Will we play at Wembley?

A breaking story:

"The FA have confirmed that a bid of £800m to purchase Wembley stadium has been received from Shahid Khan".

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Here is a link to one report in the media - Khan's plan apparently relates to his NFL franchise and does not involve Fulham moving, it says.

https://talksport.com/football/fa-s...nville-jaguars-owner-shahid-khan-180426280489

 

In a statement through the Club, Mr Khan has said:

"No matter what the outcome of our offer may be, I want to emphatically state to you that none of this will have any effect on my commitment to your Club.

To be clear, this venture is 100 per cent independent of my investment in and operation of Fulham Football Club, Motspur Park and Craven Cottage. No less attention will be paid to developing players and fielding a squad that will win with frequency and always make you proud. It will have no impact on Craven Cottage as the home of FFC. And this is imperative to know, and I encourage you to spread the word – absolutely nothing changes in our plans to redevelop the Riverside Stand."


Here's a link to the full thing:

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/april/26/chairman-statement

 

That's a bit of a curved ball!!

My guess is yes, but only if we win the 2 legged semi of the playoffs, but not if Cardiff drop the ball in their run in and we go straight up to EPL.

 

No way, and under no circumstance should we ever leave the Cottage,no matter what Kahn buys,
and that includes Stamford Bridge

 

Mr Khan is quoted by the BBC as saying , "the deal could be done withing 3 months". If so, that could put a big dent in the Dark Side's plans of playing at Wembley while the Bridge is knocked down and re-built, which could take 5 years.

But .. if it completed that quickly, we could go there while the Riverside is developed, which is only 1 year.


PS Having also bought the old BBC sport ground and got planning permission to upgrade it as a training facility, will Khan use to base the Jagwars there? Just a thought.

 

Khan knows it's nearly 40 years since we last played at Wembley so next best option is to buy it.

I don't know what to make of it. As long as we continue playing at the Cottage, to me, that's the main thing.

I've totally lost touch though, I'll never make any money - I'm always surprised Wembley get's packed out for these NFL games and yet I don't know anyone who supports an NFL team or knows the rules - same when my local pub closed down and became a Costa - I thought who would rather go for a cup of coffee than a pint, they're queuing at 6 am !

 

I have every reason to trust what our owner is telling us. We will continue at the Cottage and our plans to improve our stadium will go ahead.
The deal puts a great deal of money into the roots of English football, England continue to play at Wembley except for 2 months in the year.
Wembley will be run more commercially by a real business.
I'm not seeing this as a negative purchase for us or the national team.

 

I think this will all be fine, whether the deal goes through or not. It would make no business sense for Fulham to play their home games at Wembley, with it's much higher running costs and it's geographical distance from our traditional support, quite apart from the enormous sentimental attachment that many of us have the lovely old ground. I think Kahn is aware of the latter factor, and is certainly a good enough businessman to be aware of the former. As 2whitestripes says, we can take Kahn's comments at face value. This is a deal that has much more to do with the Jaguars than it does with Fulham.

 

This is exactly the issue, I would think.

 

This interview does indeed focus very much on Mr Khan's ambitions for the Jagwars. However, right at the end, there is an intriguing reference to Fulham playing at Wembley -

 

If we did ever leave CC,i for one would not be going to wembley.
Fulham would totally cease to be, there name would be just 6 letters of the alphabet.

 

I can imagine my other half would like the Wembley move, I'd end up in IKEA every second Saturday. THIS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN MR KHAN. I am only a man and I have limits, this is my red line!

The only thing that irks me a little is the timing of all this, it's not really a distraction in that the speculation should have no bearing on our performances, but it's clearly a shrewd business move. Strike whilst the fans are happy and he has maximum goodwill (compared to any other point in his time in charge). Part of me would like him to pretend he's spending every minute hunched over a paper with the championship table, trying to figure out possible scenarios and imagining an away win at Birmingham to take us up. Evidently his mind is elsewhere.

