Association football baseball club in England

football club
Fulham Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Fulham, London. They presently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1879, they are London ‘s oldest football club playing professionally. [ 4 ]

The club has spent 27 seasons in English football ‘s circus tent division, the majority of which have come in two periods during the 1960s and 2000s. The latter menstruation was associated with former chair Mohamed Al-Fayed, after the clubhouse had climbed up from the fourth tier in the 1990s. Fulham have reached two major finals : in 1975 they lost 2–0 against West Ham United in the FA Cup Final as a Second Division team, and in 2010 they played Atlético Madrid in the UEFA Europa League Final, losing 2–1 after extra prison term. Fulham ‘s chief rivalries are with fellow West London clubs Chelsea, Queens Park Rangers and Brentford. The club adopted a white shirt and black shorts as its kit out in 1903, which has been used ever since. [ 5 ]

history [edit ]

1879–1907 : formation and Southern League years [edit ]

The Second XI team, in 1886 Fulham were formed in 1879 as Fulham St Andrew’s Church Sunday School F.C., [ 6 ] founded by worshippers ( by and large adept at cricket ) at the Church of England on Star Road, West Kensington ( St Andrew ‘s, Fulham Fields ). Fulham ‘s mother church hush stands today with a brass commemorating the team ‘s foundation. They won the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and, having shortened the appoint from Fulham St Andrews to its portray form in December 1888, they then won the West London League in 1893 at the first attempt. [ 7 ] One of the baseball club ‘s inaugural ever kits was half red, half white shirts with white shorts worn in the 1886–87 season. [ 8 ] Fulham started playing at their current labor at Craven Cottage in 1896, their inaugural game against now defunct rivals Minerva. Fulham are one of the oldest established clubs in southern England presently playing professional football, though there are many non-league sides like Kent side Cray Wanderers who are several decades older .
Postcard of the 1903–04 line-up The club gained professional status on 12 December 1898, the lapp class that they were admitted into the Southern League ‘s Second Division. They were the third club from London to turn professional, following Arsenal, then named Royal Arsenal 1891, and Millwall in 1893. They adopted a bolshevik and white kit during the 1896–97 season. [ 9 ] In 1902–03, the club won promotion from this division, entering the Southern League First Division. The clubhouse ‘s first recorded all-white club kit came in 1903, and ever since then the baseball club has been playing in all-white shirts and black shorts, with socks going through assorted evolutions of black and/or white, but are now normally white-only. [ 10 ] The cabaret won the Southern League twice, in 1905–06 and 1906–07 .
The “ Rabbit Hutch ” stand along Stevenage Road sometime before Archibald Leitch ‘s redesign in 1904–05 Fulham joined The Football League after the second of their Southern League wallow. The cabaret ‘s first league game, playing in the Second Division ‘s 1907–08 season, saw them lose 1–0 at home to Hull City in September 1907. The first gain came a few days late at Derby County ‘s Baseball Ground by a sexual conquest note of 1–0. Fulham finished the temper three points inadequate of promotion in fourth set. The club progressed all the way to the semi-final of that season ‘s FA Cup, a race that included an 8–3 away win at Luton Town. In the semi-final, however, they were heavily beaten, 6–0, by Newcastle United. This is even a commemorate loss for an FA Cup semi-final game. [ 11 ] Two years by and by, the club won the London Challenge Cup in the 1909–10 temper. Fulham ‘s first gear season in Division Two turned out to be the highest that the baseball club would finish for 21 years, until in 1927–28 when the cabaret were relegated to the 3rd Division South, created in 1920. Hussein Hegazi, an egyptian ahead, was one of the first non-British players to appear in The Football League, though he merely played one game for Fulham in 1911, marked with a finish, afterwards playing for non-league Dulwich Hamlet. [ 12 ] During this time period, businessman and politician Henry Norris was the club chair and curiously he had an indirect role in the foundation of Fulham ‘s local rivals Chelsea. When he rejected an offer from businessman Gus Mears to move Fulham to land where the contemporary Chelsea stadium Stamford Bridge is situated, Mears decided to create his own team to occupy the establish. In 1910, Norris started to combine his role at Fulham with the chairmanship of Arsenal. Fulham became the first british team to sell hot dogs at their ground in 1926. [ 13 ] Fulham had several high-profile international players during the 1920s, including Len Oliver and Albert Barrett. [ 14 ]
annual performance of Fulham in the Football League After finishing fifth, seventh and one-ninth ( out of 22 teams ) in their first three seasons in the Third Division South, Fulham won the division in the 1931–32 season. In doing so they beat Torquay United 10–2, won 24 out of 42 games and scored 111 goals, therefore being promoted back to the Second Division. The next season they missed out on a second back-to-back forwarding, finishing third behind Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City. A mix bag of league performances followed, although the club besides reached another FA Cup semi-final during the 1935–36 season. Fulham were besides to draw with Austria in 1936 before Anschluss. [ 15 ] On 8 October 1938, Craven Cottage saw its all-time highest attendance at a match against Millwall, with a push of 49,335 watching the game .

