
Craven Cottage is a football stadium in
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...
,
West London, England, which has been the home of
Fulham F.C. since 1896.
[According to the club']
official website
The ground's capacity is 29,589;
the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against
Millwall in 1938.
Next to
Bishop's Park on the banks of the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
,
it was originally a royal hunting lodge and has a history dating back over 300 years.
The stadium has also been used by national teams
and was formerly the home ground for
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
club
Fulham RLFC.
Life
Pre-Fulham

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. At the time, the surrounding areas were woods which once made up part of
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was List of English royal consorts, Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the Wives of Henry VIII, second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and execution, by beheading ...
's hunting grounds.
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.
Following the fire, the site was abandoned.
Fulham had had 8 previous grounds before settling in at Craven Cottage for good. Therefore, The Cottagers have had 12 grounds overall (including a temporary stay at
Loftus Road.) Of particular note, was
Ranelagh House, Fulham's palatial home from 1886 to 1888.
Under construction: 1894–1905
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.
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.
The first football match at which there were any gate receipts was when Fulham played against
Minerva
Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...
in the
Middlesex Senior Cup, on 10 October 1896.
The ground's first stand was built shortly after.
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".
In 1904
London County Council became concerned with the level of safety at the ground, and tried to get it closed.
A court case followed in January 1905, as a result of which
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing association football, football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work w ...
, a Scottish
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
who had risen to prominence after his building of the
Ibrox Stadium, a few years earlier, was hired to work on the stadium.
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.
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.

Both the Johnny Haynes Stand and Cottage remain among the finest examples of
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing association football, football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work w ...
football architecture to remain in existence and both have been designated as Grade II listed buildings.
Establishing itself as a stadium
An
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
v
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
match was played at the ground in 1907, followed by a
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
international between
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
in 1911.
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. This move was largely motivated by Fulham's failure thus far to gain promotion to the top division of English football. There were also plans for Henry Norris to build a larger stadium on the other side of Stevenage Road but there was little need after the merger idea failed. During this era, the Cottage was used for choir singing and marching bands along with other performances, and Mass.
In 1933 there were plans to demolish the ground and start again from scratch with a new 80,000 capacity stadium. These plans never materialised mainly due to the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
.
On 8 October 1938, 49,335 spectators watched Fulham play
Millwall.
It was the largest attendance ever at Craven Cottage and is unlikely to be bettered, because the stadium is now an all-seated with no room for more than 29,700. The ground hosted several football games for the
1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and officially branded as London 1948, were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus cau ...
, and is one of the last extant that did.
Post-World War II

It was not until after Fulham first reached the top division, in 1949, that further improvements were made to the stadium. In 1962 Fulham became the final side in the first division to erect
floodlights. An electronic scoreboard was installed on the Riverside Terrace at the same time and flagpoles flying the flags of all of the other first division teams were flown from them.
Following the sale of Alan Mullery to Tottenham Hotspur in 1964 (for £72,500) the Hammersmith End had a roof put over it
at a cost of approximately £42,500.
Although Fulham were relegated, the development of Craven Cottage continued. The Riverside terracing, infamous for the fact that fans occupying it would turn their heads annually to watch
The Boat Race pass,
was replaced by what was officially named the 'Eric Miller Stand',
Eric Miller being a director of the club at the time. The stand, which cost £334,000
and held 4,200 seats, was opened with a friendly game against
Benfica in February 1972, (which included
Eusébio).
Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
was also to appear on the ground, with a friendly played against his team
Santos F.C. The Miller stand brought the seated capacity up to 11,000 out of a total 40,000.
Eric Miller committed suicide five years later after a political and financial scandal,
and had shady dealings with trying to move Fulham away from the Cottage. The stand is now better known as the Riverside Stand.
On
Boxing Day
Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...
1963, Craven Cottage was the venue of the fastest
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
in the history of the English football league, which was completed in less than three minutes, by
Graham Leggat. This helped his Fulham team to beat
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...
10–1 (a club record). The international record is held by
Jimmy O'Connor, an
Irish player who notched up his hat trick in 2 minutes 14 seconds in 1967.
