Craven Cottage

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Craven Cottage is the name of a sports stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham area that has been the home ground of the football team Fulham F.C. since 1896. Its capacity has recently been increased to around 24,500 with the highest Fulham premiership home attendance of 24,510 fans present for the 2-1 win against Arsenal F.C. on November 29, 2006. Fulham are renowned for their special bond with Craven Cottage, as many fans view the ground as being the epitome of what the club stands for. Craven Cottage has one of the most romantic settings in all of football, being located in Bishops Park[2] on the banks of The Thames[3].

[edit] History

[edit] Pre-Fulham

The original 'Cottage' was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven. 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, though these are all likely to have been fabricated. 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 (11) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886-1888.

[edit] 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, on October 10, 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 rose to prominence after his building of Ibrox a few years prior, was hired to work on the stadium. In a scheme costing 15,000 pounds (which was a record for the time), he had a new pavilion (the modern Cottage itself) and a stand built, in his characteristic red brick style[4].

The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005-2006 season and, following the tragic 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 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.

[edit] Establishing itself as a stadium

An England 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.

The ground again suffered a scare in 1933, when there were plans to demolish it and start again from scratch with a new ground. These plans never materialised.

On October 8, 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.

[edit] 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 Hammersmith end had a roof put over it, and an electronic scoreboard was put up.

After Fulham were 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[5], 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 costed 334,000 pounds and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, (which encluded 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. When Fulham were relegated in 1969, chairman Tommy Trinder famously remarked that there would be "no point in changing those flags as we won't be in this division next year". True to his word, Fulham were relegated again! Trinder then put his unique 'spin' on the situation, saying: We've never got a big enough run up to win the title, we keep running out of steam- so this should help get enough momentum"! Unfortunately, Fulham are still building up the steam to this day!

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 on February 15th, 1981.

[edit] Post-Hillsborough

When the Hillsborough tragedy 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. They were given a year to do something about this, but by the time the last league game was played there, against Leicester City on April 27, 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 at 'Legoland', many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. 'Fulham 2000' was set up as a pressure group to ensure The Cottagers moved back to their beloved home. A plaque is now in place along the Stevenage Road facade to honour the move back to 'Thameside'.

After one and a half seasons there, no work had been done on the Cottage. Suddenly, a plan to partially redevelop the stadium sprung up, and the club were able to return to their home for the start of the 2004-05 season.

Australia (yellow) vs New Zealand (white) friendly match at Craven Cottage 9 June 2005. The stand along the left is the historic Stevenage Road Stand, at the back is the Putney End, with the Cottage in between the two stands.

The current stadium is not the 33,000 state of the art ground Fulham fans would like to see; in fact it is the Premiership's third smallest ground (after Fratton Park and Vicarage Road), but it at least lets Fulham play at their "spiritual" home. Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, all including Australia. This venue is suitable because most of Australia's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate Australians. 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 'Boat Race', as well as having a celebrity vs. old pro charity football 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, Travis playing, Arabic dancing, kick-up professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competiton 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.

[edit] Future 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 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 Saha 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The ground as it stands

[edit] Hammersmith End

The Hammersmith 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 Stevenage Road stand to the left. It often contains some of Fulham's more passionate fans, including the Ultras Thames Valley Casuals in the backrow seats (nosebleeds). The roofing on the 'Smithy' was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery to Spurs.

[edit] Putney End

The Putney End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney and Bishops Park [6] [7]. To its right is The Cottage, opposite is the Hammersmith End, with the Riverside and Stevenage Road 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 or elsewhere to have such an area. The seats are often priced cheaper than elsewhere in the ground, and fans can wear whatever shirt and support either side in this area, leading to friendly banter. Often Chelsea supporters will turn up to support the away side in the neutral area, due to the rivalry between The Blues and Fulham. The neutral area has been affectionally nicknamed 'Little Switzerland', housing many spectators viewing their first ever live game. Due to the neutral area, Fulham fans in general, and the small and quiet nature of Craven Cottage, it is often called 'The Friendly Confines'. Above the seating in the Putney End, is the electronic scoreboard (the only one in the ground). This means away supporters can't actually see it, (though they know they are usually losing most of the time!). This reflects The Cottagers' tradition of being bad hosts, as the club never bothered to roof the away end (similar to Fratton Park) until the renovation. However, most away fans that visit Craven Cottage agree that it is one of the more pleasant and traditional Premiership grounds to come to. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad are hanged from the roofing of the Punt.

