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Craven Cottage is the name of a sports stadium in the Hammersmith and Fulham (Great Britain) area that has been the home ground of the football team Fulham F.C. since 1896. Its capacity has recently been increased to around 24,600 with the highest Fulham Premiership home attendance of 24,552 fans present for the 1-1 draw against Aston Villa F.C. on 3 March 2007. Fulham are renowned for their special bond with Craven Cottage, as many fans view the ground as being the epitome of what the club stands for. The stadium has one of the most picturesque settings in league football, located next to Bishops Park on the banks of the River Thames.

The original 'Cottage' was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven and was located on the centre circle of the pitch. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn's hunting grounds. Several other sports are presumed to have taken place here besides hunting. As well as more lethargic games such as lawn bowls and croquet, a version of the Aztec game called 'tlachtli' (scoring a ball through a hoop using your hips) is alleged to have been played here. This game is thought to be a distant cousin of association football and is arguably one of the earliest codes of organised football.

It was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. Many rumours persist between Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are assumed to have stayed there, though these are all likely to have been fabricated. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 10 grounds overall (if including Loftus Road) meaning only their 'landlords' and rival QPR has had more home grounds (14) in British football. Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886-1888.

When representatives of Fulham first came across the land, in 1894, it was so overgrown that it took two years to be made suitable for football to be played on it. A deal had been done that meant this work was done by the owners of the ground, who then would receive a proportion of the gate receipts.

The first event at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, on October 10, 1886. The ground's first stand was built shortly after. Described as looking like an "orange box", it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and later was affectionately nicknamed the "Rabbit hutch".

Before the ground could become too well established, the now defunct London County Council became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed. A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect who had rose to prominence after his building of Ibrox a few years prior, was hired to work on the stadium. In a scheme costing £15,000 (a record for the time), he had a new pavilion (the modern Cottage itself) and a stand built, in his characteristic red brick style (photo).

The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005-2006 season and, following the tragic death of Fulham FC's favourite son, former England captain Johnny Haynes, in a car accident in October 2005 the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters.

Both the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain the finest examples of Archibald Leitch football architecture to remain in existence and this has been recognised with both being designated as Grade II listed buildings.

An England v Wales match was played at the ground in 1911, followed by a rugby league international between England and Australia.

One of the club's directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hill, took over Arsenal in the early 1910s, the plan being to merge them with Fulham, to form a "London superclub" at Craven Cottage. This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football.

The ground again suffered a scare in 1933, when there were plans to demolish it and start again from scratch with a new ground. These plans never materialised.

On October 8, 1938, Craven Cottage held host to 49,335 fans during a game against Millwall. During the 1930-60's era, Fulham often averaged over 45,000. However, the official attendances can be considered somewhat dubious in this era as many fans would get in by climbing over the fence from Bishops Park into the Putney End. Like many other grounds, fans would sneak in through the turnstiles as well (and not be counted) so this boot money would be given to the players (stuffed in their boots) and would not be counted in the gate money. The ground hosted several football games for the 1948 Olympic Games.

It wasn't until Fulham first reached the top division, in 1949, that further improvements were made to the stadium. The first was that the next year they became the final side in the division to erect floodlights. The floodlights were said to be the most expensive in Europe at the time as they were so modern. The lights were like large pylons towering 50 metres over the ground and were similar in appearance to those at the WACA. The Hammersmith end had a roof put over it, and an electronic scoreboard was put up.

After Fulham were relegated, the development continued. The Riverside terracing, infamous for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads annually to watch The Boat Race pass (photo), was replaced by what was officially named the 'Eric Miller stand', Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. The stand, which cost 334,000 pounds and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against Benfica in February 1972, (which encluded Eusebio). Miller committed suicide five years later after a political and financial scandal that he was involved in boiled over. The stand is now better known as the Riverside Stand. The Riverside bank also was unique for the fact that flags of all the other teams of the first division were flown along the promenade.

Between 1980 and 1984, Fulham rugby league played their home games at the Cottage. They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos, and then into Harlequins Rugby League. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground was 15,013, at a game against Wakefield on February 15th, 1981.

When the Hillsborough disaster occurred, Fulham were in the second bottom rung of The Football League, but following the Taylor report Fulham's ambitious chairman Jimmy Hill tabled plans for an all-seater stadium. These plans never came to fruition, partly due to local residents' pressure groups, and by the time Fulham reached the Premiership, they still had standing areas in the ground, something virtually unheard of at the time. They were given a year to do something about this, but by the time the last league game was played there, against Leicester City on April 27, 2002, no building plans had been made. Two more Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year (against Egaleo FC of Greece and FC Haka of Finland), and the eventual solution was to decamp to Loftus Road, home of local rivals QPR. During this time, many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage. 'Back to the Cottage', later to become the 'Fulham Supporters Trust', was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the chairman and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable option for Fulham Football Club.