Between 1980 and 1984, Fulham
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
played their home games at the Cottage.
They have since evolved into the London Crusaders, the London Broncos and Harlequins Rugby League
before reverting to
London Broncos ahead of
the 2012 season. Craven Cottage held the team's largest ever crowd at any ground with 15,013, at a game against
Wakefield Trinity
Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...
on 15 February 1981.
Modern times

When the
Hillsborough disaster
The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal crowd crush at a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the tw ...
occurred in 1989, Fulham were in the second bottom rung of
The Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...
, but following the
Taylor report Fulham's ambitious chairman Jimmy Hill tabled plans in 1996 for an all-seater stadium. These plans never came to fruition, partly due to local residents' pressure groups, and by the time Fulham reached the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, they still had standing areas in the ground,
something virtually unheard of at the time. A year remained to do something about this (teams reaching the second tier for the first time are allowed a three-year period to reach the required standards for the top two divisions), but by the time the last league game was played there, against
Leicester City on 27 April 2002, no building plans had been made. Two more
Intertoto Cup games were played there later that year (against
FC Haka of Finland and
Egaleo FC of Greece), and the eventual solution was to decamp to
Loftus Road, home of local rivals
QPR. During this time, many Fulham fans only went to away games in protest of moving from Craven Cottage.
'Back to the Cottage', later to become the 'Fulham Supporters Trust', was set up as a fans pressure group to encourage the chairman and his advisers that Craven Cottage was the only viable option for Fulham Football Club.
After one and a half seasons at
Loftus Road, no work had been done on the Cottage. In December 2003, plans were unveiled for £8 million worth of major refurbishment work to bring it in line with Premier League requirements.
With planning permission granted, work began in January 2004 in order to meet the deadline of the new season. The work proceeded as scheduled and the club were able to return to their home for the start of the
2004–05 season. Their first game in the new-look 22,000 all-seater stadium was a pre-season friendly against Watford on 10 July 2004.
The current stadium was one of the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
's smallest grounds at the time of Fulham's relegation at the end of the
2013–14 season (it was third-smallest, after the
KC Stadium and the
Liberty Stadium). Much admired for its fine architecture, the stadium has recently hosted a few international games, mostly including
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. This venue is suitable for Australia because most of the country's top players are based in Europe, and West London has a significant community of
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country.
The term often refers to a professional, skilled worker, or student from an affluent country. However, it may also refer to retirees, artists and ...
Australians. Also,
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
vs.
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
was hosted on 6 February 2007.
In 2011 Brazil played Ghana, in an international friendly,
and the
Women's Champions League Final was hosted.
Craven Cottage often hosts other events such as 5-a-side football tournaments and weddings. Some have Sunday Lunch at the Riverside restaurant or the 'Cottage Cafe'
on non-match days. Craven Cottage hosted the
Oxbridge
Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford, Universities of Oxford and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, the two oldest, wealthiest, and most prestigious universities in the United Kingdom. The term is used to refer to them collect ...
Varsity Football match annually between 1991 and 2000 and again in 2003, 2006 (the same day as the '
Boat Race'), 2008, 2009,
and 2014 as well as having a
Soccer Aid warm-up match in 2006. The half-time entertainment includes the SW6ers (previously called The Cravenettes) which are a group of female cheerleaders. Other events have included brass bands,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
(although just walking on the pitch, as opposed to performing),
Travis playing, Arabic dancing,
keepie uppie professionals and presentational awards. Most games also feature the 'Fulham flutter', a half-time draw; and a shoot-out competition of some kind, usually involving scoring through a 'hoop' or 'beat the goalie'. On the first home game of the season, there is a carnival where Fulham fans are encouraged to attend in black-and-white colours.
The revived
Fulham F.C. Women and reserve teams occasionally play home matches at the Cottage. Other than this, they generally play at the club's training ground at
Motspur Park. Craven Cottage is known by several affectionate nicknames from fans, including: The (River) Cottage, The Fortress (or Fortress Fulham),
Thameside, The Friendly Confines, SW6, Lord of the Banks, The House of Hope, The Pavilion of Perfection, The 'True'
Fulham Palace and The Palatial Home. The Thames at the banks of the Cottage is often referred to as 'Old Father' or
The River of Dreams.
