Craven Cottage

Craven Cottage

I'm a Manchester United fan and I noticed that they're playing Burton Albion tomorrow in something called the Carabao Cup (whatever that is). Branelle and I saw Burton Albion play Fulham last fall so I thought I'd share a few pics and notes from our trip to Craven Cottage.

"Through the park Bitterman. You know how I love the park."

Nel and I were going to be in London for about a week and I was determined to see a soccer game while we were there. I'd never been to an English game and it was going to happen! I checked every team in London, and there are a lot. Chelsea - Arsenal - Tottenham - West Ham - Crystal Palace....the list is long. Amazingly, none of the Premier League clubs had home games the entire week we were there. Our only options were Fulham and QPR, who were both in the 2nd level of English football at the time. I got us tickets to the Fulham match primarily because their website was better and they released single game tickets earlier than QPR. They actually mailed us the tickets before we left the States. 

Getting to Craven Cottage is fairly simple, if not convenient. Don't even bother thinking about driving - London has to be one of the least efficient car cities you'll ever find and there is virtually no parking anywhere near the stadium. We took the tube to Putney Bridge Station (along with everyone else in London) and from there it's a lengthy, but pleasant, 10 minute stroll through Bishops Park along the Thames.

The stadium doesn't look like a stadium at all, at least not by American standards. It kind of just looks like an old building in the middle of a neighborhood - which is exactly what it is. Craven Cottage has been in use by the Fulham Football Club since 1896! Think about that. The site itself has been used for various sports since 1780. It seats 25,700 fans in simple stands.

We went early and planned to find somewhere to eat near the stadium before the game but there isn't anything near the stadium at all, unless you want to knock on someone's door. It borders the Thames to one side and Bishops Park on another and then nothing but houses and apartments...everywhere.

That little building in the right corner is the actual Craven Cottage. The best words I can use to describe the place are quaint and charming. It's not a luxurious stadium - all of the new high school football stadiums in Texas make this place look like a dump. That said, it's a great environment to watch a game. You feel involved, and the fans are great. You get a sense of history.

I got us Seats 1-2 in Row 1 of our section. I knew this wouldn't be the best place to actually watch the game but I thought it would be interesting. We were literally closer to the field than the players on the bench. We were basically on the bench. I told Nel (sporting her new Fulham shirt) that she might end up in goal in the second half.

Being at field level really isn't a good place to take in a soccer game and I would certainly move up the stands next time. Nel pointed out that you do get a really good view of the players backsides though. She probably enjoyed that a little more than I did.

This was Fulhams coach - Slavisa Jokanovic.  He was hilarious to me. He stood like this most of the game and every time something would go wrong he would just sort of have the look on his face like "how did my life end up like this?" It was great.

The game was a rather lackluster 1-1 draw. Burton Albion's fans seemed rather happy about this after the game. We had a great time and worked our way back to our hotel on the tube. I think we were only about 5 or so miles away but it took us easily over an hour (tell me again how public transportation is so great). 

A few notes from our experience:

• English soccer is awesome - even the lower levels. If you find yourself in England, and even if you aren't a soccer fan, go to a game. It's a cultural experience as English as anything else you'll do.
• Craven Cottage is a really neat place to watch a game. Don't go expecting what you get from sporting events in America. It's not even close, but in many ways it's better. The stadium is old and sparse and not even particularly pretty, but it has something that the multi-billion dollar stadiums in the US could never replicate. 
• People go to the games to actually watch the games. Nel and I go to baseball and football games from time to time - we went to the Texans game last weekend. I swear half the people there get up 15 times to go get food or beer or whatever. It's so annoying! The vendors walk up and down the isles all game long screaming and getting you to pass beer down. In England they don't allow beer in the stands. They probably have that rule to keep people from getting in fights, but it's brilliant! At halftime everyone runs to the concourse and chugs beer and then they come back and actually watch the game. I would vote for that here in a heartbeat.