Man Utd v Fulham

 Manchester United have won the Champions League after beating ChelseaChelsea and Edwin van der Sar saved from Nicolas Anelka.

6-5 on penalties after a dramatic 1-1 draw. Cristiano Ronaldo headed United in front after 26 minutes but Frank Lampard equalised before the interval. Ronaldo missed his penalty, but John Terry hit the post with a kick that would have won it for Chelsea

Champions of Europe for the 3rd time this was one of the greatest nights in the illustrious history of Manchester United. 40 years on from 1968 and 50 from Munich it was simply destined to be. There was very little between the teams and it looked like Terry would surely win it for Chelsea....but he slipped and the rest is now history. Although penalties are not the "United way" we are worthy European Champions.

United were excellent in the first half with great movement and passing and they could have put the game beyond Chelsea. They came under pressure in the second half and Chelsea looked on the ascendancy but the Reds defended well. Extra time was fairly even and Giggs came close to scoring the winner. In the shoot-out the players were composed and Van Der Sar made up for a shaky night by making the heroic save.

Manchester United Overview

Manchester United are the most successful Premier League club to date by winning the title 10 times. It all began in 1993 when manager Sir Alex Ferguson ended a 26-year wait to lift the Premier League crown.

Perhaps the most memorable time in the club's history was the treble-winning season of 1999 when they added the European Champions League trophy to the league title and FA Cup.

Chelsea briefly broke their league dominance with title wins in 2005 and 2006. But in the 2006/07 season, the Red Devils roared back to regain the Barclays Premiership.

They went one better last season, enjoying their most successful campaign since winning the treble. They saw off the challenge of Chelsea and Arsenal to win an exciting Barclays Premier League title race and defeated the Blues on penalties in the Champions League final after a 1-1 draw between the two sides in Moscow.

The main men that have helped Manchester united in their line of victory where, Eric Cantona, Gary Palister, Denis Irwin, Ryan Giggs and Paul Ince.

Manchester United Premier League History

1992/93 - Inaugural members of the Premier League

1992/93 - Win FA Carling Premiership

1993/94 - Win FA Carling Premiership and FA Cup

1995/96 - Win FA Carling Premiership and FA Cup

1996/97 - Win FA Carling Premiership

1998/99 - Win FA Carling Premiership, European Cup,  and FA Cup 

1999/00 - Win FA Carling Premiership

2000/01 - Win FA Carling Premiership 

2002/03 - Win Barclaycard Premiership 

2003/04 - Win FA Cup

2005/06 - Win League Cup 

2006/07 - Win Barclays Premiership

2007/08 - Win Barclays Premier League, win European Cup

Manchester United

Early years (1878-1945)

The club was formed as Newton Heath L&YR F.C. in 1878 as the works team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. The club's shirts were green and gold halves. They played on a small, dilapidated field on North Road, near the future site of the Manchester Piccadilly railway station for fifteen years, before moving to Bank Street in the nearby town of Clayton in 1893. The club had entered the Football League the previous year and began to sever its links with the rail depot, becoming an independent company, appointing a club secretary and dropping the "L&YR" from their name to become simply Newton Heath F.C.. Not long afterwards, in 1902, the club neared bankruptcy, with debts of over £2500. At one point, their Bank Street ground was even closed by the bailiffs.

Just before having to be shut down for good, the club received a sizeable investment from J. H. Davies, the managing director of Manchester Breweries. Legend goes that Harry Stafford, the club captain, was showing off his prized St. Bernard dog at a club fund-raiser, when Davies approached him to buy the dog. Stafford declined, but was able to persuade Davies to invest in the club and become club chairman. It was decided at one of the early board meetings that the club required a change of name to reflect the fresh start they had been afforded. Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic were among the names suggested, before Louis Rocca, a young immigrant from Italy, said "Gentlemen, why don't we call ourselves Manchester United?" The name stuck, and Manchester United officially came into existence on 26 April 1902. Davies also decided it would be appropriate to change the club's colours, abandoning the green and gold halves of Newton Heath, and picking red and white to be the colours of Manchester United.