After one and a half seasons at Loftus Road no work had been done on the Cottage. Suddenly, a plan to partially redevelop the stadium sprung up, and the club were able to return to their home for the start of the 2004-05 season.

Australia (yellow) vs New Zealand (white) friendly match at Craven Cottage 9 June 2005. The stand along the left is the historic Stevenage Road Stand, at the back is the Putney End, with the Cottage in between the two stands.

The current stadium is not the 33,000 state of the art ground Fulham fans would like to see; in fact it is the Premiership's fourth smallest ground (after Fratton Park.Vicarage Road and Madejski Stadium), but it at least lets Fulham play at their "spiritual" home. Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, mostly including Australia. Also, Greece vs. South Korea was also hosted on 6 February 2007. This venue is suitable because most of Australia's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of expatriate Australians. Craven Cottage often hosts many other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. Also, many have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant or the 'Cottage Cafe' on non-match days. Craven Cottage recently hosted the 2006 Oxbridge Varsity Football match prior to the famous 'The Boat Race', as well as having a Soccer Aid warm-up match. The half-time entertainment often includes the SW6ers (previously called The Cravenettes) which are a group of female cheerleaders. However, other events have included brass bands, Michael Jackson (albeit just walking around as opposed to performing), Travis playing, Arabic dancing, keepie uppie professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competition of some kind, usually involving scoring through a 'hoop' or 'beat the goalie'. On the first home game of the season, there is a carnival where every Fulham fan is expected to turn up in black-and-white colours. There is usually live rock bands, player signings, clowns, stilt walkers, a steel (calypso) band, food stalls and a free training session for children in Bishops Park.

The Fulham Ladies (before their demise) and Reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. Other than this, they generally play at the club's training ground at Motspur Park or at Kingstonian and AFC Wimbledon's stadium, Kingsmeadow. Craven Cottage is known by several affectionate nicknames from fans, including: The (River) Cottage, The Fortress (or Fortress Fulham), Thameside, The Friendy Confines, SW6, Lord of the Banks, The House of Hope, The Pavilion of Perfection, The 'True' Fulham Palace and The Palatial Home. The Thames at the banks of the Cottage is often referred to as 'Old Father' or The River of Dreams. The easiest (though it's still quite hard) to get to the ground is to walk through Bishops Park, often known as The Green Mile by Fulham fans (as it roughly a mile walk through pleasant greenery). Craven Cottage is often mocked by other fans for it's lack of atmosphere, often called 'The Cemetery with Floodlights' or 'The Library'.

Craven Cottage is where most Fulham fans would like to be, although the club might prefer a more lucrative situation - a larger ground enabling greater ticket revenue. Whether the club is still looking for a new site for a stadium is unknown, but comments in summer 2004 from Fulham's CEO at the time, Jim Hone, suggest Fulham are back home for good. Fulham's move back to the Cottage is believed to have been instigated and financed by the sale of Louis Saha to Manchester United, as his transfer covered the £9 million bill. Plans to move to White City with QPR into a 40,000 all-seater stadium appear to have been put firmly on hold. Fulham now have more realistic expectations of aiming for a mid-table finish and ensuring Premiership survival. The board seem to have moved away from their grandiose ideas of making Fulham the "Manchester United of the south" as Al-Fayed has come to realise how expensive it is to subsidise a Premiership outfit.^{[citation needed]}

The Hammersmith End (or Hammy) is the northernmost stand in the ground, and, hence the name, the closest to Hammersmith. It is situated such that looking out from the stand you can see the Putney End and the Cottage opposite, the Riverside Stand (and the river itself) to the right and the Stevenage Road stand to the left. The roofing on the 'Smithy' was financed through the sale of Alan Mullery to Spurs. It is home to the more vocal Fulham fans, and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand.

The Putney End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to Putney and Bishops Park. To its right is The Cottage, opposite is the Hammersmith End, with the Riverside and Stevenage Road stands to left and right respectively. This generally hosts visiting or 'neutral' supporters. When the ground became redeveloped in 2003-4 (during Fulham's exile to Loftus Road) the club applied for a licence to have a designated neutral area (known as 'Little Sitzerland' affectionately by the fans). Due to Fulham's past history of having no segregation in the Putney End and having very well-behaved fans, the FA gave Fulham special dispensation to allow for this. Fulham is the only club currently in the UK or elsewhere to have such an area. The seats are often priced cheaper than elsewhere in the ground, and fans can wear whatever shirt and support either side in this area, leading to friendly banter. Often Chelsea supporters will turn up to support the away side in the neutral area, due to the rivalry between The Blues and Fulham. Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, however they were retracted after the 2006-07 season commenced.

