Craven Cottage
Encyclopedia
Craven Cottage is the name of a football stadium
in the Hammersmith and Fulham
area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C.
since 1896.
After major refurbishment work was carried out in 2004, the ground's capacity has increased gradually from 22,000 to its current capacity of 25,700. Fulham recorded four record attendances in the 2009–2010 season, in their 0–1 loss to Arsenal
and their 3–1, 3–0 and 2–1 victories over Liverpool
, Manchester United and Hamburg SV respectively, each of which drew full capacity crowds.
It is located next to Bishop's Park
on the banks of the River Thames
. 'Crave Cottage' was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back over 300 years.
The stadium has been used by the Australian national football team for some friendly matches due to a large immigrant population living in England
(mainly in London
). The Republic of Ireland national football team
also played two games at the venue during the construction of the Aviva Stadium
.
, the sixth Baron Craven and was located on the centre circle of the pitch. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn
's hunting grounds. Several other sports are presumed to have taken place here besides hunting. As well as more lethargic games such as lawn bowls and croquet
, a version of the Aztec
game called 'tlachtli' (scoring a ball through a hoop using your hips) is alleged to have been played here. This game is thought to be a distant cousin of association football and is arguably one of the earliest codes of organised football.
It was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
(who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii
) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist between Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham
, Florence Nightingale
and even Queen Victoria are assumed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 10 grounds overall (if including Loftus Road
) meaning only their 'landlords' and rival QPR
has had more home grounds (14) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886–1888.
The first event at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup
, on 10 October 1886. The ground's first stand was built shortly after. Described as looking like an "orange box", it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and later was affectionately nicknamed the "Rabbit hutch
".
Before the ground could become too well established, the now defunct London County Council
became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed. A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch
, a Scottish architect
who had risen to prominence after his building of Ibrox
a few years prior, was hired to work on the stadium. In a scheme costing £15,000 (a record for the time), he had a new pavilion (the modern Cottage itself) and a stand built, in his characteristic red brick style.
The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005–2006 season and, following the death of Fulham FC's favourite son, former England captain Johnny Haynes
, in a car accident in October 2005 the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes
Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters.
Both the Johnny Haynes
Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch
football architecture to remain in existence and this has been recognised with both being designated as Grade II listed buildings.
v Wales
match was played at the ground in 1911, followed by a rugby league
international between England
and Australia.
One of the club's directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hill, took over Arsenal
in the early 1910s, the plan being to merge them with Fulham, to form a "London superclub" at Craven Cottage. This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. There was also plans for Henry Norris to build a larger stadium on the other side of Stevenage Road but there was little need after the failed merger.
The ground again suffered a scare in 1933, when there were plans to demolish it and start again from scratch with a new ground, to have a huge capacity of 80,000. These plans never materialised mainly due to the Great Depression
.
On 8 October 1938, Craven Cottage held host to 49,335 fans during a game against Millwall
. During the 1930-60's era, Fulham often averaged over 45,000. However, the official attendances can be considered somewhat dubious in this era as many fans would get in by climbing over the fence from Bishops Park into the Putney End. Like many other grounds, fans would sneak in through the turnstiles as well (and not be counted) so this boot money
would be given to the players (stuffed in their boots) and would not be counted in the gate money. The ground hosted several football games for the 1948 Summer Olympics
.
. The Hammersmith end had a roof put over it, and an electronic scoreboard was put up.
After Fulham was relegated, the development continued. The Riverside terracing, infamous for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads annually to watch The Boat Race
pass, was replaced by what was officially named the 'Eric Miller stand', Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. The stand, which cost £334,000 and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, (which included Eusebio). Miller committed suicide five years later after a political and financial scandal that he was involved in boiled over. The stand is now better known as the Riverside Stand. The Riverside bank also was unique for the fact that flags of all the other teams of the first division were flown along the promenade.
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 club record). The international record is held by Jimmy O'Connor
, an Irish
player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 13 seconds in 1967.
Between 1980 and 1984, Fulham rugby league
played their home games at the Cottage. They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos, and then into Harlequins Rugby League. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground was 15,013, at a game against Wakefield Trinity
on 15 February 1981.
occurred, Fulham were in the second bottom rung of The Football League
, but following the Taylor report
Fulham's ambitious chairman Jimmy Hill tabled plans for an all-seater stadium. These plans never came to fruition, partly due to local residents' pressure groups, and by the time Fulham reached the Premiership, they still had standing areas in the ground, something virtually unheard of at the time. A year remained to do something about this (teams reaching the second tier for the first time are allowed a three-year period to reach the required standards for the top two divisions), but by the time the last league game was played there, against Leicester City
on 27 April 2002, no building plans had been made. Two more Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year (against Egaleo FC
of Greece and FC Haka
of Finland), and the eventual solution was to decamp to Loftus Road
, home of local rivals QPR
. During this time, many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. 'Back to the Cottage', later to become the 'Fulham Supporters Trust', was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the chairman and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable option for Fulham Football Club.