Ernest Mangnall was appointed as club secretary after James West had resigned as manager on 28 September 1902. Mangnall was charged with trying to get the club into the First Division, and fell just short of that target at the first attempt, finishing in 5th in Division Two. Mangnall decided that it was necessary to bring in some fresh faces to the club, and signed players such as Harry Moger in goal, Dick Duckworth at half-back and John Picken up front, but it was another new half-back by the name of Charlie Roberts who made the biggest impact. He cost the club a then-record £750 from Grimsby Town in April 1904, and helped them to a third place finish in the 1903-04 season, just a point short of the second promotion place.

It was not long, however, before the club was at last promoted to the First Division for the first time under their new name, finishing in second place in the 1905-06 Second Division. A season of consolidation followed, with the club finishing in 8th, before they finally won their first league title in 1908. Manchester City had recently been under investigation for paying some of their players a salary over the amount allowed by FA regulations. They were fined £250 and eighteen of their players were banned from playing for them ever again. United were quick to pounce on the situation, picking up Billy Meredith (the Welsh Wizard) and Sandy Turnbull, amongst others. The new boys from across town were ineligible to play until New Year's Day 1907, due to their suspension, so it was left until the 1907-08 season for them to make a proper impact on United's bid for the title. And that they did, getting the campaign off to a storming start, with a 2-1 victory over Sheffield United, beginning a run of ten consecutive victories. Despite a shaky end to the season, United managed to hang on and finished the season nine points ahead of their closest rivals, Aston Villa.

The following season began with United picking up another piece of silverware, the first ever Charity Shield, and ended with another, the club's first FA Cup title, sowing the seeds for what has become a record number of FA Cup titles. Just as they were in the club's first title-winning campaign, Turnbull and Meredith were instrumental in this season, Turnbull scoring the winner in the FA Cup Final. The club had to wait another two years before winning any more silverware, winning the First Division for the second time in the 1910-11 season. In the meantime, United moved to their new ground at Old Trafford. They played their first game there on 19 February 1910 against Liverpool, but lost 4-3 having thrown away a 3-0 lead. They then went trophyless again in the 1911-12 season, which not only proved to be the last with Mangnall in charge (he moved to Manchester City after ten years with United), but also the last time the club won the First Division for 41 years, the longest time they have gone without winning the league in their history.

For the next ten years, the club went into a state of gradual decline before being relegated back down to Division Two in 1922. They were promoted again in 1925, but struggled to get into the top half of the table, and were relegated again in 1931. In the eight years leading up to World War II, the club became somewhat of a yo-yo club, reaching their all-time lowest position of 20th in Division Two in 1934. They were promoted and relegated once again before being promoted in the penultimate season before World War II. They guaranteed their place in the top flight for after the war by finishing in 14th in the 1938-39 season.

The Busby years (1945-1969)

1945 saw the appointment of Matt Busby to the manager's post at Old Trafford. He took a then-unheard of approach to his job, insisting that he be allowed to pick his own team, choose which players to sign and direct the team's training sessions himself. He had already missed out on the manager's job at his former club, Liverpool F.C., because the club saw those tasks as jobs for the directors, but United decided to take a chance on Busby's innovative ideas. Busby's first signing was not a player, but a new assistant manager by the name of Jimmy Murphy. The risk the club had taken in appointing Busby paid immediate dividends, with the club finishing second in the league in 1947, 1948 and 1949 and winning the FA Cup in 1948, thanks in part to the locally-born trio of Stan Pearson, Jack Rowley and Charlie Mitten (Rowley and Pearson both scored in the 1948 Cup Final), as well as the centre-half from the North-East, Allenby Chilton.

Charlie Mitten had fled to Colombia in search of a better salary, but the remainder of United's old heads managed to win the First Division title back in 1952. Busby knew, however, that football teams required more than just experience in the side, and so he adopted a policy of bringing in players from the youth team whenever possible. At first, the young players such as Roger Byrne, Bill Foulkes, Mark Jones and Dennis Viollet, took time to bed themselves into the side, sliding to a low of 8th place in 1953, but the team won the league again in 1956 with an average age of only 22, scoring 103 goals in the process. The youth policy set in motion by Busby has now become a hallmark of the most successful periods in the club's history (the mid-1950s, mid-to-late-1960s and 1990s). Busby's original "crop" of youth players was referred to as the Busby Babes, the jewel in the crown of which was a wing-half named Duncan Edwards. The boy from Dudley in the West Midlands made his United début at the age of just 16 back in 1953. It was said that Edwards could play at any position on the field, and many who saw him play said that he was the greatest player ever. The following season, 1956-57, they won the league again and reached the FA Cup final, losing to Aston Villa. They also became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, at the behest of the FA, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season, and reached the semi-final, only to be knocked out by Real Madrid. En route to the semi-final, United also recorded a win that still stands as their biggest win in all competitions, beating Belgian champions Anderlecht 10-0 at Maine Road.

