Fulham: A Century of Memorable Matches

Allowing for the changes in the way media has covered football, the history of Fulham Football Club can be told through the stories of the major matches, which is what this book is attempting to do. The size and quality of the reports usually reflects the Cottagers’ standing in football’s hierarchy, and the bigger the game in a general context (FA Cup semi-final, promotion/relegation decider, European match), the better the report. But a story develops which charts the path of a club with humble beginnings that rose and fell several times over the last 100 years. In fact, the recent depths were lower and current highs higher than any that preceded them. And all the important figures in the club’s history all emerge from the stories.

As well as the contemporary newspaper account, the match details, the programme cover and a brief commentary explaining the context of the game are included on each double-page spread. Reading them chronologically, the history of Fulham Football Club unfolds. And not just the good news. The big defeats as well as the record victories, the relegations alongside the promotions, are all essential milestones in the story. In virtually every case, the matches picked themselves and quite naturally are spread relatively evenly across the last 100 years or so.