West London derby
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The West London Derby (sometimes known as the King's Road or SW6 Derby, owing to the clubs sharing a postcode) is one of the lesser known local derbies in English football. It is contested between Chelsea and Fulham.
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[edit] Summary
In contrast to many rivalries in English football, such as the North London derby and the Merseyside derby, Chelsea and Fulham have spent much of their existence in separate divisions - between 1968 and 2001, the two were in the same division only five times - and have rarely been rivals for the major honours or played in many high-profile matches. This has greatly limited the scope for it to develop and actually served to weaken it.
In 1904, businessman Gus Mears approached the Fulham chairman Henry Norris about moving the club from their Craven Cottage home to the nearby Stamford Bridge Athletics Ground on the Fulham Road, which he had recently acquired. Norris declined following a dispute over the rent; as a result, Mears formed his own club to occupy the ground, Chelsea. Fulham thus had an indirect role in Chelsea's foundation. It also ensured that, despite Chelsea's name, there were two clubs in the Fulham Borough.[1] The geographical proximity of the teams is the basis for the rivalry, rather than religious or political reasons, as with other derbies.
The first competitive match between the sides took place on 3 December 1910 in the Second Division, with a crowd of 35,000 at Craven Cottage watching Fulham win 1-0. The peak of the rivalry was arguably during the inter-war years and just after, when matches between the sides were always among the most popular (and most highly attended) on the fixture calendar. While both clubs were largely unsuccessful until the 1960s, they have since drifted apart and the significance of matches between them has correspondingly declined. Chelsea enjoyed successful spells during the 1960s and 1970s, and again from the mid-1990s to the present day, while Fulham spent much of that period in the lower divisions of the Football League. As a caveat to that, when Chelsea and Fulham did meet in league games in the 1970s and 1980s, the attendances were always among the highest for the season, with the lack of regular matches often making the derby more eagerly anticipated.
The reduced number of encounters saw Chelsea fans develop rivalries with other teams, notably Leeds United, other London clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, and even a club from altogether another country (no less than the Catalan giants of F.C. Barcelona; see Chelsea F.C. and FC Barcelona football rivalry). Fulham also formed rivalries with other teams from London like Brentford and QPR. All these reduced the prominence of the West London Derby. That is less true for Fulham fans, with the fact that their nearest neighbours have been more successful ensuring that matches against Chelsea retain a David vs Goliath factor. Fulham returned to the top division in 2001, putting the clubs in the same division for the first time since 1983-84.
On 19 March 2006, Fulham beat Chelsea 1-0 for the first time in 27 years with a goal from Luis Boa Morte. The match was marred by controversy and crowd trouble and has arguably rekindled the derby somewhat. Chelsea gained revenge for this defeat on 23 September with a 2-0 win at Craven Cottage, in which Frank Lampard struck twice. Thankfully there was little trouble before and after the game, due to appeals for calm from managers and players of both clubs and a much higher than normal police presence, to deter fans from entering the pitch after the game.
[edit] Results
As of 2 June 2006, there have been 64 competitive matches between the two teams since 1910, with Chelsea generally dominant having won more than half and lost only nine. Chelsea's highest margin of victory is 4-0, on 26 September 1925 and again on 7 April 1984, both of which were at Stamford Bridge and in the Second Division. Fulham's biggest win is 3-0, which came in an FA Cup 5th round replay on 14 February 1951. The highest number of goals scored in a derby match is eight, when Chelsea beat Fulham 5-3 on 8 October 1983.
| Chelsea wins | Draws | Fulham wins | |
|---|---|---|---|
| League | 33 | 16 | 7 |
| FA Cup | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| League Cup | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 37 | 19 | 9 |
[edit] Recent results
| Venue | Date | Competition | Chelsea | Fulham |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stamford Bridge | December 30, 2006 | FA Premier League | 2 | 2 |
| Craven Cottage | September 23, 2006 | FA Premier League | 2 | 0 |
| Craven Cottage | March 19, 2006 | FA Premier League | 0 | 1 |
| Stamford Bridge | December 26, 2005 | FA Premier League | 3 | 2 |
| Stamford Bridge | April 23, 2005 | FA Premier League | 3 | 1 |
| Craven Cottage | November 30, 2004 | League Cup Quarter-final | 2 | 1 |
| Craven Cottage | November 13, 2004 | FA Premier League | 4 | 1 |
| Stamford Bridge | March 20, 2004 | FA Premier League | 2 | 1 |
| Loftus Road | December 20, 2003 | FA Premier League | 1 | 0 |
| Stamford Bridge | April 26, 2003 | FA Premier League | 1 | 1 |
| Loftus Road | September 23, 2002 | FA Premier League | 0 | 0 |
| Villa Park | April 14, 2002 | FA Cup semi-final | 1 | 0 |
[edit] Notable matches
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Please try to keep recent events in historical perspective.