Tragedy struck the following season, when the plane carrying the team home from a European Cup match crashed on take-off at a refuelling stop in Munich, Germany. The Munich air disaster of 6 February 1958 claimed the lives of eight players - Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam "Billy" Whelan - and another fifteen passengers, including United staff members Walter Crickmer, Bert Whalley and Tom Curry.^[14] There had already been two attempted take-offs before the fatal third, which was caused by a build-up of slush at the end of the runway slowing the plane down to a speed insufficient for take-off. The plane skidded off the end of the runway, through a fence and into an unoccupied house. United goalkeeper Harry Gregg managed to maintain consciousness after the crash, and through fear of the plane exploding at any second, he grabbed both Bobby Charlton - who had made his United début less than 18 months earlier - and Dennis Viollet by their waistbands and dragged them to safety. Seven United players died at the scene, while Duncan Edwards died a fortnight later in hospital. Right-winger Johnny Berry also survived the accident, but injuries sustained in the accident brought his football career to a premature end. Matt Busby was not given much hope of survival by the Munich doctors, and was even given the Last Rites at one point, but recovered miraculously and was finally let out of hospital after having spent over two months there.

There were rumours of the club folding and withdrawing from competitions, but with Jimmy Murphy taking over as manager while Busby recovered from his injuries, the club continued playing with a makeshift side. Despite the accident, they reached the FA Cup final again, where they lost to Bolton Wanderers. At the end of the season, UEFA offered the FA the opportunity to submit both United and the eventual champions, Wolverhampton Wanderers, for the 1958-59 European Cup as a tribute to the victims, but the FA declined. United managed to push Wolves right to the wire the following season, finishing in a creditable 2nd place; not bad for a team that had lost nine first-team players to the Munich air disaster.

Busby rebuilt the team throughout the early 1960s, signing players such as Denis Law and Pat Crerand, all the while nurturing his new generation of youngsters. Perhaps the most famous of this new batch was a young man from Belfast named George Best. Best had a natural athleticism rarely seen, but his most valuable asset was his close control of a football. His quick feet allowed him to pass through almost any gap in the opposition defence, no matter how small. The team won the FA Cup in 1963, albeit finishing in 19th place in the First Division. The FA Cup triumph seemed to reinvigorate the players, who helped the club to 2nd place in 1964, and then went one better by winning the league in 1965 and 1967. United won the European Cup in 1968, beating Eusébio's SL Benfica 4-1 in the final, becoming the first English club to win the competition. This United team was notable for containing three European Footballers of the Year: Bobby Charlton, Denis Law and George Best. Matt Busby resigned as manager in 1969 and was replaced by the reserve-team coach and former United player, Wilf McGuinness.

1969-1986

United struggled to replace Busby, and the team struggled under Wilf McGuinness in the 1969-70 season, finishing a disappointing 8th, and following a poor start to the 1970-71 season, McGuinness was demoted back to the position of reserve team coach. Busby was coaxed back to the club, albeit only for six months. Results got better with Busby's guidance, but he finally left the club for the last time in the summer of 1971. In the meantime, United had lost a number of high-profile players such as Nobby Stiles and Pat Crerand.

