Post by stewart on May 2, 2009 23:17:07 GMT
Watching Chelsea v Fulham on Match of the Day tonight, I couldn't help but remember the last time I saw us play Fulham in a League match.
It was on 1 October 1996 at Craven Cottage in the old Fourth Division, when Gary Nelson scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to give us an unexpected 2-1 win. Fulham went on to finish second and gain automatic promotion. Robbie Herrera was playing for Fulham that evening.
Also in that division in that season were Wigan Athletic, who were the eventual champions, and Hull City, who finished 17th.
Scarborough finished 12th, and it makes you realise how fortunes can change in little more than a decade, because you only have to look at where all these other clubs are now.
Our own final position was 21st, despite having been in the play-off zone in January 1997. A run of 18 games after that produced only 1 win and 10 points, and if we had lost to Hereford and Exeter near the end instead of drawing with them, the great escape at Barnet four years later would never have happened.
I suppose that, at the end of the day, it all depends on whether you have owners like Mohammad al Fayed and Dave Whelan, as opposed to Mike Bateson. However, the most remarkable rise among the three clubs currently in the Premier League has to be that of Hull City, who have not really benefitted from the financial input of wealthy benefactors.
But now I'm thinking again of that evening at Craven Cottage, Alex Watson, Paul Baker et al, and still trying to make sense of how the fortunes of two clubs have taken such divergent paths.
It was on 1 October 1996 at Craven Cottage in the old Fourth Division, when Gary Nelson scored two goals in the last 10 minutes to give us an unexpected 2-1 win. Fulham went on to finish second and gain automatic promotion. Robbie Herrera was playing for Fulham that evening.
Also in that division in that season were Wigan Athletic, who were the eventual champions, and Hull City, who finished 17th.
Scarborough finished 12th, and it makes you realise how fortunes can change in little more than a decade, because you only have to look at where all these other clubs are now.
Our own final position was 21st, despite having been in the play-off zone in January 1997. A run of 18 games after that produced only 1 win and 10 points, and if we had lost to Hereford and Exeter near the end instead of drawing with them, the great escape at Barnet four years later would never have happened.
I suppose that, at the end of the day, it all depends on whether you have owners like Mohammad al Fayed and Dave Whelan, as opposed to Mike Bateson. However, the most remarkable rise among the three clubs currently in the Premier League has to be that of Hull City, who have not really benefitted from the financial input of wealthy benefactors.
But now I'm thinking again of that evening at Craven Cottage, Alex Watson, Paul Baker et al, and still trying to make sense of how the fortunes of two clubs have taken such divergent paths.