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- Chelsea 2–2 Fulham (30 December 2006) – A fair draw, with Fulham getting a late goal from Carlos Bocanegra. Fulham struck first when a Franck Queudrue throw on from the left hand side went into Chelsea’s area and reached Moritz Volz. The German U21 international took the pace of the ball in his stride before unleashing a thunderous right footed shot past Hilario with the 15,000 Premiership goal. Chelsea then pressured the Fulham defence and on 35 minutes they equalised. Chelsea pushed high into the pitch and a deep cross was headed clear by Liam Rosenior at the far post. The clearance reached landed just outside the box and the oncoming Lampard drilled a right footed shot into the box. The shot deflected off Rosenior and into Niemi’s goal to bring the game level. After half-time in the 61st minute Chelsea took the lead. A deep ball from the left flank found Drogba on the six yard line, but he was pressurised quickly and the striker sent his header back across the face of goal. Frank Lampard retrieved the ball on the by-line and sent in a right footed cross across goal. Drogba then received it on the six yard line which left him with only Niemi to beat and his header put Chelsea ahead. After creating several fine opportunities, starting with a free-kick from Wayne Routledge, Fulham’s efforts were rewarded on 83 minutes when Carlos Bocanegra brought the game level as the defender struck home from three yards after a header across goal from the right hand side which he placed past Hilario.
- Fulham 0–2 Chelsea (23 September 2006) – The teams were fairly evenly matched for two-thirds of the game, with both having good chances. The turning point came when the referee awarded a penalty kick to Chelsea after Liam Rosenior was adjudged to have handled the ball in the area; Frank Lampard successfully converted it. Lampard added a second from outside the area shortly afterwards to seal a 2-0 win. Fulham were angered at several refereeing decisions, particularly a failed claim for a penalty after Petr Čech and Michael Brown challenged for the ball. Chelsea, in turn, were angered that a late challenge by Brown on Ashley Cole went unpunished.
- Fulham 1–0 Chelsea (19 March 2006) – Fulham secured their first win over Chelsea since 1979 with a goal from Luís Boa Morte in a heated and controversial match. Champions-elect Chelsea had a Didier Drogba goal disallowed for a hand ball and William Gallas sent off, with the latter incident sparking a mass brawl of the players. After the final whistle, Fulham fans invaded the pitch, which provoked a similar action by the visiting Chelsea fans, which led to some clashes and arrests.
- Chelsea 1–0 Fulham (14 April 2002) – The most important match between the clubs in recent years, an FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park. Newly-promoted Fulham went into the match as underdogs, attempting to reach their first major final since 1975. By contrast, Chelsea were aiming for their fifth final in five years. John Terry's deflected shot just before half-time proved to be the difference between the sides, sending Chelsea into the final.
[edit] Employed at both clubs
Several players have spent part of their career at both clubs, although there are few examples of players playing in the Derby match itself for both clubs.
- Roy Bentley, won the league title as a striker with Chelsea in 1955 and moved on to Fulham a year later, where he was converted into a defender.
- Dave Beasant, after leaving Chelsea in 1992, Beasant played for a further 10 clubs before ending up as a reserve goalkeeper/coach at Fulham in 2003. He retired from his playing capacity a year later without actually playing a game, and is still employed by the club as a coach.
- Wayne Bridge was on loan from Chelsea during the second half of the 2005-06 season.
- Gordon Davies, first at Fulham, then Chelsea.
- Bjarne Goldbaek, first at Chelsea, then Fulham.
- Jon Harley, first at Chelsea, then Fulham.
- Ray Lewington, first at Chelsea, then Fulham.
- Ian Pearce, first at Chelsea, then Fulham, via Blackburn Rovers and West Ham.
- Robert Savage, first at Fulham, then Chelsea. Not to be confused with modern-day player Robbie Savage.
- Alexei Smertin, signed with Fulham in early 2007, having played for (among other Premiership clubs) Chelsea.
- Ray Wilkins, started his playing career at Chelsea, and later managed Fulham.
- There is only one man to have managed both clubs: Bobby Campbell (Fulham 1976-80, Chelsea 1988-91).
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ In 1965, the Metropolitan Borough of Fulham was merged with Metropolitan Borough of Hammersmith, making possible a "borough" derby with neighbouring Queens Park Rangers.
