Craven Cottage

british football stadium located in Fulham, West London

Craven Cottage is a football stadium located in Fulham, West London. It has been the home prime of Championship club Fulham since 1896. [ 3 ] The earth ‘s capacity is immediately 19,359, [ 1 ] which happened with the closure of the Riverside Stand for renovation in the close season of 2019. The record attendance is 49,335, for a game against Millwall, 8 October 1938. [ 4 ] Located next to Bishop ‘s Park on the banks of the River Thames, [ 5 ] ‘Craven Cottage ‘ was in the first place a royal hunting charge and has history dating back over 300 years. [ 6 ] deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as by Fulham, the stadium has been besides been used by the United States men ‘s home football team, [ 7 ] Australia national football team, [ 8 ] the Republic of Ireland national football team ( for a friendly match in 2012 ), [ 9 ] and Canada men ‘s national football team, [ 10 ] and was once the home anchor for rugby league team Fulham RLFC. [ 11 ]

Reading: Craven Cottage

biography [edit ]

aerial view of Craven Cottage on the banks of the River Thames as of 2010. The original ‘Cottage ‘ was built in 1780, by William Craven, the one-sixth Baron Craven [ 2 ] and was located close to where the Johnny Haynes Stand is now. At the clock, the surrounding areas were woods which made up contribution of Anne Boleyn ‘s hunting grounds. [ 2 ] The Cottage was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton [ 2 ] ( who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii [ 12 ] ) and early reasonably celebrated ( and moneyed ) persons [ 2 ] until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. [ 2 ] Many rumours persist among Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are reputed to have stayed there, although there is no actual attest for this. Following the ardor, the locate was abandoned. [ 2 ] Fulham had had 8 previous grounds [ 13 ] before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall ( including a irregular stay at Loftus Road [ 14 ] ), meaning that alone their former ‘landlords ‘ and rivals QPR have had more home grounds ( 14 ) in british football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham ‘s palatial home from 1886 to 1888. [ 15 ]

Under structure : 1894–1905 [edit ]

The ‘Rabbit Hutch ‘ stand along Stevenage Road before Archibald Leitch ‘s redesign in 1904-5 When representatives of Fulham foremost came across the land, in 1894, it was then overgrown that it took two years to be made suitable for football to be played on it. [ 2 ] A consider was struck for the owners of the ground to carry out the cultivate, in return key for which they would receive a proportion of the gate receipts. [ 2 ] The first football peer at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, on 10 October 1896. [ 2 ] The ground ‘s first resist was built soon after. [ 2 ] Described as looking like an “ orange box ”, it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and late was dearly nicknamed the “ rabbit hovel ”. [ 2 ] In 1904 London County Council became implicated with the flush of safety at the footing, and tried to get it closed. [ 2 ] A court subject followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch, a scots architect who had risen to prominence after his build of the Ibrox Stadium, a few years early, [ 16 ] was hired to work on the stadium. [ 2 ] In a dodge costing £15,000 [ 2 ] ( a record for the time [ 17 ] ), he built a pavilion ( the contemporary ‘Cottage ‘ itself [ 2 ] ) and the Stevenage Road Stand, [ 2 ] in his characteristic red brick vogue. [ 2 ] The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centennial in the 2005–2006 season [ 18 ] and, following the death of Fulham FC ‘s darling son, early England captain Johnny Haynes, in a car accident in October 2005 [ 19 ] the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters. [ 20 ]
The facade of the Johnny Haynes stand Both the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch football computer architecture to remain in universe and both have been designated as Grade II listed buildings. [ 3 ]

Establishing itself as a stadium [edit ]