1907–28 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)
1928–32 Football League Div. 3S (Tier 3)
1932–49 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)

League and cup football were hard disrupted by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, with the Football League split into regional divisions temporarily, with a national Football League War Cup and a London War Cup up for grab. Craven Cottage was used like many grounds for fitness and trail of the army young person reserves. [ 16 ] Post-war, a broad league program was merely restored for 1946–47. In the third gear season of what is now considered the advanced era of football, Fulham finished crown of the Second Division, with a win-loss-draw record of 24–9–9 ( identical to that which won them the Third Division South 17 years previously ). John Fox Watson made a initiate transfer to Real Madrid in 1948, becoming one of the first players from the United Kingdom to sign for a high-profile side abroad .

1949–1970 : first Division Cottagers [edit ]

promotion to the top grade of English football saw the club perform ill, finishing 17th in their first year and 18th in their second. In only their third gear season of First Division football, Fulham finished rock ‘n’ roll penetrate of the 22-team league in the 1951–52 season, winning lone eight of 42 games. On 20 May 1951, Fulham played one of their beginning ever games in North America in an exhibition meet against Celtic at Delorimier Stadium in Montreal in front of 29,000 spectators. [ 17 ] [ 18 ]

1949–52 Football League Div. 1 (Tier 1)
1952–59 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)
1959–68 Football League Div. 1 (Tier 1)
1968–69 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)

Fulham FC in 1958 with in 1958 with Johnny Haynes, actor number four from left in the front argumentation. possibly the one most influential character in Fulham ‘s history is Johnny Haynes. [ 19 ] “ Mr. Fulham ” or “ The Maestro, ” as Haynes later came to be known, signed for The Cottagers as a schoolboy in 1950, making his inaugural team debut on Boxing Day against Southampton at Craven Cottage in the 1951/52 relegation season. Haynes played for another 18 years, notching 657 appearances ( along with many early club records besides ), his last appearance for Fulham coming on 17 January 1970. He is often considered as the greatest musician in Fulham history, [ 20 ] and never played for another team in Britain. [ 21 ] He gained 56 caps for England ( 22 as captain ), [ 22 ] with many being earned while playing for Fulham in the Second Division. Haynes was injured in a car accident in Blackpool in 1962, but by his own admissions never regained the fitness or shape to play for England again, missing out on England ‘s victory in the FIFA World Cup 1966 for which he would have stood a chance of being selected. [ 23 ] The Stevenage Road Stand was renamed in his honor after his death in a cable car crash in 2005. Fulham reached the 1957-58 FA Cup semi-finals, the best cup run of Haynes ‘ career and nearest he came to a major trophy win playing in England. They were eliminated in a replay by the remnants of Manchester United ‘s Busby Babes team that had been decimated in the Munich air catastrophe the calendar month before. United were the first gear top division team Fulham played in that cup run. Fulham won promotion back to the First Division in the follow season by finishing irregular to Sheffield Wednesday. besides joining Fulham in 1958 was Graham Leggat, who went on to score 134 goals in 277 appearances, ( making him the baseball club ‘s fifth all-time circus tent scorer ). In the 1959–60 season, they achieved one-tenth stead in the First Division, which until finishing one-ninth in the 2003–04 season was their highest-ever league position. This accompanied another appearance in the final four of the FA Cup in 1962. By this fourth dimension, the golf club were regularly playing in front of 30,000 plus crowd at Craven Cottage, [ 24 ] despite struggling in the league. The club earnt a repute for constantly battling against relegation most seasons, with numerous minute escapes ; none more so than in 1965–66. [ 25 ] On the dawn of 26 February 1966, Fulham were bottom with fair 15 points from 29 matches. The last 13 games saw Fulham win nine and draw two to reach safety. finally, however, the club suffered delegating in the 1967–68 temper, having won good ten out of their 42 games. even that, however, was not a catastrophic as the calamity of next season. Winning only seven in 42, the clubhouse were again relegated to the Third Division. ( note that this is not the lapp as the Third Division South, as the regional Third Divisions had been removed with the 1959 creation of the Fourth Division ) .

