Imagine if we had accepted Stamford Bridge when we were offered it!

[Whiteroom]

Your thoughts. Just think how different things would be for us now. We would be without the cottage, possibly the most iconic football stadium in the world. There would be no walks through Bishops park, we wouldn't be by the river and we wouldn't have anything like the sort of history we do now.  But, we would have a massive ground and we would probably be a more successful club. I'm incredibly glad we stuck with Craven Cottage, sometimes you have to look beyond tickets sold and cups won. There is nowhere I would rather be. 

[Lighthouse]

The problem is that while a big ground may attract a few more punters it is hard to see us being more succesful then we already are. Besides I am still of the opinion that a move from the Cottage would have taken away a few long term fans anyway. So a net gain in fans maybe. But we are doing ok as a little club in a little ground.

So not sure we could be doing better even if we could sell out Wembley every other week.

[Whiteroom]

I agree, I think that for our size we are doing just about as well as we could be. But, it was in 1904 that we were offered Stamford Bridge and I think that our fan base would have grown. That said, a lot of people that support Fulham now probably wouldn't if we weren't on Stevenage Rd.  I don't see why we wouldn't be as successful as the currant occupants are if we were there.

[LBNo11]

...a very interesting thought, there are so many things to work out how we would have evolved. I mean would our arms grown longer and our knuckles become calloused, would our eyebrows fought with our hairlines for the gap of skin on our foreheads (well not in my case)?

Seriously, a thought provoking post, historically it is likely that we would have played in red and white, we may have become West Brompton - or even London FC. More fans would have brought more revenue and in time that revenue would have made for a richer club and more mercenaries and glory hunting fans that would have been like most of teh other top five clubs.

On that basis, many of us would not have supported that club as we are by and large 'different' from most teams fans.

Mind you a worrying prospect is that we could have all supported Bentford or worse, the ha-ha's instead :020:

[Lighthouse]

Still not convinced we would have had a bigger fan base. Chelscum would still be the big brother and we could well have faded. Would Big Al have come along without the lure of the Cottage and possible flat building? The Bridge was a tip and who knows if it would have been improved with two clubs playing there.

At best Fulham would be playing in a bigger ground in front of the same crowd as now but against lesser opposition. We are at The Cottage for a reason. The World is unfolding as it should. As Desi once said.

[ImperialWhite]

Remember that Chelsea only exist because we refused Stamford Bridge - I suspect that had we taken them up on their offer, we would have been the big club of West London. Not only would we have had a big ground which would lead to a historically larger fan base (and by extension, probably, more success) we wouldn't be competing with Chelsea for fans.

[TonyGilroy]

If we'd accepted Stamford Bridge in 1904 Chelsea would never have existed and the future of us and London football would have been very different. Arsenal were still in Woolwich and there's no reason why we couldn't have become London's dominant team.

The vast majority of supporters now would oppose a move from Craven Cottage to the point that many would give up their support but there's no doubt that the size of our stadium limits our chances of progression and if ever there were a time when we could attract bigger crowds regularly if only we had the room it's now.

No point in wanting or expecting the club to move "to another level" given the constraints of our stadium. If we stay, as I'm sure we will and should, this is as good as it's ever going to be for FFC.

A sobering thought actually.

[Lighthouse]

Well why wouldn't Scum exist. Just because we were at the Bridge first means nothing. The Time Space Continuum may well have been fractured. We would all have led different lives. Which would be a good thing for a few of us. But nevertheless all of Time and Space would have changed. We would be in an alternate Time frame.

Yes I am aware that that time frame exists somewhere in a mirror universe. Please. But there just no knowing what or would not have happened had a different path been laid. My Hover Hoover Boots might never have been invented.

[TonyGilroy]

It is of course true that all things that might happen have happened in some part of the multiverse.

There will be some remote universe somewhere where Lawrie Sanchez is revered as a God having managed Wimbledon to ten consecutive Premiere League Chamionships.

But using our timeline and reversing backwards the dark side were formed to play at Stamford Bridge because we refused to do so.

[Lighthouse]

Or were we? :005: I think the Sanchez bit is pushing it though.

[ImperialWhite]

Or were we? :005: I think the Sanchez bit is pushing it though.

Exactly - just like certain things are impossible, whatever universe/dimension/etc like faster than light travel or Lawrie Sanchez being a good manager.

[ron]

In the parallel universe, we would have bought the Stamford Bridge site in 1904, If it wasn't developed already, it still probably would have had Mr Leitch design and build the Stevenage Road stand in 1905 as it is now but with a different name. The spoil from the Underground would still have been used for the terraces (as indeed it was at our beloved Cottage) . Our "pavilion" as it was called at the time may have been called Brompton Cottage, with a view over the cemetery.

Who is to say that we would have prospered? Ch.elsea were a music hall joke for a number of years; there was even a song on the halls entitled "The day that C.helsea went and won the Cup".....when they had as much chance of doing so as flying to the moon.

The bottom line of all this conjecture is "I know where I'd rather be".

[finnster01]

No.

My imagination capability is not rich enough to absorb such a notion. Sorry.