Christmas has come early for Dulwich Hamlet.Southwark Council officially green-lit plans for the redevelopment of Dulwich’s Champion Hill stadium.Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion Hill is set to undergo a much-needed faceliftGettyWhat are the upgrades coming to Dulwich Hamlet’s new stadium?As part of the upgrades, the venue will be transformed into a 4,000-seater stadium with an all-weather pitch and new fit-for-purpose facilities.The council’s approval, which came on December 3, also paves the way for significant investment into the astro-turf pitch side adjacent to the ground, with the land to be absorbed into the stadium plans.It will also be a major boon for the community as the all-weather pitch will be available for public rental use outside of matchdays.An additional 219 new homes will be secured in the surrounding area.“The cabin decision to approve the disposal of land is the final piece of the puzzle we have been trying to solve for many years to regenerate the area, deliver new housing and secure the long-term future of our community football club,” Dulwich chairman Ben Clasper said.“There is no better Christmas present we can offer our fans than starting the first phase of our new stadium development this month and finally implementing our consented scheme.“With this approval, the building of the new stadium will return the club to the site we were first able to call our own home more than a hundred years ago and the building of new homes will contribute to meeting the critical demand for housing in Southwark.”Councillor Richard Leeming was equally delighted to have secured the long-term future of Dulwich, who have played football in the borough of Southwark for 123 years.“This is the most vital win of the season for Dulwich Hamlet FC, a cherished club in Southwark’s history and culture, who can now plan for a bright future supported by thousands of fans in a modern new stadium,” Leeming said.“It’s also really important to the council and the community that this arrangement includes access to the new facilities outside of matchdays and new kickabout spaces, the preservation of current green space, and of course more vital new housing for the borough.”The sleek-looking ground will have a capacity of 4,000Southwark CouncilHow Dulwich Hamlet’s redeveloped stadium will help with attendance figuresAn upgrade to Dulwich’s stadium was much needed given that they’d welcomed 70,000 people to Champion Hill across the entire 2024/25 campaign.It was the third-straight season in which Dulwich had cracked the remarkable attendance figure.Dulwich could have welcomed even more supporters to Champion Hill but due to overcrowding, they were forced to stop selling tickets and even locked the gates as some matches were over capacity.“These repeated sell-outs are starting to cause negativity in our community, they drive people away from the game and actually drive people away from SE22 on the weekends who would rather go elsewhere than risk the disappointment of being turned away,” Clasper added.Dulwich play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football and one rung below the National League South.The club, founded in 1893, was the subject of a Discovery documentary titled ‘Save Our Beautiful Game’ in 2021.Fans enter Dulwich Hamlet’s Champion HillGettyThe documentary focused on Premier League cult hero Peter Crouch, who spent time on loan at Dulwich early in his career.Crouch even joined the club’s board ahead of the 2021/22 campaign but stepped away from the role after one season.