If I can’t write for this website in times like the current, then I should retire my pen (or keyboard). I sit here locked up having had my one period of daily activity, swiping aimlessly on Tinder and binge-watching Netflix shows, it’s time to do something a little more productive.

Clint Dempsey, Mark Schwarzer, Graham Leggat, chance matches and emigrations are some of the threads that have connected Fulham to an international fanbase. This past week I’ve been asking for some of our international fans to give me an insight on their experiences being a Fulham supporter overseas, from closer to home like Ireland to further beyond in the United States and Canada to even further in Japan and Australia, there’s a footprint of football fans that call Fulham FC their team.

Whilst us closer to the Cottage are leaving home to journey to the Cottage, for me it’s South East London so a train and tube around 90 minutes worth (probably including the walk from Putney Bridge), there’s a number of supporters waking up to alarms to get their own Fulham fix of a weekend. For European based supporters, the matchday isn’t too intrusive but in North America, 3pm on a Saturday could be anywhere from 6am to 12pm dependent on location.

There’s a strange obsession on trying to be a truer fan than others, but I admittedly admire the dedication of those in the Australasia area waking up gone midnight on a Saturday, after a week of work to get their taste of Fulham. The volume of supporters Fulham attract to Craven Cottage isn’t anything special, the ability to make an income from other avenues is important to sustainability, especially in a world where Fulham are no longer an established top-flight club. Receiving a revenue stream from an extra few hundred (or thousand) from elsewhere in Europe and further out does make a difference.

Maybe it’s the ‘Rona but I’m feeling quite sentimental in terms of togetherness. I feel the pessimists reading this thinking ‘f*** the tourists.’ Well, this isn’t a post for you and I apologise for wasting your time, bro.

The footballing world has developed massively over the past decade, streams have become more accessible and social media has created an ability to connect with the rest of the world instantly. Twitter, for example, isn’t even 10 years into serious popularity, the occupation for anyone in social media or most things digital is new and ever-changing and it just displays how bloody awesome it is to be able to talk to people in the US about the same thing.

Tangent over, one of the things I wanted to get from talking to our foreign Fulham family is how they do stay attached to the family, how they remain connected the football club. Social media, understandably was top of the criteria whether it was Fulham supporter run pages (such as here, or Fulhamish/Fulham Focus or Cottage Talk) but also these supporters are making their own avenues – did you know for example; that ‘FFC Norway’ is extremely active on Facebook? I’m not a big Facebook guy but I find it so cool that people from Oslo or Tromso are taking time to talk Fulham let alone actively support or put money into the Fulham bank account.

There wasn’t really a real point to this post I guess, just a shout out to the life of those that support Fulham even if Craven Cottage isn’t within commutable distance on a regular basis. However, you start supporting the club, it’s a testament to the current fanbase and the unique feel that people who may only see the team once a year (or even less than that) are still determined to be a part of it all.

Thanks to all that helped me gather information, hope to see you all at the Cottage in the future.

Just a quick side-note, I noticed this past week that Fulham froze their ‘FFCTV’ membership payments this month given the lack of games – I personally wouldn’t have minded them taking the cash. With that in mind, I thought it’d be nice to donate the money that would’ve gone to the club to the Fulham FC Foundation who do lots of good in the community. It didn’t get much traction on Twitter but heck, a last plug here also.

JustGiving Page: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/frankie-taylor2?newPage=True

RT here if you don’t mind: https://twitter.com/fptaylor_/status/1242051615349264386?s=20