![]() ![]() This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. One of the club's directors Henry Norris, and his friend William Hall, took over Arsenal in the early 1910s, the plan being to merge Fulham with Arsenal, to form a "London superclub" at Craven Cottage. Establishing itself as a stadium Īn England v Wales match was played at the ground in 1907, followed by a rugby league international between England and Australia in 1911. īoth the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of Archibald Leitch football architecture to remain in existence and both have been designated as Grade II listed buildings. The stand on Stevenage Road celebrated its centenary in the 2005–2006 season and, following the death of Fulham FC's favourite son, former England captain Johnny Haynes, in a car accident in October 2005 the Stevenage Road Stand was renamed the Johnny Haynes Stand after the club sought the opinions of Fulham supporters. In a scheme costing £15,000 (a record for the time ), he built a pavilion (the present-day 'Cottage' itself ) and the Stevenage Road Stand, in his characteristic red brick style. A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which Archibald Leitch, a Scottish architect who had risen to prominence after his building of the Ibrox Stadium, a few years earlier, was hired to work on the stadium. In 1904 London County Council became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed. ![]() Described as looking like an "orange box", it consisted of four wooden structures each holding some 250 seats, and later was affectionately nicknamed the "rabbit hutch". The ground's first stand was built shortly after. The first football match at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against Minerva in the Middlesex Senior Cup, on 10 October 1896. A deal was struck for the owners of the ground to carry out the work, in return for which they would receive a proportion of the gate receipts. When representatives of Fulham first came across the land, in 1894, it was so overgrown that it took two years to be made suitable for football to be played on it. The 'Rabbit Hutch' stand along Stevenage Road before Archibald Leitch's redesign in 1904-5 Of particular note, was Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886 to 1888. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall (including a temporary stay at Loftus Road ), meaning that only their former 'landlords' and rivals QPR have had more home grounds (14) in British football. Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Following the fire, the site was abandoned. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jeremy Bentham, Florence Nightingale and even Queen Victoria are reputed to have stayed there, although there is no real evidence for this. Many rumours persist among Fulham fans of past tenants of Craven Cottage. ![]() The Cottage was lived in by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (who wrote The Last Days of Pompeii ) and other somewhat notable (and moneyed) persons until it was destroyed by fire in May 1888. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which made up part of Anne Boleyn's hunting grounds. The original Cottage was built in 1780, by William Craven, the sixth Baron Craven and was located close to where the Johnny Haynes Stand is now. Aerial view of Craven Cottage on the banks of the River Thames as of 2010. ![]()
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