After one and a half seasons at Loftus Road, no work had been done on the Cottage. In December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8million worth of major refurbishment work to bring it in line with Premier League requirements. With planning permission granted, work began in January 2004 in order 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 start of the 2004–05 season
. Their first game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium was a pre-season friendly against Watford on 10 July 2004.
The current stadium is one of the Premiership's smallest grounds (in 2007–08 it was fourth-smallest, after Fratton Park
, the DW Stadium and the Madejski Stadium
). Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, mostly including Australia. This venue is suitable for Australia because most of the country's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate
Australians. Also, Greece
vs. South Korea
was also hosted on 6 February 2007. In 2011 Brazil played Ghana, in an international friendly, and the Women's Champions League Final
was hosted.
Craven Cottage often hosts many other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. Also, many have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant or the 'Cottage Cafe' on non-match days. Craven Cottage recently hosted the 2006 Oxbridge
Varsity Football match prior to the famous 'The Boat Race
', as well as having a Soccer Aid
warm-up match. The half-time entertainment often includes the SW6ers (previously called The Cravenettes) which are a group of female cheerleaders. However, other events have included brass bands, Michael Jackson
(albeit just walking on the pitch once, as opposed to performing), Travis
playing, Arabic dancing, keepie uppie
professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competition of some kind, usually involving scoring through a 'hoop' or 'beat the goalie'. On the first home game of the season, there is a carnival where every Fulham fan is expected to turn up in black-and-white colours. There is usually live rock bands, player signings, clowns, stilt walkers, a steel (calypso) band, food stalls and a free training session for children in Bishops Park.
The Fulham Ladies
(before their demise) and Reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. Other than this, they generally play at the club's training ground at Motspur Park
or at Kingstonian
and AFC Wimbledon's
stadium, Kingsmeadow. Craven Cottage is known by several affectionate nicknames from fans, including: The (River) Cottage, The Fortress (or Fortress Fulham), Thameside, The Friendy 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' or The River of Dreams
. The easiest way (though it's still quite hard) to get to the ground is to walk through Bishops Park, often known as 'The Green Mile' by Fulham fans (as it is roughly a mile walk through pleasant greenery).
to Manchester United
, as his transfer covered the £9 million bill. Plans to move to White City with QPR into a 40,000 all-seater stadium appear to have been put firmly on hold. Fulham now have more realistic expectations of aiming for a mid-table finish and ensuring Premiership survival. The board seem to have moved away from their grandiose ideas of making Fulham the "Manchester United of the south" as Al-Fayed has come to realise how expensive it is to subsidise a Premiership outfit. Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual increase of the ground's capacity every summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during the summer for the past 3 years and this trend increased in 2008 with a small increase in the capacity of the Hammersmith End. Fulham previously announced that they are planning to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4000 seats, but this is yet to be implemented. Owing to Fulham's success in becoming a well-known Premier League club, their success in domestic and European Cups and the size of the ground, many games have sold out quickly. It is expected that the capacity will be increased by at least 1,000 seats over the Summer after the end of the 2009–2010 season..
End (or Hammy) is the northernmost stand in the ground, and, hence the name, the closest to Hammersmith. It is situated such that looking out from the stand you can see the Putney End and the Cottage opposite, the Riverside Stand (and the river itself) to the right and the Johnny Haynes
Stand to the left. The roofing on the 'Smithy' was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery
to Spurs
. It is home to the more vocal Fulham fans,and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand. If Fulham win the toss, they usually choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half.
End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney
and Bishops Park. To its right is The Cottage, opposite is the Hammersmith End, with the Riverside and Johnny Haynes
Stands to left and right respectively. This generally hosts visiting or 'neutral' supporters. When the ground became redeveloped in 2003-4 (during Fulham's exile to Loftus Road) the club applied for a licence to have a designated neutral area. Due to Fulham's past history of having no segregation in the Putney End and having very well-behaved fans, the FA gave Fulham special dispensation to allow for this. Fulham is the only club currently in the UK to have such an area. Fans can wear whatever shirt and support either side in this area, leading to friendly banter. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, although they were retracted after the 2006–07 season commenced.
The Riverside was originally terracing that backed onto the Thames. It also featured large advertising hoardings above the fans. By 1973, a proper seated stand had been built called the Eric Miller
Stand (one of the directors at the time). The stand was opened in a prestigious friendly against S.L. Benfica, who included Eusebio
in the team. The name of the stand became called simply The Riverside after the discovery of Eric Miller's suicide, who had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement.