1970–1994 : mix fortunes outside the circus tent flight [edit ]

The aforesaid Third Division hiatus lasted only two seasons before the baseball club was promoted back to the Second Division as runner-up in 1970–71. This spell besides saw Fulham invited to the Anglo-Italian Cup, which saw the club draw four out of four games in 1972–73 season. This preceded a period of high-profile signings for the club under Alec Stock in the mid-1970s, including Alan Mullery and Bobby Moore. Fulham reached their lone FA Cup final to date in 1975, having won their beginning semi-final in five attempts. The club lost 0–2 to West Ham United in the concluding at Wembley Stadium. This gained the club reservation to another european tournament, the Anglo-Scottish Cup, where they reached the final examination, losing to Middlesbrough .

1969–71 Football League Div. 3 (Tier 3)
1971–80 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)
1980–82 Football League Div. 3 (Tier 3)
1982–86 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 2)
1986–94 Football League Div. 3/2 (Tier 3)

George Best played 47 times for the golf club in the 1976–77 season. Rodney Marsh, who having grown up with Fulham in the 1960s went on to play First Division football and play for England, rejoined the club in the same temper, playing lone 16 games. This capped one of the most successful eras in Fulham history. The club were relegated again after winning alone 11 in 42 matches in the 1979–80 season, which finally resulted in Bobby Campbell ‘s net in October 1980, to be replaced by Malcolm Macdonald. With a strong squad during his 1980–1984 period in charge ( with players such as Ray Houghton, Tony Gale, Paul Parker, Gerry Peyton and Ray Lewington ), they won promotion again in 1981–82 back to the Second Division, although the promotion was overshadowed by the suicide of former defender Dave Clement a few weeks before forwarding was sealed. In 1980, Fulham founded the rugby league club that is now London Broncos designed to be an extra stream of income for the football club, but which made fiscal losses every class while linked to Fulham F.C. then called “ Fulham Rugby League, ” they played at Craven Cottage until moving away from the rear golf club in 1984. In 1978, Fulham had signed Gordon “ Ivor ” Davies who, during two spells at Fulham, became the club ‘s lead goalscorer of all time with a sum of 178 goals in all competitions ; the commemorate however stands. Fulham narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions to the First Division, losing 1–0 to Derby County off on the death day of the 1982–83 season – although the match was abandoned after 88 minutes due to a pitch invasion and inexplicably never replayed or finished. The side which had shown so much promise was cursorily sold off as the club were in debt, so it was small surprise when the club were relegated again to the Third Division in 1986. The club closely went out of business in 1987 via an ill-advised amalgamation attempt with Queens Park Rangers. It was merely the intervention of ex-player Jimmy Hill that allowed the golf club to stay in occupation by formation of a new company, Fulham FC ( 1987 ) Ltd. In 1987, the golf club took part in what was then the longest penalty deciders ever recorded – it needed 28 position kicks to sort out a winner between them and Aldershot following a Freight Rover Trophy pit. In 1992, the initiation of the Premier League, and the resignation of 22 clubs from The Football League, restored Fulham to that league ‘s second Division. however, the cabaret were relegated to the fresh Third Division after a hapless 1993–94 season, following which Ian Branfoot was appointed as team coach .

