere generated on match days, the support at Champion Hill is incredible, and is easily one of the best fanbases at any tier in non-league football. It has been a busy 24 hours sorting things but I am looking forward to starting."

Visit Dulwich Hamlet’s website:  www.pitchero.com/clubs/dulwichhamlet