I honestly believe that whoever started this chant at 56 minutes into the game, saved the day. It inspired the whole stadium to start singing again and raised the atmosphere inside the stadium to near fever pitch. This spurred the team into action. The rest as they say, is now all history.
Thank you that man...
Agree,the crowd had gone a bit quite,the play at that stage was pretty flat,I think it came from the Hammy,it went all round the ground and after that players and fans stepped it up..fantastic..
Incredible!
As I was at work and unable to share the game with anyone else, I started texting the Missus. At 3:30 (my time), I texted her, "30 minutes left & we still need two. I believe!"
Fantastic to hear that the ground willed the team on to victory!
Best chant ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best Moment Ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it was absolutely amazing, i was riverside block z (yeh loving fantastic right...) but i was there standing loud and proud!
Again the lads at the back of the Hammey came to the rescue, just like when we went one down to Juve. Everyone in the Hammey took it up and you could see it spread through the JH as well.
I felt sick for the final ten minutes, you could feel the stress coming up through the floor. JP standing in the dugout and the stairways starting to fill up didn't help. then the final whistle and it all goes mental. Loved the double lap from JP, what a night.
Brilliant stuff, exactly what was needed. Was it the whole ground singing then, I didn't relaly see on telly.
Quote from: VicHalomsLovechild on April 30, 2010, 12:34:11 AM
Again the lads at the back of the Hammey came to the rescue, just like when we went one down to Juve. Everyone in the Hammey took it up and you could see it spread through the JH as well.
I felt sick for the final ten minutes, you could feel the stress coming up through the floor. JP standing in the dugout and the stairways starting to fill up didn't help. then the final whistle and it all goes mental. Loved the double lap from JP, what a night.
Hope I get to see JP do a triple lap of honour!
...at first I couldn't make out the chant as I had a rare excursion to the Riverside (did I say thanks to you SG?) but then it swept around the ground - agree with EWM, that song swung the game, a wonderful moment of inspired genius that means a return to Hamburg for the No Stars - All Stars...
LB 11 - You said thanks many many times. It was a pleasure to meet up and help out a stalwart supporter
From the front of the Hammy End the hairs on my neck went ATTEN-SHUN when it was started.
Never in my life have i seen 25,000 people stand up with one voice. And it DID turn the game. The whole attitude on the pitch was altered. The ref was scared of the crowd and we all shone with a shining sun called Fulham and made our biggest game of all time become our second biggest game of all time.
WE'RE THE ONLY CLUB FROM ENGLAND THAT IS GOING TO GERMANY...
...SG, it was a real pleasure to meet you and your brother, son and nephews - all brought up supporting the best team in London - if not the world.
I hope you enjoy the DVD's half as much as I enjoyed tonight.. :54:
Stand up if you still Believe,it gave the players a nudge that we still had hope and they stepped up,I have never seen a crowd swing a game that in my life,only at Fulham,only at the Cottage............................I am lost for words.............. :dft003:
I will be very interested to see if, during interviews the crowd reaction, at this point is quoted by any of the team as a factor.
I can't be sure that they felt it as much as everyone else in the stadium but, that chant, at that time, reminded everyone of the Juve game. Going 1 nil down, is NOT in the end of the game, IF you still beliveve you can win...
I am standing up naked right now. I believeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
Not just me then - see exert from the Guardian.co.uk
As Fulham were trailing at the beginning of the second half it was impossible to foresee their latest comeback. It was then that the home support on all four sides of Craven Cottage took to their feet and bellowed their defiance. "Stand up, if you still believe."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/30/fulham-hamburg-europa-league (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/apr/30/fulham-hamburg-europa-league)
Quote from: VicHalomsLovechild on April 30, 2010, 12:34:11 AM
Again the lads at the back of the Hammey came to the rescue, just like when we went one down to Juve. Everyone in the Hammey took it up and you could see it spread through the JH as well.
I felt sick for the final ten minutes, you could feel the stress coming up through the floor. JP standing in the dugout and the stairways starting to fill up didn't help. then the final whistle and it all goes mental. Loved the double lap from JP, what a night.
You felt sick, I was sick!! Unbelievable stuff just booked tickets and flights Hamburg hear I come :dft010: :027:
Changed the game for me,chanelled the spirit of the Juve game,as the papers said,this is our"you'll never walk alone" moment :008:
It was as if someone had clicked a switch and turned us all back on,the noise level just shot up in an instant, Demps ready to come on helped a bit
http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,13320_6124282,00.html
Stand Up, And All Hail Uncle Roy Hodgson
Posted 30/04/10 09:20
Thanks to one of those amusing pointless lies told in her youth, a friend of mine simply refers to Roy Hodgson as 'Uncle Roy'.
