There’s only one F in Fulham

The Fulham Fanzine 2019-20 Championship Season

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Febuary 2018 was our last meeting

  In the last 8 games it's been 3 wins, 1 draw and 4 defeats Now make that 4 wins

billp TOOFIF Updated Thursday, 26 December 2019

FFC 2 v Leeds United 1  DEC 21 2019

Whites lead Leeds astray

We lead Leeds and stay in front all game

billp TOOFIF Thursday, 26 December 2019


The history of matches against Fulham and Leeds started later than many of our opponents and it was on Christmas Day 1919 that the Whites travelled to Yorkshire for that first fixture.

That game a hundred years ago fisnished in a scoreless draw In the ensuing 100 years we have met 55 times, losing 25, drawing 15 and winning 18, all rather Fuhamish.

Our last meeting was at the Cottage on April 3 2018 with the Lily Whites running out two nil victors but let's face it by that stage in the season, we'd become pretty decent!

Preview from the pre-match Home Page

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Another keenly contested meeting in which Leeds showed why they are up at the top of the league and our inconsistent team demonstrated that we're better than any when the mood strikes us.

The Leeds number 2 Ayling was lucky to stay on the pitch for the 72 minutes he played before being hooked off as he was constantly fouling all in his path and gifted us with a soft penalty on seven minutes by two handing Bobby Decordova-Reid in the back.

Mitro duly converted to put us one goal up though the keeper seemed to get a modest touch.

Later in the game (after 32 minutes to be precise) he attacked Tom Cairney from behind right on the touchline directly in front of the benches in the ghost-like shadow of the demolished Riverside Stand, it’s pilings peering through the gloom above the skeletal structure of the temporary TV Stand, itself a Meccano Set sort of construction, resembling a garage shelving system. A bit like our team sometimes really.

This was off the ball and totally unprovoked unless he was merely taking the penalty ward out on any player in a White shirt, he certainly seemed out to cripple the whole side. He deservedly saw yellow at last for this latest infringement, to the chagrin of the faithful as Red seemed more appropriate.

The remainder of the first half past with Fulham being slightly on top but Leeds seemed likely to score with every move forward, their shots at goal far outnumbered ours and Rodák had to be on his mettle until the whistle sounded to end the first half.

The second half duplicated the opener to the earlier 45 minutes with the Whites stringing together some keen passing and swift moving football and as in the first period, the formation and team work showed a pleasing unity, so unlike many of our earlier fixtures this season. We had another chance converted by Mitro with a neat finish completing a superb move, the flag was in the air prior to the shot being struck unfortunately.

Nine minutes after the restart, Leeds scored when a drive from Eddie Nketiah lost his markers and collected a decent pass to circumnavigate our defence, his shot was pushed out to a lurking Bamford who made no mistake with his tap-in, one all. Caveliro, who was showing signs of a revival in his form, almost regained our advantage almost fifteen minutes after this set-back, his right footed strike swerved goal wards to be cleared by the Leeds goalie; Castilla.

Nine minutes later our lead was re-established, Josh Onamah who had been having his best game since he joined the side and was playing with a noticeable self-confidence, volleyed a clearance that the goalie had punched clear from a Mitro overhead attempt, I wouldn’t describe it as a scissor kick though that seems to have been the intention. Josh’s rocket lasered through the gaggle of players between him and the goal and rippled the net.

2-1 with 70 minutes played and that’s all that counts as despite the minute f incident and exchanges, Leeds couldn’t do anything to redress the situation… relief all round!

The History of Leeds United

From the Leeds FC Official site

Their story is a weird one, who'd have thought that they did a variation on the theme of Wimbledon FC back in 1919 and were formed from a union of Leeds City and Huddersfield Town?

https://myleeds100.com/history/leeds-city-the-team-sold-in-a-hotel/

The team was Leeds City; the time was 1919 and the place was a hotel in Leeds. But that is only part of the strange story that surrounds the creation of Leeds United Football Club.