Despite approaching Celtic's European Cup-winning manager, Jock Stein, for the manager's job - Stein had agreed a verbal contract to join United, but pulled out at the last minute - Frank O'Farrell was appointed as Busby's successor. However, like McGuinness, O'Farrell only lasted less than 18 months, the only difference between the two being that O'Farrell reacted to the team's poor form by bringing in some fresh talent, most specifically Martin Buchan from Aberdeen for £125,000. Tommy Docherty became manager at the end of 1972. Docherty, or "the Doc", saved United from relegation that season but UnitedManchester City in the summer of 1973, and ended up scoring the goal that many people say relegated United, and politely refused to celebrate the goal with his team mates. Players like Lou Macari, Stewart Houston and Brian Greenhoff were brought in to replace Best, Law and Charlton, but none could live up to the stature of the three that came before. were relegated in 1974, by which time the golden trio of Best, Law and Charlton had left the club. Denis Law had moved to

The team won promotion at the first attempt, with a young Steve Coppell making his début towards the end of that season, having joined from Tranmere Rovers, and reached the FA Cup final in 1976, but were beaten by Southampton. They reached the final again in 1977, beating Liverpool 2-1. In spite of this success and his popularity with the supporters, Docherty was sacked soon after the final when he was found to have had an affair with the physiotherapist's wife.

Dave Sexton replaced Docherty as manager in the summer of 1977, and made the team play in a more defensive formation. This style was unpopular with supporters, who were used to the attacking football preferred by Docherty and Busby. Major signings under Sexton included Joe Jordan, Gordon McQueen, Gary Bailey and Ray Wilkins, but Sexton's defensive United failed to break out of mid-table obscurity, only once finishing in the top two, and only reached the FA Cup final once, losing to Arsenal. Because of this lack of trophies, Sexton was sacked in 1981, even though he won his last seven games in charge.

He was replaced by the flamboyant Ron Atkinson, whose extrovert attitude was reflected in the clubs he managed. He immediately broke the British record transfer fee to sign Bryan Robson from his old club, West Brom. Robson would come to be touted in the future as United's best midfield player since Duncan Edwards. Atkinson's team featured new signings such as Jesper Olsen, Paul McGrath and Gordon Strachan playing alongside former youth-team players Norman Whiteside and Mark Hughes. United won the FA Cup twice in three years, in 1983 and 1985, and were overwhelming favourites to win the leagueleague games, opening a ten-point gap over their rivals as early as October. The team's form collapsed, however, and United finished the season in fourth place. The poor form continued into the following season, and with United on the edge of the First Division's relegation zone by the beginning of November 1986, Atkinson was sacked. in the 1985-86 season after winning their first ten

Alex Ferguson era, pre-Treble (1986-1998)

Alex Ferguson arrived from Aberdeen to replace Atkinson and guided the club to an 11th place finish. The following season (1987-88), United finished second, with Brian McClair becoming the first United player since George Best to score twenty league goals in a season.

However, Manchester United struggled throughout the next two seasons, with many of Ferguson's signings not reaching the expectations of the fans. Alex Ferguson was reportedly on the verge of being sacked at the beginning of 1990 but a Mark Robins goal gave Manchester United a narrow 1-0 win in the third round of the FA Cup over Nottingham Forest. This kept the season alive, and the team went on to win the competition, beating Crystal Palace in a replay in the final.

United won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1990-91, beating that season's Spanish champions Barcelona in the final, but the following season was a disappointment as a late season slump saw them miss out on the league to rivals Leeds United. Meanwhile in 1991, the club floated on the London Stock Exchange with a valuation of £47 million, bringing its finances into the public eye.

The arrival of Eric Cantona in November 1992 provided the crucial spark for Manchester United, and blending with the best of trusted talent in Gary Pallister, Denis Irwin and Paul Ince, as well as budding stars like Ryan Giggs, they finished the 1992-93 season as champions for the first time since 1967. They won the double (the league and the FA Cup) for the first time the following season, aided by the capture of Roy Keane, a determined midfielder from Nottingham Forest, who would go on to become the team captain. In the same year, however, the club was plunged into mourning following the death of legendary manager and club president Sir Matt Busby, who died on 20 January 1994.

In 1994-95, Cantona received an eight month suspension for jumping into the crowd and assaulting Crystal Palace supporter Matthew Simmons, who had given Cantona racial abuse as he left the field, in Manchester United's game at Selhurst Park. Drawing their last league match and losing to Everton in the FA Cup final left Manchester United as runners-up in both the league and FA Cup. Ferguson then outraged the supporters by selling key players and replacing them with players from the club's youth team, including David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville and Paul Scholes. The new players, several of whom quickly became regular internationals for England, did surprisingly well and Manchester United won the double again in 1995-96. This was the first time any English club had won the double twice, and the feat was nicknamed the "Double Double".

