When Shahid Khan assumed the ownership of London’s oldest professional football club in 2013 from Mohamed Al-Fayed, he assured the Fulham fans that he would be a worthy ‘custodian’ of the club. On the field, a team that had spent thirteen years in the top flight was immediately relegated and spent four seasons yo-yoing between the top two divisions. This term, the Whites have returned to the Premier League with real gusto and, somewhat surreally, stand a chance of qualifying for Europe on account of accomplished and adventurous displays orchestrated by Marco Silva, who has already achieved his aim of repairing his reputation in this country.
A classical smash and grab success at Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday underlined Fulham’s credentials as genuine continental contenders, but the Whites also have an opportunity at securing a Europa League spot through the FA Cup. On Tuesday, Silva’s side face Leeds United, struggling towards the wrong end of the table, in the fifth round of the world’s oldest Cup competition live on BBC television. Fulham haven’t reached the last eight of the Cup since Roy Hodgson’s side were beaten in a replay at Tottenham in 2010 – the same year that side remarkably went all the way to the Europa League final in Hamburg.
Silva has spoken passionately about the need to have spirited support to spur his side on. He emphasised the importance of the Craven Cottage crowd whipping up an atmosphere in the aftermath of a famous night last April when the Whites clinched promotion with a 7-0 win over Luton Town and Aleksandar Mitrovic broke Guy Whittingham’s post-war second tier scoring record:
“I have to congratulate all of them [his players] and all of those behind the scenes. And, last – but first really – the fans. That was the best atmosphere at the Cottage this season. Fantastic. The fans showed they can create an atmosphere that can really help us.”
I’ve already written about how much I love the Cup. It’s a special competition that has survived setbacks and its demotion in the modern game to still stir the emotions. It is perhaps why the death of John Motson, announced earlier today, hits so hard. In a one-off match, especially against a side as well supported as Leeds, the crowd can make all the difference. That’s why Fulham’s fickle decision to charge £40 for adults for a game against a side we have played almost annually during Khan’s stewardship is so utterly self-defeating. Ticket sales have been as slow as Mark Fotheringham when he featured in Fulham’s midfield, as they would be during a cost-of-living crisis, and season ticket holders don’t even have the option of securing their own seat. Why would anyone pay £40 when they have the option of watching the game on television? The loyalty of even the most fanatical Fulham follower only stretches so far.
The pricing follows a dash for cash that has accompanied Fulham’s promotion to the Premier League. There was a ‘stop the greed’ protest at astronomical pricing when the Whites went down with barely a whimper in 2018 and £1,000 season tickets in the new Riverside Stand, as well as steeply priced matchday admission prices, suggest that for all the marketing guff about Fulham being a proud family club, the club’s hierarchy are not interested in encouraging the next generation of supporters.
It is a particularly bone-headed position to take. Of course, every club needs to maximise revenue, especially Fulham given their history of sitting right on the Financial Fair Play Limits. Nobody would have any objection to a club situated along the River Thames, with one of the finest walks to a historical relic of a ground, pricing their premium seats accordingly. But pricing out a generation of fans just when the team is playing some sublime stuff seems like the sort of own goal that the team managed by Claudio Ranieri made a habit of scoring.
I’ll illustrate this with a very personal example. I met the eccentric editor of this website as a four year-old in the Crabtree beer garden. Fear not, we weren’t beginning a descent into alcoholism early, but we bonded whilst participating in a penalty shoot. Dan doesn’t like being reminded that I won. Neither of us had immediate family who supported Fulham and we relied on friends for our first introduction to Craven Cottage. The prices were reasonable, the attendance was miniscule, Fulham were remarkably generous to their opposition and we were hooked. By the time we were sixteen, we were taking coaches and trains to away games together and I finally gave in to his badgering to write for Hammyend earlier this season.
Fulham have a fair-minded, erudite and educated fanbase. But from the mid-80s until the surprisingly successful season under Micky Adams, they were heading in the wrong direction – with their long-term home under threat, having lost thousands of fans to the other London clubs and scrimping and saving from week-to-week. Al-Fayed might have bankrolled Fulham’s rise through the divisions, but he also tried to grab the Cottage for himself. Shahid Khan hasn’t done that – he has secured the club’s future at our historic home by putting his own money into the refurbishment of the Riverside Stand. The club can only compete at the highest level on account of his continued investment, but with this short-sighted decision, our American ownership risk appearing as out of touch as many of their Premier League contemporaries.
It is too late for Fulham to change course now. But, having been proud of my club for many years, and travelled miles and miles to support them from the north east where I now live, I’ll be watching on television on Tuesday night. I hope the Whites can win and continue their FA Cup journey – not least because we’ve got a good record at Wembley and the day Tom Cairney lifts the trophy can’t be far away, as Ormondroyd sung in his recent smash hit. But I can’t endorse these prices that rob so many fans, who are struggling at the moment, of the chance of watching one of the biggest games of the season.