The Riverside Stand backs onto the River Thames
and is elevated uniquely above the pitch unlike the other 3 stands. It contains the corporate hospitality seating alongside Fulham fans. Jimmy Hill
once referred to the Riverside being "a bit like the London Palladium" as Blocks V & W (the middle section) are often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There are several Harrods
advertising boardings and above these is the gantry, for the press and cameras. Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they are also some of the more expensive. It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney End to its right and is opposite the Johnny Haynes
Stand. During the 70's, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. On non-match days, the George Cohen
restaurant is open providing posh-nosh from Harrods or alternatively there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. (The River Café
is also located nearby). Under Tommy Trinder
's chairmanship in the 60's, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. However, when Fulham were relegated in 1969, Trinder decided not to change the flags as "Fulham won't be in this division next season". True to Tommy's prophecy, Fulham were relegated again. There is now a campaign to bring back the flags again. The Riverside Stand has been used by sponsors, placing adverts on top of the covering, sponsors who have used this include Pipex.com and (Lee Cooper Jeans. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the 'Smithy' End' indicates the end of the 'Fulham Wall', which is the mile post
in The Boat Race
.
This stand was formerly named after the street which runs alongside it hence was called the Stevenage Road Stand. Shortly after the untimely passing of one of Fulham's greatest players Johnny Haynes
; on 27 November 2005 it was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand. It holds home supporters of which a lot are season ticket holders and is located opposite the Riverside Stand, with the Putney End and the Cottage to its left, and the Hammersmith end to the right. This stand includes the ticket office and club shop, as well as nostalgic original wooden seats. There used to be an exact replica built by Leitch at Stamford Bridge
which had long been demolished. This remains the oldest stand (dating back to 1905) in the Football League and is thus a Grade II* listed building (thanks to Jimmy Hill
's efforts when saving the club as Chairman). (The oldest football stand in the world is considered to belong to Great Yarmouth Town, though Wolverton A.F.C.
dispute this, although this is no longer in use as a football stand) The original wooden Bennet seats as specified by Leitch in 1905 now number 3,571, remain as robust as ever.
Due to parts of the structure being wooden and the smoking ban, there is a no-smoking policy in this part of the ground. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a brick façade rarely seen amongst stadia and features the club's old emblem in the artwork. Decorative pillars show the club's foundation date as 1880 though this is thought to be incorrect. Also, a special stone to commemorate Fulham 2000 and The Cottagers return to 'The Cottage' was engraved on the façade. The family enclosure is located in the corner nearest to the Hammersmith end. The stand also features very narrow and rickety turnstiles (that all must pass through. The 2006–7 season saw the club introduce new RFID tickets, which are read electronically when passing through the gates. Where the new plastic seating lies (in front of the wooden seats), originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch (up until the 70's).
Stand, built by renowned architect Archibald Leitch
. The reason The Cottage was built was due to an oversight in the Stevenage Road Stand (as it was then), as Leitch had forgotten to accommodate changing rooms in his final plans. Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) was traditionally used by the players' families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game, but the club now sell those seats at a premium game-by-game rate. In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on three levels.
who recently played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 and May 2009 respectively.
The Korea Republic national football team
have also used the ground twice in recent years for international friendlies, first against Greece in February 2007 and then against Serbia in November 2009.
On 17 November 2007 Australia beat Nigeria 1–0 in an international friendly at Craven Cottage.
In 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 Brazi
l was also held at Craven Cottage
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
in the Hammersmith and Fulham
London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham is a London borough in West London, and forms part of Inner London. Traversed by the east-west main roads of the A4 Great West Road and the A40 Westway, many international corporations have offices in the borough....
area that has been the home ground of the association football team Fulham F.C.
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
since 1896.
After major refurbishment work was carried out in 2004, the ground's capacity has increased gradually from 22,000 to its current capacity of 25,700. Fulham recorded four record attendances in the 2009–2010 season, in their 0–1 loss to Arsenal
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, issued to authorized users, or any combination of those...
and their 3–1, 3–0 and 2–1 victories over Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Manchester United and Hamburg SV respectively, each of which drew full capacity crowds.
It is located next to Bishop's Park
Bishop's Park (Fulham)
Bishops Park is a park in Fulham, south-west London. The park was opened by the London County Council in 1893, on land given by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners...
on the banks of the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. 'Crave Cottage' was originally a royal hunting lodge and has history dating back over 300 years.
The stadium has been used by the Australian national football team for some friendly matches due to a large immigrant population living in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(mainly in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
). The Republic of Ireland national football team
Republic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
also played two games at the venue during the construction of the Aviva Stadium
Aviva Stadium
The Aviva Stadium is a sports stadium located in Dublin, Ireland, with a capacity for 50,000 spectators. The stadium is built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road venue, which was demolished in 2007, and replaces that stadium as home to its chief tenants: the Irish rugby union team and the...
.
Pre-Fulham
The original 'Cottage' was built in 1780, by William CravenWilliam Craven, 6th Baron Craven
William Craven, 6th Baron Craven was an English nobleman.He was the son of Rev John Craven of Staunton Lacy in Shropshire and succeeded his uncle, William Craven, as Baron Craven in 1769...
, the sixth Baron Craven and was located on the centre circle of the pitch. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
's hunting grounds. Several other sports are presumed to have taken place here besides hunting. As well as more lethargic games such as lawn bowls and croquet
Croquet
Croquet is a lawn game, played both as a recreational pastime and as a competitive sport. It involves hitting plastic or wooden balls with a mallet through hoops embedded into the grass playing court.-History:...
