Supporters around the globe tune in on match days to Fulham’s official commentary by Gentleman Jim and his colleague Jamie.
Last Saturday, for the second time this season, I had trouble accessing the broadcast. Eventually I succeeded, but it appears that Jim and Jamie had troubles of their own. The club could not use their commentary to accompany the subsequent highlights video because of a loud- and foul- mouthed spectator nearby. Instead, we heard the Luton commentator who – unlike the referee – deemed that Fulham had ’a heck of a case’ for an early handball by Sonny Bradley, which might have led to a penalty and a goal.
Having denied Fulham that opportunity, the ref helped the visitors by penalising an innocuous tackle on Joe Bryan. The resultant free kick gave Tosin the opportunity for one of his powerful headers. It was blocked, only for Aleksandar Mitrovic to convert the rebound, putting his team ahead in the 16th minute. With the Serb back on the form, surely this would see the team return to winning ways? Though it was troubling to observe how the wonderfully named Admiral Muskwe was able to penetrate the Fulham defence.
The home commentator was surprised and delighted that the visitors did not really turn up the pressure. Around the hour mark he noted that that ‘Fulham have not started at all in this second half’.
As he spoke Mitrovic was penalised for a lazy tackle and James Bree sent over a swirling centre that Elijah Adebayo deftly headed past Marek Rodak. Tim Ream looked about him to see who was supposed to be marking the former Fulham junior Elijah and doubtless Marco Silva was wondering the same. Ream and Mitro then fashioned a combined assault on the Luton goal, which keeper James Shea somehow repelled.
Late in the match, Silva sent on Rodrigo Muniz – but the Brazilian fluffed his only opportunity and Joe Bryan could easily have conceded a last-minute penalty for barging Fred Onyedinme to the ground. Any regret at the loss of another two points was tempered by the news that Bournemouth had squandered three.
A birthday in Luton
My first-ever away match was at Luton in April 1949 to celebrate my 10th birthday.
Fulham were striving for promotion to the top tier, but I can only retrieve three memories of that day, two pleasant and one horrific. The Kenilworth Road ground seemed smaller and even cosier than Craven Cottage (though somehow 35,000 spectators squeezed in that day). At half time my father chatted to a home supporter sitting beside him and when he praised one of the home forwards she smiled and thanked him for acknowledging her son.
Fulham won convincingly but the day was spoilt when our keeper Douglas Flack was accidentally kicked in the face. There were no substitutes, so he had to play on with a broken jaw. Duty of care was not a priority in those days.
The Whites finished top of the table in 1949, but that was only decided on the last day of the season. A few weeks ago, some fans seemed to think that winning the Championship in 2022 would just be a formality for Marco Silva’s squad. December has surely brought a reality break.
Next Monday night’s match will complete the first half of the season. There are many reasons for optimism, none for complacency.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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