 

Bit harsh silky. Mr Khan's contribution in Friday's programme suggests he is very much aware of B'ham and the tension around results. I know he won't himself actually pen these things but would be extremely surprised if he didn't personnaly approve before publishing. Here's a link to what he had to say:

http://www.fulhamfc.com/shahid-khan/notes/2018/april/27/chairman-notes

 

I think we are now finding out why Shahid Khan bought Fulham.
It was to give himself a high profile in London society and over the years get himself 'networking' with important and influential people.
The accumulation of these years has it been the ultimate goal of bring the NFL to London on a more permanent basis.
(All the speculation of buying Tottenham, then bringing NFL to White Hart Lane, was he shafted by Levy who now has a NFL deal ?)

Whether this will benefit Fulham only time will tell, that will be down to the character of the man himself to see if he was just using us or if he will continue to back us to the best of his ability on an equal footing to the 'Gridiron' football. Or will he now let us flounder if we have served our purpose.

 

We'd be more annoyed if he was buying Wembley to house our club.
Mr K is a businessman and what you may call a reasonably successful one. He has and is investing in FFC and we are doing pretty good too.
I'm not seeing a problem here, he is genuine, you don't get to where he has by being otherwise.

 

It will be a sad day if you were to move to Wembley. I look forward to away matches at the Cottage with the stroll to the ground along the riverside. Wembley is a soulless place, a real drag to get to with no reasonable places to eat and drink. These rich club owners are only out for themselves and have their eye on the property assets. I remember the time Sam Hamman was at Wimbledon when he had a plans to move the club to Dublin and then to Cardiff. By the way whatever happens on Sunday I hope I shall be making my annual trip to the Cottage next season but this time in the Premier League. Good luck guys

 

I agree with all Barry Tiger says. With the possible exception of Bournemouth the burgers we buy in the park on the way to the ground have no equals and a nice pint in the designated away pub on the way to the ground from Putney Bridge. The pub usually staffed by very attractive young ladies. Result!!!

The only thing which could be improved is the attitude of the stewards in the away end. I think they must all have day jobs dishing out parking tickets.

 

You're not wrong about the Bishop's Park burgers - awesome! Out of interest, and as a Fulham fan living in Bournemouth, where do you buy burgers when visiting the Cherries?

 

Stories today are that it's a done deal and our owner has secured Wembley for £600m. Which is kind of apt since 4 months ago today -

 

If we are to build the Riverside stand it would make more sense if Khan does purchase Wembley for him to move us there while the Riverside stand is being built. The home revenue wouldn't have to drop, he'd be using an asset of his, I'd expect attendances to be about 30K as opposed to a 18K gate at Craven Cottage. So financially it would make sense, but not for a permanent move. But then Khan has been known to think big, so will he then put in planning permission to rebuild the Hammersmith & Putney Ends if safe standing is permissible ? Wembley is a right pain for public transport and not the best location for me.

FULHAM SUPPORTERS' TRUST STATEMENT ON WEMBLEY STADIUM
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2018 AT 3:49PM
Responding to the decision of the FA Board to approve in principle the sale of Wembley to Fulham chairman Shahid Khan, Tom Greatrex, chair of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust, said:

“With Shahid Khan’s bid for Wembley subject to much speculation, the Fulham Supporters’ Trust has continued to discuss any implications for Fulham FC with both Chief Executive Alistair Mackintosh and also representatives of Mr Khan. They have reiterated that Fulham’s long term home will continue to be Craven Cottage, with Shahid Khan committed to building a new Riverside stand to improve the ground. Craven Cottage is an integral part of the unique character of Fulham Football Club - something the owner and senior executives at Fulham understand and appreciate, as well as fans. Whatever the outcome of the bid for Wembley, Fulham fans want to see Fulham play at Craven Cottage for the long term. The board of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust will continue to represent this view.”