They won the league in 1996-97, and Eric Cantona announced his retirement from football at the age of 30. They started the following season (1997-98) well, but they finished in second place, behind the double-winning champions Arsenal.

The Treble (1998-99)

The 1998-99 season for Man Utd was the most successful season in English club football history as they became the first and only English team to win The Treble - winning the Premiership, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League in the same season. After a very tense Premier League season, Man Utd(Click here to buy Man Utd tickets) won the title on the final day beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1, whilst Arsenal won 1-0 against Aston Villa. Winning the Premiership was the first part of the Treble in place, the one part that manager Alex Ferguson described as the hardest. In the FA Cup Final Man Utd(Click here to buy Man Utd tickets) faced Newcastle United and won 2-0 with goals from Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes. In the final match of that season, the 1999 UEFA Champions League Finalfootball. Rounding out that record breaking year, Manchester United also won the Intercontinental Cup after beating Palmeiras 1-0 in Tokyo. they defeated Bayern Munich in what is considered one of the greatest comebacks ever witnessed, losing going into injury time and scoring twice to win 2-1. Ferguson was subsequently knighted for his services to

After the Treble (1999-present)

Manchester United won the league in 2000 and 2001 but the press saw these seasons as failures as they failed to regain the European Cup. In 2000, Manchester United became one of 14 founder members of the G-14 group of leading European football clubs. Ferguson adopted more defensive tactics to make United harder to beat in Europe but it was not a success and Manchester United finished the 2001-02 Premiership season in third place. They regained the league the following season (2002-03) and started the following season well, but their form dropped significantly when Rio Ferdinand received a controversial eight month suspension for missing a drugs test. They did win the 2004 FA Cup, however, knocking out Arsenal (that season's eventual champions) on their way to the final in which they beat Millwall.

The 2004-05 season was characterised by a failure to score goals, mainly due to the injury of striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and United finished the season trophyless and in third place in the league. This time, even the FA Cup eluded them as Arsenal beat Manchester United on penalties after a goalless draw after 120 minutes. Off the pitch, the main story was the possibility of the club being taken over and at the end of the season, Tampa businessman Malcolm Glazer, acquired a controlling interest in the club.

Manchester United made a poor start to the 2005-06 season, with midfielder Roy Keane leaving the club to join Celtic after publicly criticising several of his team-mates, and the club failed to qualify for the knock-out phase of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in over a decade after losing to Portuguese team Benfica. Their season was also dealt cruel blows with injuries to key players such as Gabriel Heinze, Alan Smith, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. However, they were prevented from being left empty-handed in successive seasons – a disappointment not endured in the last 17 years – by winning the 2006 League Cup, beating newly-promoted neighbours Wigan Athletic in the final 4-0. Manchester United also ensured a second-place finish and automatic Champions League qualification on the final day of the season by defeating Charlton Athletic 4-0. At the end of the 2005-06 season, one of United's key strikers, Ruud van Nistelrooy, left the club to join Real Madrid, due to a row with Alex Ferguson.

The 2006-07 season saw Manchester United return to the attacking style of football that was the cornerstone of their years of success in the late 1990s, scoring almost 20 more goals in 32 matches than second placed side Chelsea. In January 2007, United signed Henrik Larsson on a two-month loan from Swedish side Helsingborgs, and the striker played an important role in advancing Manchester United to the semi-finals of the Champions' League, with hopes for a second Treble; however, upon reaching the semi-finals, Manchester United lost to A.C. Milan 3-5 on aggregate.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Manchester United's entry into European competition, as well as the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome,

Amateur days 1879-1898

Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) started its existence in 1879 as Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) St Andrew's Church Sunday School, founded by worshippers at the C of E church on Star Road, West Kensington, which still stands today with a plaque commemorating the team's foundation. They won the West London Amateur Cup in 1887 and, having shortened the name to its present form in 1888, they then won the West London League in 1893 at the first attempt. One of the club's first ever kits was half red, half white shirts with white shorts worn in the 1886-7 season. Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) started playing at their current ground Craven Cottage in 1896, their first game against now defunct rivals Minerva F.C.

