Fulham and the Cottage still a great place to visit

[love4ffc]

Had dinner the other night with some mates of mine and their families. Was the first time I had gotten to talk to them about their recent holiday trip to London and the Cottage.  They attended the Bristol game and two other fixtures while in London.  Though we lost to Bristol they said their day in and about the Fulham area was absolutely fantastic.  They walked through Bishop Park, popped into a few pubs and browsed the local shops.  Apparently they spent so much money in the area their credit cards got locked down and they received calls from their credit card providers thinking that all of their charges were fraudulent. 

They sat in the upper tier of the Riverside with some great Fulham Fans and a scout from Brighton.  They did not talk to the scout very much as he spent most his time writing notes about the game and the teams.  Wonder if he should have turned in his notes to Joka to help for next game? 

Here are some general comments they said about Fulham and the Cottage.  While none of this is new to us I still found it interesting to get their perspectives since none of them follow or watch FFC on a regular bases.   

First they thought FFC looked really good and were impressive for the first 20 minutes.  Said Ross's goal was an absolute beauty and one of the best goals they saw scored during the three fixtures they attended.  Thought the Bristol fans were much, much louder than ours and that our fans were pretty much silent during the game.  They were surprised when the Bristol fans started flares and the women got more than a little nervous as they could only see one exit from the area. 

As for the game they thought that the players never really looked sharp or like they wanted to even be playing.  Thought FFC was just playing for a tie while Bristol was playing for the win.  As to the individual players they thought Tom Cairney was our best player on the pitch aside from Ross and that Dembele looked lost out wide.  Also could not understand how a striker at that level could be offside so much during one game.  When I told them he was only 19 they chalked it up to him being young and that it also explained why he showed no awareness to the situation when he walked slowly off the pitch for his substitution.  Again Dembele's slow walk made them think we were playing and praying for a tie. 

Even with the loss they all thought that the day spent in Fulham, the game and the Cottage was time well spent. 
The other two fixtures they got to attend were the North London derby Arsenal vs Spurs and the Champions League Chelsea vs PSG.  They were supposed to see a different fixture but someone advanced in the FA Cup and messed their schedule up.   

The Arsenal / Spurs game was said to have had the best atmosphere.  Nonstop cheering and singing from both sides making the game very exciting.  The Chelsea / PSG game on the other hand they thought got a little rough at times and had some pretty nasty Chelsea fans in attendance.  Apperantly this game got very chippy between the players and the red card that Ibrahimovic received was very harsh in their minds.  This was the only fixture they attended my mates said that their families got a bit nervous leaving. 

Overall they had a brilliant time in London and are thinking of repeating the trip again next year.  For me the best part was they brought me back a new Fulham scarf and hat to add to my collection.   049:gif

[Scrumpy]

Thanks for this. It's good to know that fans still enjoy trips to The Cottage, even though times are hard at the moment. I must admit to thinking twice now before inviting friends to CC. Sometimes the standard of play, and the atmosphere, can be really poor and it's so sad when compared to the jam packed Cottage in the Premiership.

Interestingly, I also noticed that Bristol's new young Manager (Gary Johnson, Fulham fan) had realised early on that one way of easing the pressure on a poor defence is to play a very high, efficient, off-side trap. It worked well for them. You'd think maybe one of our lot could have figured that one out. Ain't rocket science is it?!

[Carborundum]

Thanks for sharing. 

Craven Cottage on match days is very special indeed.

[RaySmith]

Craven Cottage is unique and beautiful - no doubt about it.

[win-dup]

Every word you have posted is true but sadly, for most of the time that's all we have to offer. The Cottage is a ghastly place with only three and a half thousand spectators present as happened last time we went on a slide as bad as the present one.

[hovewhite]

The cottage and the local area is a fantastic place,just a shame the players don't show the same passion as those of us that attend do!

[GrahamG]

Craven Cottage is a wonderful place - filled with so many memories. Sadly, over the past 3 seasons we have given almost every visiting team the freedom of the pitch and most have found us remarkably generous and hospitable. If only we could add some steel on the field of play to the brilliant surroundings and then maybe we could start to move forward again. Make a start this weekend?