Formed in 1879 by members of the church on Star Road, West Kensington makes Fulham the oldest club in London. It was here that schoolchildren kicked the ball around on dilapidated playing fields that established the English club we all know today. Their first Cup tournament conquest was winning the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and 12 months later they changed their name from the long drawn-out Fulham St Andrews Church Sunday School Football Club to the shorter name of Fulham FC. In 1893, they then won the West London League in their first effort, but the club remained in amateur competition for another 5 years. Fulham moved ground in 1896 to the now renamed Craven Cottage and then in 1897 completed their move to professional football and played in the Southern League. In 1907, with two Southern League titles to their credit, they were accepted into the Football League.
Fulham’s first game in Division 2 was at home against Hull City; unfortunately, they lost 1-0. This was only a minor setback as they improved their game and position in the tables and managed to finish their opening season in a respectable 4th place. High hopes of the club achieving promotion to Division 1 were soon dashed and the realization of spending the next two decades in Division 2 was cemented with only average performances. Football or the lack thereof dealt Fulham a heavy blow at the end of the 1927 season, seeing the club relegated to Division 3; officially known as the 3rd Division South. In a way, Fulham’s footballing skills and gifts were more typical of this lower division and it would take a fundamental change for the club to aim for a better situation. Changing the basic principles of the club from top to bottom did not happen overnight. Spending 3 seasons in Division 3 taught Fulham an invaluable lesson in complacency and modesty. In the 1931/32 season, Fulham rose to the occasion and once again ruled their own destiny when they topped the tables with victories such as 10-2 against Torque United and an impressive 111 goals scored that season in which they promoted to Division 2.
Fulham’s footballing gifts and new form continued into the following season as they moved up the table and a back-to-back promotion seemed likely, but with some good wins from Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur, they dropped to third place.
In 1949, entering what is described as the modern era of football, Fulham’s dreams and ambitions were coming true as they secured promotion to Division 1. With this also came the responsibility of competing alongside football clubs. experts who had world-class players. At your disposal. Fulham’s debut season at the top level saw them struggle and poor performances were regular and almost became the norm for the club. The end of the season could not have come sooner and miraculously Fulham remained in 17th place in the table. More of the same followed the following season with the club managing once again to avoid relegation. Inevitably though, in the 1951/52 season their bottom-table finish meant that Division 1 had, for the time being, expired for them.
The several years that followed Fulham never showed anything special until they found some form and gracefully reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1958. This gave them much-needed confidence. Another boost for the club came when they were promoted back to the top flight of football. Appearing more self-assured, this appealed to the footballing gifts of Graham Leggat, who made 277 appearances for Fulham and competently scored 134 goals, placing him in the club’s top five goalscorer. They finished the season in a mediocre 10th place, which was their highest Division 1 position at the time. During these periods Craven Cottage could draw crowds of over 30,000 people.
The 1950s brought other talents to the club, one player in particular is synonymous with Fulham Football Club and must be mentioned. John Norman Haynes, from the Kentish Town area of London, was signed by the club while he was still a school boy and is considered by many to be the club’s greatest player with unsurpassed passing skills. He also received the nicknames Mr Fulham and The Maestro and earned additional honors making 52 caps for England, 22 as Captain. Haynes’s dedication and loyalty to Fulham was complete, spending his entire professional football career with the club. He had a brief spell as a player at Durban City, a South African club, but this was after he had stopped playing professionally. In his Fulham years, Hayne’s footballing gifts made 658 appearances for the club and until 1991 they held the record for top goalscorer with 158 goals.
In the mid-70s the club made important signings with players like Bobby Moore and Alan Mullery. This had an impact on performance as the club achieved their first FA Cup Final against West Ham in 1975. Unfortunately for the club, West Ham scored 2 goals within five minutes of each other and went away champions with the score 2 -0. In this same period the club made another final in the Anglo-Scottish Cup but lost to Middlesbrough. George Best was at the club playing 47 times in the 1976/77 season.
However, in the 1979/80 season, Fulham hit rock bottom again, being relegated once more and manager Bobby Campbell was sacked. His successor Malcolm Macdonald restructured the team with new signings such as the football gifts of Gerry Peyton, Tony Gale, Ray Houghton and others, creating a stronger team and in doing so, won promotion to Division 2. Fulham were in good shape the season after the goal. sadly, losing to Derby in the last game denied Fulham back-to-back promotion to Division 1. Unfortunately, Fulham’s debts were crippling the club financially and the decision was made to sell numerous quality players to keep the ship afloat. float. Now with the team in tatters and a squad halfway out of relegation hot on the heels of Fulham. In 1986 they conceded the inevitable and returned to Division 3. The club never found a footing for the rest of the 1980s and early 1990s, but they did win promotion to Division 2.
1997 gave the club some financial security when businessman Mohamed Al-Fayed brought the club in that summer and promised Fulham would be in football’s top flight within five years. The first chapter of this was selecting Kevin Keegan as manager, who had been the club’s director of operations. That season the momentum grew with Fulham winning game after game. They managed to score a tremendous 101 points and with it promotion to Division 1. This was helped by the signing of Paul Peschisolido; West Broms top scorer and the footballing skills of captain Chris Coleman. The only hurdle for Fulham was that the FA offered Keegan the job of England FC manager. A delighted Keegan agreed.
Paul Bracewell took over the club, but not for long, having been sacked by Al-Fayed in March 2000. French player Jean Amadou Tigana made 52 caps for France under his belt and had the chance to manage Fulham FC, and he did it with great success. . All the hard work had finally come to fruition and past relegation disappointments could now be put behind them. Shocking the opposition with a 10-point gap between themselves and runners-up Blackburn Rovers, top division football was theirs for the first time since 1968. Heartbreakingly sad for fans and players alike, and even more so for Chris Coleman himself, It was the serious car accident he had. he got involved in. There was great hope that he would make a full recovery to see him play for Fulham again, but it was not to be. The fantastic team that Tigana had strengthened was unable to maintain their excellent form in the Premiership. Even finishing a respectable 13th place in the tables, this for many was a preview of what they expected. Things escalated for the Frenchman the following season with more unfavorable results and his demise came abruptly when they lost 4-0 at home to Blackburn Rovers.
Chris Coleman’s footballing gifts returned to Fulham, but this time not as captain but as manager towards the end of the 2002 season, which wowed many at the club and fans. Under his reigns, the club finished with an all-time record of ninth place the following season. Coleman saw his team have some tough games in the 2005/06 season, but with it came some impressive results at the expense of big clubs like Chelsea; beating them 1-0 and then Liverpool tested the Fulham boys as the surprised scouse club finished the match with nothing more than 2 goals. However, Coleman’s talents on the field were not on the same level off the field and, with a string of bad luck, his services were no longer needed in the 2007 season.
Three days after Christmas 2007, Roy Hodgson was announced as Fulham’s new manager. Hodgson made some immediate signings in the January transfer window.