Southern League 1898-1907

The club gained professional status on December 12, 1898, in the same year that they were admitted into the Southern League's 2nd division. They adopted a kit very similar to modern Arsenal colours in this period, which was worn during the 1900-01 season. In 1902-03 they won promotion from this division, entering the Southern League 1st Division. The club's first recorded all-white club kit came in 1903, and ever since then the club has been playing in all-white shirts and black shorts, with socks going through various evolutions of black and/or white, but are now normally white-only. The club won the Southern League twice, in 1905-06 and 1906-07.

Into the Football League 1907-1949

Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) gained admission to the national Football League after the second of their Southern League triumphs. The club's first ever league game, playing in the 2nd Division's 1907-8 season, saw them losing 1-0 at home to Hull City on September 3, 1907. The first win came a few days later on September 7, 1907 at Derby County's Baseball Ground, by a score line of 1-0. When they eventually found their feet in the division they impressed, ending up only three points short of promotion in 4th place. However, this was the best season they had in their twenty one year stay in that division, and after only winning 13 out of 42 games in the 1927-28 season Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) were relegated to the 3rd Division South, which was created in 1920.

A highlight of that first season was an 8-3 away win at Luton Town in an FA Cup game. The club actually managed to reach the semi-finals of that tournament, where they were humbled 6-0 by Newcastle United. This is still a record loss for an FA Cup semi-final game.^[7] A couple of years later the club won the London Challenge Cup in the 1909-10 season.

During this period, businessman and politician Henry Norris was the club chairman and curiously he had an indirect role in the foundation of Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s local rivals Chelsea F.C.. When he rejected an offer from businessman Gus Mears to move Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) to land where the present-day Chelsea stadium Stamford Bridge is situated, Mears decided to create his own team to occupy the ground. In 1910, Norris started to combine his role at Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) with the chairmanship of Arsenal.

After finishing 5th, 7th and 9th (out of 22 teams) in their first three seasons in the 3rd Division South, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) won the division in the 1931-32 season. In doing so they beat Torquay United 10-2, won 24 out of 42 games and scored 111 goals, thus being promoted back to the Second Division. The next season they missed out on a second consecutive promotion, finishing 3rd behind Tottenham Hotspur and Stoke City. A mixed bag of league performances followed, although the club also reached another FA Cup semi-final during the 1935-36 season. On 8 October 1938 Craven Cottage saw its all-time highest attendance at a match against Millwall FC, with a crowd of 49,335 watching the game.

League and cup football were severely disrupted by the outbreak of World War II in 1939, with the Football League split into regional divisions temporarily, with a national Football League War Cup and a London War Cup up for grabs. Post-war, a full league programme was only restored for 1946-47. In the 3rd season of what is now considered the modern era of football, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) finished top of the Second Division, with a win-loss-draw record of 24-9-9 (identical to that which won them the 3rd Division South 17 years previously).

1970-1994: Mixed fortunes outside the top flight

The aforementioned 3rd Division hiatus lasted only two seasons though, they were then promoted back to the Second Division as runners-up in 1970-71. This spell also saw Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) invited to the not particularly prestigious Anglo-Italian Cup, which saw the club draw four out of four games in two appearances in tournament between 1972 and 1974. Thus started of a period of high-profile signings for the club under Alec Stock in the mid-70s, including Alan Mullery and Bobby Moore. The reward of this was their only ever FA Cup final in 1975, having won their first semi-final in five attempts. The club then lost to West Ham in the final. This gained the club qualification to another low-key European tournament, the Anglo-Scottish Cup, where they made the final, losing to Middlesbrough.

That run in the FA Cup saw the setting of an improbable record, that of the most games needed to reach the final, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) playing 11 games including replays. In the build up to the 12th game, the Wembley final, Tony Rees and The Cottagers released a single, "Viva el Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)" (based on Manolo Escobar's "Y viva España") which is still played (and occasionally chanted) at Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) games. It reached No.46 in the Pop Charts in 1975. The club set another record in the 70s, when they took part in the first ever British league game to be played on a Sunday against Millwall F.C. in 1974, which was staged at Craven Cottage.

George Best played 47 times for the club in the 1976-77 season. Rodney Marsh, who having grown up with Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) in the 60s went on to play 1st Division football and play for England, rejoined the club in the same season, playing only 16 games. This capped one of the most successful eras in Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) history.