The most accessible route to the ground is to walk through Bishops Park from
Putney Bridge (the nearest Underground station), often known as 'The Green Mile' by Fulham fans (as it is roughly a mile walk through pleasant greenery). In 2016 ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' ranked the Cottage 9th out of 54 grounds to hold Premier League football.
Plans
On 27 July 2012, Fulham FC were granted permission to redevelop the Riverside Stand, increasing the capacity of Craven Cottage to 30,000 seats. Beforehand various rumours arose including plans to return to ground-sharing with QPR in a new 40,000 seater White City stadium, although these now appear firmly on hold with the construction of the
Westfield shopping centre on the proposed site. The board seem to have moved away from their ambition to make Fulham the "Manchester United of the south" as it became clear how expensive such a plan would be. With large spaces of land at a premium in south-west London, Fulham appear to be committed to a gradual increase of the ground's capacity often during the summer between seasons. The capacity of Craven Cottage has been increased during summers for instance in 2008 with a small increase in the capacity of the Hammersmith End. Fulham previously announced in 2007 that they are planning to increase the capacity of Craven Cottage by 4,000 seats, but this is yet to be implemented. There were also proposals for a bridge to span the Thames, for a redeveloped Riverside stand and a museum.
More substantial plans arose in October 2011 with the 'Fulham Forever' campaign. With
Mohamed Al-Fayed selling
Harrods
Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...
department store for £1.5 billion in May 2010 a detailed plan emerged in the Riverside Stand as the only viable area for expansion. The scheme involved the demolition of the back of the Riverside Stand with a new tier of seating added on top of the current one and a row of corporate boxes; bringing Craven Cottage up to 30,000 capacity. Taking into account local residents, the proposal would: reopen the riverside walk; light pollution would be reduced with the removal of floodlight masts; new access points would make match-day crowds more manageable; and the new stand would be respectful in design to its position on the River Thames. Buckingham Group Contracting were chosen in March 2013 as the construction company for the project. In May 2019, the club confirmed that work on the new Riverside Stand would commence in the summer of 2019. During the 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, the ground's capacity was temporarily reduced to 19,000. The club announced on 17 March 2022 that the lower tier of the Riverside Stand would be open for the 2022–23 season for over 2000 supporters, with season tickets going on sale from 29 March.
The ground
Hammersmith End
The
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.
It ...
End is the northernmost stand in the ground, the closest to Hammersmith. The roofing was financed through the sale of
Alan Mullery to
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. It is traditionally the "home" end where the more vocal Fulham fans sit,
and many stand during games at the back rows of the stand. If Fulham win the toss, they usually choose to play towards the Hammersmith End in the second half. The hardcore fans tend to sit (or rather stand) in the back half of the Hammersmith End, plus the entire Block H5 (known as 'H Block' to the faithful). The stand had terracing until the reopening of the ground in 2004, when it was replaced with seating in order to comply with league rules following the
Taylor Report.
Putney End
The
Putney End is the southernmost stand in the ground, nearest to
Putney and backing onto Bishops Park. This stand hosts home and away fans, separated by stewards, with away fans usually allocated blocks P5 and P6.
Flags of every nationality in the Fulham squad were hung from the roofing, although they were removed after the 2006–07 season commenced and there is now an electronic scoreboard in place. There is a plane tree in the corner by the river.
Riverside Stand

The Riverside was originally terracing that backed onto the Thames.
It also featured large advertising hoardings above the fans.
In 1971–72, an all-seater stand was built, originally known as the Riverside Stand (the name was confirmed in the Fulham v Carlisle United programme on 4 December 1971). Its hard lines and metallic and concrete finish are in stark contrast to the Johnny Haynes stand opposite. The stand was opened for a friendly against
S.L. Benfica, who included
Eusébio in the team.
In the Fulham v Burnley programme on 4 October 1977, it was revealed that the stand would be renamed the
Eric Miller Stand, following the recent death of the former vice-chairman.
