Fulham

» Click for all Fulham shirts and memorabilia

Latest Fulham News:

Fulham Football Club

Fulham is the oldest of London’s first class clubs and its long history began back in 1879 with some Sunday-school boys knocking a ball around a park. Seventeen years later, when the first game was played at Craven Cottage, the relationship between Club and its ground was begun. This relationship and the battle to stay there has been a dominant feature of Club affairs on numerous occasions during Fulham’s history.

The first time Fulham entered the FA Cup was in 1896. They were then a London League side and were drawn at Swanscombe in the Second Qualifying Round. The Cottagers lost 0-5. By the time they came up against Arsenal at Woolwich in February 1904, the Cottagers had already won seven FA Cup-ties that season. The eighth was one too many. Arsenal won 1-0.

The club's League career began inauspiciously, with a 0-1 home defeat September 1907 against Hull City. The first victory came at Derby County four days later, and the following week, the Cottagers recorded their first home win in the League, a resounding 6-1 victory over Lincoln City. From then until the outbreak of the First World War, Fulham settled into a comfortable mid-table position, finishing between 7th and 12th positions, with between 37 and 41 points from 38 matches.

Everton feature three times in Fulham's list of major Cup triumphs, the first coming in the Third Round in 1925-6 at Goodison Park when the visitors snatched a draw. The replay saw The Cottagers snatch an improbable 1-0 win, thanks to a goal by Bert White. In Round Four, Fulham welcomed Everton's neighbours Liverpool to Craven Cottage and almost 37,000 saw the underdogs triumph 3-1

It was another 10 years before the Fulham made another impression on the Cup. The Fifth Round of the 1935/36 FA Cup brought Fulham and Chelsea together for the first time in the Cup. Fulham won this match 3-2. t was in the 15 or so years immediately after the Second World War that the Cottagers enjoyed their best spell in the Cup. Between 1946 and 1962, they reached the semi finals twice and twice more made it to the last eight.

It was a long time coming but, when Fulham finally made it through to the Cup Final in 1975 but lost to West Ham 2-0

In the desperate relegation year of 1967-8, Fulham recorded their first significant League Cup run, which has not been bettered to this day. Tranmere and Workington were relatively easy opponents in the opening rounds. The Fourth Round saw League title aspirants (and eventual champions) Manchester City visit the Cottage which ended in a 2-2 draw. They had home advantage over Second Division Huddersfield. Huddersfield took the lead through Frank Worthington and looked like absorbing all the Cottagers' pressure until Joe Gilroy headed an equaliser to earn a replay. At Leeds Road, Gilroy was again on the mark, putting Fulham ahead in the first half but, after the break, Huddersfield scored twice and went on to meet Arsenal in the semi-final.