Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Fulham Football Club (FFC) match - London



While in London I went to a football match at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham FC. They were playing Cardiff City. Both teams are part of the Champions League, a step below the Premier League. Currently Fulham is ranked #2 out of 24 in the league. 

The team is owned by the owner of the NFL Jacksonville Jaguars, Shahid Khan. A major sponsor of Fulham FC is visitflorida.com. One of the reasons I did not think about buying a team jersey was all the advertising on it. If it weren't for the small FFC patch sewn on the front, you'd think it was an American team. 

The team's mascot is Billy the badger.

Here are some photos inside the stadium.




The opposition- Cardiff City

The match itself was fun. Many families attended. It got loud in there at times. The Cardiff fan section was very vocal throughout the match. The main complaint I heard about Fulham was the lack of a good striker (forward). They really need a goal scorer. At one point near the end of the match Fulham was down 1-2. They had multiple opportunities to score and just could not get the ball across the goal line. Finally the ball was tapped in to make the final score a 2-2 draw. 

The outside of the stadium is a nice brick facade.


One of Fulham's most exciting players was Johnny Haynes (b. 1934 d. 2005). He played there for 18 years as a forward. He also represented England on the national team for many years. His statue is featured prominently outside.

Getting to Cravens Cottage Stadium was easy. I took the District line subway and got off at Putney Bridge. From there you walk about .7 miles, mostly through Bishop's Park, to the stadium. It was a little confusing which way to go upon exiting the tube station, but later on there were signs pointing your way. The stadium is very near the Thames River and in the flight path of an airport.

I recommend attending a match. It was a friendly atmosphere and the staff on duty were very helpful.














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