1994–1997 : Fulham ‘s lowest ebb [edit ]

1994–97 Football League Div. 3 (Tier 4)

After an eighth-place finish in Branfoot ‘s first season in charge, the club hit its lowest-ever final league military position in the 1995–96 season, finishing 17th out of 24. Branfoot was sacked as coach, but remained at the golf club in other capacities for a unretentive while. In February 1996, Micky Adams became player-manager. Adams oversaw an upturn in form that lifted the side out of relegation danger. The next season, he engineered a second-place league finish, missing out on first stead because several years previously the league had dropped the old “ goal difference ” system in favor of a “ goals scored ” reckoning, meaning Fulham finished behind Wigan Athletic. The club ‘s chair Jimmy Hill had argued in 1992 that goals scored should decide places of teams tied on points, and the Football League clubs had voted the system in .

1997–2001 : Al Fayed takeover [edit ]

1997–99 Football League Div. 2 (Tier 3)
1999–2001 Football League Div. 1 (Tier 2)
2001–14 Premier League (Tier 1)

egyptian businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed bought the cabaret for £6.25 million in summer 1997. [ 28 ] The club was purchased via Bill Muddyman ‘s Muddyman Group. [ 28 ] Micky Adams was replaced by Al-Fayed in the aftermath of a mid-table originate to the season. He installed a two-tier management “ dream team ” of Ray Wilkins as First Team Manager and Kevin Keegan as chief operating policeman, [ 29 ] pledge that the club would reach the Premier League within five years. After an argument over team survival, Wilkins left the club in May 1998 to hand over the full managerial duties to Keegan, who helped steer the clubhouse to promotion the adjacent temper, winning 101 points out of a possible 138, after spending £1.1 million to sign Paul Peschisolido from West Bromwich Albion, who was top scorekeeper and captained by Chris Coleman – then the most expensive football player outside the top two divisions of the English league. In 1999, Keegan left Fulham to become coach of England, and Paul Bracewell was put in blame. Bracewell was sacked in March 2000, as Fulham ‘s promising early season form dwindled away to a mid-table end. Frenchman Jean Tigana was put in charge and, having signed a act of young stars ( including french striker Louis Saha ), he guided Fulham to their third forwarding in five seasons in the 2000–01 season, giving Fulham top-flight condition for the first time since 1968. Fulham once again amassed 101 points out of a possible 138 in their bubbling title ply, which was crowned with an open-top bus parade toss off Fulham Palace Road. They are the entirely team to have doubly reached 100 points in a temper. During the season, Chris Coleman was involved in a car doss that put him out of action for well over a year and finally ended his playing career after he failed to make a sufficient recovery. Fulham ‘s ply through the divisions saw a large dollar volume of players, with the only player to play for the club in all four leagues being Sean Davis .

2001–2007 : early Premier League years [edit ]

Fulham ( white ) playing Portsmouth ( bluing ) in front of Fulham fans in the Hammersmith end Fulham returned to the top division of English football, and competed in the Premier League for the beginning time. The clubhouse finished the 2001–02 season in 13th place. Fulham were the only team to host top-flight football with some standing areas in the twenty-first hundred, but due to restrictions on stand, this was not allowed to continue ; clubs promoted from the second class had alone three years to make their ground all-seater. Fulham were forced to groundshare with QPR at Loftus Road during the 2002–03 and 2003–04 seasons while Craven Cottage was rebuilt as an all-seated stadium. There were fears that Fulham would not return to the Cottage, after it was revealed that Al-Fayed had sold the first right to build on the earth to a place development firm. [ 30 ] In 2002–03, Fulham spent most of the season in the lower half of the table. Chairman Al-Fayed told director Jean Tigana that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season. however, with five games left to play and relegation hush possible, Tigana was sacked, and Chris Coleman was temporarily put in bang. Fulham won 10 points from a possible 15 and managed to avoid relegation. Coleman was appointed director on a permanent basis in the summer of 2003 ; despite predictions that the inexperience of Coleman would result in Fulham ‘s relegation, [ 31 ] he kept the club well net of relegation, guiding them to a club phonograph record ninth-place ending in his debut season. This might have been greater had the club not come under meaning fiscal pressure to sell Louis Saha to Manchester United, for whom they received a cabaret phonograph record £13 million. Fulham lost a legal case against former director Tigana in 2004 after Al-Fayed wrongly alleged that Tigana had overpaid more than £7 million for raw players and had negotiated transfers in secret. [ 32 ] Coleman notched up another satisfactory performance in the 2004–05 season and guided Fulham to a secure 13th-place end. The watch season Fulham improved by one position, finishing 12th – the high detail of the season was a 1–0 win over local rivals and reigning champions Chelsea in the West London bowler hat – Chelsea had only lost two games in two and a half years. The 2006–07 season proved to be Coleman ‘s concluding, as on 10 April 2007, Fulham terminated his condense with immediate effect. His successor was Northern Ireland coach Lawrie Sanchez. Fulham alone gained four points from five games with Sanchez as caretaker director. They ensured top-flight survival that season by defeating a diminished Liverpool side 1–0 in the penult peer of the temper, and Sanchez was appointed coach .