The hangover from this meant the club were relegated again after winning only 11 in 42 in the 1979-80 season, which saw Bobby Campbell's sacking to be replaced by Malcolm Macdonald. With a strong squad during his 1980-84 period in charge (with players such as Ray Houghton, Tony Gale, Paul Parker, Gerry Peyton and Ray Lewington), they won promotion again in 1981-82 back to Division 2. In 1980, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) founded the rugby league club that is now Harlequins Rugby League designed to be an extra stream of income for the football club. Then called 'Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) Rugby League', they played at Craven Cottage until moving away from the parent club in 1984.

Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions, to the First Division losing 1-0 to Derby away on the last day of the 1982-83 season - although the match was abandoned after 88 mins due to a pitch invasion. The side which had shown so much promise was gradually sold off and broken up as the club had debts to pay off, so it was little surprise when the club were relegated again to the Third Division in 1986. The club nearly went out of business in 1987 and the same year saw the break-down of an ill-advised merger attempt with QPR. It was only the intervention of ex-player Jimmy Hill that allowed the club to stay in business as a re-structured 'Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) FC 1987 Ltd.' In 1987 the club took part in what was one of the longest penalty shoot-outs recorded - it needed 28 spot kicks to sort out a winner between them and Aldershot following a Freight Rover Trophy match.

In 1992 the foundation of the Premier League saw Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s division of the time, the 3rd Division, re-named the 2nd Division. (There is a joke amongst football fans that at the end of the 1991-92 season they started to celebrate promotion, before realising all that had happened was that the FA had changed the numbers.) However the club were relegated from that to the new 3rd Division after a poor 1993-94 season, seeing the club in the basement of the Football League, with Ian Branfoot appointed as new manager.

1994-96: Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s lowest ebb

After a 7th place finish in his first season in charge the club hit its historical rock bottom with its performance in the 1995-96 season, finishing 17th out of 24th. This season included a loss against Torquay United, who were at the time rock bottom of the Division, with Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) just one place above them. Branfoot was soon sacked as Manager, but remained at the club in other capacities for a short while.

However, in February 1996 the club appointed then-player Micky Adams as manager, and it was in the summer of that year that his revolution really took off. That signalled the start of the new era of Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) Football Club.

Micky Adams was appointed as manager and oversaw an upturn in form that lifted the side out of what little relegation danger was present. The next season he engineered a complete turnaround in form and his side, captained by Simon Morgan, finished second - only missing out on first place due to the league dropping the old "goal difference" system in favour of a "goals scored" tally. (While Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s goal difference was one better than that of champions Wigan Athletic, they scored twelve fewer goals.) This was somewhat ironic, as the club's then Chairman Jimmy Hill, had successfully argued that goals scored should decide places of teams tied on points while sitting on an FA panel.

1997-2001: Al Fayed's revolution

Millionaire Mohamed Al-Fayed purchased the club that summer and fired Adams in the aftermath of a poor start. In Adams' place he installed a managerial 'dream team' of Ray Wilkins (as First Team Manager) and Kevin Keegan (as Chief Operating Officer), pledging that the club would reach the Premiership within five years.

After an argument over team selection, Wilkins left the club in May 1998 to hand over the full managerial duties to Keegan, who steered the club to a spectacular promotion the next season, winning 101 points of a possible 138, captained by Chris Coleman - then the most expensive footballer outside the top two divisions of the English league. Keegan then left to become manager of the England team, and veteran player Paul Bracewell was put in charge.

Bracewell was sacked in March 2000, as Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s promising early season form dwindled away. Frenchman Jean Tigana was put in charge and having signed a number of young stars, including Louis Saha, he guided Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) to their third promotion in five seasons in the 2000-01 season in emphatic style, scoring 90 goals in 46 games. That gave Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) top flight status for the first time since 1968, which had only taken four years - one shorter than Al Fayed's pledge. During this season club captain and subsequent manager, Chris Coleman, was involved in a car crash which eventually finished his playing career. Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s run through the divisions saw many players come and go, but the only player to play for the club in all four leagues was Sean Davis, indeed he is one of few players to ever have played at every level of professional football with one team.