, a version of the Aztec
Aztec
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.Aztec is the...
game called 'tlachtli' (scoring a ball through a hoop using your hips) is alleged to have been played here. This game is thought to be a distant cousin of association football and is arguably one of the earliest codes of organised football.
It was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton PC , was an English politician, poet, playwright, and novelist. He was immensely popular with the reading public and wrote a stream of bestselling dime-novels which earned him a considerable fortune...
(who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii is a novel written by the baron Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1834. Once a very widely read book and now relatively neglected, it culminates in the cataclysmic destruction of the city of Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79.The novel uses its characters to contrast...
) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist between Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham was an English jurist, philosopher, and legal and social reformer. He became a leading theorist in Anglo-American philosophy of law, and a political radical whose ideas influenced the development of welfarism...
, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
and even Queen Victoria are assumed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 10 grounds overall (if including Loftus Road
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers of the Premier League and has a capacity of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End,...
) meaning only their 'landlords' and rival QPR
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
has had more home grounds (14) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886–1888.
Under construction: 1894–1905
When representatives of Fulham first came across the land, in 1894, it was so overgrown that it took two years to be made suitable for football to be played on it. A deal had been done that meant this work was done by the owners of the ground, who then would receive a proportion of the gate receipts.The first event at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup
Middlesex Senior Cup
The Middlesex Senior Cup is the most prestigious football cup competition in the historic county of Middlesex, England. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although league sides have been known to enter the competition, such as Brentford, Barnet and Chelsea...
, on 10 October 1886. The ground's first stand was built shortly after. Described as looking like an "orange box", it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and later was affectionately nicknamed the "Rabbit hutch
Hutch (animal cage)
A hutch is a type of cage used typically for housing domestic rabbits. Other small animals can also be housed in hutches.Most hutches have a frame constructed of wood, including legs to keep the unit off the ground. The floor may be wood, wire mesh, or some combination of the two. One or more...
".
London County Council
London County Council was the principal local government body for the County of London, throughout its 1889–1965 existence, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today known as Inner London and was replaced by the Greater London Council...
became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed. A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch
Archibald Leitch
Archibald "Offside Archie" Leitch was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadia throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-Early work:...
, a Scottish architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who had risen to prominence after his building of Ibrox
Ibrox Stadium
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium located on the south side of the River Clyde, on Edmiston Drive in the Ibrox district of Glasgow. It is the home ground of Scottish Premier League club Rangers and has an all-seated capacity of 51,082...
a few years prior, was hired to work on the stadium. In a scheme costing £15,000 (a record for the time), he had a new pavilion (the modern Cottage itself) and a stand built, in his characteristic red brick style.
The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005–2006 season and, following the death of Fulham FC's favourite son, former England captain Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
, in a car accident in October 2005 the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters.
Both the Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch
Archibald Leitch
Archibald "Offside Archie" Leitch was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadia throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-Early work:...
football architecture to remain in existence and this has been recognised with both being designated as Grade II listed buildings.
Establishing itself as a stadium
An EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
v Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
match was played at the ground in 1911, followed by a rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
international between England
England national rugby league team
The England national rugby league team represent England in international rugby league football tournaments. The team has now seen a revival, having largely formed from the Great Britain team, who also represented Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The team is run under the auspices of the Rugby Football...
and Australia.
One of the club's directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hill, took over Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
in the early 1910s, the plan being to merge them with Fulham, to form a "London superclub" at Craven Cottage. This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. There was also plans for Henry Norris to build a larger stadium on the other side of Stevenage Road but there was little need after the failed merger.
The ground again suffered a scare in 1933, when there were plans to demolish it and start again from scratch with a new ground, to have a huge capacity of 80,000. These plans never materialised mainly due to the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
.
On 8 October 1938, Craven Cottage held host to 49,335 fans during a game against Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
. During the 1930-60's era, Fulham often averaged over 45,000. However, the official attendances can be considered somewhat dubious in this era as many fans would get in by climbing over the fence from Bishops Park into the Putney End. Like many other grounds, fans would sneak in through the turnstiles as well (and not be counted) so this boot money
Boot money scandal
Boot money refers to money paid privately or anonymously to amateur athletes, often to circumvent laws or league regulations prohibiting athlete compensation. It can be paid as an incentive to win or as a reward for a good performance, but especially in more recent times can involve a company...
would be given to the players (stuffed in their boots) and would not be counted in the gate money. The ground hosted several football games for the 1948 Summer Olympics
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, England, United Kingdom. After a 12-year hiatus because of World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
.
Post-War
It wasn't until Fulham first reached the top division, in 1949, that further improvements were made to the stadium. The first was that the next year they became the final side in the division to erect floodlights. The floodlights were said to be the most expensive in Europe at the time as they were so modern. The lights were like large pylons towering 50 metres over the ground and were similar in appearance to those at the WACAWACA Ground
The WACA is a sports stadium in Perth, Western Australia. WACA are the initials of its owners and operators, the Western Australian Cricket Association....
. The Hammersmith end had a roof put over it, and an electronic scoreboard was put up.