It doesn’t need to be this way, but the pursuit of pounds ahead of everything else, reminds me of that famous Oscar Wilde quote, when Lord Darlington quips that “a fool is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing”.
There are two possibilities on Tuesday. If the tickets are sold and the ground reasonably full they will feel vindicated in their pricing strategy.
If though the crowd is noticeably small it would be reasonable to expect that lessons will be learned.
Undoubtedly many fans are being priced out of attendance and that ought to matter to those running the club but Premier League finance is so obscene that it is well into the process of becoming a sport owned and played by the mega rich and watched by the seriously well heeled.
It’s a travesty of what it used to be but FFC are hardly an outlier in this. It’s the way things are sadly.
Surely enough about the £40 now we’re sounding rather embarrassing. Most are not going because it’s on free to air TV and not because it’s £40. All these pictures of seats not bought are getting tiresome. More Leeds than Fulham I keep reading well if that’s the case then that says more about our support v theirs then as they pay the same price. Let’s move on.
I’ve been going to Fulham on and off for about 50 years, not every week, I’ve never bought a season ticket I always pick and choose my games, especially as I’ve gotten older, but when I read things like £100 for a seat in the riverside stand, and £40 for a midweek cup game that will be televised on BBC 1. I realise that I’ve probably watched my last live game.
It also means that my grandchildren will probably never see the inside of Craven Cottage.
The price of a ticket matters a lot to me.
To upgrade a child’s ticket to an adults in the Riverside for the Wolves game cost £63. Now that’s pure greed!
The reason I’m not going is because of the price. Not because it’s on tv. So far this season I’ve not managed to come to any home games because of the prices. Loyalty over the past years obviously doesn’t count for anything with the present owners which is a shame.
Random contribution:
When the tickets became available to members I thought,
“Mmm £5 off what is a cheaper price than normal; I’m free to drive up from West Country; first chance to watch team this season; should be a half decent team out; opposition will make a good game of it; yup, it’s worth to me; I’ll take two tickets.”
Not sure the stadium will be packed out with similar stories!
Definitely agree on the mindset of club decision makers being somewhat awry regarding understanding the fan base and generating a new generation fan base.
I feel that FFC are just part of footballs obscene pursuit of money,the major evidence of this is the awarding of the two recent world cups. One to Russia bent on destroying world peace by invading their neighbour and Qatar just bent really. Millions of Euros in suitcases in Europe, perhaps Brexit was a good idea after all.
But back to our dear club, It was not too long ago when one could read that football clubs income was not dependent on fans attending but prize and television money was sufficient income for most clubs, and it was suggested that fan attendance was no longer a necessity. I thought £30 was mandatory for away fans, and I presume John has done his research diligently and Leeds fans are not complaining about the price. As for buying the strip(s) is £70 for a t shirt, £45.00 for a polo shirt reasonable. The price of refreshments is also sky high. I cannot quote current prices as I stopped buying in the ground from when I was charged £13.00 for 2 warm hot dogs. Recently tickets for the riverside were £100 and £50 for and adult and a child. This is nearing 50% of what I pay for my season ticket.
Sadly I can see approaching, on the horizon, being priced out of attending matches.
It is not for any of us to tell Mr Kahn how to spend his money, but it is for us to say how we spend ours and if prices progress as they are then it will not be at Craven Cottage.
Chloe and Dan. Two recent goals, Vinicious – Chelsea and Solomon – Brighton, prompt me to ask you both if you think there may be an article on “The Most Important/welcome/needed Goals”, or something similar. Unable to do it myself as the mind has gone, I couldn’t make it to the ground if I didn’t come with my grandson.
I am an old timer so like many others cannot afford the prices.
20 years down the line no Cottage ? replaced by luxury flats
all owned by Johnny come lately.
I beg to differ. Fulham after years yo-yo ing in between divisions seem to finally be able to get a foothold on the best football league in the world, thanks also to the huge investments done by the Chairman. I do not think that £40 is astronomically expensive to watch our beloved team live. Let go of the pre-match beer, forsake the over-priced grub at the stadium, but do not protest by leaving empty seats. Our team needs our support now more than ever. This season is turning out to be an epic one to be written on the club’s history books, let us not skinny it because of petty money.
Evening – I totally disagree with comments that £40 is not expensive – I live up north and my attendance is limited to “local” games. I’ve been to Newcastle (£30 I think?) and the FA Cup game at Sunderland, £15. The latter illustrates the joys of being a football fan – I stood next to a guy over from N Ireland but as London as you can be, a student attending Newcastle Uni with his local mates, a father (from Fulham originally) and his son from Carlisle, and me and my daughter from Cumbria. £40 for a televised, midweek game is just really poor. Between our pricing and our appalling, expensive train system, it’s really difficult to imagine getting to a home game. I’m not asking for a return to kids for a quid but I think £30 is a fair price