Fulham’s 1968 coffin procession following our relegation

[Hammer Smith]

Article and photo found. Just can't reduce size and attach.

Is it easier to email? I would love to see it.

[Rupert]

I remember it well, Jimmy was all out for publicity, I don't believe there was any love lost between him and our owner comedian Tommy Trinder. I had been attending games since '58 so had ten years of us being in the top division. It was a daunting prospect going down. In fairness to Jimmy some years later he came back and saved us from total calamity and organised the sale to Mo Fayed.

JH had nothing to do with the sale to MAF - Bill Muddyman sorted that and JH was far from pleased at the time.

Absolutely correct, Hill and Muddyman fell out over it. The problem was, Muddyman's finances were stretched to breaking point, and the ground rent, which had been a peppercorn one up to that point, was about to start going up to significant levels. Hill had been hoping to partially redevelop the ground to allow some flats to be built, to stabilise the financial position. Capacity would have dropped to roughly 12,000, which would still have left plenty of room for all of us to bring a couple of friends along. Assuming we had any. However, it would also all but guarantee we would remain bouncing around the bottom divisions, admittedly a better prospect than going out of business altogether, which we nealry did on two occasions (at least).
Then one fine summers day, I was listening to the radio, and they announced we had been sold to a Mr al-Fayed, and the rest is history.

Fair play to Hill, I recall him admitting in an interview that he had got it wrong a few seasons later, and I hope he and Muddyman got back onto talking terms before they passed away, but it does put our current "difficulties" in perspective.

[Bill2]

Not sure about procession around the park but one was carried around the pitch along with buckets for donations.

[Cambridge Away]

I remember it well, Jimmy was all out for publicity, I don't believe there was any love lost between him and our owner comedian Tommy Trinder. I had been attending games since '58 so had ten years of us being in the top division. It was a daunting prospect going down. In fairness to Jimmy some years later he came back and saved us from total calamity and organised the sale to Mo Fayed.

JH had nothing to do with the sale to MAF - Bill Muddyman sorted that and JH was far from pleased at the time.

Absolutely correct, Hill and Muddyman fell out over it. The problem was, Muddyman's finances were stretched to breaking point, and the ground rent, which had been a peppercorn one up to that point, was about to start going up to significant levels. Hill had been hoping to partially redevelop the ground to allow some flats to be built, to stabilise the financial position. Capacity would have dropped to roughly 12,000, which would still have left plenty of room for all of us to bring a couple of friends along. Assuming we had any. However, it would also all but guarantee we would remain bouncing around the bottom divisions, admittedly a better prospect than going out of business altogether, which we nealry did on two occasions (at least).
Then one fine summers day, I was listening to the radio, and they announced we had been sold to a Mr al-Fayed, and the rest is history.

Fair play to Hill, I recall him admitting in an interview that he had got it wrong a few seasons later, and I hope he and Muddyman got back onto talking terms before they passed away, but it does put our current "difficulties" in perspective.

What did he object to with Al Fayed? He didn't trust him? Given that Al Fayed did try and build flats on the cottage himself i would say he didn't 100% get it wrong, though big of him to admit he did.

My only reservations with Hill were that he was into fox hunting. I'm not against hunting for food (it's better than 99% of the meat produced for UK plates), but chasing around an exhausted creature for pleasure just seems a bit odd and barbaric to me.

[love4ffc]

Article and photo found. Just can't reduce size and attach.

Fulhamight - if you email me at [email protected] the photo and article I will post it for you. 

[LBNo11]

This photo of Jimmy Hill with the mock funeral procession took place at our last home game against Southampton in May 1968. We drew 2-2 with both our goals coming from Joe Gilroy, The mock funeral was a sideshow to our relegation concerns and I think most fans took it with a fatalistic sens eof humour, I cannot remember if there was any real animosity by the fans.

I do remember the Southampton fans 'took' the Hammersmith End on that drizzly day, and them singing to those of us getting wet on the Thamesbank, "Goodbye Fulham goodbye - we'll see you again - we don't know when - goodbye Fulham goodbye" hard to take as we knew they were right - we had a trip to Goodison Park hoping for a spirited fight, but apart from a Jimmy Conway goal we capitulated to a 5-1 hammering.

Anyway, here is the photo from my archive of the mock funeral with the showman Jimmy publicising it...

[St Eve]

Thanks LB11. I knew you would come up with something. Unfortunately I am old enough to remember that day

[Hammer Smith]

This photo of Jimmy Hill with the mock funeral procession took place at our last home game against Southampton in May 1968. We drew 2-2 with both our goals coming from Joe Gilroy, The mock funeral was a sideshow to our relegation concerns and I think most fans took it with a fatalistic sens eof humour, I cannot remember if there was any real animosity by the fans.

I do remember the Southampton fans 'took' the Hammersmith End on that drizzly day, and them singing to those of us getting wet on the Thamesbank, "Goodbye Fulham goodbye - we'll see you again - we don't know when - goodbye Fulham goodbye" hard to take as we knew they were right - we had a trip to Goodison Park hoping for a spirited fight, but apart from a Jimmy Conway goal we capitulated to a 5-1 hammering.

Anyway, here is the photo from my archive of the mock funeral with the showman Jimmy publicising it...

Many thanks LB. This is a reminder that despite many people's fatalism, Fulham - or rather Fulham fans, are incredibly resilient. We've fought off property developers & spiv chairmen to save our wonderful club on numerous occasions, regardless of what the doom laden naysayers have predicted - & yes, now the future is black & white. Ftid!

[mrmicawbers]

Blimey I said top hats and there they are,maybe my memory is better than I thought.lol

[bill taylors apprentice]

I was only a kid but I didn't see the funny side of it!

I could understand it if JH was trying to provoke change to the club and modernise but he didn't seem to be trying to get involved in the club and to me it wasn't funny, only disrespectful.

I guess he was an ideas man and Coventry came along at the right time for both parties while our club muddled on under Trinder and the Deans.
In later years, I have no doubt he worked hard to try and save the club but I think he also had his own agenda and his ego was the main factor which sometimes worked for and against the club.

I also believe he came out of the whole Cabra/CPO situation in a better light because conditions outside of football affected the outcome in the long run more than anything else.

If these outside circumstances had not occurred we would probably be a club similar to Orient at best.

[love4ffc]

FoF member Hammer Smith sent me this via email.  Just getting to post it now as I was on a mini holiday.  It is hard to read some of the articles but here is the full page.  Note that Haynes was also a hot topic of the day. 

[Fulhamight]

Thanks for adding my scrapbook newspaper reports. You obviously have the tech know how!

[mullers]

Wasn't this reprised in the 1990's? Didn't some fans take a similar coffin down the river to protest at Jimmy Hill's chairmanship? [Always liked Jimmy though, particularly after his geeing up of the Hammersmith End before we beat Chelsea.]

[Jims Dentist]

I remember this game very well as it was my first football match ever. It was May 1968 and the match was a 2-2 draw with Southampton. Fulham were bottom of the old Division One and already relegated. I stood on open terracing by the river, where our wonderful new stand now resides. I can recall the coffin on a barge stunt. It was draped in Fulham's colours. A surreal moment for your first game.

That is my memory of the day also.