Fulham were regulars in the Premier League between 2001-2014, finishing as high as 8th position in the 2010/11 campaign. However, the club suffered relegation to the Championship in 2014 and although they have been back to the top since then, remaining in the top-flight of English football remains the club’s biggest challenge in 2021.
Name: Fulham Football Club
Nicknames: The Cottagers, The Whites and The Lily Whites
Founded: 1879 as St Andrews Cricket and Football Club
Stadium: Craven Cottage, 19,359
Noteworthy Former Players: George Best, Ray Harford, Jimmy Hill, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh, Edwin van der Sar, Dimitar Berbatov, and Clint Dempsey.
Manager: Scott Parker. Parker is a former England international who started his career at Charlton Athletic and enjoyed spells at Chelsea, Newcastle, West Ham, Tottenham and Fulham, before retiring in 2017. In 2019 Parker was hand the manager’s job at Fulham, his first venture into management, and last season he guided the club to promotion back to the Premier League via the playoffs.
Key Players: Aleksandar Mitrovic, Tosin Adarabioyo, Bobby De Cordova-Reid, Harrison Reid and Ademola Lookman.
Fulham have never won a top-flight league title and the FA Cup and League Cup have eluded the club during their 142-year history.
The Cottagers first taste of league football arrived in 1907 when they were introduced into the Second Division. The club remained there until 1928 when they were relegated to the Third Division South. Fulham returned to the second tier in 1932 and stayed there through WWII until they achieved promotion to the First Division for the first time in their history in 1949.
Through the 1950s and 1960s, Fulham became a yoyo club between the first and Second Divisions until they dropped into the third tier in 1969. Fulham reached their first major cup final in 1975 but finished runners-up to West Ham United. The club remained in the second and third tier all the way through to the formation of the Premier League in 1992 and soon after that they dropped into the fourth tier, known as Division Three. Fulham climbed back up the divisions and in 2001 they secured the Division One title, earning promotion to the Premier League.
Fulham quickly established themselves as a top-flight side and held onto their Premier League status right through to 2014, when they were relegated to what is now known as the Championship. The Cottagers spent four seasons in the second tier before returning to the top-flight, only to suffer relegation straight back down. The club returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking, which is where they find themselves today.
Fulham look set for a relegation battle this season, as many people predicted. The club sit in the bottom three right now but do have games in hand of the teams around them.
A jam-packed #TOTFUL presser. 👔Scott's words are here:— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) January 12, 2021
A jam-packed #TOTFUL presser. 👔Scott's words are here:
Star striker Mitrovic scored plenty of goals in the Championship, but the club have struggled to get the best out of the Serbian international in the Premier League. If Parker can get better/more service into Mitrovic then Fulham stand a good chance of beating the drop.