It is sometimes incorrectly stated that, contrary to the above, the name of the stand was changed from the Eric Miller Stand to The Riverside Stand after the discovery of Miller's suicide. He had been under investigation for fraud and embezzlement.
The name of the stand actually reverted to "Riverside Stand" in the 1990s.
The Riverside Stand backs onto the
River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
and is elevated above pitch level, unlike the other three stands. It contained corporate hospitality seating
alongside Fulham fans.
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...
once referred to the Riverside being "a bit like the London Palladium" as Blocks V & W (the middle section) were often filled with the rich and famous (including often Al-Fayed). There were then several
Harrods
Harrods is a Listed building, Grade II listed luxury department store on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It was designed by C. W. Stephens for Charles Digby Harrod, and opened in 1905; it replaced the first store on the ground ...
advertising hoardings. Above the advertising hoardings was the gantry, for the press and cameras.
Tickets in this area were often the easiest to buy, not surprisingly they were also some of the more expensive. The Hammersmith End is to its left, the Putney End to its right and opposite is the
Johnny Haynes Stand.
During the 1970s, Craven Cottage flooded, with water flowing in from the riverside. The stand housed the
George Cohen restaurant, while on non-match days there was the Cottage Cafe, located near to the Cottage itself.
(
The River Café is also located nearby). Under
Tommy Trinder
Thomas Edward Trinder (24 March 1909 – 10 July 1989) was an English stage, screen and radio comedian whose catchphrase was "You lucky people!". Described by Cultural history, cultural historian Matthew Sweet (writer), Matthew Sweet as "a cocky ...
's chairmanship in the 60s, flags of all other teams in the Division 1 were proudly flown along the Thames.
However, when Fulham were relegated in 1968, Trinder decided not to change the flags as "Fulham won't be in this division next season". True to Trinder's prophecy, Fulham were relegated again. The roof of the stand had been used by sponsors, with VisitFlorida advertising in this way, and
Pipex.com,
FxPro,
Lee Cooper Jeans and
LG having previously done so.
After the 2019–20 season, the stand was demolished and rebuilt. Upon completion, the capacity of the ground will increase to around 29,600. On 26 November 2019, the Chairman Shahid Khan announced that the new development will be known as Fulham Pier, a destination venue outside of match-day use. Several issues postponed completion from 2021 to 2024.
As of February 2025 the stand the fit out is still being completed.
Johnny Haynes Stand

Originally called the Stevenage Road Stand,
after the road it backs onto, the Johnny Haynes stand is the oldest remaining football stand in the Football League and professional football,
originally constructed in 1905,
and is a Grade II
listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
Designed by
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing association football, football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work w ...
,
the stand contains the ticket office
and club shop
and features original 'Bennet' wooden seating.
Following his death in 2005, the stand was renamed after former player
Johnny Haynes.
The exterior facing Stevenage Road has a brick façade
and features the club's old emblem in the artwork.
Decorative pillars show the club's foundation date as 1880 though this is thought to be incorrect. Also, a special stone to commemorate the supporters' fund-raising group Fulham 2000, and The Cottagers' return to Craven Cottage, was engraved on the façade.
The family enclosures are located in the two corners of the stand, one nearest to the Hammersmith End and one nearest to the Putney End.
The front of the stand now contains plastic seating, but originally was a standing area. Children were often placed at the front of this enclosure and the area had a distinctive white picket fence to keep fans off the pitch up until the 1970s.
The Pavilion
The Cottage Pavilion dates back to 1905 along with the
Johnny Haynes Stand,
built by renowned football architect
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing association football, football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work w ...
.
Besides being the changing rooms, the Cottage (also called The Clubhouse) is traditionally used by the players' families and friends who sit on the balcony to watch the game.
In the past, board meetings used to be held in The Cottage itself as well. There is a large tapestry draped from the Cottage which says "Still Believe". It encapsulates the moment, when fans facing defeat against
Hamburg SV in the
Europa League semi-final roused the players with the chant of "Stand up if you still believe". In the three other corners of the ground there are what have been described as large 'filing cabinets', which are corporate boxes on three levels, but the box on the other side of the Putney End has been removed due to the redevelopment of the Riverside.
