Osborne took over again, and it was not until January 1956 that the next team manager, Dugald Livingstone, joined the club. He was then a month off his 58th birthday and was to stay a little more than two years, but he had a major impact on the club.
He arrived at the Cottage with impeccable credentials. He came directly from Newcastle and had steered the Magpies to the FA Cup the previous season. His reward was to be stripped of team selection.
Like Hogan, Livingstone had coached abroad, at club level in Holland (Rotterdam Sparta) and with the Belgian national side in the 1954 World Cup finals after a spell in charge of the Republic of Ireland team.
In the UK, he had been a coach at Exeter before the war and at Manchester City after it, but had made his name during a 13-year stint at Bramall Lane. He was coach of the Sheffield United side which beat Fulham in the 1936 FA Cup semi final.
As a player in the inter-war period, Livingstone had been with Celtic and Aberdeen in his native Scotland, and with Everton, Plymouth and Tranmere in England.
His experience at all levels served Fulham well and the players warmed to his easy-going manner.
Deprived of the services of Robson and Jezzard early in his reign, two of the mid 1950s stars, Livingstone nevertheless fashioned a side that went close to promotion and even closer to Wembley within 18 months.
He made some astute signings (Bentley, Cook and Langley in particular), some subtle positional changes (such as Bentley to half back) and the introduction of some talented youngsters (especially Macedo and Cohen).
By 1957-8 it was all coming together, and Fulham had their best season in the two major domestic competitions since their debut in the League in 1907-08, 50 years earlier. A dramatic Cup semi final was narrowly lost to the post-Munich Manchester United and the resulting fixture pile up cost them promotion.
The board offered Livingstone a new contract, but he said his wife could not settle in the south, and he left to manage Chesterfield. He stayed at Saltergate until retiring in 1962, and he died in Marlow ten days short of his 83rd birthday in February 1981.