Then a Second Division team, Leeds City* )had played only eight of their matches for that season, the first following World War I, when they incurred the displeasure of the Football Association. Illegal payments, former players turning whistleblowers, and missing financial documents, all added up as the FA and Football League called in Alderman William Clarke to hold a joint inquiry, before permanently disbanding the club.

The Auction

A popular refrain of that time was “All dressed up and nowhere to go”, and if there was a parodied version of it about, the plight of the ex-'City' players, we wouldn't be surprised. They were high and dry, in mid-season. “What now?” they asked, and the answer came when, at a meeting of Clubs called by the League, the out-of-work footballers were offered to the highest bidder: auctioned, in fact.

The League was severely critical: there were cries of “Slave Market” and “Blood Money” in certain quarters, but the intention behind this extraordinary football “auction” was simply to find employment for the dispossessed players – and to find it quickly.

Although the “auction” had been held in secret at the Metropole Hotel, details leaked out – they were in the evening paper! Members of the League Committee were none too pleased – “a traitor in the camp” they said. The information had, in fact, been gathered by reporters from Club representatives going to and from the meeting in the usual way.

It appeared that what the League thought to be 'fair and just' prices for the players, struck the 'buyers' as positively 'black market' – although that term was then unknown.

In fact, the clubs got their men at reduced rates; £1,250 was the top figure and the young full-back, W. Kirton, a recent acquisition who had distinguished himself in Leeds City's last match at Wolverhampton went to Aston Villa for £250!

Port Vale filled the gap in the League, but that, for the time being, was the end of 'big' football in Leeds. It looked like being the end of 'big' football in Leeds. It looked like being the end of 'big' football too in nearby Huddersfield. Enthusiasm for the game was at a low ebb in that town, as Rugby drew in crowds there, and Fulham played there about a month later, the gate was £90, minus Fulham's share of £11.

The Crowthers

Hilton Crowther and his brother were the chief patrons of the game in Huddersfield. They had spent considerable sums on it and saw little return for the outlay. Now that there was no senior football team in Leeds, their chances of popularising football seemed remote indeed. Would their efforts meet with more appreciation in Leeds they wondered? And, deciding, possibly, that things couldn't be much worse, they set about arranging for the transfer of Huddersfield Town, lock, stock and barrel to Leeds.

The League was inclined to favour the idea, but the people of Huddersfield strongly objected.

Something like a crusade developed to keep the Club in Huddersfield, and a leading figure was Mr. A. Brook Hirst (later, chairman of the Football Association).

Inspired, doubtless by the sincere display of loyalty, where there had seemed to be only indifference, Huddersfield went from success to success, win after win, home and away.

By way, perhaps, of keeping his fingers crossed, Hilton Crowther borrowed Aladdin's lamp from the Francis Laidler's pantomime at the Theatre Royal in Leeds, but it was hardly necessary, though it went with the team every Saturday they were irresistible, unfaltering.

It didn't last, however. They lost to Aston Villa in the final at Stamford Bridge – after extra time!

And who scored the winning goal? None other than Kirton who had gone via the “auction,” from Leeds City to Aston Villa for £250! He got his head to the ball from a corner kick and made no mistake about it.

The Rise of Leeds United

Togetherwith 1,000 Leeds City supporters, in the hours following the auction at the Metropole Hotel, the Crowthers headed to Salem Chapel in Holbeck, where they gave football back to Leeds when they helped to found the present Leeds United Football Club. The rest is our history!

*[The club was established in 1904, taking the crest of Leeds as the club badge and adopting blue, yellow and white as the club's colours. They were elected to the Football League in 1905. The original secretary, a role that then also carried the modern responsibilities of manager and coach, was Gilbert Gillies (1904–1908) who was followed by Frank Scott-Walford before in 1912, they appointed Herbert Chapman who guided the club to their highest position in the league (4th in the Second Division).