An England five Wales equal was played at the ground in 1907, [ 21 ] [ 22 ] followed by a rugby league international between England and Australia in 1911. [ 23 ] One of the club ‘s directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hall, took over Arsenal in the early 1910s, [ 24 ] the design being to merge Fulham with Arsenal, [ 25 ] to form a “ London superclub ” at Craven Cottage. [ 26 ] This move was largely motivated by Fulham ‘s failure therefore far to gain promotion to the lead division of English football. There were besides plans for Henry Norris to build a larger stadium on the other slope of Stevenage Road but there was little necessitate after the amalgamation estimate failed. During this era, the bungalow was used for choir spill the beans and marching bands along with early performances, and Mass. [ 27 ] [ 28 ] In 1933 there were plans to demolish the ground and start again from scratch with a newly 80,000 capacity stadium. These plans never materialised chiefly due to the Great Depression. On 8 October 1938, 49,335 spectators watched Fulham play Millwall. [ 4 ] It was the largest attendance ever at Craven Cottage and the phonograph record remains today, improbable to be bettered as it is immediately an all-seater stadium with presently no board for more than 25,700. The land hosted several football games for the 1948 Summer Olympics, and is one of the last extant that did. [ 29 ]
Johnny Haynes, Fulham’s most famous player, in his classic ‘hand-on-hip’ pose, outside the stand named after him It was not until after Fulham first gear reached the top division, in 1949, that promote improvements were made to the stadium. In 1962 Fulham became the final side in the first division to erect floodlights. [ 30 ] The floodlights were said to be the most expensive in Europe at the time as they were so advanced. The lights were like large pylons towering 50 metres over the ground and were similar in appearance to those at the WACA. An electronic scoreboard was installed on the Riverside Terrace at the same time as the floodlights were installed and flagpoles flying the flags of all of the other first division teams were flown from them. [ 31 ] Following the sale of Alan Mullery to Tottenham Hotspur in 1964 ( for £72,500 ) the Hammersmith End had a roof put option over it [ 32 ] at a monetary value of approximately £42,500. Although Fulham were relegated, the development of Craven Cottage continued. The Riverside terrace, ill-famed for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads per annum to watch The Boat Race guide, [ 33 ] was replaced by what was formally named the ‘Eric Miller Stand ‘, [ 34 ] Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. [ 35 ] The bandstand, which cost £334,000 [ 33 ] and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, ( which included Eusébio ). [ 36 ] Pelé was besides to appear on the grate, with a friendly played against his team Santos F.C. [ 37 ] The Miller stand brought the seated capacity up to 11,000 out of a sum 40,000. [ 38 ] Eric Miller committed suicide five years late after a political and fiscal scandal, [ 39 ] and had fishy dealings with trying to move Fulham away from the Cottage. The bandstand is now well known as the Riverside Stand. [ 34 ] On Boxing Day 1963, Craven Cottage was the venue of the fastest hat-trick in the history of the English football league, which was completed in less than three minutes, by Graham Leggat. This helped his Fulham team to beat Ipswich 10–1 ( a cabaret phonograph record ). [ 40 ] [ 41 ] The international record is held by Jimmy O’Connor, an Irish player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 14 seconds in 1967. [ 42 ] between 1980 and 1984, Fulham rugby league played their home games at the Cottage. [ 11 ] They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos and Harlequins Rugby League [ 11 ] before reverting to London Broncos ahead of the 2012 season. [ 43 ] Craven Cottage held the team ‘s largest ever crowd at any grate with 15,013, at a bet on against Wakefield Trinity on 15 February 1981. [ 44 ]

Modern times [edit ]

