Don's sad story- Love4ffc's Fulham supporting journey.......so far

[dannyboi-ffc]

Here's a piece written by our very own Love4ffc (Don) telling us about his Fulham journey so far. The who, what, where, why and when of how we've got from no Fulham to everything Fulham.

Enjoy  049:gif   :wine:



"When I asked Danny for guidelines on how in depth he wanted my story to be, his exact words were "Go for it".

When did you first start following Fulham?
I learned of Fulham watching the premier league games in the late 90's and early 2000's.  Back then there was only one Premier League game broadcast on Saturday mornings.  Usually the game was of one of the top six teams in the league.  You only got to see the lower table teams when they played one of the top table teams.  I really took an interest in Fulham though when Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra came in to the team back in 2004.  Both had transferred in from the MLS team Chicago Fire and both had slotted in to starting lineups pretty much right away.  With McBride and Bocanegra playing in the Premier League my love and support for Fulham grew more and more with every passing season.  Sadly, it was a rarity for me to get to watch Fulham as their games where rarely broadcast.  It's wasn't like today where NBC has the Premier League rights to broadcast and gives fans access to all the Premier League games to watch.   
 
At any rate in 2006 Fulham sealed my support and love forever by bringing in Clint Dempsey from the MLS team New England Revolution.  At that time, there was no other football teams in the world outside of the States that made it possible to watch three Americans playing in a game at the same time.  Let alone three Americans in their first team lineups.


As seasons passed time and time again Fulham proved to be the club that would give Americans a chance to play football outside of the States.  Players like Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson, Emerson Hyndman and now Tim Ream.  Even better is the chance Fulham have given American lads to prove themselves and develop their talent in the youth academy.  Currently in the Academy we have Luca de la Torre and Marlon Fossey.  Both of whom are currently playing in the PL2 division and both exciting prospects in my eyes.


Love or hate it, succeed or fail, Fulham as a club has at least given more Americans the chance to prove themselves outside of the States than any other club.  The connection with Fulham and USA players is so great that last May USA Soccer posted a story explaining the special connection that U.S. players have with Fulham.    049:gif

http://www.ussoccer.com/stories/2017/05/06/12/05/20170506-feat-mnt-gallery-fulhamerica-usmnt-players-at-fulham

This is a connection that I hope continues for a long, long time.

How did you find FoF?
Following Fulham and its American players back in 2007 was not always easy.  Even though Fox Soccer was broadcasting Premier League matches, it was a rarity to see a Fulham match being broadcast.  Live video streams back then were also iffy and pretty much nonexistent.  The best way for me to follow Fulham back then was through reading the BBC or the Fulham Club website.  Then there was the now defunct official forum.  That forum was such a wild wild west free for all that I never joined.  It wasn't long after the offal went defunct that I found FoF and started reading the forum on a regular basis.  Even though I was a regular reader of FoF I never did join until May of 2014.  That was the fateful year that Fulham got relegated.  It was then and there that I sought out a means to show my support for Fulham.  With no other supporters close by for me to reach out to I turned to the internet and found FoF.  I figured other American fans would move on since McBride and Dempsey were no longer players but I was determined to show support for the club that had given so many Americans a chance to play outside of the States.  I didn't want to become a "plastic fan" that only supports a team through the good times and then moves on for the bad times.  The only way I could really think to show my support and be surrounded by Fulham fans was to join FoF and become a regular member.  That has turned out to be one of the best things I have done.

How has FoF brought you closer to other Fulham Fans?
Right after Fulham got relegated Khan announced that he was bringing the first team to Jacksonville, Florida for a preseason game.  This was an opportunity for me to see my favorite club play and one that I was not going to let slip by.  It was also an opportunity for me to seek out other Fulham fans that would want to meet up and enjoy the game together.  Wasting no time, I posted a thread in the overseas board reaching out for fellow fans who would be interested in enjoying the match together.  I quickly got responses from Logicalman, Rogerpinvirginia, andersons11 and YankeeJim.  Through Logicalman we connected with other Fulham fans that are not FoF members and we set out to planning our invasion of Jacksonville.
 
At that time, my missus knew very little of FoF.  So, I had to explain and sell her on my plan to travel to Jacksonville and meet up with complete strangers.  Strangers that I had only talked online and communicated with through FoF.  As you can imagine she thought me crazy so you can only imagine how she received the idea of me purchasing tickets for eight complete strangers so that we could enjoy the match sitting together.  So, against my misses wishes I called Logicalman and together we purchased the tickets for the Fulham vs DC United match.  A match that I sold my misses on attending because Khan was promoting the event as an extravaganza extraordinaire in which Khan was going to unveil his Jacksonville Jaguars stadium two new record setting jumbotron screens.  To help Khan with the unveiling he hired Carry Underwood to perform.  Carry Underwood proved to be just the trinket for me to entice my misses and daughter to accompany me.  What a great time we had.  We got to watch the lads train the day before, Khan hosted an open bar for an hour before the match at a pub across from the stadium, and more importantly I meet other Fulham Fans.  Fans that I am still in touch with via Instagram, texting, email and of course FoF. 

