Sept 7th marks my 70th annerverary of supporting Fulham. I know others like Kent Cassandra have gone well past 70 years but I feel quite proud of reaching that milestone and have I enjoyed it, well I'm still here aren't I? Just like all Fulham supporters, we ain't glory hunters are we?
Nope, but you've got iron will! 049:gif
Congratulations Peabody.
You're a fine example for us to aspire to.
congratulations :wine:
it's my 50th, so I've still some way to go, if the lungs hold out and the ticker keeps goin' 049:gif
as my wife says supporting Fulham isn't a passion, nor an addiction...
...it's an affliction :yay: :doh: 064.gif
here's to staying afflicted 082.gif
If I get to 70 years of being a fulham fan I'll be in my mid 80's... that's impressive by anyone's standards, although I'm a younger generation (with suposedly better attitudes to health - although I'm very dubious of that) I'm yet to believe I'll be able to reach that landmark and therefore you've done far better than I can ever comprehend and have huge respect for that.
I suppose, how does your perspective of being a fan change as you get older? That's the question i'd be curious to know the answer to.
When I was young my perspective was that it was a very keen interest, a treat and great way to hang out with my dad. I also obviously let it become a part of me. We had season tickets and I'd take friends, it tied in with a smooth transition of being a young teen to growing into a more mature stage in life.
The next phase was it / football being a common ground which encouraged generalist chats about football with friends and park hang outs, I invited friends to go to games but the ground felt like a more mature part of me, much more homely - grown up relationships were built with the season ticket holders who'd all been near me since I started going... Europa League was obviously a high point and I felt pride of seeing us exceed everyone's expectations and so on.
Then I was away for around 2 years, it was something I followed, but my passion dwindled as the club were mismanaged and I wasn't nearby, but I always kept an eye out for Fulham games and scores and kept it as a younger part of me.. reflecting on the good times, with almost a decade of Fulham memories to look back on and names. It's as consistent and every changing as it's always been. The ground stays the same, whilst players come and go..
I'm now settling back home, with intention to go back to more games and if I ever have children would want them to be Fulham fans, the atmosphere and values of the club I believe are something I find relatable and positive and think must've had an impact on me as a person.
How do you look back on 70 years of being a fan? How do you see the club and how have you seen it differently at different stages of your life?
Ever curious.
And there I was thinking that in March it will be 60 years since my first trip to the Cottage. 70 wow, all I can say is "well done" to a fellow masochist.
How do I start to, to answer your questions General. Well when I started I was seven and it was just a trip out with my uncle, coming out of Peabody onto the Fulham Palace Road, he could have got on the Trollybus and gone to Loftus Road and I wouldn't have been any the wiser, even worse, he could have got the number 11 and gone to Fulham Broadway and you all know what lies there. He didn't he took me to Craven Cottage and my fate was sealed.
As I grew up, then Fulham came to mean more to me, when they won, I was euphoric but when they lost well, I was low and miserable. As I have got older, well I have become more relaxed and appreciate that I have been lucky enough to have seen some truly great players both playing for and against Fulham. Players like Johnny Haynes, Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Tom Finney, our own Beddy Jezzard and Bobby Charlton. I have seen great events at Craven Cottage and elsewhere.
Now, and I know I will be accused of lacking ambition, but I now I am totally relaxed and whilst I might moan at matches, I refuse to comment adversely on places like this.
Quote from: Peabody on September 05, 2016, 03:25:48 PM
How do I start to, to answer your questions General. Well when I started I was seven and it was just a trip out with my uncle, coming out of Peabody onto the Fulham Palace Road, he could have got on the Trollybus and gone to Loftus Road and I wouldn't have been any the wiser, even worse, he could have got the number 11 and gone to Fulham Broadway and you all know what lies there. He didn't he took me to Craven Cottage and my fate was sealed.
As I grew up, then Fulham came to mean more to me, when they won, I was euphoric but when they lost well, I was low and miserable. As I have got older, well I have become more relaxed and appreciate that I have been lucky enough to have seen some truly great players both playing for and against Fulham. Players like Johnny Haynes, Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Tom Finney, our own Beddy Jezzard and Bobby Charlton. I have seen great events at Craven Cottage and elsewhere.
Now, and I know I will be accused of lacking ambition, but I now I am totally relaxed and whilst I might moan at matches, I refuse to comment adversely on places like this.
It's interesting that when people who've been able to see the likes of Bedford Jezzard, Johnny Haynes and bobby charlton etc rarely do they ever put context to seeing similar players since... despite the hype and excitement around global superstars that exist nowadays and the fact we've seen record breaking players in the mould of Ronaldo, Henry, Gerrard, Giggs etc ply their trade here in the league and also had gifted players like Berbatov play for us despite his admitted lethargy. Why is that? Is it because you were more keenly into football at a younger age, that these players lack a more romantic edge to who they are in terms of whats available to them now and how the world was and views football now to then? Was football as a sport to play in parks more widely accessible and more commonplace, or were those players like Haynes purely spectacular, or is it a case of having seen them set a standard of play that was so significant first, in your earlier years players like Henry and Ronaldo don't impress as much and there's a sentimentality behind your views? I'd also be intrigued to know what your views are on media and sport and how media's influence has changed the game.
