Do Fulham have good fans?

[intertoto2002fulham]

Great to be back at the cottage last weekend. Shame about the result. Cruel blow, the boys were the better side 2nd half.

I couldn't help but think, with the noise the away fans made, are we good fans?

Do we really get behind the team and act as a 12th man?

It would be fair to say we haven't had much to shout about recently but can we whole heartedly say we create an intimidating atmosphere for the opposition on a regular basis?

The cottage these days seems to be quite nervous and possibly our self deprecating sense of humour when it comes to songs impacts on the players.

We slightly lost our identity when Khan joined, too high a turnover of managers, quirky things like Michael Jackson statue being removed and trying to act like other teams by the stadium playing 'To Good To Be True' over the monitors before kick off (I still standby singing that song before the game is a jinx as traditionally it would only come on at the final whistle if we'd won).

What Roy did really well was manage expectations. Start of every season he'd outline avoiding relegation was the aim and we'd push on after that. Since Roy, a lot of our managers have over promised and under delivered. I want to see Kit given time but we'd do well to get in the top 10 this season let alone get into the play-offs. People seem to really underestimate how tough this league is.

I'd love to see the cottage become a fortress again but possibly us fans need to up our game as well as the players.

[hovewhite]

Before the game on sat I was hoping for a positive result and hoping for the cottage to become a fortress again,i and you can only hope this becomes the case.

[Hong Kong Fulham fan]

I was there on Saturday as well and I must say it is becoming very frustrating at the lack of support we show the team.

The noise form the away end is always overpowering our lot.........

[FPT]

I don't think the way the Cottage is built helps the acoustics and making our support sound louder. I'm always able to hear to the away supporters and get confused when they sing about our support being sh... or singing songs for us. I don't know whether there's an illogical way to where supporters stands - it's usually along the back and a few rows downwards here and there, whereas if there were a "singing section" say H6 for example, and we went from the back down H4 would it sound better and clearer? Away support always seems to sound good because it's blocked in together, so I don't know whether doing something similar would help at home.

I'm not saying that we create a specific "singing section" but if we were to have an unwritten rule on a block to stand and sing at, then we may benefit from obvious noise.

I do think we start games nervy, over the last year or so it's taken Fulham to start performing before the fans join in - where maybe it would benefit from the other way and as supporters we get the Cottage bouncing to help our boys and 'intimidate' the opposition.

[SKSW6]

I honestly don't think we're much worse than other Championship teams. Imo, we're actually better than a lot, such as Reading, but as their singing sections are right by the away fans, they're always heard, whereas ours are as far away from the away fans as possible. I thought the atmosphere was pretty good at the back of the hammy end second half on Saturday, especially with that 15 minute long "take me home", but that further towards the front and in the other two stands, there's almost no noise at all apart from when we score, apart from groaning whenever there's a mistake. Of course everyone's entitled to do what they want at the ground, but it's just an observation.

[fulhams_finest]

our home support is terrible sound wise always - would love to see it improve - surely if we all cheer the whole game then the players and kit really have no excuse?

[snarks]

Sat in H4 on Saturday, the Fulham fans seemed to sing quite well, Brighton were quiet for long periods (to my ears anyway)

However I agree with the comment on away fans sounding louder, against Cardiff the week before, they were really quiet compared to under 1000 Fulham fans

[Chutney]

Our home support has been dreadful for years

[Craven Mad]

Definitely not good enough when it comes to atmosphere. The shape of the ground plays a part but the away fans manage to get the place rocking, why can't we?

I think more needs to be done to get the crowd buzzing and performances are a big part of that, a few more bevvies round the place might work too haha

[Joseffc]

Agreed, our home support is awful. Too many non-fulham fans buying up season & match day tickets for the option to go to see live football locally at a semi-affordable price. There was a kid in a full Man City kit attending the game on Saturday! Also far too many who see it as a chance for a chinwag or time to check up on Facebook rather than support the team. 