It pretty much sums up how we all think of the man who, without question and by a distance, has been the Premier League's manager of the year.
Who wouldn't want Hodgson to make a dreary family gathering more interesting with a learned discussion about football, Europe, art...anything really?
Fulham making the final of the Europa League is little short of miraculous. The campaign started on July 30 last year in Lithuania, when most of the Premier League was rubbing the sleep out of their eyes from the summer slumber.
Now, 18 games later, they're in the final having overcome the holders Shahktar Donetsk, German champions Wolfsburg, Hamburg and of course Juventus. And that's forgetting they came through a group that included Roma, currently duking it out with Champions League finalists Inter Milan for the Serie A title.
And to do all of this with Fulham. Fulham, a side who 14 years ago finished in the crappy half of League Two. Fulham, who looked doomed to relegation when Hodgson took over. Fulham, who 'experts' such as those on this website wrote-off as one-season-wonders before this campaign.
All logic pointed towards a thin squad failing to deal with the combined pressures of maintaining a respectable league position and Europe. But thanks to a collection of players similarly written off and seemingly destined for the scrap heap, they have managed it.
Worse than that, we were among those who scoffed when, just after Christmas 2007, Hodgson was given the task of keeping Lawrie Sanchez's shambolic collection of Northern Irelanders in the Premier League. They were in the bottom three with just two wins from 19 games, but thanks to some careful signings, their remarkable win at Manchester City (that many will also remember for that hot special one girl celebrating in the crowd) and a final day success against Portsmouth, they stayed up. And not just stayed up, but flourished.
Hodgson has turned Fulham from a side who most were ambivalent about ("Fulham? Nothing against them I suppose...") to one that most now admire, if not adore. If you find anyone in the next two weeks who doesn't want the Cottagers to beat Atletico Madrid in the final, give them a noogie and tell them to stop being such a complete weapon.
What sets Hodgson apart from most successful manager is that he's a genuinely likeable guy. That's not just due to his affability and apparently honesty, but that he is a man with more than one dimension. Arsene Wenger and Rafa Benitez are clearly intelligent men, but by all accounts they have footballing tunnel vision. They cannot discuss anything apart from the game. They are obsessed, something that has its benefits, but do not necessarily make an engaging dinner guest.
Not Hodgson. He used an interview in The Guardian last year to talk about the books he's been reading. When linked with the Sweden national job he gently diffused the situation with polite denials and a potted history of their managers, starting in the 1930s. After their epic road trip to the first leg against Hamburg, he gave a press conference in German, just one of five languages he speaks.
"I don't want the glory that the players deserve to be deflected in any way," said Hodgson after the game on Thursday night.
While it's slightly pointless to compare him with a manager operating in another sphere entirely, put that next to Jose Mourinho's prancing across the Nou Camp pitch and proclaiming that "I" had beaten Barcelona and Leo Messi.
So all hail Uncle Roy. What a manager, what a guy.
Nick Miller
Apparently the players thought it was the changing point too...
After Thursday night's historic win over Hamburg, Dickson Etuhu described his utter delight at defying the odds at the Cottage to reach the Final of the UEFA Europa League on the 12th May.
"I'm still in shock to be honest," said Etuhu late on Thursday night. "It's still not hit me yet!
"It's been a great day and I hope everyone enjoyed it because this doesn't happen very often. I know I'm going to enjoy it.
"Nobody thought we could get this far but we're here and we should enjoy it."
Fulham's remarkable second half comeback on Thursday night was in-tune with the chorus of 'stand up if you still believe' from the Cottage faithful and Etuhu was keen to praise the supporters for creating an electric atmosphere on Thursday night.
"We just had to keep doing what we were doing and not change anything in the second half. You could see we were the better team on the day and it was a fair result.
"It's great to have the fans behind us like they were tonight. They're a big part of why we won and I'd like to thank them for doing that.
"We've got three more games to play before the Final and I'll be thinking about West Ham on Sunday now – but it was a special one today!"
Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/April/EtuhuSemiFinalReaction.aspx#ixzz0mZoEvyHc (http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2010/April/EtuhuSemiFinalReaction.aspx#ixzz0mZoEvyHc)
Started at the back of Hammersmith End. When it went around for the 2nd time, a fella behind me went "Nah, sorry, I just don't anymore...." Was going to turn around to him at the time but left it until after the game. :)
Some bloke behind me (row H, H6) kept saying 'sit down' to me. I'm used to standing all game at the back of the Hammy End and I wanted to stay standing for the entirety of this game.
Anyway, he said 'sit down' and I replied:
"this is our fcuking cup final and I'm not sitting down". At this point the 2nd chorus of 'stand up if you still believe' started and the whole ground stood.
One in your eye you lazy swine!
