History of Fulham Football Club

Hangeland Joins Fulham

January 2008 New Manager Roy Hodgson used his extensive knowledge of the Scandinavian leagues and signed towering Norwegian centre-back Brede Hangeland to help the Whites fight off relegation.

Hodgson's First Win

3 February 2008 At the fifth time of asking, Roy Hodgson had his first win as Fulham Manager. After going 1-0 down Simon Davies equalised for Fulham in front of the Sky cameras, then five minutes from time Jimmy Bullard curled in a fabulous free-kick to lift the roof off Craven Cottage and seal a vital victory.

It was a first win in 13 league games and, while Fulham still remained 19th and very much in a relegation battle, this was the kind of game that could springboard a revival.

McBride Scores First Goal Since Return From Injury

16 March 2008 Finally, light at the end of a very long tunnel. Captain fantastic Brian McBride scored a diving header against Everton to secure a vital 1-0 victory and instilled the belief that Fulham could indeed pull off the greatest of great escapes.

Manchester City 2-3 Fulham: An Impossible Comeback At The City of Manchester Stadium

26 April 2008 Our away game at Manchester City saw Fulham 2-0 down at half-time. If the scorelines in the Premier League that day had stayed as they were until full-time, Fulham were relegated.

But in the 70th minute, substitute Diomansy Kamara pulled a goal back and Danny Murphy brought the Whites level, after missing a penalty but scoring the rebound. Then it was that man Kamara again who hit a rocket of a strike in the 90th minute to seal a remarkable win. The great escape was well and truly on.

Fulham's First Away Win in 18 Months As Relegation Fight Continues

12 April 2008 At last Fulham's travelling support had three points to celebrate. Fellow relegation rivals Reading were comprehensively outplayed for 90 minutes as Fulham stormed to a 2-0 victory; hitting the crossbar on three separate occasions. A first half goal from captain McBride got the Whites started, and in injury time a fantastic passing move was finished off by Erik Nevland as he rifled his shot into the bottom corner of the goal.

Portsmouth 0-1 Fulham: The Greatest Of Great Escapes

11 May 2008 Only five months earlier, even the most die-hard Fulham fan could be forgiven for accepting that this season would end in relegation. But after four wins from the final five league games, including three in a row away from home (a first for Fulham in the Premier League), the unthinkable and seemingly impossible had happened.

Fulham's final game of the season was against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, and we went into the match knowing a win would keep us up. With relegation rivals Reading and Birmingham City both winning and our game deadlocked at 0-0, it didn't look good. But up stepped Danny Murphy in the 78th minute to score and secure Premier League safety for Fulham, earning himself hero status in the process.

Following a fantastic second half of the campaign led by new Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, this rollercoaster ride of a season was over: the Great Escape was complete.

Host of new signings at Craven Cottage

August 2008 A busy transfer window for Fulham saw Andy Johnson (pictured), Bobby Zamora, John Pantsil, Mark Schwarzer, Zoltan Gera, David Stockdale and Dickson Etuhu amongst others join the Club.

Haynes Statue Unveiled

18 October 2008 In a further tribute to The Maestro and Fulham's greatest ever player, a statue of Johnny Haynes was erected outside the Craven Cottage gates. It was funded entirely by Fulham fans and then-Chairman Mohamed Al Fayed.