In 1879 a Church team made up of Sunday school lads started up as St Andrews of West Kensington, and they eventually ended up as Fulham Football Club. Playing in all parts of the area like Roskell’s Fields, which is next to Parsons Green tube station, and many other places before setting up camp at Craven Cottage in 1894. The site was a right mess and no football could be played there for two years. The first match at the Cottage was on October 10th 1896, it was a London Senior Cup match against a club called Minerva. Fulham won 4-0 so they got off to a good start.
Before turning professional in 1896/97, Fulham entered the Second Division of the London League, and wanting to emulate the only London club playing in the football league at the time, wore red shirts with white sleeves and white shorts. They may have looked like the Woolwich Royal Arsenal but did not play like them as they failed miserably, finishing next to bottom. They did, however, pull crowds of 2,000 and thereafter quickly improved, signing new players like the famous cricketer L J Moon. It was not uncommon for cricketers to turn to football as they played the game to keep fit during the winter and found it far more enjoyable. Charlie Miller probably being the most famous cricketer turned footballer, who played for St Mary’s, (later Southampton) before taking a ball and a set of rules back to Brazil and the rest, as they say, is history.
In 1903 the authorities at the southern league noticed Fulham’s potential and told them: “If you can raise a first-class team by the end of May we will admit you to the First Division”. This they did raising money for new players, a full-time manager and the major rebuilding of both the ground and the Cottage after which the ground is named. (PIC 1) On to the badge worn by the club, and in 1931, the Fulham badge consisted of a black and white image of the Cottage. (PIC 2) It looks like a plea for funds as the Cottage looks in need of a bit of TLC. Most of the following information was kindly submitted to me by Ben Adcock, who replied to my request for information in great detail, regardless of the fact that he is a Pompey fan and was well aware of my allegiance to the Saints. Bless you, Ben, and I hope our teams soon get back on to a level playing field, as I miss the local derby.
In May 2001, Fulham launched their official new club badge following unsuccessful attempts to copyright the previous badge, as it belonged to the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and you cannot copyright a civic crest or coat of arms. (PIC 3) This badge consisted of the arms which were granted in 1927. The waves of course stand for the Thames. Craven Cottage stands right on the north bank of the river. The swords are of St Paul and the mitre is from the See of London whose bishops have held the manor of Fulham since the end of the 7th Century. A monastic See is, in the usual meaning of the phrase, is the area of a bishops ecclesiastical jurisdiction. In the year 879, a band of pirates assembled at Fulham, which is represented by the galley on the crest. I have heard some say the pirate ship was called the Harrod but I very much doubt it as it sounds more like an old wives tale of Egyptian origin. The Latin motto “PRO CIVIBUS ET CIVITATE” translates as, For the Citizens and the City. The Latin motto was then replaced on the club badge with the name, FULHAM. (PIC 4) There were a number of badges on this theme in use during the 1980s including a circular version that was used before the badge returned to the shield design. (PIC 5) The need to properly own their badge and copyright it was the main reason for the change. The website gives other notable reasons: “(A) The new badge needed to reflect the club’s true colours of black and white, the old one being mainly blue. (B) The new badge had to represent the six core brand values: Exciting, Stylish, Progressive, Friendly, Accessible and Professional. (C) It had to be striking to look at and appeal to younger fans, as the club lost a generation of young fans over the decades and (D) the old badge was over 50 years old”.
The newer badge has the letters FFC similar to the 1970s club badge Fulham sported for a short time. (PIC 6) It has been modernised to create a more progressive look and had the club’s second colour’s represented in the red letters of FFC. (PIC 7) The simple and effective design had the clubs first colours as the background for the shield, which itself borrowed from the shield in the previous badges and crest of the town council. The black bands each side lend a continental feel to the badge. Fulham had to move out of the Cottage for a while in April 2002, and it was a little uncertain as to what the future held due to local opposition to any ground expansion. After spending some time with local rivals QPR Fulham moved back to the Cottage in July 2004, which is now a 19,000 capacity stadium. I am now a disabled supporter and by far the best away stadium I have been to is the Cottage. They go out of their way to look after you. There is legislation trying to be put in place to get club’s to look after their disabled supporters, and considering what some club’s get revenue-wise it is disgusting that a lot of them can’t be bothered to do this. Spurs have had disabled facilities built into the new ground but as an away fan you can’t appreciate the atmosphere from where you are up out of the way. Up the road at super-rich Chelsea, disabled supporters are forced to struggle to the ground from wherever they can find a parking space, because there is no parking anywhere near the Stamford Bridge ground. Then when you do get there you are forced to sit behind able-bodied fans who stand up at the first opportunity. Those behind see nothing while stewards and police do nothing despite the pleading of parents and carers, so you miss everything. Until, that is, a platform was installed for wheelchairs, but if you are not wheelchair dependant the same still applies. However, as they don’t charge away disabled fans I can’t complain. All the while, their less affluent neighbours Fulham look after you properly. Lifelong fan and friend Steve Turner took me to a game there, and I was shown to a car park for disabled fans in a nearby school playground, taken by taxi to the ground and met at the ground by a pleasant steward with a wheelchair. I was taken to my seat and at the end of the game at a time suitable for me, the same was done in reverse. All at no extra cost, true class. The name Fulham is taken from an area belonging to an Anglo-Saxon fella called Fulla, and Ham which usually means hamlet or home, but this Ham has a double m spelt Hamm and refers to a bend in a river. Fulham lies on a large bend on the River Thames. Local rivals are the rich neighbours Chelsea who reside in luxury just up the road. Queens Park Rangers who don’t are also local rivals. For more information on “The Cottagers” mince your way to www.fulhamfc.com