After Fulham was relegated, the development continued. The Riverside terracing, infamous for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads annually to watch The Boat Race
The Boat Race
The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
pass, was replaced by what was officially named the 'Eric Miller stand', Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. The stand, which cost £334,000 and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, (which included Eusebio). Miller committed suicide five years later after a political and financial scandal that he was involved in boiled over. The stand is now better known as the Riverside Stand. The Riverside bank also was unique for the fact that flags of all the other teams of the first division were flown along the promenade.
On Boxing Day
Boxing Day
Boxing Day is a bank or public holiday that occurs on 26 December, or the first or second weekday after Christmas Day, depending on national or regional laws. It is observed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth nations. In Ireland, it is recognized as...
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
Graham Leggat
Graham Leggat is a former Scottish international football player.Born in Aberdeen, Leggat started his career at his home town club as a right winger. He was part of the Aberdeen team that won the Scottish league title in 1954-55 and the 1955-56 Scottish League Cup...
. This helped his Fulham team to beat Ipswich
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....
10–1 (a club record). The international record is held by Jimmy O'Connor
Jimmy O'Connor
Jimmy O'Connor is a former Irish footballer notable for being the fastest hat-trick scorer in top level domestic league history. He scored three goals for Shelbourne in 2 minutes and 13 seconds, versus Bohemians at Dalymount Park on November 19, 1967...
, an Irish
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 13 seconds in 1967.
Between 1980 and 1984, Fulham rugby league
Rugby league
Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...
played their home games at the Cottage. They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos, and then into Harlequins Rugby League. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground was 15,013, at a game against Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats are a professional rugby league club that plays in the European Super League and is based in Wakefield. They achieved promotion in 1999 and have remained in the League since. They are known to their fans as Wakey, Trinity, Wildcats, or historically The Dreadnoughts...
on 15 February 1981.
Modern times
When the Hillsborough disasterHillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
occurred, Fulham were in the second bottom rung of The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, but following the Taylor report
Taylor Report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
Fulham's ambitious chairman Jimmy Hill tabled plans for an all-seater stadium. These plans never came to fruition, partly due to local residents' pressure groups, and by the time Fulham reached the Premiership, they still had standing areas in the ground, something virtually unheard of at the time. A year remained to do something about this (teams reaching the second tier for the first time are allowed a three-year period to reach the required standards for the top two divisions), but by the time the last league game was played there, against Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
on 27 April 2002, no building plans had been made. Two more Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year (against Egaleo FC
Egaleo FC
Egaleo F.C. is a Greek football club based in Egaleo, a suburb of Athens. Founded in 1931, it currently plays in Greece's fourth division, holding home matches at Stavros Mavrothalassitis Stadium, with a 14,000-seat capacity....
of Greece and FC Haka
FC Haka
Haka is a Finnish football club, based in the industry town of Valkeakoski. It is one of the most successful clubs in Finland, with nine Finnish championships and 12 Finnish Cup wins.- History :...
of Finland), and the eventual solution was to decamp to Loftus Road
Loftus Road
Loftus Road is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, London. It is home to the English football team Queens Park Rangers of the Premier League and has a capacity of around 18,500. The four stands are called the Loftus Road End , Ellerslie Road Stand, South Africa Road Stand and the School End,...
, home of local rivals QPR
Queens Park Rangers F.C.
Queens Park Rangers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in White City, Hammersmith and Fulham, west London. As the 2010-11 Football League Championship champions, they now play in the top tier of English football the Premier League, for the first time in 15 years...
. During this time, many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. 'Back to the Cottage', later to become the 'Fulham Supporters Trust', was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the chairman and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable option for Fulham Football Club.
After one and a half seasons at Loftus Road, no work had been done on the Cottage. In December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8million worth of major refurbishment work to bring it in line with Premier League requirements. With planning permission granted, work began in January 2004 in order 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 start of the 2004–05 season
FA Premier League 2004-05
The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....
. Their first game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium was a pre-season friendly against Watford on 10 July 2004.
Fratton Park
Fratton Park is a football stadium in the English city-port of Portsmouth. It has been the home of professional club Portsmouth F.C. since its construction in 1898.-Description:...
, the DW Stadium and the Madejski Stadium
Madejski Stadium
The Madejski Stadium is a stadium in Reading, Berkshire, England. The stadium is the home of Reading Football Club and to the rugby union club London Irish as tenants. It also provides the finish for the Reading Half Marathon...
). Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, mostly including Australia. This venue is suitable for Australia because most of the country's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate
Expatriate
An expatriate is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing...
Australians. Also, Greece
Greece national football team
The Greece national football team represents Greece in association football and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece's home ground is Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and their head coach is Fernando Santos...
vs. South Korea
Korea Republic national football team
The Korea Republic national football team represents Korea Republic in international football and is controlled by the Korea Football Association. Korea Republic is the most successful Asian football team in the history of the FIFA World Cup having participated in eight World Cup tournaments,...
was also hosted on 6 February 2007. In 2011 Brazil played Ghana, in an international friendly, and the Women's Champions League Final
2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
The 2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final of the second season of the UEFA Women's Champions League and was held at Fulham's Craven Cottage in London, England, on 26 May 2011....
was hosted.