In fact I remember a particular instance a couple of years ago where I was sat in the Riverside stand (not sure why!) and myself and 2 friends were the only people singing/chanting or even vocally encouraging the team from the surrounding area. The best anyone close by could muster up was a clap every now and then. During the game we were even asked by a family (no kids) close by to quiet down and also told off repeatedly by the stewards for standing/jumping up in excitement when we came close to scoring. I couldn't believe that this had happened... at a football match!

[HatterDon]

Before I visited the Cottage, LBno11 had explained to me how the noise from the Hammersmith End gets sucked up into the atmosphere while the noise from the Putney End sounds almost magnified. The match I was able to attend a few seasons back was a revelation. First of all, there WAS plenty of support from the Riverside, second of all the Hammersmith End was a non-stop roar. Third of all, the noise from the Putney was sporadic and rather weak. NONE OF THIS is communicated all that well over the television, whether it be because of acoustics or where the mics are set up.

This visit has helped me understand that just because you can't hear it -- even in parts of the ground -- doesn't mean that there isn't support. Having said that, I've listened to and watched enough Fulham matches to be able to distinguish between silent patches because the fans have switched off and silent patches because the fans guts are being twisted by the tension.

We ARE more laid back and self-deprecating, but if there's good football to watch, the support will be there.

Oh, I would be in favor of the visiting club being fined a thousand quid each time their traveling support sings, "Your support is loving poo." What a wonderful advertisement that is for English football.

[MJG]

Been going 37 years and always been the same.  We have our moments but we have always been fairly quiet.
As for fans calling other fans awful that's wrong.... Its just who we are,  it's not going change.

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[Fulham 442]

I know we haven't had a lot to sing about lately but the noise levels from the home fans inside Craven Cottage, acoustics aside, are pretty dire.  The Hammy End try to get chants going which are occasionally picked up by the Johnny Haynes mob but rarely the Riverside.  Just think back a few years to when we had our Europa League run - the ground was rocking and I am sure it made a difference to the team!

[vbg cottager]

our level of noise at home is sometimes pretty embarrassing to be honest.
I know it's easy for me to moan about it as I live in Austria but I really think that our support (chants, clapping - not those weird paper clappers) is not good most of the time..
but that's a trend all over england in my opinion, as most teams don't have good home support most of the time. apart from palace of course.

just that you know I am in a fangroup here in austria (orientated to the european ultra scene but we're not ultras)  and we support our second tier local ice hockey club (we won the "hockey champions league" in 1998 but are quite crap now...)
but that is why I am pretty sensitive when it comes to the level of noise inside stadiums...

[Fulham Joe]

I often sit in the middle of the riverside stand, and on my left it sounds like there's a dozen people shouting "Come on you whites" while no matter who's in the away end, those supporters nearly always sounds 10 times louder. It is embarrasing, and if it's to do with the make up of the stadium we should make the Putney end the home end.

[Chutney]

I think the acoustics of the ground is a bit of a cop out to be honest, the real season our fans make no noise is because only a few of them actually bother to sing.

[mullers]

I agree with MJG, it's not going to change, but more importantly it's Who We Are. We are the only fans that don't stand up throughout the game [Hamburg is the only time I've seen that] and though it can be frustrating it is Fulham; we always applaud the away keeper [and I think Stockade was genuinely touched by his reception] and so on.
We're not like other clubs, and most of the time I'm proud of that.

[Jonaldiniho 88]

I couldn't have been much louder on sat. I do feel we are subdued but how do you change that? I think singing areas in the JH and riverside should be made as it would encourage those in the areas between them and the hammy to join in. One thing I find criminal is you have to give the lads a "man on" or "away" when required. You are then not just supporting your team but helping them. However I don't think people should be forced to sing so if you are at them game shouldn't be alienated for not singing or frowned at for making some noise.

[Vienna1]

Having attended Rapid Vienna home games I am not really a big fan of continuous singing. There is singing and chanting going on there - no matter what is happening on the pitch.

I prefer a crowd which react to the various scenes on the pitch. And I think players need support, especially in periods they are down and they are lacking pace. 

[epsomraver]

Our home support has been dreadful for years

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