| Opposition | Celtic Games | Forum |
NAME: Craven Cottage
ADDRESS: Stevenage Road, Fulham, London, SW6 6HH.
CAPACITY: Approx. 22,000.
CELTIC ALLOCATION: Approx 10,000? Celtic fans have been given the Stevenage Road Stand and the Putney End.
DIRECTIONS
BY CAR: Assuming like most Celtic fans you're coming from the north, take the A1/M1 to North Circular A406 and follow signs for Harlesdon A404. Take the A219 to Hammersmith, and when on Broadway follow signs for Fulham. Turn right after a mile into Harboard Street and then left at the end of the road for the ground. From the west take the M4/A4 to Hammersmith Broadway and then its as above. From the South or the East, take the South circular A205 and follow signs for Putney Bridge A219. Cross the bridge and follow signs for Hammersmith for half a mile, then take a left into Bishops Park Road, then right at the end of the street.
BY BUS: The 85 or the C4 from Kingston-upon-Thames bus station gets you to Putney Bridge. From Hammersmith you'll need the 190, 211, 220 or 295 which go down Fulham Palace Road. From Putney take the 74 or the 220 to Fulham Palace Road.
BY TRAIN: Putney Bridge Underground station is ten minutes walk from the ground and can be found on the District Line. Walking it from here you'll get a nice walk through Bishop's Park. Hammersmith Underground station is 20 minutes walk, but can be found on the Hammersmith & City, Piccadilly and District lines. All train stations around London are well served by the underground.
PARKING: Haven't a clue… but Fulham FC do advise that you use public transport where possible, so assume its terrible, as with most of London.
WHAT TO EXPECT
They hate Chelsea and they hate Chelsea, they are the Chelsea haters. Join it, its fun.
Craven Cottage not to be just a name. In fact, you'll find the cottage is between the two stands given to Celtic fans!
The Riverside stand not to just be a witty name – it literally backs out onto the Thames.
SAD TRIVIA
Both ends of the stadium have recently been rebuilt to comply with Premiership rules regarding all seater stadia. Fulham had to play two seasons of football at nearby Queen's Park Rangers home of Loftus Road. Fulham returned to Craven Cottage for the 2004/05 season, where Celtic were one of their first visitors. The Stevenage Road Stand was first opened in 1905, and still remains pretty much as it was then – although it is now all seated. Including wooden seats to the rear of the stand. The Riverside Stand was opened in 1972 and was the only one that hasn't recently been done up.
Fulham continue to look into doing up the stadium, but with limited funds available the idea of knocking it down and starting again looks to be a non-runner. They may still move away if they can't get the planning permission edited to their satisfaction.
Fulham FC were known as St Andrew's Sunday School FC from 1879 to 1888. They moved to Craven Cottage in 1896.
Unusually, the Putney End is often split between home, away and even neutral fans, with a section set aside for people that just want to enjoy a game without choosing a side. Usually this section fills with home, away and neutral fans who all enjoy a bit of friendly banter.
Craven Cottage itself has seats facing the ground to watch the game!
Neil Lennon has scored a goal at Craven Cottage for Celtic! Okay, it was a penalty in the 2004/05 friendly, but these things are still worth noting!
TIM FRIENDLY PUBS
Many of the pubs closest to the ground are designated for home fans only, but between the ground and Putney Bridge underground station you'll find many pubs that will welcome Celtic fans.
"The Devonshire Arms (I think it's called), on the corner of Fulham Palace Road and Chancellors Road, is possibly a handy meeting point. If it's a nice sunny day, you should take a stroll down to the Rutland or Blue Anchor (pop culture trivia – if you find you've seen this before, you have. It was in the opening credits for Minder). Should be loads of nice lassies down there if the sun's shining."
– TC67
"Waxy O'Connor's is worth a visit but is way too packed out on the weekends…"
– joebloggscity
Any more?
PUBS TO AVOID
Nothing too dangerous in the area, but supposedly you'll probably not get in the pubs closest to the ground as they may be rather strict when it comes to "home fans only" signs. However, from the past few game v Fulham (2008) the pubs allowed mixing and there were no restrictions on fans despited the "home fans only" signs on certain pubs. There's pubs across down the road and across the river also and on the nearby high street, so no problems.