Craven Cottage anterior to the implementation of the Taylor report The historic trilateral gable on lead of the Haynes stand, one of the few extant at british grounds When the Hillsborough catastrophe occurred in 1989, Fulham were in the moment bottom rundle of The Football League, [ 45 ] but following the Taylor report Fulham ‘s ambitious chair Jimmy Hill tabled plans in 1996 for an all-seater stadium. [ 46 ] These plans never came to fruition, partially due to local anesthetic residents ‘ coerce groups, and by the fourth dimension Fulham reached the Premier League, they still had standing areas in the prime, [ 17 ] something virtually unheard of at the fourth dimension. A year remained to do something about this ( teams reaching the irregular tier for the first time are allowed a three-year period to reach the want standards for the top two divisions ), [ 47 ] [ 48 ] [ 49 ] but by the prison term the last league game was played there, against Leicester City on 27 April 2002, no build plans had been made. Two more Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year ( against FC Haka of Finland [ 50 ] and Egaleo FC of Greece [ 51 ] ), and the eventual solution was to decamp to Loftus Road, home of local rivals QPR. [ 52 ] During this clock time, many Fulham fans merely went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. [ 53 ] [ 54 ] [ 55 ] ‘Back to the Cottage ‘, belated to become the ‘Fulham Supporters Trust ‘, was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the president and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable choice for Fulham Football Club. [ 56 ] [ 57 ] After one and a one-half seasons at Loftus Road, no exercise had been done on the Cottage. In December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8 million worth of major renovation work to bring it in line with Premier League requirements. [ 3 ] [ 58 ] [ 59 ] With planning permission granted, work began in January 2004 in ordering to meet the deadline of the new season. The work proceeded as scheduled and the club were able to return to their home for the depart of the 2004–05 season. Their foremost game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium was a pre-season friendly against Watford on 10 July 2004. [ 3 ] Fenway Sports Group primitively partnered with Fulham in 2009, due to the perceived inheritance and quirks shared between the Cottage and Fenway Park, saying no English clubhouse identifies with its stadium vitamin a much as Fulham. The current stadium was one of the Premier League ‘s smallest grounds at the meter of Fulham ‘s relegation at the end of the 2013–14 season ( it was third-smallest, after the KC Stadium and the Liberty Stadium ). [ 60 ] much admired for its all right architecture, [ 61 ] the stadium has recently hosted a few external games, largely including Australia. This venue is desirable for Australia because most of the area ‘s top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate Australians. besides, Greece volt. South Korea was hosted on 6 February 2007. [ 62 ] In 2011 Brazil played Ghana, in an external friendly, [ 63 ] and the Women ‘s Champions League Final was hosted. [ 64 ] Craven Cottage frequently hosts many other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. [ 65 ] besides, many have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant [ 66 ] or the ‘Cottage Cafe ‘ [ 5 ] on non-match days. poltroon Cottage hosted the Oxbridge Varsity Football match annually between 1991 and 2000 and again in 2003, 2006 ( the lapp sidereal day as the celebrated ‘ Boat Race ‘ [ 67 ] ), 2008, 2009, [ 68 ] and 2014 [ 69 ] ampere well as having a Soccer Aid warm-up meet in 2006. [ 70 ] The half-time entertainment much includes the SW6ers [ 71 ] ( previously called The Cravenettes [ 72 ] [ 73 ] ) which are a group of female cheerleaders. other events have included brass bands, Michael Jackson ( although just walking on the pitch, as opposed to performing ), [ 74 ] Travis play, Arabic dance, keepie uppie professionals and presentational awards. Most games besides feature the ‘Fulham waver ‘, a half-time draw ; [ 75 ] and a shoot-out rival of some kind, [ 76 ] normally involving scoring through a ‘hoop ‘ or ‘beat the goalkeeper ‘. On the first home game of the temper, there is a carnival where every Fulham fan is expected to turn up in black-and-white color. There is normally live rock bands, musician signings, clowns, stilt walkers, a steel ( calypso ) ring, food stalls and a dislodge aim seance for children in Bishops Park. The Fulham Ladies ( before their demise ) [ 77 ] and Reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. early than this, they by and large play at the club ‘s train grind at Motspur Park or at Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon ‘s stadium, Kingsmeadow. Craven Cottage is known by respective affectionate nicknames from fans, including : The ( River ) bungalow, [ 78 ] [ 79 ] The Fortress ( or Fortress Fulham ), [ 53 ] Thameside, The Friendly Confines, SW6, Lord of the Banks, The House of Hope, The Pavilion of Perfection, The ‘True ‘ Fulham Palace and The Palatial Home. The Thames at the banks of the Cottage is often referred to as ‘Old Father ‘ [ 80 ] [ 81 ] [ 82 ] or The river of Dreams. The most accessible road to the land is to walk through Bishops Park from Putney Bridge ( the nearest Underground station ), [ 83 ] much known as ‘The Green Mile ‘ by Fulham fans ( as it is approximately a sea mile walk through pleasant greenery ). [ 84 ] The Telegraph ranked the Cottage 9th out of 54 grounds to hold Premier League football. [ 85 ]

Plans [edit ]

On 27 July 2012, Fulham FC were granted permission to redevelop the Riverside Stand, increasing the capability of Craven Cottage to 30,000 seats. [ 86 ] [ 87 ] Beforehand versatile rumours arose including plans to return to ground-sharing with QPR in a new 40,000 seater White City stadium, [ 88 ] [ 89 ] although these now appear firm on delay with the construction of the Westfield denounce kernel on the proposed site. The board seem to have moved away from their ambition to make Fulham the “ Manchester United of the south ” as it became clear how expensive such a plan would be. [ 90 ] With large spaces of land at a bounty in southwest London, Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual addition of the ground ‘s capacitance frequently during the summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during summers for case in 2008 with a little increase in the capability of the Hammersmith End. Fulham previously announced in 2007 that they are planning to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4,000 seats, [ 91 ] but this is yet to be implemented. There was besides proposals for a bridge to span the Thames, for a redevelop Riverside stand and a museum. [ 92 ] More substantial plans arose in October 2011 with the ‘Fulham Forever ‘ crusade. [ 93 ] With Mohamed Al-Fayed selling Harrods department store for £1.5 billion in May 2010 [ 94 ] a detail plan emerged in the Riverside Stand as the only feasible area for expansion. The scheme involved the destruction of the back of the Riverside Stand with a new grade of seating added on circus tent of the current one and a course of corporate boxes ; bringing Craven Cottage up to 30,000 capacity. [ 95 ] Taking into account local residents, the proposal would : reopen the riverbank walk of life ; light contamination would be reduced with the removal of floodlight masts ; new access points would make match-day crowd more accomplishable ; and the new point of view would be respectful in design to its position on the River Thames. [ 96 ] Buckingham Group Contracting were chosen in March 2013 as the construction company for the project. [ 97 ] In May 2019, the club confirmed that cultivate on the modern Riverside Stand would commence in the summer of 2019. During the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, the ground ‘s capacity is temporarily reduced to 19,000. [ 98 ] [ 99 ]