2007–2010 : Hodgson ‘s transformation [edit ]

Sanchez received impregnable fiscal back from the board and made a phone number of signings during the summer rupture, but, after just two league wins in the first five months of the season and with Fulham in the delegating zone, he was dismissed on 21 December 2007 after a get the better of to Newcastle United. [ 33 ] Roy Hodgson was named as the fresh coach of Fulham on 28 December 2007 and took up his contractual duties on 30 December, [ 34 ] just two days before the January transfer window opened. Hodgson ‘s tenure did not start well and it took a calendar month to secure his inaugural succeed, against Aston Villa, courtesy of a Jimmy Bullard free-kick. Fulham continued to struggle and a 3–1 family defeat in April at the hands of chap strugglers Sunderland left Hodgson on the brink of tears in the post-match press conference and many pundits writing off Fulham ‘s survival chances. [ 35 ] Despite the negative iron, Hodgson continued to believe survival was attainable. The turning point of the season came in the third-to-last match, against Manchester City. Fulham trailed 2–0 at half-time and had the Premier League scores at that time become results, they would have been relegated. however, the initiation of Diomansy Kamara heralded the begin of a fantastic comeback—Kamara struck twice as Fulham registered an amaze 3–2 victory. Fulham then won a crucial equal against colleague strugglers Birmingham City at Craven Cottage, leaving survival in the club ‘s own hands. Barring a goal-rush from companion strugglers Reading, a succeed against a Portsmouth side looking ahead to their one-fourth FA Cup final examination would guarantee survival. With 15 minutes to play at Portsmouth, Fulham were drawing, and with Birmingham City and Reading leading comfortably against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County respectively, they looked likely to be relegated. however, Fulham earned a free-kick with 76 minutes played ; Jimmy Bullard ‘s pitch found Danny Murphy, who headed home the decisive goal, sparking frenzied celebrations from the travel fans. Hodgson had ensured survival against all odds, breaking several golf club records in the process and cementing his locate in Fulham folklore. Fulham narrowly missed out on a UEFA Cup home via Fairplay by a doubtful 0.8 of a point behind Manchester City, who lost 8–1 at Middlesbrough. In the 2008–09 season, Fulham finished seventh, their highest-ever league place, earning reservation for the inauguration UEFA Europa League, the second time that the club had entered a UEFA contest. 2009–10 was arguably the most successful season in the club ‘s history. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the quarter-finals for the second class run, and finished 12th in the Premier League, despite fielding weaken teams in the final few matches. [ 36 ] In the inaugural Europa League temper, however, Fulham reached the final, meeting spanish golf club Atlético Madrid, who had dropped down from the Champions League, at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. In their first european cup concluding, the Cottagers were beaten 2–1 after extra prison term, having drawn 1–1 after full-time. The accomplishment of taking Fulham thus unexpectedly far, beating celebrated teams like Hamburger SV, Juventus, holders Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel in the rival, led to Roy Hodgson being voted the LMA Manager of the year by the widest margin in the history of the award. [ 37 ] The home match in the round of 16 was arguably Fulham ‘s greatest resultant role in the history of the baseball club. Despite losing 3–1 in the first leg at italian giants Juventus and falling behind minutes into the second branch at Craven Cottage, Fulham scored four goals with no answer from Juventus. At the end of the season, Hodgson left Fulham to manage Liverpool. [ 38 ]