Peabody, CONGRATULATIONS ! I am a mere novice at nearly 55 years supporting ( I am not quite certain what my first year actually was but I did see haynes and Cohen in the old fiorst division for a number of seasons.
As I have got older the bug has not left me and as you know I am excitable when things are not to my liking. It is because I am actually the eternal optimist and if things are not as good as they can be then I have to speak out, I cannot help myself. I admire your more relaxed attitude.
In any event we enjoy in the way that suits us best and without question what makes fulham the best club in the world are two things, the ground and the endless good humour iof the supporters, and that is what we all are!
Love the jokes, do you not have one to mark the occaion?
Fantastic Mr P, hope you have many more years visiting
Our great football ground, and see us win a major tournament... 049:gif
Of course modern players impress. The thing with past is that there are most likely less of the generations that follow mine who saw the Matthews and Finneys, so all they have is the recollections of us older fans.bplayers like Henry, Saha etc are just as good and in some cases better but and this is debatable, players in the past were closer to the fans than they are now. I have often told the tale of the Odis Cafe in Hammersmith Broadway, were Joe Bacuzzi, Harry Freeman and Jim Taylor used to go for a cups after training and they would always let us kids in for autographs and a chat.
Well done Peabody, I've only managed 60/61 so far!
Keep taking the tablets Mr P - but at your age go easy on the viagra.
Well done Mr P, and here's to many more years 082.gif
Re your discussion with the General, I think the factors include in those days players being more loyal to their club, the fan/player/club relationship was more "intimate", money had yet to rear it's ugly head, there seemed to be more home-grown "characters" as opposed to imported prima-donas, etc. etc.
Even since I started following us in '74, the changes have been substantial.
Quote from: Woolly Mammoth on September 05, 2016, 03:27:40 PM
Have you been to see a doctor about this obsession ?
There are no suitable pills for the condition, I understand that we have to wait for brain surgery to reach an advanced stage.
Hello Mr P
I am just back from Ireland and looking forward to the match on Saturday.
You are wrong Mr P, although I am a few years older than you I didn't start until I was twelve. I was sent to Wales when we got bombed out in Hammersmith and did not get back until I was nine. So you may well be the longest suffering Fulham fan who actually manages to get to matches. If you are you deserve a medal.
Where does the count start, looking back it must be almost seventy years ago that I decided to line up with the Fulham boys against the Chelsea boys in the School playground but it was two or three years later that I became a regular visitor to the Cottage and a regular guest at the Bridge with my Chelsea friends. None of us budged an inch from the early alliance we made.
Filham I think the count must start from the first actual attendance, I was evacuated and went to see Cardiff play when I was seven but that was Rugby.
General... Although the players are fitter and more technical nowadays the top players we are talking about seem to have been on the ball a lot more. Every time the maestro got the ball you could sense everyone leaning forward and a buzz go around the ground.
Congratulations Mr P! Quite an achievement! 065.gif
Going back to General's question about why people don't hold the new generation of players in quite the esteem of the ones from days gone by, for me age has a lot to do with it.
When I was a lot younger than the players I was watching, I saw them as almost superheroes - they were more than just footballers - and I really looked up to them as a result.
As I got closer to the age of the players I was watching, and finally passed them by in years, I started to see them for what they really were - ordinary blokes who are lucky enough to be paid to play football!
On top of that, the realisation of the riches they earn from the game - understanding that it's not just the love of the game or the loyalty to the club, but financial gain that motivates them - takes away the romance of football as you get older.
I'm sure it's different for everyone, but I think that's why I don't view today's superstars with the same eyes I did as a youngster.
Congratulations Peabody. What milestone. How many highs and lows aye? Worth every minute. What a cake!!! 082.gif 049:gif
092.gif
Quote from: filham on September 05, 2016, 05:55:23 PM
Where does the count start, looking back it must be almost seventy years ago that I decided to line up with the Fulham boys against the Chelsea boys in the School playground but it was two or three years later that I became a regular visitor to the Cottage and a regular guest at the Bridge with my Chelsea friends. None of us budged an inch from the early alliance we made.
If that's true how can you type so accurately, I am apparently approx. 10 years younger than you and my eyesight is shite now, so bad I keep missing the odd 5ft putt!
Congratulations Mr P. Mine will be 60 next year. My old man first took me in 57. He and his friends use to go to the Cottage one week and the dog track the other although Fulham was his club. I only went to the Cottage with them as the crowds were smaller there. On such factors are one's life time choices made. I have never regretted it despite the many lows over the years. It makes the highs so much more enjoyable.
