Monday Fulham Stuff - 30/03/20...

[WhiteJC]

Two for the Price of One

These certainly are surreal times we are living in. A fortnight or so ago the Gandermonium faithful were trooping down to GGL for their staple diet of National League football. To be fair the professional programme had already been cancelled and the fixture with Hartlepool was being widely touted as being potentially the last game in London for some time. Fast forward a couple of weeks and that prediction has proved true.

Now football below NL level has been cancelled as though this season had never happened. This concept is probably attractive to some; in actual fact as a Fulham fan there are several seasons I'd like to erase from my memory. However it does seem very unfair on teams on the cusp of promotion. I won't dwell on this issue though as if this piece is to be carried under this site's banner it wouldn't do to become too serious.

To carry on with the surreal theme it currently seems the Gandermonium massive are still getting their footy fix following the likes of FC Slutsk and Dinamo Brest online in the Belarus Premier League. I can only blame quarantine fever for this as apparently they are viewing this fare at 10am in the morning when surely it's too early even for these veterans of dawn start awaydays to be pissed??

Another reason to question their sanity is the fact they seemed to like my old tosh about the glory days of Sunday League football which was received with an avalanche of apathy on social media platforms a few weeks back. In fact when I recently tweeted some pictures of the programmes of Sutton Supporters v Veterans games I'd taken part in they wondered if there might be some mileage in it for another bodice ripping yarn.

The short answer to that is no, but if you've got this far you'll guess there is a story on its way, so consider your bodice ripped. As you may have gathered I am a Fulham fan but as mentioned I played for the Sutton Supporters team back in the old days, which provokes the question; can you support two teams?

It's a question that has exercised the foremost minds in science for generations but as their expertise is probably being put to much better use at the moment, I'll answer it myself by saying most definitely, yes. In order to back up my theory I need to tell you a little about my football following history.

I was born in Streatham to a Fulham supporting father but perversely when I first took an interest in football I took a shining to Chelsea, even though as my Dad worked Saturdays I rarely got to see them live. He took me to Stamford Bridge for a few midweek games but also gave me a few outings to Craven Cottage, presumably in an effort to cure me.  My symptoms persisted but a move to North Cheam finally rid me of my affliction when a Fulham supporting neighbour offered to take me on the 93 bus to Putney Bridge for every home game and steered me back on the path of righteousness. It was about this time that I also got taken to my first game at Sutton United. I think it was an Amateur Cup tie with Marine. I can't recall anything about the match but I do remember a little more about my second Sutton game as it was at Wembley for the 1969 Amateur Cup Final with North Shields. Guttingly Sutton lost 2-1 but my disappointment was assuaged by my Dad buying me a wooden rattle outside the ground for the princely sum of half a crown. I recall my mum being seriously impressed by the racket I made with it back at home. She was fulsome in her praise of my old man for this shrewd purchase; praise only matched later in life when we trooped home late for dinner from The Gander most Friday evenings.

I was lucky enough to see Sutton win the next time I saw them when they beat Hillingdon in a Tuesday night replay to clinch a home FA Cup tie with the mighty Leeds United in January 1970. My joy didn't last long though as my Dad had to work on the Saturday of the match and I couldn't go. I did carry on watching the odd game at GGL in the early 70's but most of my live football viewing was at Craven Cottage or at Fulham away games in London.

The perfect mothers day gift!

It was in the mid part of the decade that I started to take much more interest in my local club. By then I had moved to Sunningdale Road, no more than a long goal kick from the ground itself. However my increased interest was not a result of geography but more due to a name familiar to all Sutton fans, club historian Mark Frake. Mark's family had moved to a house on the by-pass the same day as we'd moved  and our proximity to each other saw our friendship grow even though we'd gone to different senior schools, after leaving that bastion of primary education, Cheam Park Farm. As all will know Frakey is absolutely Sutton mad although to be honest he didn't have much choice. His Grandad was a regular on the terraces, his Mum and Dad manned the turnstiles at either end of the ground and his Uncle Wally watched the U's home and away as well. When I wasn't watching Fulham it was easy for Mark to talk me into coming to watch Sutton with him, especially as his mum Pat would let us in for free. If Bruce Elliott is reading this I would plead for his forgiveness and argue that I've made more than reasonable financial restitution to the Club over the bar in the years since.

Although I loved going to Fulham I quickly got hooked on Sutton too. Isthmian League football was a decent standard with top Amateur Internationals like Ted Powell and Larry Pritchard gracing the U's colours. What I also liked was  how close you were to the action, not so much at home where the running track still surrounded the pitch back then but certainly at  away games where when we stood behind the goal Sutton were attacking you were quite literally breathing down the goalkeeper's neck. To be fair Frakey and I were not just breathing but generating a good degree of hot air as we delivered healthy rations of quick wit and bonhomie to the opposing custodian and any defenders within earshot. I recall our particular nemesis at the time were Tooting and Mitcham. They had the irritating habit of beating us regularly  with what we thought were varying levels of good fortune and skulduggery. This led to the levels of our invective going up disproportionately with liberal use of the F word and dropping of the C bomb. Oh how our parents would have been proud.

I've many happy memories of following Sutton in my teenage years, not least when we made the trip by train to Chieti to see Sutton win the Anglo Italian Cup in 1979. Frakey is already blogging the sordid details of this trip on this very medium if you're eager to learn more. Just remember to sanitise first. And after.

Anglo-Italian final

The 1980's were a particularly successful period for Sutton and I was still a regular on the scene then. More trips to Italy, another Wembley final in 1981, successive Isthmian titles in 1985 and 86 and the amazing Cup runs at the end of the decade. The Coventry match is still talked about to this day but to my mind the better Sutton performance had been the year before when losing at Middlesbrough after extra time at Ayresome Park. It was also in the mid part of the decade that we played those games with the Veterans that I alluded to earlier. I recall we somehow stole a 1-1 draw the first time we played them but in doing so must have made the Vets a  bit angry and more determined for the next edition. That time they annihilated us 6-0 and we were lucky to get Nil. I think I've seen Hayley's Comet more often than I saw the ball that day.

I got married in 1989 and moved to the South Coast in 1991 and as a consequence my attendance at Sutton games has dwindled although my interest has never waned. Frakey has been my best mate for 50 years and has been able to give me first hand details of all Sutton's goings on . And if the everlasting ray of sunshine's musings get too much I can now also turn to the internet for information on the club and to Gandermonium for news on how many pints it's possible to neck on a matchday.

I still have a Fulham season ticket so happily get my live football fix on a regular basis. However it's nice to supplement my diet every now and then by popping back to my spiritual home in Sutton. Fulham have moved in quite rarified atmosphere in recent times so although I love Craven Cottage I don't get the feeling of intimacy there that I do on my trips to Sutton . Non League football is a different animal where it's still possible to share a drink in the bar after the game with players, management and the same old faces that have been going there for years. For that and many other reasons I can happily say I've got two clubs in my heart and hopefully this current crisis will ebb soon before I have to consider making some club I've never heard of in Belarus my third.

John Clarke


Our thanks again to Mr Clarke for his contribution! Fancy featuring on the pages of this absolute poo show yourself? Drop us a line. We're far from a closed shop and if you've got something interesting to tell, read a football book you want to review or even fancy taking the plunge headlong down the rabbit hole and doing a match blog, let us know.




http://www.gandermonium.com/2020/03/two-for-price-of-one.html

[WhiteJC]

Scottish starlet Kieron Bowie excited to link up with Fulham after January transfer agreement

Raith Rovers starlet Kieron Bowie has told Capital City Press that he is excited to link up with Fulham in the summer after a fee was agreed between the two clubs in the January transfer window.

In the January transfer window, Fulham agreed to pay £150,000 for Raith Rovers' 17-year-old starlet Kieron Bowie. The deal was announced on the club's official website in February and it was agreed that the youngster would see out the season with Raith before linking up with the Cottagers in the summer.

Bowie earned the move to Fulham after impressing in his breakout season with Raith. He made his debut for Raith in the 18/19 campaign but has nailed down a spot in their senior side this season, playing in 35 games across all competitions, netting an impressive 10 goals and laying on six assists in the process while playing across the front three.

Now, Bowie has been speaking to Capital City Press about his excitement over the move, also discussing some of the biggest challenges he expects to come across once he makes the move from Kirkcaldy to London. He said:

"It's an exciting mix – I'm really looking forward to it but it's only natural that there are some nerves as well. It's a big upheaval aged 17, moving away from home for the first time and adapting to a new club and country.

"It'll be my first time away from my parents, so there's the usual things like cooking and cleaning and living on your own that you need to get your head round. Plus there's the fact that London is a wee bit different from Kirkcaldy! It's bigger, louder, faster and, after growing up in a Scottish town, it'll be strange living down there. But you've got to be excited; got to embrace it.

"Regardless of what city I'm in, my main focus will be on the training pitch and I'll be looking to make a positive impression. The idea of working under a guy like Scott Parker and getting a few sessions with players like [Aleksandar] Mitrovic is amazing. I can't wait. My time at Raith has been a dream and there's still part of me pinching myself that I've got this opportunity."

Upon his arrival at Craven Cottage, Bowie is set to link up with the club's academy sides in the hope of emerging into the senior picture with Fulham.



https://the72.co.uk/159689/scottish-starlet-kieron-bowie-excited-to-link-up-with-fulham-after-january-agreement/

[WhiteJC]

Coronavirus and Fulham: is there a silver lining?

Whilst the Coronavirus pandemic is obviously devastating, a break from football could be exactly what Fulham needs – writes Marco De Novellis

As Coach Parker walked across the turf triumphant, thumbs up in the air, you knew it was a seminal moment in Fulham's season. For Parker, the Bristol result was like a victory; a job well done; another step on the road to promotion.

Then came Corona. What started as a few memes on Twitter developed into something more serious. Coronavirus, or COVID-19, cancelled football. Overnight, millions of peoples' Saturdays (or Fridays, Sundays, Mondays...) were ruined.

Out of the diary went Brentford, Leeds, and QPR. In went dinners with girlfriends, conference calls, and Come Dine with Me.

We don't know how coronavirus will change football this year; when the Championship season will start again; or how fixtures will be rearranged. But while coronavirus sweeps across the UK, there could be some positive news for Fulham.

Coronavirus facts
Let's start with the practical stuff.

Firstly, the suspension of football gives players a break. Travel restrictions also mean they can't piss it up the wall in Vegas (See Kevin McDonald pissing it up the wall in Vegas). Like prison inmates, players have little else to do but train and keep fit.

This won't come naturally to everyone. Kamara seems to be endlessly driving around listening to French hip hop. After laughing about how badly he played during his 10 minute appearance at Ashton Gate on Instagram, Anthony Knockaert kicked off coronavirus by holidaying in Dubai.

But, on the whole, a break from football should be a chance to rest, refresh, and focus minds on the challenges ahead.

With the season almost definitely delayed, our squad will also be boosted by the return of players from injury. Onomah should be back by May; Kongolo in June. Mawson can try and put his boots on again in a few months' time. Le Marchand is still pottering about somewhere.

There are many unknowns. Will we extend our loan signings until the new end of the season? Reed and Arter's (and Knockaert's) deals end on May 31st. Can we extend without triggering our option to buy?

Will we welcome Seri and Anguissa back into the squad when their loans come to an end in June? Just imagine swapping out Arter for Anguissa; Knockaert for Seri...

You only live once
There's also a more philosophical argument.

Coronavirus is devastating and not to be taken lightly. Things are getting serious. People are quoting Churchill and referencing the Blitz. Coronavirus is not really good news for anyone.

But after however many months we are restricted and confined to our homes, our whole outlook on life will change. There will be new trends, new social influencers, and ways of thinking. And the old fridge magnet mantra will become relevant again: 'You only live once. Make the most of it.'

So far this season we have lived with Parkerball. We have witnessed the long balls, sideways passes, and relentless rigidity of Scott Parker's miserable tactical system. We have endured the endless repertoire of narrow wins, goalless draws, and heavy defeats at home.

But this international pause for self-reflection offers us hope. After months in isolation, maybe Cairney will make that forward run; maybe Tim Ream will attempt to pass it up the pitch; maybe one of our full-backs will make it to the byline.

Think back to that fabled 2017-18 season. You'd never seen a team like it. We had Targett and Sessegnon and Fredericks pacing down the wing. We had peak Cairney, Mitro, and Piazon. We had Norwood. We had Fonte and Djalo on bench.

Every week, we dominated teams. We scored goals. We sang and danced in the sun at away games. Every week, home fans told us how good we were.

Mr. Parker: When we get over this virus, let's go back to those halcyon days. Let's let loose a little; surprise teams; mix things up. Let's use this time to think of something new.

Let's enjoy life in the Championship.

A brighter future
Coronavirus and Parkerball both debilitate those inflicted by them. Both are wretched and contagious. They succeed because they are efficient, but no one enjoys them.

Like coronavirus though, Parkerball can be defeated. If we come together; if we focus on improving our lives; if Coach Parker takes the time he needs to turn over a new leaf; there could be good times ahead.

Then, when our break from football ends and coronavirus ends, Parkerball will end too, and two great burdens on the Fulham fanbase will be lifted.



https://www.fulhamish.co.uk/post/2020-03-30-coronavirus-and-fulham-is-there-a-silver-lining/

[WhiteJC]

Premier League discusses isolated camps for hosting remaining games amid coronavirus pandemic

The Premier League has developed plans for clubs to play televised games in isolated "World Cup-style" camps in the midlands and London over June and July, in order to try and finish the 2019/20 season amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The football authorities have been in discussion about ideas over the weekend, with games "behind closed doors" still seen as the likeliest solution, but the idea of isolated camps is one the clubs keep returning to. It has gained increasing traction in the last few days.

The huge broadcasting contracts and other financial concerns have increased the pressure on clubs to complete the season, but one considerable advantage to the idea is that it would be a "TV mega-event". The Independent has been told that plans have been drawn up to televise all remaining 92 matches, with a handful on every day over the summer months.

It is this aspect that has drawn increased government backing, too, as they like the idea of the population engrossed in the national sport, especially in the event that lockdown measures are tightened or extended.

In order to complete the plan, clubs and their staffs would be confined to separate hotels away from their families, just like in an international tournament – albeit with full testing and quarantine conditions. The aim is to reduce the risk of contracting Covid-19 as even one case could derail the whole plan.

There also remains the moral issue of having medical officials at what are ultimately "non-essential events", not to mention potential hospital visits.

"Where does a player who does his cruciate or breaks his leg go after he's stretchered off?" one source privy to the plans asked. "Hospitals will have much bigger concerns. The Premier League would almost have to have a private hospital blocked off."

It is for this reason that summer is seen as much more viable than May, both logistically and politically. The optimistic view is that the curve will have flattened, but there will also be considerable political backing behind the plan.

A cultural event as big as the Premier League returning would be seen as a big step in the return to normality, as well as a psychological boost to the nation. There is also the competition's part in getting the economy moving, especially given the size of the TV event the games would be, driving industries from advertising to gambling.

The mood among players is more and more fixed around finishing the season if it can be done behind closed doors.

As regards venues, the plan would almost certainly see fixtures in the midlands and maybe London, but it is possible that training-ground pitches could be used rather than stadiums. St George's Park has come up in discussions, but is currently discounted.

The current feeling is that "everything is on the table in order to get games played". This "World Cup base" idea had been mooted when the Premier League was initially postponed at the start of March, but is one that the clubs have kept coming back to, and has been given more shape in the last few days.

It is generally accepted that nothing will get off the ground, however, until testing is more widespread.



https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/premier-league/coronavirus-premier-league-isolated-camps-remaining-fixtures-dates-suspension-latest-a9432961.html

[Stoneleigh Loyalist]

WhiteJC. Your Sutton United hero Larry Pritchard is a neighbour of mine. I was talking to him yesterday from a reasonable distance .
I competed against him in about 1979 in a First v Middle .school charity silly games including a penalty dribble and shoot out. We complained that he was too good to he allowed to play so he defended his goal area without being able to use his hands. With his positioning skill  I still could not score despite three attempts!