On this day 30 years ago our former Chairman Tommy Trinder celebrated his 78th birthday and also, on 24th March 1987, Jimmy Hill returned to Fulham to save us from bankruptcy. Tommy became Chairman of the Club in 1959 and in his time saw some highs and lows; the pinnacle of course being the 1975 Cup Final. Probably fair to say Trinder wasn't a very good business man but when he stepped down in 1976 a very different animal took his place - the arch crook Ernie Clay. In the years that followed, Clay and his cohort David Bulstrode bled the Club dry, obtaining the freehold of the Cottage for £900k and selling it on to developers for £9m. Their joint grand plan was a merger with QPR and creating Fulham Park Rangers. Thankfully Jimmy Hill was convinced by a group of local businessmen to re-join and lead Fulham FC 1987 Ltd. That chapter of our history has been posted before so I won't go over it again. However, I will rewind to 1982 and post this BBC archive footage to remind you what a charlatan Clay was (as it happens Jimmy Hill also makes an appearance). The clip runs for about 7 minutes but worth sticking with it; not only because Clay is early on and then at the end but also to reminisce about life before Sky.
Did you know that Ernie Clay is an anagram for 'utter fool who talks nonsense'. I think I've got that right.
Slight aside trip down memory lane. The man who took us to that 1975 Cup Final, Alec Stock, would have been 100 today. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
Alec himself used to refer to the Club as the 'Old Victorian Lady'. I believe by this, he was saying that we always did things with a touch of elegance and class.
Burst out laughing! And my oft used quote, "Terry Hurlock, the man who in a season had more disciplinary points than the team had League points".