How else have you connected personally with FoF members and other Fulham Fans?
Last season I finally managed to get over to London and see Fulham play in live matches.  During those trips, I again reached out to members of FoF and planned some meet ups.  My first match was not a home match but an away match at Brentford.  Before the match I meet and talked with Scrumpy and his friends at the Fuller's pub the Griffin.  We shared a few pints and talked about Fulham before the match.   

I also prearranged to meet FoF member Carborundum and his son.  The missus and I were able to sit with Carborundum and his son and enjoy what was an absolutely brilliant atmosphere.  I was as happy as could be as we were surrounded by Fulham fans in the away section.  Our seats were in the upper part and just to the left of goal.  What a great experience it was, Aluko scoring first and then Cairney scoring in extra time right in front of us in the away section.  That Cairney goal caused absolute jubilation and brought everyone to their feet with celebrations.  What a way to finish out the match with all the Fulham fans singing load and proud. 

Another great moment from that match was that while walking out of the stadium I ran into a lovely family I had met in Jacksonville a couple of years before.  Completely unplanned.  I just got lucky and noticed them as they were walking out.  Out of that chance encounter I got to meet up with the dad of the family for coffee and conversation the next day.  He gave me some great advice on getting Fulham tickets for future matches and helped me with getting around in London.  Which came in handy for when I had to cross London during noon day rush hour to meet Carborundum for lunch. 

Was the Brentford match the only Fulham game you have managed to attend?
No, this season I got very lucky.  For the Brentford match I accompanied my missus on a business trip in which she was meeting London colleagues.  Then in early March my son and I traveled back to London for my son's spring break.  The two of us got to attend the Preston North End and Leads game.  We sat in the Johnny Haynes stands both times just below the old wooden seats.


For the Leads game Dannyboi arranged a meet up at the Rocket.  There I got to meet several other members of FoF.  Members like e4b, Jonaldiniho 88, and the Cravenette.  The Fulham family I had meet in Jacksonville, Carborundum and Dannyboi's mum also managed to make to the meet up.  Just like the Brentford game I got to share pints and talk about Fulham with fantastic people who truely love the Club.   


After the meet up, we all walked from the Rocket to the cottage.  Crossing the Putney Bridge and walking through Bishop's Park was absolutely brilliant for both my son and me.  Fulham fans coming from everywhere, gathering in massive numbers marching and singing their way to the Cottage.  That was an experience that neither my son nor I will ever forget.  It was also one of the best things we did during our time in London according to my son.


So what do you do for FoF?
The big thing I do is helping the other mods with moderating the forum.  Living in the States I tend to be online later in the evening so I kind of handle the night shift.  I also help out WhiteJC and Admin with some of the behind the scenes stuff.  I especially help out with things when WhiteJC takes a holiday.  Things like approving new members, posting the Daily Fulham Stuff or troubleshooting problems that the FoF website or members may be experiencing.  More recently I have taken on running the FoF Tipping League.  That takes up a good deal of time so I am working with Logicalman on streamlining the Tipping League so that it will be easier to run.


Tell us about you.  Give us some background into your life.
I was born in California but grew up in Montana.  Both of my parents had careers in the U.S. Air Force as medical staff.  My dad, who is older than my mom, was a physician's assistant who flew in medevac helicopters during the Vietnam War.  My mum was a nurse who worked in the emergency room.  Later she too went on to become a medevac nurse who flew in helicopters and airplanes.


Through them I developed a strong desire to serve my country.  After graduating from school I joined the U.S. Navy and served for six years.  It was through the Navy that I got to travel and see the world.  Traveling and experiencing new places is the one thing I truly love to do now.


While in the Navy my primary job was being a sonar technician.  Just like the Tom Clancy novels I hunted for submarines.  Unlike his novels it was boring so I would volunteer for other assignments and jobs.  One of my other assignments was being a search and rescue swimmer for the ships I was attached to.  During my time as a search and rescue swimmer I only had to save one person, an idiot who leaned on what we call in the Navy a "life line".  That is fencing made of wire and stanchions arranged around the edge of the decking to prevent people from falling overboard.  This idiot leaned on one of the stanchions while we were in a bit of chop.  The ship took a little roll from a wave and his weight shifted breaking the stanchion and sending him into the ocean.  Lucky for him and me this happened in the early months of fall so the ocean was still a semi warm temp.  If it had happened during the winter I probably would have said let him drown. Just kidding; I would probably have thrown him a lifebuoy.


What about after the Navy?  What else have you done for work?
After the Navy, I got a job with friends doing electrical work and construction.  During my time working as an electrician I got to do some really cool projects.  Projects like hospitals where we built surgical rooms, x-ray rooms, and vaults for chemo therapy.  I also helped to build clean rooms for building computer and cell phone chips.  I loved doing those as there were all kinds of cool tools and equipment that you worked with and installed for the building of the chips.  I loved being a small part of the world that was developing cutting edge technology.

During that same period of time I started coaching youth football.  At first, I just volunteered but as years went by I started to get paid for coaching teams.  Eventually I went on to become a director of recreational football programs.  Mainly for the younger ages U5 through U13.  As youth football developed in the States I would go on to become a youth academy coach for a small club working with U9 to U13 ages.  I also got a job for one of the primary schools as their head coach for both their boys and girls school teams.  That was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed that.