The ground as it stands [edit ]

Hammersmith end [edit ]

The Hammy end The Hammersmith End ( or Hammy ) is the northernmost stand in the grind, the closest to Hammersmith. The roof was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery to Tottenham Hotspur F.C. [ 32 ] It is traditionally the “ home ” end where the more vocal music Fulham fans sit, [ 100 ] [ 101 ] and many stand during games at the back row of the stand. If Fulham win the flip, they normally choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half. The hard-core fans tend to sit ( or quite stand ) in the back half of H6 and H7 zones ( known as ‘ H Block ’ to the faithful ). The stand had terracing until the reopen of the establish in 2004, when it was replaced with seat in order to comply with league rules following the Taylor Report. [ 100 ]

The ‘Little Switzerland ‘ section of the Putney End seen in the background during an Australia volt New Zealand friendly in 2005

Putney end [edit ]

The Putney end is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney and backing onto Bishops Park. This bandstand hosts family and away fans, separated by a “ wall ” of stewards, with away fans normally allocated blocks P5 and P6. [ 102 ] Flags of every nationality in the Fulham team were hung from the roofing, although they were removed after the 2006–07 season commenced and there is now an electronic scoreboard in position. There is a airplane tree in the corner by the river. [ 103 ]

Riverside Stand [edit ]

The Riverside was in the first place terracing that backed onto the Thames. [ 31 ] It besides featured bombastic advertise hoardings above the fans. [ 31 ] In 1971–72, an all-seater stand was built, in the first place known as the Riverside Stand ( the name was confirmed in the Fulham five Carlisle United program on 4 December 1971 ). Its hard lines and metallic and concrete ending are in austere contrast to the Johnny Haynes stand opposite. The rack was opened for a prestigious friendly against S.L. Benfica, who included Eusébio in the team. [ 36 ] In the Fulham five Burnley program on 4 October 1977, it was revealed that the stand would be renamed the Eric Miller Stand, following the late death of the former vice-chairman. [ 34 ] It is sometimes falsely stated that, contrary to the above, the diagnose of the stand was changed from the Eric Miller Stand to The Riverside Stand after the discovery of Miller ‘s suicide. He had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement. [ 39 ] The name of the stand actually reverted to “ Riverside Stand ” in the 1990s. The Riverside Stand backs onto the River Thames [ 31 ] [ 101 ] and is elevated above pitch flush, [ 104 ] unlike the other three stands. It contains the bodied cordial reception seating [ 101 ] aboard Fulham fans. [ 101 ] Jimmy Hill once referred to the Riverside being “ a moment like the London Palladium ” as Blocks V & W ( the middle section ) are often filled with the rich and celebrated ( including often Al-Fayed ). There were then respective Harrods advertising hoardings. Above the advertise hoardings is the gantry, for the imperativeness and cameras. [ 100 ] Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not amazingly they are besides some of the more expensive. [ 105 ] It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney end to its right and is inverse the Johnny Haynes Stand. [ 101 ] During the 1970s, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. The stand houses the George Cohen restaurant, [ 106 ] while on non-match days there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. [ 5 ] ( The River Café is besides located nearby ). [ 107 ] [ 108 ] Under Tommy Trinder ‘s chairmanship in the 60s, flags of all early teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. [ 31 ] however, when Fulham were relegated in 1968, [ 109 ] Trinder decided not to change the flags as “ Fulham wo n’t be in this division next season ”. True to Trinder ‘s prophecy, Fulham were relegated again. [ 110 ] The roof of the bandstand has been used by sponsors, with VisitFlorida presently advertising in this way, [ 111 ] and Pipex.com, [ 112 ] FxPro, Lee Cooper Jeans and LG [ 113 ] having previously done so. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the ‘Hammy End ‘ indicates the end of the ‘Fulham Wall ‘, a landmark in The Boat Race. From the 2019–20 temper, this stand is being demolished and rebuilt, which will expand the capacity of the ground to around 29,600. It is due for completion at the begin of the 2021–22 season. On 26 November 2019, [ 114 ] the Chairman Shahid Khan provided an update in which it was announced that the raw growth will be known as Fulham Pier, [ 115 ] a finish venue outside of match-day consumption .