The Riverside Stand backs onto the river Thames, and contains the corporate hospitality seating alongside Fulham fans. Jimmy Hill once referred to the Riverside being "a bit like the London Palladium" as Blocks V & W (the middle section) are often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There are several Harrods advertising boardings and above these is the gantry, for the press and cameras. Tickets in this area are often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they are also some of the more expensive. It has the Hammersmith End to its left, the Putney End to its right and is opposite the Stevenage Road Stand. During the 70's, Craven Cottage flooded, with water gushing in from the Riverside. On non-match days, the George Cohen restaurant is open providing posh-nosh from Harrods or alternatively there is the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself. (The River Cafe is also located nearby). Under Tommy Trinder's chairmanship in the 60's, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames. However, when Fulham were relegated in 1969, Trinder decided not to change the flags as "Fulham won't be in this division next season". True to Tommy's prophecy, Fulham were relegated again! There is now a campaign to bring back the flags again, though whether Chelsea's cub badge would be flown is another matter! The Riverside Stand has been used by sponsors, placing adverts on top of the covering, sponsors who have used this include Pipex.com and Lee Cooper Jeans. The end of the Riverside Stand towards the 'Smithy' End' indicates the end of the 'Fulham Wall', which is the Mile Post in The Boat Race.

The Johnny Haynes stand at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club.

Formerly the Stevenage Road Stand - named for the street it is on - The Johnny Haynes Stand. Holding Fulham supporters, a lot of whom are season ticket holders, this is opposite the Riverside Stand, with the Putney End and the Cottage to its left, and the Hammersmith end to the right. This stand includes the ticket office and club shop, as well as nostalgic but uncomfortable original wooden seats. This remains the oldest stand (dating back to 1905) in the Football League and is thus a listed building (thanks to Jimmy Hill). The stand's new name was announced shortly after Johnny Haynes' untimely death in late 2005. Due to parts of the structure being wooden there is a no-smoking policy in this part of the ground. The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a beautiful brick façade rarely seen amongst stadia and features the club's old emblem in the artwork. Also, a special stone to commemorate Fulham 2000 and The Cottagers return to their rightful home was engraved on the façade for all to see. The family enclosure is located in the corner nearest to the Hammersmith end. The stand also features very narrow and rickety turnstiles (that all must pass through) which are very much a squeeze for some of the more portly spectators. The 2006-7 season sees a new introduction in that all tickets are now read electronically when passing through the gates. Where the new plastic seating lies (in front of the wooden seats), originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch (up until the 70's).

Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) was traditionally used by the player's families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game, but the club now sell those seats at a premium game-by-game rate. In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on three levels.

• A 'dedicated' Fulham supporter built an exact replica of Craven Cottage (clubhouse) for his Devon home, has goalposts as his garage and a small stream as the Thames.
• Fulham are not the only football team located near the Thames. Hampton & Richmond Borough F.C.'s Beveree Stadium is just 200 yards from the Thames, downstream from Hampton Court Palace.
• Fulham offer cruise trips (in paddleboats) from central London direct to the ground.
• Fulham took part in the first ever British game to be played on a Sunday (against Millwall) in 1974, which was staged at Craven Cottage. (The second Sunday game also took place in the same fixture a year later.)
• On Boxing Day 1963, Craven Cottage was the venue of the fastest hat trick in the history of the English football league, which was completed in less than three minutes, by Graham Leggat. This helped his Fulham team to beat Ipswich 10-1 (a club record).^[1] The international record is held by Jimmy O'Connor, an Irish player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 13 seconds in 1967.
• The ground has hosted the most Socceroo matches outside of Australia.
• Fulham were the last team to have standing room in the Premiership.
• The Johnny Haynes Stand is the oldest stand in the Football League.
• Pelé played on this pitch for a friendly between Santos F.C. and Fulham.
• Fulham are undefeated at home in Europe.
• Motspur Park, Fulham's training ground featured in several films including Chariots of Fire.

Craven Cottage

Stevenage Road

Fulham

London

SW6 6HH

Telephone: 0870 442 1222

Fax: 020 7384 4715

Ticket Office: 0870 442 1234

Ticket Office Fax: 020 7384 4810

Record Attendance: 49,335 v Millwall, 8 October 1938 (Division Two)

• 1997/98: 9,004
• 1998/99: 11,387
• 1999/00: 13,092
• 2000/01: 14,985
• 2001/02: 19,389
• 2002/03 and 2003/04: n/a (Fulham games played at Loftus Road)
• 2004/05: 19,838
• 2005/06: 20,654
• 2006/07: 21,991 (includes 15 games thus far; based upon opposition's records)

1. ^ Three minutes is the time quoted by his official website.

• YouTube - Back to the Cottage film
• Aerial photo of Craven Cottage
• View from the back of the Hammersmith End
• Fulham Supporters' Trust

Coordinates: 51°28′29.61″N, 0°13′17.90″W