What about now?  What do you do now?
Well, about six years ago I developed headaches.  The headaches got really severe so I had to have MRI's and CT scans done to find out what was going on.  Turned out the headaches were caused by a cystic tumor that was pushing on my pituitary gland.  I had to have the tumor removed and in the process my pituitary gland died.  I am fine now and to look at me you would think I that nothing ever happened but actually I am on a lot of medicine that regulate all my hormones which can make it hard to have a normal 9-5 job.

I still coach football for a small private school.  I have also connected with a small youth club and help them out.  I still do some electrical small jobs, mainly for family and clients who are aware of my condition.  Recently I consulted for a building contractor who was building a small clean room for a startup Technology Company.  I liked doing that and would love to do more of that in the future.

I've also self-taught myself over the years and out of necessity some computer coding and have learned how to maintain and update websites.  My need for doing that came from running and working with youth football clubs.  The clubs needed someone to do daily updates to the websites for announcements and weather cancellations.  That led into doing some creative design things for the club websites.  Now I sometimes work with a neighbor helping to come up with creative concepts for websites.  Truth be told she is more the techie person I am more the creative person.

Any way that is my story.  Not a very colorful and exciting one but that's it.  I basically just try to stay busy and live for those brief moments in time for when I can listen to Gentalmen Jim or watch Fulham. 

[AlexW132]

Great read, thanks for sharing!

[RaySmith]

What a story! - thanks.

[Lighthouse]

'Not a very colourful story'? Well it seems pretty full on to me. Always interesting to read about fans and their 'not very colourful stories'.  :005:

[dannyboi-ffc]

Bump

[bobbo]

Yeah thinking just the same, don it sounds pretty colourful to me. Growing up in Montana alone is really something, I went fishing there some years back , mind blowing scenery. And hunting subs with sonar. Makes my life as a plumber look a bit sick.

[e4b]

Have to say it was a real pleasure to meet you and your son. Even though you live so far away your love for Fulham and the Fulham family was obvious as was your enthusiasm for football in general. An interesting interview and life. Thanks for sharing .

[YankeeJim]

And I thought I knew ye!
Well done. Next time your heading across the pond. maybe I'll join you.

[love4ffc]

Have to say it was a real pleasure to meet you and your son. Even though you live so far away your love for Fulham and the Fulham family was obvious as was your enthusiasm for football in general. An interesting interview and life. Thanks for sharing .

It was a real pressure meeting you also.  Hopefully next season I'll make it over for at least one game and manage to get YankeeJim to join me. 

[e4b]

The pressure was all mine.Haha. By the way as a mod can you tell me where the spell checker has gone. Will be good to meet you again if you do make it over. 049:gif

[Jonaldiniho 88]

Really enjoyed your story mate. Was nice to meet you last season. I'm really glad your son enjoyed the whole experience. I was worried he we would go home telling your wife what a bunch of losers we all are and how Fulham are rubbish. That walk through the park is still magic to me. Think it always will be. Hopefully we get the chance to do it again together in the future.

[love4ffc]

Really enjoyed your story mate. Was nice to meet you last season. I'm really glad your son enjoyed the whole experience. I was worried he we would go home telling your wife what a bunch of losers we all are and how Fulham are rubbish. That walk through the park is still magic to me. Think it always will be. Hopefully we get the chance to do it again together in the future.

Nah, surprisingly meeting you all, walking through the park and attending the games was the best thing he says we did.  This inlcudes doing all the other Tourist attractions in London, then heading over to Paris.  For me it means a lot that my son had a good time with his Fulham experiences. 

[dannyboi-ffc]

It was great meeting you both Don. We speak so often that I felt like I knew you anyway but meeting you was even better.

I thought you'd kidnapped my mum in the Park. One minute you were there and the next you'd all disappeared lol. I went back to Putney Bridge looking for her. It was a nice meet up with some great people. The meet ups are always nice and everyone gets on really well.

Your boy is a great kid! You're doing well with him. Great story by the way

[Jonaldiniho 88]

Once again Danny deserves all the credit for making the meet up happen. I was sat at home with enough beers to enjoy GJ's commentary but with very little persuasion got me to come. I met a friend that day that wasn't a friend before and shared a lot of fun, and a lot of beer with. I also met don and every mod you meet must help me not get banned for drunken ramblings.

[Carborundum]

You picked some cracking games for your visits to west London.  It was a pleasure to meet with you and your family.  Come back soon!

[YankeeJim]

Have to say it was a real pleasure to meet you and your son. Even though you live so far away your love for Fulham and the Fulham family was obvious as was your enthusiasm for football in general. An interesting interview and life. Thanks for sharing .

It was a real pressure meeting you also.  Hopefully next season I'll make it over for at least one game and manage to get YankeeJim to join me.

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[love4ffc]

You picked some cracking games for your visits to west London.  It was a pleasure to meet with you and your family.  Come back soon!

Agree somehow I've gotten extremely lucky.  I can only hope it stays that way in the future.