Craven Cottage often hosts many other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. Also, many have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant or the 'Cottage Cafe' on non-match days. Craven Cottage recently hosted the 2006 Oxbridge
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in England, and the term is now used to refer to them collectively, often with implications of perceived superior social status...
Varsity Football match prior to the famous 'The Boat Race
The Boat Race
The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
', as well as having a Soccer Aid
Soccer Aid
-Event schedule:*22 May 2006 – Start of the television coverage, presented by Ant and Dec. Rest of the World defeats England in a penalty shoot-out*23 May 2006 – Practice match: England 1–0 England Legends...
warm-up match. The half-time entertainment often includes the SW6ers (previously called The Cravenettes) which are a group of female cheerleaders. However, other events have included brass bands, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
(albeit just walking on the pitch once, as opposed to performing), Travis
Travis (band)
Travis are a post-Britpop band from Glasgow, Scotland, comprising Fran Healy , Dougie Payne , Andy Dunlop and Neil Primrose...
playing, Arabic dancing, keepie uppie
Keepie uppie
Keepie uppie, or "kick-ups" is the skill of juggling with a football using feet, lower legs, knees, chest, shoulders, and head, without allowing the ball to hit the ground...
professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competition of some kind, usually involving scoring through a 'hoop' or 'beat the goalie'. On the first home game of the season, there is a carnival where every Fulham fan is expected to turn up in black-and-white colours. There is usually live rock bands, player signings, clowns, stilt walkers, a steel (calypso) band, food stalls and a free training session for children in Bishops Park.
The Fulham Ladies
Fulham L.F.C.
WFC Fulham, previously known as Fulham LFC, was a Ladies Football Club formerly associated with Fulham Football Club. The team were dissolved as of 16 May 2006, but were later re-established with independence from Fulham F.C....
(before their demise) and Reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. Other than this, they generally play at the club's training ground at Motspur Park
Motspur Park
Motspur Park, also known locally as West Barnes is a suburb in South West London situated across the boundary between the London Borough of Merton and the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames. It owes its identity to the railway station of the same name, which has six trains an hour to London's...
or at Kingstonian
Kingstonian F.C.
Kingstonian Football Club are an English, semi-professional football club that are playing in the Isthmian League Premier Division for the 2011–12 season. The club has played at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames since 1989, after leaving their traditional Richmond Road ground...
and AFC Wimbledon's
AFC Wimbledon
AFC Wimbledon is a professional English football club that traces its origins to Wimbledon in the London Borough of Merton. Based at Kingsmeadow, Kingston upon Thames, the club are members of Football League Two, the fourth tier of English football....
stadium, Kingsmeadow. Craven Cottage is known by several affectionate nicknames from fans, including: The (River) Cottage, The Fortress (or Fortress Fulham), Thameside, The Friendy 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' or The River of Dreams
The River of Dreams
"The River of Dreams" is a single by Billy Joel. It is the title track and first single from his 1993 album River of Dreams. The song was a hit, peaking at #3 on the US and UK charts, making it his highest charting of the 1990s. It also hit the top spot in Australia and on the Billboard Adult...
. The easiest way (though it's still quite hard) to get to the ground is to walk through Bishops Park, often known as 'The Green Mile' by Fulham fans (as it is roughly a mile walk through pleasant greenery).
Plans
Craven Cottage is where most Fulham fans would like to be, although the club might prefer a more lucrative situation – a larger ground enabling greater ticket revenue. Whether the club is still looking for a new site for a stadium is unknown, but comments in summer 2004 from Fulham's CEO at the time, Jim Hone, suggest Fulham are back home for good. Fulham's move back to the Cottage is believed to have been instigated and financed by the sale of Louis SahaLouis Saha
Louis Laurent Saha is a French footballer of Guadelupian origin who currently plays as a forward for Everton FC in the Premier League and the France national team. A former scholar at the Clairefontaine football academy, he started his career at Metz before playing on loan at Newcastle United...
to Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
, as his transfer covered the £9 million bill. Plans to move to White City with QPR into a 40,000 all-seater stadium appear to have been put firmly on hold. Fulham now have more realistic expectations of aiming for a mid-table finish and ensuring Premiership survival. The board seem to have moved away from their grandiose ideas of making Fulham the "Manchester United of the south" as Al-Fayed has come to realise how expensive it is to subsidise a Premiership outfit. Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual increase of the ground's capacity every summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during the summer for the past 3 years and this trend increased in 2008 with a small increase in the capacity of the Hammersmith End. Fulham previously announced that they are planning to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4000 seats, but this is yet to be implemented. Owing to Fulham's success in becoming a well-known Premier League club, their success in domestic and European Cups and the size of the ground, many games have sold out quickly. It is expected that the capacity will be increased by at least 1,000 seats over the Summer after the end of the 2009–2010 season..