2010–2013 : Established in the Premier League [edit ]

On 29 July 2010, Mark Hughes was named the successor to Hodgson, signing a biennial contract with the club. Hughes had previously managed Manchester City, the Welsh national team and Blackburn. [ 39 ] Hughes ‘ first match in mission was against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium. The highlight of the season was a 4–0 succeed in the FA Cup over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur, all goals coming in the first half. Hughes resigned as director of Fulham on 2 June 2011, having spent fewer than 11 months at the cabaret. The Whites had an promote ending in eighth placement and qualified for the Europa League via Fairplay. On 7 June 2011, Martin Jol signed a biennial contract with Fulham, becoming successor to Hughes. Jol ‘s first match was a 3–0 Europa League acquire against NSÍ Runavík of the Faroe Islands on 30 June. [ 40 ] Fulham then navigated their way with some ease to the group stage in the Europa League through belated summer. however, the Cottagers were knocked out with the last seconds of the group degree matches, Odense BK equalising to make a absorb, leaving Fulham in third base position, with polish side Wisła Kraków rather progressing to the adjacent round. Fulham ‘s Premier League form in the 2011–12 season was desegregate, with the continuing away-record hangover of former seasons dragging on. In October 2011, Fulham had an emphatic 6–0 home succeed over neighbor QPR, with Andrew Johnson scoring a hat-trick for Fulham in the match. [ 41 ] The January 2012 transplant window saw Bobby Zamora affect over the Hammersmith overpass to Loftus Road, with russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak coming in rate from VfB Stuttgart .
Clint Dempsey scored a club record 50 Premier League goals for Fulham between 2007 and 2012. The New Year saw two far hat-tricks scored by Clint Dempsey. On 11 February 2012, Progrebnyak scored on his introduction in the 2–1 succeed over Stoke City. [ 42 ] In March 2012, a 5–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers saw a hat-trick from Pogrebnyak. [ 43 ] The Cottagers broke their historic drought on Merseyside with a 1–0 acquire over Liverpool at Anfield on May Day and another succeed against Sunderland in the last home game intend Fulham were only one point short of equalling their largest points draw in the Premier League, with just one game remaining. however, they failed to achieve this after losing their last game off at Tottenham. In the 2012–13 temper, Fulham ended a seven-match winless run by beating Swansea City 3–0 off at the Liberty Stadium on the final bet on of the season on 19 May 2013. Fulham finished the season in 12th position. [ 44 ]

2013–present : Shahid Khan ‘s ownership [edit ]

Shahid Khan took over as chair in July 2013, [ 45 ] but after a poor start to the 2013–14 season, having only amassed 10 points from 13 games, [ 46 ] Martin Jol was sacked as coach on 1 December 2013, with René Meulensteen taking charge as steer bus. [ 46 ] [ 47 ] Meulensteen was replaced by Felix Magath after just 17 games in commit following no upturn in form, [ 48 ] but fortunes did not improve, and Fulham were finally relegated to the Championship after a 4–1 kill away to Stoke on 3 May. [ 49 ] Post-season, the media criticised chair Shahid Khan ‘s decision to sack Meulensteen and appoint the third base director of the temper in Magath. Fulham broke the Championship transfer record that summer in a restructure of the team by Magath, but after a black originate to the raw season, amassing just one point in seven games, Magath was sacked in September 2014, with Kit Symons appointed as caretaker director. [ 50 ] Fulham finally finished the season in 17th plaza. The team suffered an inconsistent depart to the following season and after a 5–2 loss at home to Birmingham City, [ 51 ] and lying in 12th invest, [ 52 ] Kit Symons was sacked as director in November 2015. [ 53 ] It paved the way for serbian Slaviša Jokanović to be appointed on 27 December 2015. [ 54 ] Fulham ‘s fortunes did not improve greatly following Jokanović ‘s appointee, but the team finished the 2015–16 Championship season in twentieth invest, avoiding relegation by 11 points. The 2016–17 season saw huge improvements in both results and performances. Despite an inconsistent start, the team saw a significant improvement from October onwards which saw them secure a 6th-place finish. They entered the play-offs, but lost to Reading 2–1 on aggregate in the semi-final. [ 55 ] Despite a slow startle to the following season, the club went on a club-record 23 game unbeaten run in the league which led to a 3rd-place coating, narrowly missing out automatic pistol promotion. [ 56 ] The team went on to win the EFL Championship play-off Final against Aston Villa to return to the Premier League on 26 May 2018. [ 57 ] Following a poor depart to life back in the Premier League, Jokanović was sacked on 14 November 2018 and replaced with erstwhile Leicester director Claudio Ranieri. [ 58 ] Results ultimately did not improve under Ranieri and he left the club in February 2019. He was replaced by Scott Parker as caretaker coach who could not save the club from relegation on 3 April 2019. [ 59 ] Parker was appointed as coach on a permanent basis on 10 May 2019. [ 60 ] [ 61 ] In a temper that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Parker led the baseball club straight spinal column to the Premier League on 4 August 2020, defeating London rivals Brentford 2–1 in the playoff final after a 4th-place finish. [ 62 ] however, the club would once again be relegated after just a single season back in the top flight after a 2–0 defeat to Burnley on 10 May 2021. [ 63 ] In the consequence of relegation, Parker left the baseball club by common consent and was replaced by former Everton coach Marco Silva. [ 64 ]

