Historic Debut
It was not until the final was switched to Wembley and winning the competition was a passport to Europe that the League Cup gained wide acceptance in the late 1960s. When Fulham kicked off against Second Division Bristol Rovers at Eastville in September 1960, they were one of only 11 First Division clubs taking part in Round One.
With six or seven recognised first teamers in their line-up, the Cottagers scored first through Cook (the opening goal in the history of the competition) but then conceded two, and so became the victims of the first League Cup giant killing act.
It was in the third year of the League Cup that Fulham eventually won a tie, at home to Third Division Bournemouth, but in four of the first five seasons, they went out very early on to teams from a lower level. When Northampton, then spending their only season in the top flight, visited the Cottage for a Third Round League Cup tie in October 1965, Fulham were on a bit of a roll, having won just one of the previous ten League games.
Out of desperation as much as inspiration, manager Vic Buckingham pushed central defender John Dempsey up into the attack and he responded by scoring three of the goals in Fulham's 5-0 win. Not surprisingly, he kept his place up front for another few weeks and scored in both of the next League games, at home to Everton and away at Manchester United. There was another five-goal haul the following season, at home to Wolves but, as in 1965, this was merely the prelude for a Fourth Round knockout.
The Best Runs
In the desperate relegation year of 1967-8, Fulham recorded their first significant League Cup run, which has not been bettered to this day. Tranmere and Workington were relatively easy opponents in the opening rounds, although it needed a replay to overcome the team from Cumberland. Allan Clarke scored four goals in the 6-2 win, the best individual performance by a Fulham player in the competition.
The Fourth Round saw League title aspirants (and eventual champions) Manchester City visit the Cottage. A fortnight earlier, they had been convincing 4-2 winners in a League meeting between the clubs on the same ground, but in the Cup clash, Fulham stormed into an early 2-0 lead. They let City back into the game in the second half, but a late Clarke winner put the Cottagers into the last eight for the first time. The draw was kind to Fulham.
They had home advantage over Second Division Huddersfield, who were supported that evening by Prime Minister Harold Wilson, a Terriers fan since he was a boy. With everything in their favour, Fulham let it slip. Huddersfield took the lead through Frank Worthington and looked like absorbing all the Cottagers' pressure until Joe Gilroy headed an equaliser to earn a replay. At Leeds Road, Gilroy was again on the mark, putting Fulham ahead in the first half but, after the break, Huddersfield scored twice and went on to meet Arsenal in the semi-final.
After the traumas of two relegations in 12 months, manager Bill Dodgin brought some stability back to the club and by 1970-1, Fulham were serious Third Division promotion contenders. This was also the year of the next run in the League Cup which was to end once more in Round Five. Since they beat three teams from a higher division on the way, this is probably the Cottagers' best-ever League Cup season, although, as in 1967-8, they threw away the advantage when they got to the last eight.
For the third season on the trot, Orient were Fulham's First Round opponents and a Jimmy Conway goal gave the Cottagers the edge over their Second Division opponents. Darlington were easily disposed of in Round Two which set up a local derby against Second Division QPR. Fulham's best crowd of the season, 31,727 (and the last-ever attendance above 30,000 at the Cottage), saw goals by Les Barrett and Vic Halom put the home side through.
Another Second Division side, and League Cup winners two years earlier, Swindon, were next and Steve Earle got the only goal in the first half. The fourth opponents from Division Two were Bristol City (managed by future Fulham boss Alan Dicks) and, since the Robins were struggling in the League and Fulham were top of Division Three and unbeaten at home, the Cottagers started as favourites. For the first time that season, Fulham failed to score and, in the replay at Ashton Gate, went out to a first half penalty. Never again have the Cottagers gone as far in this competition.
There was little League Cup excitement in SW6 again (apart from an Earle hat-trick against lowly Cambridge in 1971) until the FA Cup final year of 1974-5. An early indication of the Club's cup prowess that season came in the League Cup. First Division Wolves were the first victims, by a convincing 3-1 at Molineux. In the next round, the Cottagers were drawn at home to West Ham, who were, of course, to provide FA Cup opponents later in the season. That evening, with 17 of the 22 players who would be on duty at Wembley in May, Fulham came through 2-1, thanks to goals by the two Alans, Mullery and Slough. Newcastle at St James' proved too good for Fulham in Round Four, Malcolm Macdonald getting one in the Magpies 3-0 victory.