Hammersmith End
The HammersmithHammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
End (or Hammy) is the northernmost stand in the ground, and, hence the name, the closest to Hammersmith. It is situated such that looking out from the stand you can see the Putney End and the Cottage opposite, the Riverside Stand (and the river itself) to the right and the Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stand to the left. The roofing on the 'Smithy' was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery
Alan Mullery
Alan Patrick Mullery MBE is a former English football player and manager. After enjoying a successful career with Fulham and in the 1960s and 1970s, he became a manager working with several different clubs. He is now employed as a television pundit...
to Spurs
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
. It is home to the more vocal Fulham fans,and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand. If Fulham win the toss, they usually choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half.
Putney End
The PutneyPutney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and Bishops Park. To its right is The Cottage, opposite is the Hammersmith End, with the Riverside and Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stands to left and right respectively. This generally hosts visiting or 'neutral' supporters. When the ground became redeveloped in 2003-4 (during Fulham's exile to Loftus Road) the club applied for a licence to have a designated neutral area. Due to Fulham's past history of having no segregation in the Putney End and having very well-behaved fans, the FA gave Fulham special dispensation to allow for this. Fulham is the only club currently in the UK to have such an area. Fans can wear whatever shirt and support either side in this area, leading to friendly banter. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, although they were retracted after the 2006–07 season commenced.
Riverside Stand
Eric Miller (businessman)
Sir Eric Merton Miller was a British businessman who committed suicide while under investigation for fraud.-Early life:...
Stand (one of the directors at the time). The stand was opened in a prestigious friendly against S.L. Benfica, who included Eusebio
Eusébio
Eusébio da Silva Ferreira, GCIH, GCM , commonly known simply as Eusébio, is a retired Mozambican-born Portuguese football forward. He is considered one of the best footballers of all-time by the IFFHS, experts and fans...
in the team. The name of the stand became called simply The Riverside after the discovery of Eric Miller's suicide, who had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement.
The Riverside Stand backs onto the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
and is elevated uniquely above the pitch unlike the other 3 stands. It contains the corporate hospitality seating alongside Fulham fans. Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...
once referred to the Riverside being "a bit like the London Palladium" as Blocks V & W (the middle section) are often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There are several Harrods
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
advertising boardings and above these is the gantry, for the press and cameras. Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they are also some of the more expensive. It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney End to its right and is opposite the Johnny Haynes
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stand. During the 70's, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. On non-match days, the George Cohen
George Cohen
George Reginald Cohen MBE was the right back for England in the side which won the 1966 World Cup. He is the uncle of Rugby Union World Cup winner, Ben Cohen.-Football career:...
restaurant is open providing posh-nosh from Harrods or alternatively there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. (The River Café
The River Café (London)
The River Café is a restaurant in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, England, specializing in Italian cuisine. It is owned and run by chef Ruth Rogers and until early 2010, Rose Gray....
is also located nearby). Under Tommy Trinder
Tommy Trinder
Thomas Edward Trinder CBE known as Tommy Trinder, was an English stage, screen and radio comedian of the pre and post war years whose catchphrase was 'You lucky people'.-Life:...
's chairmanship in the 60's, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. However, when Fulham were relegated in 1969, Trinder decided not to change the flags as "Fulham won't be in this division next season". True to Tommy's prophecy, Fulham were relegated again. There is now a campaign to bring back the flags again. The Riverside Stand has been used by sponsors, placing adverts on top of the covering, sponsors who have used this include Pipex.com and (Lee Cooper Jeans. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the 'Smithy' End' indicates the end of the 'Fulham Wall', which is the mile post
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
in The Boat Race
The Boat Race
The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...
.
Johnny Haynes Stand
Johnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
; on 27 November 2005 it was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand. It holds home supporters of which a lot are season ticket holders and is located opposite the Riverside Stand, with the Putney End and the Cottage to its left, and the Hammersmith end to the right. This stand includes the ticket office and club shop, as well as nostalgic original wooden seats. There used to be an exact replica built by Leitch at Stamford Bridge
Stamford Bridge (stadium)
Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, West London, and is the home of Chelsea Football Club. The stadium is located within the Moore Park Estate also known as Walham Green and is often referred to as simply The Bridge...
which had long been demolished. This remains the oldest stand (dating back to 1905) in the Football League and is thus a Grade II* listed building (thanks to Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...
's efforts when saving the club as Chairman). (The oldest football stand in the world is considered to belong to Great Yarmouth Town, though Wolverton A.F.C.
Wolverton A.F.C.
Wolverton Association Football Club, often known simply as Wolverton, was an English football team representing the town of Wolverton . The club's motto was "In Omnia Paratus" . The club was wound up in 1992...
dispute this, although this is no longer in use as a football stand) The original wooden Bennet seats as specified by Leitch in 1905 now number 3,571, remain as robust as ever.