[edit] Riverside Stand

The Riverside Stand backs onto the river Thames, and 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 Stevenage Road Stand. During the 70's, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. On non-match days, a restaurant is open providing posh-nosh from Harrods or alternatively there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. 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, though wether Chelsea's cub badge would be flown is another matter!

[edit] Johnny Haynes Stand

Formerly the Stevenage Road Stand - named for the street it is on - The Johnny Haynes Stand[8] is the oldest and irrefutably the most beautiful of the ground[9]. Holding Fulham supporters, a lot of whom are season ticket holders, this is 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 but uncomfortable wooden seats, not plastic. Fulhamish folklore tells that when the club or ground are in dire peril, the founding fathers of Fulham assemble in Row J of Block F at midnight to discuss what is to be done to save the club. This remains the oldest stand (dating back to 1905) in the Football League and is thus a listed building (thanks to Jimmy Hill). The stand's new name was announced shortly after Johnny Haynes' untimely death in late 2005. Due to parts of the structure being wooden there is a no-smoking policy in this part of the ground. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a beautiful brick facade[10] rarely seen amongst stadia and features the club's old emblem in the artwork. Also, a special stone to commerate Fulham 2000 and The Cottagers return to their rightful home was engraved on the facade for all to see. 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) which are very much a squeeze for some of the more portly spectators. The 2006-7 season sees a new introduction in that all tickets are now read electronically when passing through the 'pearly gates'[11]. The stand also has a rather unique 'finial'[12] on the roofing, found now only in few other grounds (like Hillsborough's South Stand). Recently, photos and other tributes to Fulham's 'Maestro'[13] (Johnny Haynes) have been attached to the fencing nearest[14] the Hammersmith entrance[15]. 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). Fans often date their support of The Cottagers by saying whether they were BWPF (Before the White Picket Fence) or AWPF (After the White Picket Fence).

Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage [16] (also called The Clubhouse) itself was traditionally used by the players families and friends who sat on the balcony to watch the game[17], but the club now sells 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 3 other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on 3 levels.

[edit] Trivia

• A 'dedicated' Fulhamish supporter built an exact replica of Craven Cottage (clubhouse) for his Devon home, has goalposts as his garage and a small stream as the Thames!
• Fulham are not the only team located on the Thames. Besides many rowing clubs, Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C. 's Beveree Stadium is just 200 yards from the Thames, downstream from Hampton Court Palace.
• Fulham offer cruise trips (in paddleboats) from central London direct to the ground!
• The Cottagers have a large supporters club in Adelaide, South Australia as there is a suburb called Fulham.
• If Fulham had not decided to stay at the cottage and instead move to Stamford Bridge then Chelsea FC would not have been created.
• Fulham took part in the first ever British game to be played on a Sunday (against Millwall) in 1974. Fulham and Millwall also played in second Sunday game in 1982.
• Fulham holds the record for having played the most games (11) to reach an FA Cup Final, in 1975 (in fact their only final appearance against West Ham, which was lost 2-1).

[edit] Details

[edit] Address

Craven Cottage

Stevenage Road

Fulham

London

SW6 6HH

[edit] Phone Numbers

Telephone: 0870 442 1222

Fax: 020 7384 4715

Ticket Office: 0870 442 1234

Ticket Office Fax: 020 7384 4810

[edit] Records

Record Attendance: 49,335 v Millwall, 8 October 1938 (Division Two)

[edit] 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 (at Loftus Road)
• 2003/04: 16,342 (at Loftus Road)
• 2004/05: 19,838
• 2005/06: 20,654
• 2006/07: 21,723 (after 8 games)

[edit] External links

• [18]
• Aerial photo of Craven Cottage
• View from the back of the Hammersmith End

Coordinates: 51°28′29.5″N, 0°13′18″W