Every Fulham follower recalls exactly where they were six years ago today. The White Wall won’t mean much to anyone without a connection to SW6, but for those of us who waited 43 years to put things right at Wembley the utterance of the words transports us back to the day beyond our wildest dreams. I was emotional even seeing thousands of Fulham fans walking down Wembley Way and shed a tear when watching Tony Fisher walk out of the tunnel with the trophy – and the scenes when Tom Cairney slotted home Ryan Sessegnon’s brilliant ball were something else.
The rest of the game crawled by like the slowest District Line tube you’ve ever taken. We all feared the worst when Denis Odoi’s karate kick on Jack Grealish gave Slavisa Jokanovic’s stylish side another mountain to overcome in an already special season, but thanks to Ollie Norwood’s perfectly timed tackle and a late header when Tomas Kalas appeared to defy gravity, everyone’s favourite Belgian was able to cavort on the Wembley crossbar like he was sixteen.
That astonishing afternoon will always be ours. The celebrations rush back to the front of my mind regularly. The Sessegnon twins locked in an embrace, Mark Maunders – a man who epitomises everything special about Fulham Football Club – with tears in his eyes and Tim Ream lying on the turf taking in the enormity of the achievement. Kevin McDonald exhorting everyone to bounce up and down even more and, of course, Marcus Bettinelli running towards the Fulham fans holding a flare aloft. It really felt like the Whites were back where they belonged.
If anyone had suggested even two years ago that Ream and Cairney would still feature regularly for a Fulham side firmly established back in the top tier, I wouldn’t have taken them seriously. Jean Tigana once said the measure of a good coach is how he improves the stalwarts. Ream had one ridiculous renaissance in 2016 and repeated the trick six years later. Watching Cairney, who has endured some many setbacks in his Fulham career, conduct midfield masterclasses in the top flight is simply sublime. Even Shahid Khan would concede to making some mistakes in nearly eleven years at Craven Cottage, but in a week that saw Claudio Ranieri say averiderci to management, Fulham have finally found a spiritual successor to Jokanovic.
The Serbian enforcer and a Portuguese full back might appear unusual advocates for a brilliant brand of adventurous and artistic football, but they have produced a pair of eminently watchable sides. Silva has benefited from Fulham learning from their mistakes: Jokanovic received neither the tools or the time to bridge the gap from the Championship which, as we’ve seen this season, can appear colossal without the requisite resources.
Jokanovic’s side was special because of the adversity they went through: a 23-match unbeaten run to almost overhaul Cardiff City was remarkable, especially given how toothless Fulham looked before the end of the year. The squad had characters – I never did quite find a way of capturing the uniqueness of Aboubakar Kamara – as well as exquisite talent. The McDonald-Johansen-Cairney trio in the middle of the park has to be as good as the second tier has ever seen; and we didn’t even known the man from Carnoustie was operating on one kidney.
Silva’s squad were so close to taking us back to Wembley last season, constructing a League Cup run that surpassed our wildest dreams, whilst recovering from the loss of a certain Serbian striker to stay up with something to spare. Both managers gave the Fulham faithful the excitement back after a trying period and I’m eager to see what the Whites can do next term – particularly if the board backs their head coach early enough in the transfer market. I might be a romantic, but I can’t be the only Fulham fanatic to wonder whether Sessegnon’s stalled career could be revived at the Cottage.
Whatever happens, we’ll always have those wonderful memories of the Whites winning at Wembley and Cairney sending John Terry tearfully into retirement. Tommy Trinder was right about the Fulham faithful; we’re very lucky people.
I flew over from Washington DC for that glorious day. To see Fulham kits all over London was very exciting, and visiting the Cottage and store before Wembley had such an exciting feel. We did what we needed, and yes sitting through the final minutes being a man down was excruciating. However, the clappers and the supporters using them prevailed. What a day that I’ll never forget.
On the train back to the hotel, I discovered that Villa fans really do hate the clappers. Halfway down the train, a dejected Villa fan was staring at me and muttered, “If he starts banging that clapper, I’m going to scream.” Up the Fulham!
Fulham fan since the 1960’s I flew over from Australia to join my sister at this wonderful occasion. Wembley Way was pumping great memories fantastic goal.
Thanks for the memories. Good times and many individual moments to remember and savour. Loved Denis Odoi for his exuberance and genuine entertainment value, glad he had his day in the sun back in Belgium.