Losing In Style
Desultory is the best way the club's performances over the next six seasons. Drawing Peterborough in three of these years (and losing twice) and Bobby Moore's controversial sending off against Bolton in 1976 is about all that is worth recording.
The League Cup form mirrored the falling away in the League but, in 1981-2, when Macdonald's young side was setting the pace in Division Three, they also showed their quality in the League Cup.
After accounting for Bournemouth in the opening round, the Cottagers went to St James' Park, where Macdonald had been a playing hero and won 2-1. To show it was no fluke, they beat the Magpies 2-0 in the home leg and then travelled to Oldham, another Second Division club, for Round Three.
A draw was the least the underdogs deserved, but in the replay, Fulham overwhelmed the Latics with goals from Dean Coney (2) and the first-ever from Jeff Hopkins. Spurs were in the top flight and FA Cup holders when the Cottagers travelled to White Hart Lane for the Fourth Round tie. Far from being over-awed, the west London Lilliewhites took the game to north London's Lilliewhites and with a little more care in front of goal, could have got a result. As it was they went down 0-1. A year later, Coventry were fortunate to go through on the away goals rule as Fulham showed that they could hold their own against teams from the top flight.
Although there was another Third Round exit in 1983, this was probably the club's finest hour in the League Cup, and the moment when Macdonald's side peaked before going into a rapid decline. Doncaster were no match for Fulham in Round Two, despite the fact that the Cottagers were at the wrong end of the table. A floodlight failure just before kick off was the biggest hurdle they had to negotiate. The holders and the Team of the Eighties, mighty Liverpool, stood between Fulham and an appearance in Round Four. Macdonald shocked the supporters before kick off, leaving out the inspirational Roger Brown and moving Paul Parker to the centre of defence. The tactic worked, however, and his young side rose to the occasion.
A Kevin Lock penalty earned Fulham a thoroughly deserved draw in the first game at the Cottage. With a bit more self-belief and a steadier nerve up front, they could have deposed the holders, but at least they had a second bite. At Anfield, they were disrupted by an injury to Parker, but fought back, again through a Lock penalty, to take Liverpool back to the Cottage for a third game. This clash, like the other two, went the distance, and a tad more, for it took a miss-hit Souness shot in extra time to settle the issue. Liverpool retained the League Cup in 1983-4, but nobody was more of a threat to their reign that season than Fulham.
In each of the next three years, Fulham were eliminated by First Division opponents in circumstances rather different from the three Liverpool encounters. Losing to Sheffield Wednesday in 1984 was the first instalment of a double cup defeat that season by the Owls, the first time Fulham lost on both domestic cup competitions to the same club. A year later, Chelsea were the victors at the Cottage in a tie in which penalties held the key. A successful last minute spot kick by Cliff Carr at the Bridge took the tie to a second game but he also missed one in the replay and the visitors, who were under the cosh for most of the 90 minutes, sneaked through 1-0.
A Decade Of Decay
By 1986, the high hopes raised by Macdonald had evaporated, and both he and his successor, Ray Harford, had moved on. Back in the Third Division, and with Ray Lewington in charge, as luck would have it, Fulham were paired with Liverpool in the Second Round of the League Cup. Player-manager Lewington apart, only Parker and Coney survived from the side of three years earlier (Hopkins was still at the Cottage in 1986, but injured) and this time it was men against boys. Fulham were annihilated 0-10, the biggest first-class defeat in their history, and although the home leg was lost by a more respectable 2-3 margin, the extent of the Club's decline was apparent.
Over the last 11 seasons, this particular road to Wembley has never progressed beyond the Second Round. Perhaps the only consolation of being amongst the also-rans in the Football League is that there is less likelihood of being victims of an upset in the League Cup. There has, on the other hand, been a total absence of anything that might be described as giant-killing on Fulham's part. In all but two of these years defeat has been at the hands of a club from one of the top two divisions and, with the exception of losing on away goals to Stoke in 1994-5, the difference has been at least two goals. There was yet another defeat in this competition from Liverpool and this was notable for the fact all five Liverpool goals at Anfield were scored by a young striker in his first full season in the Liverpool side, Robbie Fowler.
The League Cup in all its manifestations has not been a competition in which the Cottagers have distinguished themselves, despite the fact that it has usually been kinder to smaller clubs than the FA Cup. The last decade has probably been the least distinguished of all for Fulham and it is being cruel to be kind to suggest that a veil should be drawn over the record of the recent past.