Two Curious Fulham Facts

Fulham is making good progress this season, looking to get back up to the Premier League.

Under Scott Parker, the Cottagers are 3rd in the Championship standings with nine games remaining. Fulham is six points back from the automatic promotion spots and nine points clear of Bristol City in seventh place.

Many at Fulham will likely consider that this team deserves a top-flight spot. Understandably so because of their rich history and what they’ve done in the last 20 years. Right now, it seems that they will have to successfully navigate the playoffs in order to reach the Premier League but we’ll see what happens once the season resumes.

Fulham’s rich and storied history has plenty of twists and turns and they hope to ride another wave by securing a Premier League spot next season.

Here we look at two Fulham facts that not many people know.

Fulham is the oldest club in London. As of this season there are 12 London-based teams in the football leagues in England: five are in the Premier League, five in the Championship, one in League One and one in League Two.

Of those 12, Fulham is the oldest professional football team in London. The west London squad was formed back in 1879, earlier than any other. They are also the second to gain the status of professional. Arsenal, known as Royal Arsenal, gained that status in 1898 while Fulham did it eight years later.

As for their nickname, the Cottagers is a relatively self-explanatory one because Fulham plays at Craven Cottage and it has a cottage in a corner. That was not always the case though, as Fulham was known as the Saints because a group of worshipers from a church in West Kensington formed the team and named it Fulham St Andrew’s Church Sunday School FC.

When the they shortened the name to just Fulham FC in 1889, they also decided to drop the Saints nickname. This is a wise move because teams like Southampton and St Albans already have that nickname.