Leeds City's whole league career was in the Second Division. However, during the First World War there ensued a sequence of financial irregularities, including breaking the ban on paying players during the war, that led to the club's dissolution in 1919. They were expelled from The Football League eight games into the 1919–20 season. The harsh punishment was handed down mostly because of the behaviour of the club's directors, who refused to co-operate in an FA inquiry, and refused to hand over the club's financial records.]


Match Information

from FFC online

Competition: Sky Bet Championship

Date: Saturday 21 December 2019

Kick-off: 3:00pm

Venue: Craven Cottage, London

Attendance: 18,878

Referee: Tim Robinson

Fulham

Line-up: Rodák; Christie, Mawson, Ream, Bryan; Cairney, Reed (Johansen 90'), Onomah; Cavaleiro (Knockaert 90'), Mitrovic, De Cordova-Reid (Steven Sessegnon 90')

Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, Kebano, O'Riley, Kamara

Unused substitutes: Bettinelli, Kebano, O'Riley, Kamara

Manager: Scott Parker

Leeds United

Line-up: Kiko Casilla; Ayling (Stevens 72'), White, Cooper, Dallas; Phillips; Hélder Costa (Eddie Nketiah 45'), Klich, Pablo Hernández (Alioski 3'), Harrison; Bamford

Unused substitutes: Meslier, Berardi, Gotts, Casey

Manager: Marcelo Bielsa


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We're back now almost to the point before the first of our four wins on the trot, all but balanced out by the third consecutive defeat.

No point in ading to the woes but at this rate we'll be looking fearfully over our shoulders if we can't get back on track.

It was apparent that after those 4 wins, some of them somewhat fortuitious, that the exalted third place we occupied seemed somewhat unrealistic and that we were still there prior to the Brentford game at least gave us a little encouragement.

After the result against Brentford though we have managed to stay in touch with all but the top two so providing that this blip proves to be just, maybe we might just make it into the new year with the prospect of repeating our promotion season antics.

Prior to the recent defeats I reckon we'd have been mildly optimistic about the vist of Leeds but now they are clearly odds on favourites to muller us. That's what we like in SW6, a challenge as the underdog!

At the end of the day we're in sixth place and there are enough games to play yet so let's just sit back and enjoy another bumpy Fulhamish rise!

COYW!

A Leeds Loss or a Loss Leader?

Review from the post-match Home Page

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Well there goes the “steps forwards, sideways and backwards” theory, the sequence is now forwards, forwards, forwards, forwards, backwards, backwards, backwards, forwards!

I’m rather in favour of keeping that going now. Having said that, I have to say that the team were magnificent and played with a renewed vigour and determination against a very good Leeds side. Fulham attacked as a unit, pressed Leeds when they had the ball and kept a lively and eager attacking philosophy on the front burner throughout the game.

Although not entirely absent, there was little fiddling around at the back when dangerous and unnecessary, nor were they leaving massive empty areas between our midfield and attack, another major problem in many of our matches this season.

There were still far too many unforced errors and careless play, passes gifted to the away team straight after we’d won the ball or were advancing dangerously towards the opposition goal. I’m not mentioning any by name but we all saw this happening time and time again. None of this, though, detracts from the overall superb work the guys put in to win an important three points from one of those teams that will surely be vying for the automatic promotion places at the season’s end.

Yes the penalty award was fortuitous, we all saw the two-handed push but it seemed innocuous from the Johnny Haynes Stand so when the ref blew for it we were momentarily stunned. Overall, it was probably justice as the Leeds number two Ayling, was getting away with murder throughout the game, he wasn’t the only one, the ref made some bizarre calls after the penalty award and neglected to dish out words of wisdom or punishment on quite a few occasions.

Who cares, we won and let’s hope that settles the guys for a good three match run over the Christmas and New Year fixtures.

COYW

A very welcome upturn against Leeds