Funfairs, river walks and Hugh Grant – welcome to Fulham (away)

As the Tube doors jolt open at Putney Bridge, a gruff cry of “eaaaaagles” echoes down the platform.

It is only 10am but the mood is of boisterous anticipation for what could lie ahead. By 2pm, these people could be having an unforgettable experience.

A young couple bemoan not having remembered there’s a football match on as the queue down the stairs to Station Approach moves at a crawling pace.

There are more queues outside at the River Cafe opposite the station exit as people wait for iced lattes and croissants. Very Fulham.

A tout is trying to sell three match tickets to sit in the Hammersmith End for £270 ($350). A punter tries to haggle and the tout loses his temper: “I just told you, no bidding!”

This is pretty much the angriest scene that’ll be witnessed today (other than home fans lambasting Calvin Bassey’s defending).

This is Fulham, after all, the Premier League’s nicest club and a favourite away day for thousands upon thousands of football fans around the country.

Why? Well, for a start, you’ve got the nearby surroundings. If your route to Craven Cottage is from Putney Bridge station, take a walk down the River Thames on a sunny spring morning and transport yourself to a place of calm and serenity.

People are sat on benches eating sandwiches, or doing a crossword in a newspaper. Even the kids swigging from bottles of Corona are harmless. You don’t get this at Millwall.

Then take a wander through leafy green Bishops Park, with its mix of families, small dogs and runners, so many runners.

There’s a funfair in the middle of it, and watching a Fulham fan with a skinhead and a Union Jack flag draped around his shoulders (yes, this man does exist) while navigating the cones laid out for children wearing roller-skates is quite an image.

Crystal Palace fans are dotted around, proudly wearing their red and blue colours. The chances of recriminations for sporting their shirts, which would be a problem at dozens of grounds in the Premier League and below, are minimal here.

Something for everyone at Fulham (Tim Spiers/The Athletic)

They talk of wanting the late kick-off at Wembley at semi-final weekend. Presumptuous, but ultimately fair.

They also talk of this being an ideal away day. “Fulham away is always on my list for the season,” Palace fan Dan tells The Athletic.

“It’s friendly, the walk to the stadium is beautiful, they have away-friendly pubs and it’s a picturesque ground on the Thames.

“They’re probably the most accommodating club for away fans. Well, they’ve been pretty accommodating in the last few years anyway because we’ve won a few.”

Until fairly recently, Fulham were so accommodating that they even had a neutral stand where home and away fans could freely sit next to each other, a concept pretty much unheard of in English football.

It’s a notion in keeping with the middle-class surroundings: quiet streets, multi-million-pound houses and rowers training for the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race, which will pass by here in a couple of weeks. There was even (at least) one famous actor at the game on Saturday, with Fulham fan Hugh Grant pictured lending his support.

Actor Hugh Grant was also in attendance on Saturday to support Fulham (John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images

For most of the club’s history, though, Fulham haven’t troubled the headline-makers of English football.

From 1970 to 2001, they didn’t once set foot in the top flight. A 14-year stint in the top division followed under the ownership of the now-deceased and disgraced former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, who sold the club to Shahid Khan.

Under Khan and his son, Tony, who is vice-chairman and director of football operations, Fulham are moving towards not only becoming an established top-flight club again following a period of flitting between the top two divisions, but also to being a boutique club, where people are asked to pay high prices not just to watch a football match, but to enjoy a deluxe experience in “a location like no other”, in Shahid Khan’s words.

There is the £120million Riverside Stand that backs onto the River Thames and is being opened stage by stage. When fully completed, it will offer a restaurant curated by a Michelin-star chef, high-end bars (including one on the rooftop) and seats and a bar behind the dugout, plus a private pool. There are plans to offer an option to travel there by boat.

“No two visits are ever the same,” Fulham’s blurb on Riverside states. “One thing, however, is constant; exceptional service throughout.”

Obviously, this doesn’t come cheap. Just to sit in the Riverside Stand for Fulham’s next home game against Liverpool will cost £150. Season tickets reach the £3,000 level, the most expensive non-corporate season ticket in the Premier League.

Season tickets elsewhere in the stadium can still reach £1,024, while normal Premier League match tickets, again for Liverpool, range from £66 to £106, with a smattering of £35 seats on the sides of the Johnny Haynes Stand.

Exorbitant fees for Premier League tickets are increasingly common, especially in London where Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United will charge similar prices for matchday tickets.

It’s a lot for fans to stomach and they have tried to make their voice heard, with protests in 2023 and again recently at the Manchester United away game in the FA Cup, a joint-protest with home supporters after being charged at least £52 for a seat. In Premier League games, there is a £30 cap on away tickets across all clubs.

A Palace supporter on a successful away day for his club (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

“There definitely a sense of feeling fleeced by the club,” Fulham regular Liam tells The Athletic.

“I have friends who can’t afford to come anymore, but the club is going in a different direction. Fulham used to be open to everyone, home and away fans, but it’s becoming much more exclusive.”

The club’s chief executive Alistair Mackintosh recently defended the price rises, saying: “When I first spoke to the Fulham Disabled Supporters Association they gave me some advice — that Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.

“They said to me, that is for some people, but the rest of us want a premium experience elsewhere.

“They may want to have this experience for the odd game, then may want to return to their seats.

“I feel stretching pricing means there is something for everyone at Craven Cottage.

“But the attention is on the top-end pricing as it is more interesting to report than the bottom end, but our game against Villa is sold out.”

Fulham are a club on the rise, fighting for Champions League football this season under Marco Silva’s management.

On Saturday — which starts with one of the most electrifying atmospheres heard at Craven Cottage for some time for their biggest game of the season, an FA Cup quarter-final against Palace — the task of turning Fulham into a club that offers a high-end experience on and off the pitch is brought home. You can’t really offer one without the other. Just ask Queens Park Rangers.

A comprehensive 3-0 loss puts Fulham’s season on a knife edge. Out of the cup, can they now reach Europe for just the fourth time in their history?

Those boutique ticket sales may depend on it.

(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)