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Fulham FC
Craven Cottage
Away Fans
Away fans are housed to one side of the new Putney End Stand, on the river
side of the ground. The stand will be shared with home supporters, with away
fans being allocated around 3,000 seats, which is just under half of the
overall capacity of this stand. One huge benefit that the new Putney End stand has over the old
terrace, is that it has a roof. There are a couple of supporting pillars
that could impede your view, but this only applies to certain seats in Row
DD and above. The leg room is ample and as the rows of stand seem to have
been constructed from metal and plywood, rather than concrete, fans can't
resist making some noise, by stamping up and down on it.
Food and drink are served from a number of outlets and stalls situated
behind the stands. These areas although mostly covered are not enclosed,
which is great in the Summer but can be rather cold in Winter. However if
you go to the outlets around to the left of the stand then you can enjoy
some nice views of the Thames, whilst having your beer. Cans of Tetleys,
Guinness and plastic bottles of Carlsberg (500ml) are available at £3.50.
The Club offer an interesting range of pies by Vilis. Including amongst
others Lamb & Mint (£3), Vegetable (£3), Cottage Pie (£3.50) and Sausage
Rolls (£2.50). You could also get a roll with a Cumberland sausage filling
(£3.50). On my last visit I did try the Lamb & Mint pie, but I have to
admit that it was not my 'cup of tea'. Generally there seems to be enough
food and drink outlets available so that the queues were never too long
(those located on the Thames side, hardly even had a queue at half time
(even though on my last visit the away section was sold out). Around the
concourses are flat screen televisions showing the game going on inside
and
I have been previously to Craven Cottage on a number of
occasions and on a nice summer day, this is one of my favourite
grounds. From the walk from the tube station
through a park, to having a pint overlooking the River
Thames, this can be quite an enjoyable
experience and I have never had any problems there. The
walk down Stevenage Road to the away entrance, gives you chance to admire
the quaint red brick facade of the Johnny Haynes
Stand, whilst inside you can enjoy modern facilities, and apart from the
game, you can still catch glimpses of rowers making their away along the
Thames.
I have to say the recent re-developments have made a
great ground even better and there is now a superb blend of the new and the
old, giving the ground great individuality and character. My only
grumble has been sometimes the rather large police
presence outside the ground (including mounted police and dog handlers), before and after
the games that I have attended. One would have thought they were expecting a riot. On one of my visits the Birmingham
Fans were chanting to the Fulham fans, "you only sing when you're rowing!"
One other item of interest is that Fulham is the only
Club that I know of that has a designated area of the ground reserved for
'neutral supporters'. This is located on one side of the Putney End,
adjacent to the away fans section. I guess that the original idea was to
attract tourists to London to a game. However, for each game there seems to
be a good mix, of home, away and neutral fans in this area. Both away fans
and neutral supporters use the same entrance and both can access the same
facilities at the back of the stand.
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