Fulham Odds

Fulham Odds

Fulham betting odds have become more popular over the last few years. With the club’s history of yo-yoing in and out of the English divisions, odds for Fulham being relegated are commonly bet on, as were odds on Fulham getting promoted before they achieved that feat in the 17/18 season.

As well as Fulham relegation odds and odds on Fulham promotion, there is a wide range of betting markets and other Fulham odds to take advantage of. These include Fulham manager odds and for the club to win a major trophy, such as odds on Fulham to win the FA Cup.

History

Fulham Football Club are an English professional football team based in London. They currently play in England’s top tier, the Premier League.

The history of Fulham F.C begins in 1879. Members of the Church of England in West Kensington formed a football club and named it Fulham St Andrew’s Church Sunday School F.C. The club played amateur football at first, winning the West London Amateur Cup in 1887. The club changed its name to Fulham Excelsior and then changed it again to Fulham Football Club in 1888. 

In 1893, Fulham joined the West London League, winning the title in their first campaign. Three years later, they moved to Craven Cottage, the home of Fulham FC today.

In 1898, Fulham turned professional and were invited to join the Southern League Second Division, an invitation that the football club accepted. 

During the 1902/1903 season, Fulham won promotion to the Southern League First Division, and followed this up with consecutive title wins in the 1905/1906 and the 1906/1907 seasons.

Fulham history continues in 1907 when the club entered the Football League system for the first time. Playing in the Football League Second Division, the club were almost promoted in its first season in their new division, just missing out on promotion finishing in fourth place. They also reached the semi-final of the FA Cup, but picked up the unwanted record of the heaviest defeat in an FA Cup semi final when they were beaten 6-0 by Newcastle United.

The club spent 16 seasons in the Second Division until relegation hit the club in the 1927/1928 season. This led to Fulham playing in the Third Division South. Four seasons later, though, the club were back in the Second Division after winning the Third Division South title. 

The Football League calendar was suspended for the duration of the Second World War. After the league system resumed, Fulham won the Second Division title and were promoted to the First Division for the first time in Fulham FC history.

However, the club couldn’t adapt to its top flight status, and in the 1951/1952 season the club were relegated. Mid table finishes were earned by Fulham in the subsequent six years, until the 1958/1959 season when a second position finish led to promotion back to the First Division.

Whilst life back in the top flight started brightly for the club, Fulham began to slide down the league table. They flirted with relegation a number of times, until finally they couldn’t avoid the drop and were back in the Second Division for the 1968/1969 season.

Things got worse for Fulham when they were relegated in consecutive seasons. A bottom place finish in their first season in the Second Division consigned them to relegation to the third tier of English football.

The club’s stay in the Third Division didn’t last long though. They almost gained promotion in their first season before a second place finish the following season saw them promoted once more to the Second Division.

The club’s first season back in the second tier in the 1971/1972 season wasn’t a successful one, and the club almost suffered an immediate relegation. However, the following seven years saw Fulham finish in stable mid-table positions as they appeared to be becoming an established Second Division side. The 1970’s also saw Fulham sign some high-profile players, with Bobby Moore and George Best joining the club along with Rodney Marsh rejoining in the 1976/1977 season.

The club’s Second Division status didn’t last, though, and in 1980 the club were relegated once more. Two seasons later and a third place finish was enough to seal a return to the second tier.

Becoming a regular feature of Fulham history, the club were relegated again in the 1985/1986 season. The club was to spend the next eight seasons in England’s third tier.

In 1992, the Premier League was introduced and resulted in name changes of the Football League divisions. As such, the top flight in England was the Premier League, with Division One (Second Division); Division Two (Third Division); and Division Three (Fourth Division) being introduced. 

The following season following the name change Fulham FC were relegated once more, and in the 1994/1995 season the club played fourth tier football for the first time in its history.

The club struggled their first two seasons in Division Three, but after the appointment of Mickey Adams as manager the team’s performances on the field started to improve. Fulham finished second in the table in the 1996/1997 season, sealing promotion back to Division Two.

In 1997, Mohamed Al-Fayed bought Fulham Football Club. Adams was sacked and replaced by Ray Wilkins and Kevin Keegan, though Wilkins left the club shortly after leaving Keegan in sole charge. Al-Fayed pledged cash to see the club in the Premier League for five years, and expensive signings followed. Chris Coleman, who went on to be Fulham captain, was signed, becoming the most expensive player outside the top two English divisions.

In the 1998/1999 season Fulham stormed to the Division Two title. Kevin Keegan left the club following promotion to take the England National Team’s managerial position and following a bad start to the 1999/2000 season his replacement Paul Bracewell was fired and Jean Tigana was brought in.

Tigana led the club to the Division One title in the 2000/2001 season and Fulham earned promotion to the Premier League for the first time, and the first top league appearance in 33 years.

In 2003/2004, Fulham made their first appearance in a major European competition when they earned a UEFA Cup spot. This was followed up by Europa League appearances in the 2009/2010 season, where the club reached but were beaten in the final, and again in the 2011/2012 season. Roy Hodgson had taken charge of Fulham by the time of their first Europa League appearance, and after such a successful run in the competition, Hodgson was awarded the LMA Manager of the year.

Fulham settled in well to the Premier League. A number of mid table finishes saw the club become a steady, established top flight club. Former captain Chris Coleman had taken over as manager, but he was sacked in the 2006/2007 season and this led to a high turnover of managers in the subsequent seasons.

Roy Hodgson eventually took the managerial reins at Fulham. He led his club to Premier League safety in his first season, and Fulham performances continued the season after.

Hodgson left the club to join Liverpool and was replaced by Mark Hughes, who had just left his role at Manchester City. Fulham did well in Hughes’ first season in charge, finishing in a respectable ninth position.

Hughes left a season later and was replaced by Martin Jol. Jol’s tenure started well too, finishing in ninth place in the 2011/2012 season.

In 2013, Shahid Khan became chairman of Fulham Football Club, and soon after he took charge, Martin Jol was sacked. The club were relegated in the 2013/2014 season, with many blaming Khan for changing the manager three times that season, resulting in an unsettled playing staff.

The club have spent two seasons in the Championship, where they struggled in both campaigns. Amidst even more managerial changes, the club finished 17th and 20th, fighting relegation battles rather than for promotion. However, that all changed in the 17/18 season. After an excellent season, Fulham finished in third position and earned a place in the top division via the playoffs.

Crest

The current Fulham FC badge is a shield shape, featuring black stripes on the left and right hand side either side of the Fulham initials F.F.C printed in red.

This Fulham crest was created in 2000. It replaced the old Fulham badge that was used from 1995 to 2000 that featured the London Borough of Fulham coat of arms. This image of the coat of arms was also used from 1945 to 1972.

In 1972, the initials F.F.C were embroidered on the Fulham shirts. This was replaced in 1981 by a Fulham shield crest featuring the Hammersmith and Fulham coat of arms that was moved into a circle shape before the original 1981 crest was reinstated.

The first Fulham crest to be used on shirts was developed in 1931, with a shield featuring a representation of Craven Cottage and the team name.

Colours

Fulham are famous for their white shirts and black shorts kits. This has been the standard Fulham kit since 1903, but before then a range of colours and styles were implemented.

When the club were known as St. Andrews, the club wore half light blue half dark blue shirts with white shorts and blue socks. This kit followed them through their name changes to Fulham Excelsior and then Fulham Football Club. 

In 1889, the Fulham kit colours changed. The club adopted black and white striped shirts, worn with blue shorts and black socks. These colours remained until 1896.

From 1896 to 1899, the club played in red shirts with white sleeves, with blue shorts and blue socks. The shorts and socks were changed to white and red in 1899, and then to black and black and white hoops in 1902.

The first appearance of the white shirt came in 1903. The kit consisted of white shirts, black shorts and black socks. This was the standard Fulham kit until 1965, when white socks became the staple colour. 

The colour red was reintroduced in 1970 with the sock colour being changed again, and red has featured in some way on most Fulham kits since then.

The current Fulham kit is white shirts, black shorts and white socks.

Fulham Stadium

Before the club moved to the current Fulham stadium Craven Cottage in 1896, Fulham played their home games in many different stadiums.

The first Fulham ground was Hurlingham Park in 1899. That same year, Fulham began playing at Star Road in Hammersmith, their home until 1883. The club then moved around, playing at Eel Brook Common, Lillie Rec, Putney Lower Common, Ranelagh House, Barn Elms, Parsons Green, Half Moon, West Brompton before finally moving to Craven Cottage.