Due to parts of the structure being wooden and the smoking ban, there is a no-smoking policy in this part of the ground. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a brick façade rarely seen amongst stadia and features the club's old emblem in the artwork. Decorative pillars show the club's foundation date as 1880 though this is thought to be incorrect. Also, a special stone to commemorate Fulham 2000 and The Cottagers return to 'The Cottage' was engraved on the façade. The family enclosure is located in the corner nearest to the Hammersmith end. The stand also features very narrow and rickety turnstiles (that all must pass through. The 2006–7 season saw the club introduce new RFID tickets, which are read electronically when passing through the gates. Where the new plastic seating lies (in front of the wooden seats), originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch (up until the 70's).
The Pavilion
The Cottage Pavilion dates back to 1905 along with the Johnny HaynesJohnny Haynes
John Norman "Johnny" Haynes was an English footballer, best known for his 18 years at Fulham. He played a club-record 658 games and scored 158 goals for the club between 1952 and 1970...
Stand, built by renowned architect Archibald Leitch
Archibald Leitch
Archibald "Offside Archie" Leitch was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadia throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.-Early work:...
. The reason The Cottage was built was due to an oversight in the Stevenage Road Stand (as it was then), as Leitch had forgotten to accommodate changing rooms in his final plans. Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) was traditionally used by the players' families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game, but the club now sell those seats at a premium game-by-game rate. In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on three levels.
Records
- Record Attendance: 49,335 v Millwall, 8 October 1938 (Division Two).
- Record Modern Attendance: 25,700 v Arsenal F.C. on Saturday 26 September 2009. (Premier League).
Fulham's Average League Attendances
- 1997/98: 9,004
- 1998/99: 11,387
- 1999/00: 13,092
- 2000/01: 14,985
- 2001/02: 19,389
- 2002/03: 16,707 (played at Loftus Road)
- 2003/04: 16,342 (played at Loftus Road)
- 2004/05: 19,838
- 2005/06: 20,654
- 2006/07: 22,279
- 2007/08: 23,774
- 2008/09: 24,343
- 2009/10: 23,909
- 2010/11 25,043
All-Time Attendance
- Total attendance:28,230,560 (Correct up to 7 May 2006)
- Average total attendance:15,194 (ranked 32 of 130 English club teams in history)
- Ground improvements at English football Stadia
International Matches
In recent years, Craven Cottage has hosted several International Friendly matches, including the Republic of Ireland national football teamRepublic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
who recently played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 and May 2009 respectively.
The Korea Republic national football team
Korea Republic national football team
The Korea Republic national football team represents Korea Republic in international football and is controlled by the Korea Football Association. Korea Republic is the most successful Asian football team in the history of the FIFA World Cup having participated in eight World Cup tournaments,...
have also used the ground twice in recent years for international friendlies, first against Greece in February 2007 and then against Serbia in November 2009.
On 17 November 2007 Australia beat Nigeria 1–0 in an international friendly at Craven Cottage.
In 26 May 2011, Craven Cottage hosted the game of 2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final
The 2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final of the second season of the UEFA Women's Champions League and was held at Fulham's Craven Cottage in London, England, on 26 May 2011....
between Lyon and Potsdam
1. FFC Turbine Potsdam
1. FFC Turbine Potsdam is a women's football club team in Potsdam, Germany. The full name is 1. Frauen-Fußball-Club Turbine Potsdam 71 e. V. . They are one of the most successful teams in Germany...
. In September 2011, a friendly between Ghana
Ghana national football team
The Ghana national football team, popularly known as the Black Stars, is the national association football team of Ghana and is controlled by the Ghana Football Association...
and Brazi
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
l was also held at Craven Cottage
Trivia
- Fulham Rugby League Club played at Craven Cottage between 1980 and 1984, hosting their largest attendance. The ground has also hosted Oxbridge varsity matches in rugby and football.
- The ground has hosted the most Socceroo matches outside of AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and was one of the pioneers in hosting (neutral) international friendlies. - Fulham were the last team to have standing accommodation in the Premier League, as Craven Cottage included terraces in the 2001–02 season2001-02 in English footballThe 2001-02 season was the 122nd season of competitive football in England.-Arsenal cruise to title glory:In what had earlier been one of the most closely fought Premiership title races for years, Arsenal won the championship by seven points. Their crown was won in the penultimate game of the...
– eight years after the Taylor ReportTaylor ReportThe Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report, better known as the Taylor Report is a document, whose development was overseen by Lord Taylor of Gosforth, concerning the aftermath and causes of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989. An interim report was published in August 1989, and the final...
outlawed terraces at this level. - The original Craven Cottage site was covered in woodlands. One plane treePlatanusPlatanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
survives today in a corner of the Putney End, the sole tree to be found in any British senior football stadium. - On 3 April 2011, Fulham unveiled a statue of Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
outside the stadium before its match with Blackpool. The singer, who died in 2009, was not a Fulham fan and had no interest in football whatsoever, but attended a Fulham match once and was friends with club chairman Mohamed Al-FayedMohamed Al-FayedMohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed is an Egyptian businessman and billionaire. Amongst his business interests are ownership of the English Premiership football team Fulham Football Club, Hôtel Ritz Paris and formerly Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge...
, who commissioned the statue.