I don't like Foolham, was extremely pleased that they went down, but would not in any way try to annoy FT, a good poster and football fan.
In my mind this comes down to simple economics. I want the best for my club and fully support TF's vision of growing QPR into an established and sustainable PL team. This means we need to grab a decent slice of the London football economy and in particular, the tourist market. As with any business, the less competition you have the better and in Fulham you have a very similar club both geographically and aspirationally. Their demise is therefore welcome even though I have no problem with the club or its supporters (sic). Of course, were Abramovitch to be gunned down by a mafia hit squad and the scum start spiralling into the abyss, then things would be brighter still...
It’s a very interesting point that you make there Aaaagh. Before posting my thoughts though firstly I have to echo the comments others have made about FT. As far as I’m concerned FT is not only a true gent, but also an insightful poster who’s opinions are well thought through and offer a completely different perspective to those of a QPR fan. In fact one of the reasons that this is my forum of choice is that you get fans from other teams on here, and occasionally in amongst the usual WUMS and idiots you get someone like FT who has something that is actually worth listening to. As far as I’m concerned he’s welcome on this board anytime. Also, to be completely honest I find it very difficult to find any real reason to dislike Fulham. There an old fashioned football club of a similar size, and with a similar history in terms of relative success, to us. The only problem (if it can even be said to be a problem) is their close vicinity to us. Can one single London borough sustain 3 teams like Chelsea, Fulham and QPR? Can they all be successful at the same time without it being to the detriment of at least one or more? If you look at it in cold financial and demographic terms you’d have to say probably not. Therefore I sort of feel like I should wish for Fulham to fall into decline. That their demise would ultimately only be to our benefit. The trouble is though, that fundamentally I don’t wish them ill at all. For me football is not a cold logical set of calculations but an emotional compulsion. Part of me feels that I should dislike them, but I don’t, I actually quite like them. Sorry about that.
My dislike is personal. Someone I know was very arrogant at our relegation. So, in the true spirit of competitive sport....I respond in a similar vein !! I also think it would be to our benefit if Fulham fell into decline (just a little bit).
I do like the fact they sang "we will never play you again" when we went down. They were 100% correct, just not in the way they imagined. Fulham had the oldest squad out of the 92 teams, there's a lesson to be learnt there.
This is an interesting thread. Would we like to have an even more upper middle class / tourist fan base - that we might pick up from Foolham? At Wembley I met up with QPR fans I'd not seen for 20 years. People who still live local but got priced out. I remember the Milton Keynes game at home when we dropped the price and we got a very different local crown who swore a lot and shouted abuse at Park and other 'Prem League stars' that they weren't playing for the badge. Much more aggressively than our normal home crowd. I would rather the club found ways to entice this fan base back than attract Foolhams unfaithful to us. I know money talks and this is modern football. But maybe Wembley will help inject some passion into the wallets of our true fan base and we can have an atmosphere that is intimidating again vs more prawns at half time.
Fulham Traveller always welcome, as he joins in discussion and doesn't wum or disrupt threads. Fulham FC, whole different kettle of fish. Can't say I shed a tear when they were relegated...a small club, who could have pushed onwards, but failed to. They played it safe with old experienced players (Danny Murphy and co.) and now they have been found wanting. They are a very useful case study for us to learn what not to do from. The first lesson we have already learnt, and so where Fulham were happy at Craven Cottage with 25 thousand max, we have shown some ambition with the new stadium.
I'm not after the media types and luvvies that have plagued Craven Cottage since Fulham found success (although they do reflect the hugely changed demographic of their local area since their 60s hey day). As a working class lad brought up in Shepherds Bush I'm very proud of the fact that the basic ethos of QPR is remarkably unchanged in that same period despite the fact that our supporters have distributed themselves far and wide since then. I am after the overseas visitors however as they have long been part of the scene at QPR. A robust following from Scandanavia and Germany was always a feature of Loftus Road in the 70s and 80s for example. Fulham have grabbed a slice of that pie in the last two decades and its time for us to grab it back as we rebuild to fill a 40k stadium on a regular basis. We are the natural home of London's West End and its tourists and should use that to our advantage.
I not quite sure why but for me Fulham have never really been on my radar or bothered me in the slightest. I'm not the sort of person to do hate anyway, it's just not the way I have been programmed in life. I guess being they are a local derby team I should give more of a toss but I just don't. It's only really Chelsea that annoy me but again I don't hate them like some on here do.
It’s a fair observation Lalala. Probably the weirdest match I’ve ever been to was in our first season back in the prem under Warnock, when we went to Craven Cottage. It was a real surprise how little intensity or spice came over from their fans, and they were comprehensively out-sung by the travelling Rs. We lost six nil that day, but it the surreal thing was that our fans were so much more passionate than theirs that day that despite the heavy loss I came away feeling weirdly happy. Maybe it was a case of not having played us for so long that they’d forgotten us. Maybe, like the Chelsea game the same season, it meant more to us than them, and the passion of our supporters took them by surprise. Anyway, whatever it was I was one proud Superhoop for both those games, and I felt the same 10 days ago at Wembley. So, much as I don't mind Fulham and am happy to see them be sucessful, I certainly I wouldn’t swap our fans for theirs. Nor for any other team for that matter. U Rs!!
Met FT at the Brixton tribute in the C&S. He stayed until the end making himself late for Fulham's KO. Top man in my book!
Don't be sorry mate after meeting you I would expect nothing else from you proper nice bloke and a true Ranger. Nasty old me is less forgiving though am as pleased as punch and hope they do a Wolves next season.
Haha, fair enough mate! And thanks for the kind words. To be fair, much as I don't feel any real antipathy towards Fulham I can't say losing any sleep over current woes. One thing is for sure though, their modest away following is going to have one hell of a wake up call when they get to Griffin Park!