Craven Cottage has been the home of Fulham Football Club ever since, although between 2002 and 2004 the club played their home games at Loftus Road, the home of Queens Park Rangers, whilst Craven Cottage was being renovated.

The current capacity of Craven Cottage is 25,700, although there are Fulham stadium expansion plans to increase this to 30,000.

The Fulham stadium layout consists of four stands - the Hammersmith End, the Putney End, the Riverside Stand and the Johnny Haynes Stand.

The Hammersmith End was originally terraces, and in 2004 the stand was completely rebuilt and became an all seater area. This stand is known as the singing section, with the most vocal Fulham fans sitting here.

The Putney End is usually for away supporters, although mixed home and away fans sit in this stand too, making it a neutral area.

The Riverside Stand, originally known as the Eric Miller stand, houses corporate and V.I.P seating areas.

The Johnny Haynes Stand was originally called the Stevenage Road Stand and is the oldest stand remaining in English professional football. It was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand in 2005, following the death of the Fulham legend.

Supporters

Fulham supporters usually hail from South West London, though there are Fulham supporters clubs across the country and beyond. The Fulham Supporters Trust was set up in 2001 and has continued to maintain close links with the club since then.

Fulham fans consider Chelsea to be their biggest rivals. With the two sides playing in separate divisions for most of their history, there haven’t been many opportunities to watch a West London derby, but still the rivalry exists, strengthened by the fact that the Chelsea stadium Stamford Bridge is located in Fulham.

Fulham supporters also consider Queens Park Rangers, Brentford and Crystal Palace as rivals, along with Gillingham following ill tempered meetings between the two.

Ownership

The current Fulham FC owner is Shahid Khan. Khan bought the club from Mohamed Al-Fayed in 2013.

Al-Fayed had bought Fulham Football Club in 1997, and has since put hundreds of millions of pounds into the club. Since Al-Fayed turned the loans he borrowed the club into equity, the club has stayed debt free since 2013.

Stats

Fulham stats begin with their all time record appearance maker. Johnny Haynes holds that record, making 658 appearances for the club 1952 to 1970.

Four other players have made over 450 appearances for Fulham. These are Eddie Lowe (511); Les Barrett (491); Frank Penn (459); and George Cohen (459).

Fulham’s all time record goalscorer is Gordon Davies. Davies scored 178 goals for Fulham.

Six other players have scored over 100 goals for the club. These are Johnny Haynes (158); Bedford Jezzard (154); Jim Hammond (150); Graham Leggat (134); Arthur Stevens (124); and Steve Earle (108).

To date, Fulham have played over one thousand matches in the second tier of English football, with over 200 top flight matches, 600 third tier matches and 151 matches in England’s fourth tier.

Fulham Players

Fulham currently have a first team squad of 26 players. These include a mixture of experienced English league players and up and coming young internationals.

Notable ex Fulham players include George Best, Rodney Marsh and Bobby Moore. In 2012, fans voted for the best ever Premier League Fulham XI. This list consisted of Edwin van der Sar, who made 154 appearances for the club, Steve Finnan (209 appearances), Aaron Hughes (205 appearances), Brede Hangeland (206 appearances), Rufus Brevett (217 appearances), Clint Dempsey (224 appearances), Danny Murphy (210 appearances), Mousa Dembele (72 appearances), Luis Boa Morte (250 appearances), Brian McBride (153 appearances), and Louis Saha (144 appearances).

Other players classed as Fulham legends include Johnny Haynes, Joe Bacuzzi, Jimmy Hill and Bobby Robson.

Fulham Manager

The current Fulham manager is Slavisa Jokanovic. Jokanovic was appointed in 2015 and became the 36th man in Fulham manager history.

Jokanovic took over from Kit Symons, who also appeared for the club as a player as well a Fulham FC manager.

Fulham’s turnover in managers is shown by the fact that Jokanovic is the club’s ninth manager in ten years.

The longest serving Fulham manager in terms of years at the is Phil Kelso. Kelso was manager of Fulham for 15 years, from 1909 to 1924.

Frank Osborne is the only Fulham manager to have managed the club for two spells. Osborne first took charge from 1948 to 1949, and then again from 1953 to 1956.

Honours

Fulham have never won a major trophy. The Fulham FC honours list includes one second tier title (2000/2001); one FA Cup runners up place (1975); one Europa League runners up place (2010); one Intertoto Cup trophy (2002); and three third tier titles (1931/1932, 1948/1949, 1998/1999).