Congratulations Sir! The club is made by people like you who stay with the club through thick and thin :Haynes The Maestro: 065.gif
:wow:
Fantastic, fantastic, fantasiticooooooooooooooooooo.............................
049:gif
That is a fantastic achievement Mr P, a true example to us all :Haynes The Maestro: :Haynes The Maestro:
Congratulations, Mr. Peabody !
On a Saturday in 1962 two classmates invited me to a football match; one at Stamford Bridge and the other at Craven Cottage.I didn't have a strong preference but opted for the latter, mainly because the Fulham supporter was a lot more convivial than the Chelski bloke. The match was against Notts Forest and we won ! That was it. Fulham became my team which I've followed through thick and (often) thin. Since moving overseas many years ago, it has not always been easy to keep up but where there's a will there's a way. With so few televised matches, I am now a big fan of Gentleman Jim and look forward to the one or two matches I manage to attend each year.
Ah the Peabody Estate.
I was a delivery boy for the local grocers (Hawkins) on Saturday mornings and weekday nights and would deliver to places such as the Peabody Estate. Compared with much of the surrounding area the Peabody estate on the Fulham Palace Road was an oasis of tranquility. It was a nice mix of houses, flats, communal garden and quiet walkways and roads. It was in many ways very upmarket and I can remember one of our customers being the manager of the Hammersmith Underground Station which was at the time a very prestigious position to hold. Peabody was posh. That was before people started to become sniffy about council housing and rented accommodation.
Just along from the Peabody was Judy's Cafe' at the top of Fulham Palace Road where I would deliver enormous bags of sugar on my trade bike, the type that had a heavy duty basket in the front over a small front wheel to hold the deliveries. Riding that trade bike required a combination of blind panic and undisguised bravado and to arrive back from a delivery in one piece having avoided the laissez-faire car driving of the day was always a relief.
Judy's Cafe' was a double fronted place that had the most up to date games machine of the time – the Pin Ball Machine. I used to see Rodney Marsh there many a time along with other younger players from Fulham and QPR. You wouldn't see the likes of Marsh in a cafe' today because there ain't any working men's cafe's left.
But there still is a Peabody. Keep on keeping on.
049:gif
Congrats! This is the life we chose.
Another great milestone from a true supporter, great respect and admiration for your love of the best club ever.
50 years for me this year and again like many who have replied started with mates going to the other team in Fulham and the following week the real team in Fulham. Very quickly my mind and heart was made up and has been ever since, many highs and many lows but when its in your blood you can't change as my son said once why did you ever take me to see Fulham, they are rubbish, or words to that effect!! But went on to say, they are in my blood can't follow anyone else now, cheers Dad he said a little sarcastically. He now has been following for 22years.
Its just one of those clubs, one of those unique clubs. Not seen a mate since the day after the final in Hamburg, we were outside a bar in the centre of the city, he said We will next see each other when the new chapter begins, I think after six years we may well be meeting again very soon!!!
Quote from: Funky Fulham Dave on September 06, 2016, 09:11:36 AM
Ah the Peabody Estate.
I was a delivery boy for the local grocers (Hawkins) on Saturday mornings and weekday nights and would deliver to places such as the Peabody Estate. Compared with much of the surrounding area the Peabody estate on the Fulham Palace Road was an oasis of tranquility. It was a nice mix of houses, flats, communal garden and quiet walkways and roads. It was in many ways very upmarket and I can remember one of our customers being the manager of the Hammersmith Underground Station which was at the time a very prestigious position to hold. Peabody was posh. That was before people started to become sniffy about council housing and rented accommodation.
Just along from the Peabody was Judy's Cafe' at the top of Fulham Palace Road where I would deliver enormous bags of sugar on my trade bike, the type that had a heavy duty basket in the front over a small front wheel to hold the deliveries. Riding that trade bike required a combination of blind panic and undisguised bravado and to arrive back from a delivery in one piece having avoided the laissez-faire car driving of the day was always a relief.
Judy's Cafe' was a double fronted place that had the most up to date games machine of the time – the Pin Ball Machine. I used to see Rodney Marsh there many a time along with other younger players from Fulham and QPR. You wouldn't see the likes of Marsh in a cafe' today because there ain't any working men's cafe's left.
But there still is a Peabody. Keep on keeping on.
049:gif
Yes the still is a Peabody both on here and in the Fulham Palace Road, unfortunately, the powers that run the buildings have decided to sell some of the properties, in fact the one I lived in, 82 The Square was up for sale at £600,000k
Quote from: Peabody on September 05, 2016, 02:21:15 PM
Sept 7th marks my 70th annerverary of supporting Fulham. I know others like Kent Cassandra have gone well past 70 years but I feel quite proud of reaching that milestone and have I enjoyed it, well I'm still here aren't I? Just like all Fulham supporters, we ain't glory hunters are we?
Well done Sir it is in our blood. I am not far behind you sixty eight years and counting to the first game at Craven Cottage I watched from the Hammersmith end of the Stevenage Road Stand enclosure in my school uniform......