2001-03: Premiership debut

Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) were widely tipped to take the Premiership by storm, with many pundits predicting a challenge for the UEFA cup or even Champions League places (although others were less kind), but their first Premiership season was largely underwhelming; despite a couple of good games and some flashes of brilliance, the end product was a respectable 13th place finish. Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) remain the only team in this millienium to host top-flight football with some standing areas. Due to restrictions on standings, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) decamped to Loftus Road, during the 2002-3 and 2003-4 seasons while their own stadium was rebuilt, but then returned back to Craven Cottage.

The following season saw Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) dangerously close to the relegation zone, and chairman Mohammed Al Fayed told Tigana that his contract would not be renewed at the end of the season. But an awful run of results, culminating in a 4-0 home defeat by Blackburn Rovers led him to be sacked before the season came to an end with relegation desperately near. Jean Tigana made the club's record signing, buying Steve Marlet from Olympique Marseille for £11.5 million. He failed to live up to expectations playing only 54 league games in 3 years, and scoring only 11 goals. He was loaned out to Olympique de Marseille for 18 months when Coleman took over, with his sizeable contract still being paid by the English team, before it eventually expired.

2003-2007: Coleman defies the odds

Chris Coleman took charge for five games at the end of that (2002-03) season, earning Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) 10 points out of a possible 15 and preserving a place in the Premier League for the next season. Coleman was given the manager's job on a permanent basis in the summer of 2003 and despite predictions that the inexperience of Coleman would result in Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s relegation, he kept the club well clear of relegation, guiding them to a club record ninth place finish in his debut season. This might have been greater had the club not come under significant financial pressure to sell Louis Saha to Manchester United, for which they received a club record £13 million. The final day of the season saw them win 2-0 away to Bolton - a third goal could have seen them jump the Trotters into eighth place. Coleman notched up another impressive performance in the 2004-05 season and guided Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) to a secure 13th place finish. The 2005-06 season proved a tougher affair, but safety was once again mathematically assured with three games left of the season and a 1-0 win over Wigan Athletic. There were three relative high points in an inconsistent season: a 6-1 rout of West Bromwich Albion, a 1-0 win over rivals and champions Chelsea in the West London derby, and a 2-0 win over 2005 European champions Liverpool F.C. Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s home form was the best outside the top six, with 12 wins from 18 games, while their away form was the worst in the entire league with one win and four draws from 18 games. A game they were winning away 1-0, versus Sunderland, was abandoned after 21 minutes because of persistent snowfall. Finally, on 29 April 2006, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) achieved a first away victory of the campaign with a 2-1 win over Manchester City F.C.. Despite the difficulties experienced throughout this season, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) achieved a 12th place finish - an improvement on the previous campaign.

Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) did not get off to a good start in 2006-07, losing their first match 5-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford. This result consigned them to the foot of the table and left them as the season's favourites for early relegation contenders with the bookies; but then recovered well and were riding as high as 8th at one point in December 2006.

Many signings including Vincenzo Montella, Alexey Smertin, Simon Davies and Clint Dempsey were brought during January. Between Mid December and May however, Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) only won a single game, a 2-1 victory over Newcastle United. In the same time period Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) drew 9 games and lost 4. Additionally Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) were dumped out of the FA Cup 4-0 by Tottenham Hotspur. On the 10 April 2007, following defeats at the hands of Manchester City (3-1) and Everton (4-1) Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) Football Club terminated the contracts of Chris Coleman and Steve Kean with immediate effect, while Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez and Les Reed were put in temporary charge.

Since 2007: Sanchez takes over

Lawrie Sanchez's first match saw him lose away to Reading. In his third match, he looked to gain a much needed point against Arsenal when Simon Davies scored a 78th minute equaliser, but 2 late Arsenal goals saw Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) lose 3-1 and stay 1 point above the Relegation Zone. Sanchez's next game was against a Liverpool side that rested many starters after a mid-week Champions League match; a Clint Dempsey goal ensured Sanchez's first win as Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) caretaker manager. This win, in combination with the results of other matches from the same weekend, ensured Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets)'s safety from relegation. On Friday 11 May 2007 Sanchez resigned from his position as manager of Northern Ireland to become the permanent Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets) manager. On the 9th of July 2007, Sanchez made his first major signing for Fulham(Click here to buy Fulham tickets), buying Diomansy Kamara from West Brom for £6 million.

During the summer of 2007 Sanchez has bought several new players after the Chairman announced more funds would be available to him to try avoid relegation, being particularly focused on bringing in new blood to the defence.