"Why can't we do a Fulham?"

[Rob Noxious]

An exile put this to me over the week-end and I think it's a good question. My meek reply was this ...

I wish I could answer that with some sense of authority, but I'm sure I'd go rambling on about our dear little club simply not being equipped to handle the 'bigtime' and how there is almost some sort of historical determinism about our status. But Fulham themselves were basement stock in the '90s until Fayed rode across Kensington towards Putney Bridge, appointed Micky Adams as Manager and then dispensed with him for the bubble-haired one...

I'd like to throw this question open to the Zone please.

 

[BrettieAngell]

Fulham had been there before though and as you say they had a sugar daddy that got them up there again.

 

[canada shrimper]

Surely the list is not only 1 club.We used to play these teams regularly
Wolves
Fulham
Birmingham
Sunderland
Hull
Portsmouth
forest
Leicester
west brom

and so on and so on
WHY CAN'T SOUTHEND BE A MAJOR PLAYER :madman::madman:

 

[DTS]

Surely the list is not only 1 club.We used to play these teams regularly
Wolves
Fulham
Birmingham
Sunderland
Hull
Portsmouth
forest
Leicester
west brom

and so on and so on
WHY CAN'T SOUTHEND BE A MAJOR PLAYER :madman::madman:

In fairness all were bigger than us in the first place. We were just very lucky to be able to punch above our weight for so long.

 

[Ayrshire Blue]

Surely the list is not only 1 club.We used to play these teams regularly
Wolves
Fulham
Birmingham
Sunderland
Hull
Portsmouth
forest
Leicester
west brom

and so on and so on
WHY CAN'T SOUTHEND BE A MAJOR PLAYER :madman::madman:

You could be adding Blackpool to that list very shortly.

 

[BrettieAngell]

We've only played West Brom in the second tier so I don't know why they are on that list.

 

[turkishm]

In fairness all were bigger than us in the first place. We were just very lucky to be able to punch above our weight for so long.

All the clubs you mention had and still have a far bigger fanbase than us, some of them double our gates, untill we can attract say 15,000 plus at the new stadium we have no chance of moving up to Champ level and staying there.

 

[turkishm]

In fairness all were bigger than us in the first place. We were just very lucky to be able to punch above our weight for so long.

Sorry Dave didnt mean to put your reply up.

 

[CC51DAS]

Wouldn't it be more realistic to compare ourselves to a club like Darlington ? ;)

I don't know if anyone on here has noticed but they built a big shiny new stadium which was nearly empty most of the time and now they have lost their league status :'(

Still maybe a middle-eastern benefactor and appointing Micky Adams would have a different effect though :unsure:

 

[SUFCFANS]

The reason we haven't done a 'Fulham' is exactly what you put in the first post - we haven't got a 'Fayed' piling £00000000000's into the club..!!!

 

[hindle_666]

fayed put his money where his mouth is,ron cant cause his potless.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

We've only played West Brom in the second tier so I don't know why they are on that list.

Weren't West Brom 3rd division in the late 80s/early 90s?

Never sure if this is true or not, but I heard a rumour that Jobson turned down an approach from somebody with pots of money and it was allegedly Al-Fayed before he bought into Fulham. I've always taken this with a pinch of salt, but you never know...

 

[Tangled up in Blue]

Wouldn't it be more realistic to compare ourselves to a club like Darlington ? ;)

I don't know if anyone on here has noticed but they built a big shiny new stadium which was nearly empty most of the time and now they have lost their league status :'(

Still maybe a middle-eastern benefactor and appointing Micky Adams would have a different effect though :unsure:

This comparison with Darlington seems to me to be a novel and fair minded one.;)
The main difference I can see is that they actually managed to get their shiny new stadium built.Fat lot of good it did them though.:O

 

[BrettieAngell]

Weren't West Brom 3rd division in the late 80s/early 90s?

Never sure if this is true or not, but I heard a rumour that Jobson turned down an approach from somebody with pots of money and it was allegedly Al-Fayed before he bought into Fulham. I've always taken this with a pinch of salt, but you never know...

I don't recall playing them in the 3rd division but hey I might be wrong.

 

[Jam_Man]

Surely the list is not only 1 club.We used to play these teams regularly
Wolves
Fulham
Birmingham
Sunderland
Hull
Portsmouth
forest
Leicester
west brom

and so on and so on
WHY CAN'T SOUTHEND BE A MAJOR PLAYER :madman::madman:

Most of them are much bigger clubs than us !

Thoe smaller ones also had large amounts of money pumped in, which whilst it would be nice to get is unlikely to happen to us.

 

[Beefy]

It's easy to think of Fulham as being a plucky little club fighting against the big boys in some Hollywood-style story, due to the last two seasons under Hodgson. But don't forget that they were bankrolled through the leagues like no side before them. Some of the money spent when they made the Premiership, on the likes of Steve Marlet, was obscene.

Hull, Reading and Swansea are better models to try to emulate.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Weren't West Brom 3rd division in the late 80s/early 90s?

...

No, fortunately for them they never sank that low!.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

No, fortunately for them they never sank that low!.

Yes they did, only for one year though (92/93 when we were obviously 2nd tier)...

Albion had spent the majority of their history in the top-flight of English football, but when the FA Premier League was founded in 1992 the club found themselves in the third tier, which had been renamed Division Two. In 1992–93 Albion finished fourth and entered the playoffs for the first time, having just missed out the previous year. Albion's first appearance at Wembley for over twenty years — and their last ever at the original stadium — saw them beat Port Vale 3–0 to return to the second level — now renamed the First Division.

 

[Billy Bests boot laces]

Yes they did, only for one year though (92/93 when we were obviously 2nd tier)...

Stand corrected, that was our 2nd season in the old 2nd division. Thats all i can remember, apart from Colin Murphy being our manager and going to Hillsborough for the 5th round of the F.A. Cup. Plus beating the Spammers 1-0 at home after Judas Fry took over!.

 

[Interpol Shrimper]

Stand corrected, that was our 2nd season in the old 2nd division. Thats all i can remember, apart from Colin Murphy being our manager and going to Hillsborough for the 5th round of the F.A. Cup. Plus beating the Spammers 1-0 at home after Judas Fry took over!.

Oh Stanley, Stanley.
Stanley, Stanley, Stanley, Stanley Collymore??? :p