Thursday 21st July 2011 (Europa League 2nd Qualifying Round 2nd Leg)
Fulham 4 (Johnson 19, Duff 56, Zamora 66, Sidwell 70) Crusaders 0
Attendance: 15,676
After a 3-1 first leg win in Belfast, Fulham comfortably rolled over the Northern Irish part-timers, with an early goal from Johnson and three more in the second half.
In the Putney stand, there wasn’t too much to report, though one guy was very friendly and told me that he’d been following Fulham for more than 50 years. Now retired, he lives in Christchurch, on the south coast, so doesn’t get to many games these days, but he was very knowledgeable about the club, informing me that the Johnny Haynes Stand is the only remaining Archibald Leitch design left in England, though I have since discovered that the other two that are still standing are both in Scotland, at Hearts and Rangers.
In contrast to this gentleman, there were a group of boisterous fans, a bit drunk and waving home-made banners. One of them bore the legend, “1312 Boys” which, I later discovered, is a possible reference to the acronym ACAB, or All Cops Are Bastards. Earlier this year, three Ajax Amsterdam fans were fined £300 each for wearing T-shirts displaying this anti-police message at a game against Ajax Heracles in April 2010. With an ex-Ajax Amsterdam coach in the manager’s seat at Craven Cottage, perhaps they were some of his former club’s notorious “Ultras” that have discredited themselves so often in the past.
Fulham 4 (Johnson 19, Duff 56, Zamora 66, Sidwell 70) Crusaders 0
Attendance: 15,676
After a 3-1 first leg win in Belfast, Fulham comfortably rolled over the Northern Irish part-timers, with an early goal from Johnson and three more in the second half.
In the Putney stand, there wasn’t too much to report, though one guy was very friendly and told me that he’d been following Fulham for more than 50 years. Now retired, he lives in Christchurch, on the south coast, so doesn’t get to many games these days, but he was very knowledgeable about the club, informing me that the Johnny Haynes Stand is the only remaining Archibald Leitch design left in England, though I have since discovered that the other two that are still standing are both in Scotland, at Hearts and Rangers.
In contrast to this gentleman, there were a group of boisterous fans, a bit drunk and waving home-made banners. One of them bore the legend, “1312 Boys” which, I later discovered, is a possible reference to the acronym ACAB, or All Cops Are Bastards. Earlier this year, three Ajax Amsterdam fans were fined £300 each for wearing T-shirts displaying this anti-police message at a game against Ajax Heracles in April 2010. With an ex-Ajax Amsterdam coach in the manager’s seat at Craven Cottage, perhaps they were some of his former club’s notorious “Ultras” that have discredited themselves so often in the past.
No comments:
Post a Comment