A blog of two halves

It is hard to credit that almost 30 years have passed since the Freight Rovers Cup tie between Aldershot and Fulham, which ended in a penalty shoot-out requiring no fewer than 28 spot-kicks.

The love affair between Tony Conte and Chelsea’s blue army rolls on with fresh intensity after the manager’s impressive handling of the uncertainty over striker Diego Costa’s future.

When Kazenga LuaLua got his first big break in football he was busy on his PlayStation like any other 15-year-old boy would have been in his spare time.

Gary Lineker, viewing the highlights of the Cardiff-Fulham tie, asked whether the match was played behind closed doors, so empty were the stands.

It may be the rarest of west London derbies, but Chelsea’s reward for beating Peterborough in the FA Cup is a home tie against neighbours Brentford.

Just like when you are waiting an age for your bus to arrive and then two come at once; the QPR faithful were waiting for a win after watching the Hoops suffer six defeats on the bounce and then got two wins in as many games.

At the end of November I summed up the Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton matches by writing that ‘Fulham played some good football but lapses of concentration and the lack of a regular goal scorer have undermined the performances’.

There will be a carnival atmosphere at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.

John Terry, who has captained Chelsea for 12 years, is weighing up his future.

In the summer of 1954 I watched Fulham defender Robin Lawler and his new bride, Jean, proudly emerge from St Augustine’s RC Church.