That’s right-we’re here to stay in SW6.

The news that (nearly) every Fulham Fan has been dreaming of since MAF decided to rebuild Craven Cottage in 2001 has finally come true. We are staying at the Cottage-ruling out any ground share with QPR that had been gathering pace for the past few weeks.

Remember these plans?

Fulham released an offical statement on thier site today, stating that:

Fulham Football Club is revisiting its plans to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage to 30,000
and is looking carefully at how the Riverside Stand can be developed to achieve this aspiration.

We’ve been down this route before- back in 2007, we declared ambitious plans to expand our stadium to a 30,000 seater through development of the Riverside Stand.These plans,however, where quickly shelved when one Mr Sanchez nearly got us relegated…

However they are back. Our Chief Executive, Alistair Mackintosh, declared that

We are confident that a redevelopment will improve the fans matchday experience by enhancing the facilities, whilst remaining sympathetic to the design of this historic ground. Naturally our core family values, and the tradition of the football club, continue to be at the forefront of everything we do.

We are still in the very early stages of the planning process and we would very much welcome your thoughts on our initial ideas.

Now, this redevelopment of the Riverside Stand could mean a few things:

1) We’re going to knock it down and start all over again. Cost element probably means this is unlikely.

2) We’re going to expand it sidewards and add another tier. Again, a tricky solution due to that sailing club that claims it “changes the wind pattern and speed”. This is the same sailing club that still refers to it as the Eric Miller stand…I will say no more.

3) We’re going to fill in the corners.My favourite option, this would improve our, lets say, interesting acoustics no end.

4) We’re reopening the Riverside Walk. I can’t remember the days when this was open, but as a fan who walks along the river from Hammersmith Bridge I can only reflect that this is a good thing.

Soon to be two-tiered?

I will leave a few closing comments and observations to a FOF Legend: Mr White Noise.

This is superb news on several levels -

1) It further demonstrates MAF’s ongoing commitment to the club. If he were looking to sell he would not be shelling out on stadium improvements that won’t be reflected in a sale price.

2) Its talks about improvements around the ground which suggest a much more extensive level of improvement and expenditure than envisaged by the plans of a few years ago.

3) Its a bold move in these straightened times and sends a very positive message to fans, players and staff.

4) It shows the club believe that Fulham have definitely stepped up a level as a club and warrant this scale of investment.

5) It will allow the forward momentum of the last few years to continue on lots of levels and give everyone lots to look forward to.

What has impressed me about this thread is how modest the wish list of the fans is. Nothing greedy, unrealistic or out of keeping. Has the club ever known this level of supporter contentment?

 I’m Will, more commonly known as Zzamora on the FOF messageboard. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my first post!