Thursday 30th June 2011 (Europa League 1st Qualifying Round 1st Leg)
Fulham 3 (Damien Duff 33, Danny Murphy (pen.) 61, Andy Johnson 70) Nes Soknar Itrottarfelag (NSI) Runavik 0
Attendance: 14,910
Barely four weeks since Fulham walked off the pitch after a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in their last game of the season, the Cottagers were back in competitive action, having qualified for the Europa League by virtue (if that’s the right word) of being the highest placed team in England’s Fair Play League that wasn’t involved in the Champions’ League.
Having got there a little bit early, things were very relaxed, perhaps because it was the first game of the season against an unknown side from some group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, the first qualifying round of the Europa League had pitched Fulham against NSI Runavik, currently occupying fourth place in the Faroe Islands’ league.
With advance tickets on sale for as little as £5, I was expecting the crowd to be in five figures, though an hour before kickoff I was beginning to wonder where everybody was. Having been employed in my usual position in the Putney stand, I had a look around the ground to see about 100 people dotted around. However, as 7:30 approached, more people did turn up.
Among the close on 16,000 crowd were about 100 fans of Runavik who, it turns out, had travelled over with the team on their chartered flight. One of them I chatted with after the game was very friendly and even offered me a place to stay if I ever wanted to experience a few days in the Faroes.
The crowd was pretty good-natured, though I felt a bit sorry for the lad whose shirt was adorned with the legend “Dempesy”on its back. One man seemed reluctant to leave at the end and it turned out that he hadn’t been to Craven Cottage for 26 years and wanted to savour every moment of his trip.
The game itself was nothing to write home about with, unsurprisingly, a pre-season feel to it though Runavik’s best effort—a shot from 30 yards out by Justinus Hansen—had Mark Schwartzer scrambling a bit after 25 minutes.
Any thoughts the visiting fans had of causing an upset were stifled eight minutes later when Damien Duff fired in the opening goal of the game. Danny Murphy’s penalty just after the hour effectively put things to bed and a third from Andy Johnson 10 minutes later virtually confirmed that it would be Fulham who meet Crusaders in the next round.
Fulham 3 (Damien Duff 33, Danny Murphy (pen.) 61, Andy Johnson 70) Nes Soknar Itrottarfelag (NSI) Runavik 0
Attendance: 14,910
Barely four weeks since Fulham walked off the pitch after a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in their last game of the season, the Cottagers were back in competitive action, having qualified for the Europa League by virtue (if that’s the right word) of being the highest placed team in England’s Fair Play League that wasn’t involved in the Champions’ League.
Having got there a little bit early, things were very relaxed, perhaps because it was the first game of the season against an unknown side from some group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, the first qualifying round of the Europa League had pitched Fulham against NSI Runavik, currently occupying fourth place in the Faroe Islands’ league.
With advance tickets on sale for as little as £5, I was expecting the crowd to be in five figures, though an hour before kickoff I was beginning to wonder where everybody was. Having been employed in my usual position in the Putney stand, I had a look around the ground to see about 100 people dotted around. However, as 7:30 approached, more people did turn up.
Among the close on 16,000 crowd were about 100 fans of Runavik who, it turns out, had travelled over with the team on their chartered flight. One of them I chatted with after the game was very friendly and even offered me a place to stay if I ever wanted to experience a few days in the Faroes.
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Runavik fans who travelled to Craven Cottage from the Faroe Isles
© Stephen Taylor
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The game itself was nothing to write home about with, unsurprisingly, a pre-season feel to it though Runavik’s best effort—a shot from 30 yards out by Justinus Hansen—had Mark Schwartzer scrambling a bit after 25 minutes.
Any thoughts the visiting fans had of causing an upset were stifled eight minutes later when Damien Duff fired in the opening goal of the game. Danny Murphy’s penalty just after the hour effectively put things to bed and a third from Andy Johnson 10 minutes later virtually confirmed that it would be Fulham who meet Crusaders in the next round.
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