Fulham FC - Craven Cottage

Did you hear about Penev's woes also?

Apparently, he was detained as they departed Sofia Airport due to a summons out for his arrest over an unpaid bill and his passport was confiscated; so CSKA (Pronounced see-eska) had to depart for London without him.

It took two days to resolve his situation, so that when the game kicked off at Craven Cottage, he was just emerging from Heathrow in the back of a taxi with hopes of watching just the second half!

I love Craven Cottage, the finest location for a football ground imaginable down there by the river and the backdrop to the old stand in Stevenage Road is just marvellous in all it's Edwardian red rick splendour adorned with gables and old white windows. Just by the Cottage entrance there is a nice little statue of Johnny Haynes and a cafe built into the grandstand called Haynes Place that opens out onto the street where tables and chairs are set out in the summer. A quiet neighbourhood where one can hear a car being started up streets away, but a well heeled one too these days with the former artisan's terraced cottages fetching near on a million quid each in the surrounding streets.

Just up the road there is the iconic River Cafe where the young Jamie Oliver cut his commercial teeth under the tutorship of Ruth Rogers, the wife of leading architect Lord Richard Rogers of Riverside the principal of partnership Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners who's waterfront premises envelope the cafe and impress with their modernity situated just where they are directly accross from the Harrod's Depository which sits on the Surrey Bank of the Thames in sight of lovely elegant Hammersmith Bridge in it's "Harrods" Green and Gold livery.

A lovely, peaceful enclave, just down from the roar of traffic and congestion of Hammersmith Broadway and the Talgarth Road carrying traffic out to Heathrow and the M4 to the West. Indeed Fulham itself is a fascinating area to stroll around from the elegance of Queens Club in the North to the peace of Fulham Palace Gardens and Hurlingham Park in the South, there are loads of intricate little terraced streets that contain many little businesses that bely the former semi industrial past of the area in Victorian and Edwardian times; the proximity of the River Thames with it's many old wharves and the sheer affluence of the old mansion blocks that sit cheek by jowl with the brutal concrete high rise of the council estates around Fulham Cross and the legendary North End Road street market.

There's another football club right on the Northern boundary of SW6, but Chelsea's Stamford Bridge has nothing in common with the longer established Cottage and it's neighbourhood and looks more towards it's brash neighbour Earls Court Arenas for approval of it's existence rather than the decaying glory of Brompton Cemetary which actually marks the border of Chelsea and backs right up against "The Bridge"!

Dave, if you take a very deep breath and close eyes for a few seconds, you can almost imagine that there really is footie from grass roots to the top level in Devon. We still have a few half decent teams down here. (OK, I will concede that Plymouth isn't really true top level), but no-one can argue that the lads at Plainmoor do put their heart and soul into the game nearly every week on our behalf to try to make us all happy!

I would very much rather live down here with the calmness and peaceful tranquility that we have on offer than to struggle through the endless streams of traffic and pollution that is the alternative in some other parts of this country of ours. No offence to the capital and other large cities and conurbations in the midlands and north, but give me lovely Devon with its beautiful moorland and seascapes any day. True the teams in London are closer to or at the top level of the game, but to live here in this gorgeous area of natural beauty is still a lifetime ambition of many in that area and we are truly fortunate to have that wish each and every day of our lives!

I wouldn't swop it for premiership teams on my doorstep or anything else for that matter!

Great photos and report Chris, my missus likes Fulham and I am sure that she will be interested in the pictures you have shown here.

I had a Bullworker, but was never strong enough to attain the strength to benefit from owning one ~ if that makes sense!

Once it ripped off my chest hair so that for the rest of my life I haver been forced to wear a chest wig, and smashed my front teeth when I tried the exercise of holding it down with my feet and doing pull ups with it. I looked a bit of a mess, so settled for displaying it on my living room wall as a vain expression of "He Manship" and a statement to any woman in my life that here was a man not to be messed with except that he wore a syrup on his chest and "falsies" in the middle of that engaging smile ;D

Good job I never tried to improve my erection with it!

I paid another visit to Craven Cottage yesterday. The first one since the bitterly cold game against CSKA Sofia. They had a pre-season game against Werder Bremen. This was Mark Hughes' first home game in charge. Both teams putting out very decent sides. Fulham played most of there first team and Werder's first half line up included the likes of full german internationals Tim Wiese, Per Mertesacker, Tim Borowski, Aaron Hunt, Clemens Fritz and Torsten Frings, with all their other stars such as ex Bayern Munich and Chelsea player Claudio Pizarro and the impressive Portuguese International Hugo Almeida. Both Mesut Ozil and Marko Marin came on towards half time.

The game was also watched by Sir Alex Ferguson who was sitting about 5 metres away from me. I was trying to work out who he was looking at. He seemed to make more notes everytime Werder defended a set piece. Mertesacker maybe? But I can't really see him playing Mertesacker and Nemanja Vidic in the same line up. Mesut Ozil started on the bench for Werder and did absolutely nothing when he did come on.

Fulham looked awful in the first half. The defence was cut to ribbons time and time again by Werder Bremen's incisive passing and Mark Schwarzer had to make at least 3 or 4 excellent saves. In the end Werder only had to show one goal scored by Claudio Pizarro.

However in the second half after, I guess, a half time rocket from Mark Hughes, Fulham equalised through Bobby Zamora, then the excellent Zoltan Gera scored a quickfire hat-trick before Eddie Johnson grabbed the fifth. Fulham seemed to be a bit fitter and by the end of the game you could tell their second string is a lot stronger than Werder Bremens. When the 5th goal went in the Hammersmith End started singing "Are you Wigan in disguise?".

Anyway a few photos from yesterday's game.





Nice View.



Mohammed Al-Fayed plus bodyguards.



Sir Alex.



Torsten Frings



Per Mertesacker plays the ball out of defence



Mesut Ozil



Mark Hughes, or is it Devon from Knight Rider?



Post match

Is 'The Cottage' pub still open. That was run by the Meyer family in days gone by, must take a trip there soon. If anyone has any info or olden days pics of the pub do get in touch.