Finances [edit ]

Shahid Khan, owner and chair
Fulham Football Club is owned by Shahid Khan. Khan completed his leverage of the cabaret from Mohamed Al-Fayed on 12 July 2013 for a reported £150–200 million. [ 67 ] During his ownership of Fulham, Al-Fayed had provided the clubhouse with £187 million in interest-free loans. [ 68 ] In March 2011, Fulham posted annual losses of £16.9 million, with Al-Fayed stating that he would “ continue to make funds available to achieve our goals both on and off the flip ” and that “ the retain success of Fulham and its eventual fiscal self-sustainability is my priority. ” [ 69 ] As of January 2013, Fulham were efficaciously debt-free as Al-Fayed converted the loans into equity in the club. [ 70 ]
Fulham ‘s sponsorship by Betfair in 2002–03 was the first gear gambling sponsorship in English football, and came before the Gambling Act 2005 permitted the diligence to advertise on television receiver and radio receiver ; within fifteen years one-half of Premier League teams were sponsored by such companies. [ 71 ] [ 72 ] On 27 July 2021, the golf club announced that World Mobile would become the official Principal Partner for the next three years. [ 73 ]

current management [edit ]

Players [edit ]

current police squad [edit ]

As of 31 August 2021[74]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

Out on lend [edit ]

note : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

honorary police squad member [edit ]

notice : Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality .

academy [edit ]

Fulham in Europe [edit ]

Fulham are a penis of the European Club Association, having qualified four times for european Competition, first the UEFA Intertoto Cup after their inauguration season in the Premier League, then the UEFA Cup as a solution of winning that, and then the UEFA Europa League twice. Fulham are unbeaten at home in european rival, in 23 games, with a phonograph record of 17 wins and six draws. In 2010, Fulham reached the UEFA Europa League final, which they lost 2–1 to Atletico Madrid .

Rivalries [edit ]

Fulham fans consider their chief rivals to be Chelsea. Despite this regular not being played that often in the years preceding Fulham ‘s rise to the top division, this is a clear local bowler hat as Chelsea ‘s footing, Stamford Bridge, is within Fulham and only 1.8 miles from Craven Cottage. Fulham consider their secondary rivals to be Queens Park Rangers. Fulham final played QPR in the 2000–01 season before meeting them again doubly in the 2011–12 Premier League temper in which Fulham were the victors with a 6–0 victory at Craven Cottage, and beating them 1–0 away from home at Loftus Road. [ 79 ] Fulham besides have rivalries with early London clubs, including Brentford and Crystal Palace. Outside of London, Gillingham are still considered rivals to Fulham supporters despite the two clubs having played in different divisions for the past 11 years. [ citation needed ] Fulham and Gillingham have been involved in several crabbed matches in the lower leagues, including the death of a Fulham patron. [ 80 ]