Johnny Haynes Stand [edit ]

The Johnny Haynes stand at Craven Cottage, is a Grade II listed building . Internal expression of the stand, with a collage of Johnny Haynes originally called the Stevenage Road Stand, [ 20 ] after the road it backs onto, [ 116 ] the Johnny Haynes stand is the oldest remaining football stand in the Football League and professional football, [ 102 ] originally constructed in 1905, [ 100 ] and is a Grade II listed build. [ 100 ] Designed by Archibald Leitch, [ 100 ] the stand contains the ticket office [ 100 ] and club shop [ 100 ] and features original ‘Bennet ‘ wooden seating. [ 100 ] Following his death in 2005, the stand was renamed after early player Johnny Haynes. [ 20 ] [ 117 ] The outside face Stevenage Road has a brick façade [ 31 ] [ 118 ] and features the clubhouse ‘s previous emblem in the artwork. [ 118 ] Decorative pillars show the club ‘s basis date as 1880 though this is thought to be faulty. besides, a extra stone to commemorate the supporters ‘ fund-raise group Fulham 2000, and The Cottagers ‘ tax return to Craven Cottage, was engraved on the façade. [ 118 ] The kin enclosures are located in the two corners of the stand, one nearest to the Hammersmith End and one dear to the Putney End. [ 100 ] [ 101 ] [ 119 ] The presence of the rack now contains credit card seat, but in the first place was a standing sphere. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a classifiable white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch up until the 1970s .

The pavilion [edit ]

The pavilion from outside the stadium The Cottage Pavilion dates rear to 1905 along with the Johnny Haynes Stand, [ 3 ] built by celebrated football architect Archibald Leitch. [ 3 ] [ 120 ] Besides being the deepen rooms, the Cottage ( besides called The Clubhouse ) is traditionally used by the players ‘ families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game. [ 100 ] In the by, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself adenine well. There is a big tapestry draped from the Cottage which says “ however Believe ”. It encapsulates the now-famous moment, when fans facing defeat against Hamburg SV in the Europa League semi-final roused the players with the chant of “ Stand up if you calm believe ”. [ 121 ] [ 122 ] [ 123 ] In the three other corners of the reason there are what have been described as large ‘filing cabinets ‘, which are corporate boxes on three levels, but presently the box on the early side of the Putney End has been removed due to the renovation of the Riverside [ 124 ]

Details [edit ]

Records [edit ]

The Cottage Pavilion dates back to 1905

all-time attendance [edit ]

International matches [edit ]

Craven Cottage hosted the Northern Ireland versus Cyprus 1974 World Cup Qualifier on 8 May 1973, a equal moved from Belfast ascribable to The Troubles. Northern Ireland won 3–0, [ 141 ] Sammy Morgan and a Trevor Anderson brace concluded the marking in the first half. On 22 February 2000, it hosted England ‘s under 21s external under 21 friendly against Argentina ‘s under 21s. The hosts won 1–0 with Lee Hendrie ’ s sixty seventh-minute goal with 15,747 in attendance. In late years, Craven Cottage has hosted several International Friendly matches, including the Ireland national team who played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 [ 142 ] and May 2009 [ 143 ] respectively and Oman in 2012. [ 9 ] The South Korea national football team have besides used the anchor thrice in late years for international friendlies, first against Greece in February 2007 [ 62 ] second against Serbia in November 2009, [ 144 ] and then against Croatia in February 2013. [ 145 ] On 17 November 2007 Australia beat Nigeria 1–0 in an external friendly at Craven Cottage. [ 146 ] On 26 May 2011, Craven Cottage hosted the game of 2011 UEFA Women ‘s Champions League Final between Lyon and Potsdam. In September 2011, a friendly between Ghana and Brazil was besides held at Craven Cottage. [ 63 ] On 15 October 2013, Australia beat Canada 3–0 at Craven Cottage. On 28 May 2014 Scotland played out a 2–2 draw with a nigerian team who had qualified for the 2014 World Cup Finals. On 27 March 2018, Australia played host to Colombia in the international friendlies, the meet ended 0-0, both teams having qualified for the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia .