Craven Cottage

Craven Cottage stands happily on the River Thames in West London's Fulham — a football ground as attuned to character and to history as to sport. Home of Fulham Football Club since 1896, this picturesque stadium has seen over a century of triumph and loss, forward march and heritage. To dig up why Craven Cottage is England's beloved stadium, it's sensible to find out what kind of place it is, how it ended up where it is, idiosyncrasies that make it special, and why thousands of visitors — tourists, football fans, and history buffs in between — make their way here annually.

What Kind of Place Is Craven Cottage

From the start, Craven Cottage is more of a battle-scarred backstreet football theatre than an ominous stadium. With a capacity a little short of 19,000, it's one of the Premier League's smallish arenas, but one with plenty of character. Every stand's got character:

Johnny Haynes Stand on the north, named after Fulham's all-time great, has an old red-brick façade over vaulted seating — a nod to early-20th-century architectural style.

The Riverside Stand on the riverfront boasts one of the sports' finer views, its low roof such that supporters at the front are as close as those on the pitch.

The Putney End and The Cottage Pavilion hug the stadium in village-green atmosphere; one houses the old-fashioned pavilion whose wood and white-painted metalwork looks like a gent's riverside shack.

Where the fresh grass is so company-named and steel and glass, Craven Cottage stands humanly scaled. Nosed-in concourses, in-your-face views and an under-the-stands riverside promenade along the Thames are contact-like: at Craven, you don't so much look at football as breathe it in.

A Brief History

Origins: A Riverside Retreat

The site now taken by Craven Cottage was in the 18th century part of a villa and pleasure grounds of the extravagant Whig politician Lord Craven. He is said to have had a small cottage built for his mistress, a love nest — and thus "Craven Cottage" was given its name. The cottage actually served as a banqueting hall, but the name stuck. The 19th-century riverside promenade was the fashion among the Victorians, and it had music and dancing.

Fulham FC Grasps Hold

Two-year-old non-league team Fulham FC bought the riverside ground off the Harwood family in 1896 and turned the old pavilion into changing rooms. They opened the ground to a match for the first time in September of the year and defeated Minerva 1–0. The reason why the pitch had to be near the Thames was an issue — flooding was regular, and early decades of history saw it raining quite often, so the pitch was muddy. The club survived somehow, nonetheless, and later came wooden stands.

Expansion and Innovations

In the early 1900s, the stands were enhanced: in 1905 a veranda above part of the Putney End was added; in 1924 a grass bank along the river was constructed. In the 1930s, Craven Cottage was blessed with its famous Johnny Haynes Stand, one which was actually designed by club president and director of architecture Mr. William "Billy" Gilbert. As a tongue-in-cheek gesture, the stand's brick wall was constructed to resemble the opposite cottages on Stevenage Road.

Post-war years were years of struggle for Fulham FC on the field, while the stadium was a continuing joy. The rest of the 1960s and '70s visiting teams tore down what was there for functionally flat designs; Craven Cottage resisted full modernization, retaining the pavilion and large sections of original construction.

The Premier League Era and Redevelopment

Whereas Fulham was brought into the Premier League in 2001 by the new ownership of Mohamed Al Fayed, Craven Cottage merely struggled to achieve the pinnacle of football. Rather than tearing it down, though, Al Fayed invested nearly £30 million in re-facing the stands, increasing capacity, and installing a state-of-the-art of facilities — all with an extreme diligence to maintain historical nuances. Riverside Stand development and new Putney and Hammersmith stands were fitted out during 2004-2006, and the wrought-iron gates and diamond-paned windows of the Pavilion were untouched.

Craven Cottage today is a blend of old and new: enhanced seating, hospitality suites, enhanced accessibility and state-of-the-art floodlights peacefully coexist with nods to Victorian elegance bygone.

Interesting Facts and Quirks

The Old Pavilion's Haunted Reputation

Travelers assert the original pavilion built in 1898 and moved, plank by plank, to its present site in 1905 welcomes the ghost of the groundsman. A noise, as it appears, at midnight when there is audible movement of footsteps and laughter, has never been studied adequately to prove anything.

The Acoustic Phenomenon on the Cottage Terrace

Due to the wooden innerv roof and shallow stand pitch, Putney End chants become strangely mangled, generating booming "echo-chunk" with the potential to psyche out visiting teams.

The Secret River Tunnel

Below the Riverside Stand exists a maintenance tunnel that previously carried floodwater from the pitch straight into the Thames. No longer functional, its brick-lined tunnel remains and can be seen by inquisitive groundspeople.

Johnny Haynes Statue

Outside the South Stand is a bronze of Fulham legend playmaker Johnny Haynes ("Lord of the Manor") which was dedicated in 2008. His immortal saying is recalled on the plaque: "Passing is the art of football."

A Royal Invasion

In 1979, a group of Fulham fans hired a boat from Putney to Hammersmith, turned up to the match, and docked outside the Riverside Stand. The hoax was featured on the front page of the papers — an early example of football fan creativity.

Fulham FC Ladies' Adoption

While the other stadia have only the men's side, since 2003 Craven Cottage has also had Fulham FC Women (currently suspended again into the parent club), which staged FA Women's Premier League matches on the nearby real-grass training pitch.

A Film Star

The stadium was also employed as the "White Star Stadium" for the 1981 movie Escape to Victory, which featured Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine; although the majority of the movie was shot in France, British training camp scenes were shot on the Putney End Terrace.

Why the Fans Attend Craven Cottage

Matchday Magic

For football supporters, Craven Cottage has an authenticity the megastadiums cannot offer. The fans are yards from the action; the family environment is real, with generations of fans in the same seats, shouting the same chants. The club motto, Spectemur Agando ("Let us be judged by our deeds"), rings out on and off the field. Whether shouting a late equalizer or taunting defeat, the away fans are encouraged to feel welcome to be part of something that endures.

Guided Tours and Museum

During the off-season, the club conducts guided but self-paced stadium tours, providing the behind-the-scenes tour: legend dressing rooms, players' tunnel with river-lookout exit, directors' box, and press boxes. The small, tastefully furnished club museum houses retro kits, original 1900s matchday programmes, and memorabilia such as Bob Lord's original stewarding bell.

Riverside Charm

Even the football-phobes from home-town appreciate the buzz. The Thames Path is close to the stadium, with quiet promenades broken only by the far-away muffled infrequent rumble of the crowd. Locals picnic behind the Riverside Stand grass bank on Saturdays afternoons when the sun shines, gazing over the top to spot fleeting glimpses of what's going on.

Conclusion

Craven Cottage stands because it fulfils an atavistic urge for authenticity in an era of high corporate stadia and globalised sport. It is English football history — from riverside pleasure grounds to muddy terraces, from inter-war sophistication to Premier League despair — but never once does it lose its heart.

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