Details
Records

*Record attendance: 49,335 v.
Millwall,
8 October 1938 – Division Two
*Record modern seated attendance: 27,301 v.
Bournemouth
Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...
, 29 December 2024 - Premier League
All-time attendance
*Total attendance: 31,234,275 (correct up to January 2013)
*Average total attendance: 15,759 (ranked 31 of 130 English club teams in history)
International matches
Craven Cottage hosted the Northern Ireland versus Cyprus 1974 World Cup Qualifier on 8 May 1973, a match moved from Belfast due to
The Troubles
The Troubles () were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed t ...
. Northern Ireland won 3–0, Sammy Morgan and a Trevor Anderson brace concluded the scoring in the first half.
On 22 February 2000, it hosted
England's under 21s international under 21 friendly against
Argentina's under 21s team. The hosts won 1–0 with
Lee Hendrie's sixty seventh-minute goal with 15,747 in attendance.
In recent years, Craven Cottage has hosted several International Friendly matches, including the
Ireland national team who played Colombia and Nigeria there in May 2008 and May 2009 respectively and
Oman
Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...
in 2012.
The
South Korea national football team have also used the ground thrice in recent years for international friendlies, first against Greece in February 2007
second against Serbia in November 2009, and then against Croatia in February 2013.
On 17 November 2007 Australia beat Nigeria 1–0 in an international friendly at Craven Cottage.
On 26 May 2011, Craven Cottage hosted the game of
2011 UEFA Women's Champions League Final between
Lyon
Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...
and
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
. In September 2011, a friendly between
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
and
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
was also held at Craven Cottage.
On 15 October 2013, Australia beat Canada 3–0 at Craven Cottage. On 28 May 2014 Scotland played out a 2–2 draw with a Nigerian team who had qualified for the 2014 World Cup Finals.
On 27 March 2018, Australia played host to Colombia in the international friendlies, the match ended 0-0, both teams having qualified for the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia.
Other

*
Fulham RLFC, now London Broncos, played at Craven Cottage between 1980 and 1984,
hosting their largest attendance of 15,013.
The ground has also hosted Oxbridge varsity matches in rugby and football.
* The ground has hosted the most
Australia national team matches outside of
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and was one of the pioneers in hosting (neutral) international friendlies.
* Fulham were the last team to have standing accommodation in the
Premier League
The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, as Craven Cottage included terraces in the
2001–02 season – eight years after the
Taylor Report outlawed terraces at this level.
*The original Craven Cottage site was covered in woodlands. One
plane tree survives today in a corner of the Putney End,
the sole tree to be found in any British senior football stadium.
*On 3 April 2011, Fulham unveiled
a statue of
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
inside the stadium before its match with Blackpool. The singer was not a Fulham fan and had no interest in football whatsoever, but attended a Fulham match once as a friend of club chairman
Mohamed Al-Fayed, who commissioned the statue. In 2013, Al-Fayed stated that the statue would be moved to a different property he owned, though it was eventually moved to the
National Football Museum in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in 2014. The statue was removed from public display at that museum in March 2019, likely due to sexual abuse allegations made in the
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
/
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
documentary ''
Leaving Neverland'', which had aired days before.
*
2016 Saudi Super Cup, Played on 8 August 2016, ended with
Al-Hilal losing 4–3 on penalties to
Al-Ahli. The match had no added extra time. It ended 1–1 at 90 minutes.
*In October 2023, Ashwater Press (Ken Coton Martin Plumb) published a book 'Craven Cottage – 250 years' which charts the history of the site from 1777 and the first Craven Cottage with its fifteen owners, to the present day.
See also
*
Fulham RLFC
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Craven CottageCraven Cottage Social Media
{{London landmarks
History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Listed sports venues in England
Venues of the 1948 Summer Olympics
Football venues in London
Fulham F.C. home grounds
Premier League venues
English Football League venues
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Defunct rugby league venues in England
London Broncos
Sports venues completed in 1896
Fulham
1896 establishments in England
Grade II listed sports and recreation buildings
Sport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham