Our Chairman Shahid Khan pens an open letter to supporters following Fulham's promotion to the Premier League.
To everyone within the Fulham Football Club family, thank you.
I had planned all along to share some thoughts with you after Tuesday’s match, and made the decision that whatever course these notes would take based on the outcome versus Brentford, I would start by saying thank you.
You may be a player, football staffer, sponsor, supporter, student, anyone. If you’re reading this, you likely love this Club as I do, and you therefore know the journey over the past 16 months that brought us from relegation to promotion. Your resilience, commitment and belief deserve more thanks than I can adequately express.
But, that’s just the football journey. The challenges we’ve all had to tackle, and continue to face, with the COVID-19 pandemic are – we hope – once in a long lifetime.
I know the difficulties our squad and coaching staff have had to endure with the stoppage, uncertainty and expectations for promotion upon the restart in June, and to see us seize the moment on Tuesday night at Wembley Stadium will be a moment we should treasure forever. I know of the demands and stress all of this has had on the people who serve your club daily at Motspur Park and Craven Cottage, and their spirit and response has been remarkable.
What I don’t specifically know is how this global health crisis has affected, personally or professionally, everyone else who stands with this Club for life. I imagine there have been hardships, moments of frustration and maybe even sadness, and for that I empathise. Yet, you’ve continued to make Fulham Football Club an essential part of your life, giving us all you have. I am impressed, humbled and in your debt.
So, again – thank you.
I am overjoyed to now complete my thoughts as we look forward to the start of a new season in the Premier League!
Neither my son Tony Khan, your Vice Chair and Director of Football, nor I were able to attend Tuesday’s match due to travel regulations and restrictions from the U.S. to the UK and back related to COVID-19. Similarly, we were not at either leg of the Cardiff City Play-Offs or any match since the pause in March. It’s made for a surreal experience, to be sure, but we both kept close contact with CEO Alistair Mackintosh and Head Coach Scott Parker throughout and never felt the distance and time difference between London and the United States was a disadvantage. To the contrary, despite the initial results coming out of the break versus Brentford and at Leeds United, the reports we received daily from training combined with our eight-match unbeaten run through the first leg of the Play-Offs gave us confidence of the happy ending we planned for in August. Through injuries, suspensions and various other travails, we first persevered and then gained strength. Credit to Scott and his staff for guiding our players to find good form, and keep it, as we battled for automatic promotion to the very end before seeing off Cardiff City in Play-Offs aggregate to return to Wembley for our second winner-take-all match in three years.
Prior to Tuesday’s match, I was in touch with Scott to learn what he and his staff had in mind for approaching Brentford. First, in case anyone wonders, I am very aware of our historical rivalry with Brentford, though many supporters and friends of the Club will nonetheless remind me of the pain that comes with dropping a match to the Bees. Duly noted! Add to that the romance many pundits, somewhat understandably, had with Brentford this season, plus the fact a Bees player said we should be in fear entering Tuesday’s match, and it all made for a lively storyline. But, it’s ultimately all about football, and I was curious to hear from Scott as to how we would prevail.
I won’t get into details but will say that Scott, who also spent an hour on Zoom with Tony last weekend to present the plan for Brentford, told me to specifically look for two tactical strategies from your team at Wembley. I left the conversation confident that if our players bought into the game plan Scott outlined, we’d be a Premier League side at the end of the night.
With that, I hosted a watch party in Urbana, Illinois, the city where my automotive company is headquartered in the Midwest region of the United States. My guests included lifelong friends from the area who have been my guests in London for various Fulham and Jacksonville Jaguars games, including our promotion match at Wembley Stadium two years ago. Several friends drove down from Chicago, which is about three hours north of Urbana, and I also welcomed several die-hard Fulham supporters from the area. I’m an engineer, so be assured the layout of the room was designed for both optimum viewing and responsible social distancing. Whistle to whistle, we all wore protective face gear for a match that started locally at 1.45pm. It wasn’t the royal box at Wembley in 2018. But I was with family and my closest friends, and that’s royalty to me.
You saw the match, so there is no need for me to recount the drama and elation of the evening – or, for me, my afternoon. But, I will reveal that I was calm and confident at half-time because I had seen the positive effects of one of the strategies Scott had mentioned. By the end of our 2-1 victory, I had seen both. It was a master plan, and it was perfectly executed.
I am reluctant to name one, two or three players following a season and performance at Wembley where becoming a team and then being a team, in every sense of the word, will be what we remember in our promotion to the Premier League. Everyone is MOTM. But, I do want to commend Tony Khan and Scott Parker, and Scott’s superb staff, for building, guiding and inspiring a once-struggling team to greatness. And make no mistake, when you reach the Top 20, that’s greatness.
Finally, a word on the subject of team. Be assured that we will be a team, in its truest sense, moving forward. We will be unafraid to improve and add pieces to our lineup, but not at the expense of the spirit and soul of a squad that bled, battled and sacrificed to return Fulham to the Premier League. Building a squad can be a tricky proposition for a newly promoted club, and that is especially true this year with the start of the season already nearly upon us. Turnover in football is inevitable. But, this Club has Premier League experience and our players, as well as our young and promising Head Coach, love Fulham Football Club. There is a lot to like in this team today, and just as much to like in our future.
In the weeks ahead you will be hearing from the Club on the latest news related to our return to the Premier League. What this means for Season Ticket Holders and supporters, it’s honestly difficult to say at this moment. We will obviously be guided by the league and health authorities, and of course we hope to see you soon in person at Craven Cottage when it’s safe and sound.
In the meantime, let’s rejoice! An extraordinary chapter in the long and honourable history of our Club has been written and completed, and we were all part of it together. Thank you!
Come On, Fulham!