Supporters [edit ]

Fulham ‘s fan base has fluctuated over the years, with high crowds coinciding with the club ‘s success in the Premier League so that the club now averages in the top 20 home attendances in the country. [ citation needed ] Fulham supporters have played a critical role in the golf club ‘s long term stay at Craven Cottage. [ citation needed ] When the club moved temporarily to Loftus Road, a committee known as Back to the Cottage [ 81 ] was formed, committed to ensuring the cabaret continued to play at their traditional home. Fulham fans have traditionally come from the Fulham and Hammersmith areas, and besides from other areas in South-West London, such as Putney, Richmond, Sutton and Worcester Park. [ 82 ] In July 2012, the club web site asked supporters using Facebook and Twitter to pick their best FFC Premier League eleven from 2001 to the award. The supporters picked their darling goalkeeper, full-backs, centre-backs, wingers, center midfielders and forwards in a classic 4–4–2 constitution. [ 83 ] [ 84 ]

Managers [edit ]

Fulham have had 37 managers in 114 years. anterior to the date of the first gear director at the club ( Bradshaw in 1904 ), the duties normally assigned to a contemporary director would have been shared between club secretary, captain, and other officials .

  • * Frank Osborne was employed continuously by the club from 1948 to 1963, but only spent the above periods as designated manager.
  • ** Ian Branfoot continued to be employed by the club after his dismissal as manager.
  • † Kevin Keegan was employed by the club as chief operating officer (during which time he essentially acted as an assistant manager) during the time of his predecessor (Ray Wilkins) being the actual manager.
  • § René Meulensteen was appointed as head coach under previous manager Martin Jol (during which time he essentially acted as an assistant manager), but never took on the title of “manager” after Jol’s departure, despite assuming the duties usually assigned to one. He remained as head coach for four days after Magath’s appointment before being released.
  • ± Some managers have only had the official description of “head coach” rather than “manager”: René Meulensteen, Slaviša Jokanović, Scott Parker, and Marco Silva,[85] as well as interim head coach Peter Grant.

Managerial records:

  • Only one man has managed the club through two different spells, Frank Osborne, in 1948–49 and then 1953–56.
  • The longest spell as Fulham manager was by Phil Kelso, 15 years (1909–1924)
  • Several managers have failed to last more than a year at the club: Bobby Robson, Ray Wilkins, Paul Bracewell, Lawrie Sanchez, Mark Hughes, René Meulensteen, Felix Magath, and Claudio Ranieri. Further to this, Frank Osborne only had a year after his initial arrival at the club during which he was principally in charge of the team (before Dodgin, senior) arrived, although he later took sole charge of the club for an extended period.

Temporary managers at the cabaret have included :

Grounds [edit ]

Between the years 1879 and when Fulham had a ground to call their own in 1896, they played at a number of stadiums, alone some of which were recorded and this should not be regarded as a full or complete number. merely rivals and former landlords Queens Park Rangers have played at more home stadiums. Some of the early grounds listed below are probably to have been parks and park, which have now been developed. even when the club purchased Craven Cottage and the surrounding farming in 1894, they had to wait two years before they could play a game there .

Honours [edit ]

[ 88 ]

Statistics [edit ]

Club mascot [edit ]

The Fulham mascot is Billy the Badger, [ 89 ] who was the winning design sent in by Kyle Jackson after an on-line competition by the club. Billy the Badger wears the number 79 Fulham shirt, in reference book to the cabaret ‘s class of establish, 1879. [ 90 ] Controversy beginning surrounded truncheon when he tried to cheer up Chelsea coach Avram Grant during a home plate match in front man of the television cameras. second, Billy was seen on television being sent off during the home game against Aston Villa on 3 February 2008 for break dance in the corner of the pitch after the referee had commenced the plot. Billy blamed his badger hear and eyesight for the incident, and apologised to referee Chris Foy. [ 91 ] On 11 March 2009, Billy walked across the finish during a match although it was not spotted by the reviewer. [ citation needed ] The former mascot for Fulham was Sir Craven of Cottage, the Knight. The cheerleaders were known as the Cravenettes .

References [edit ]