Fulham's commentary duo, 'Gentleman' Jim McGullion and Jamie Reid, cast their minds back two years to relive one of the greatest days and seasons in Fulham's history.
Jamie: The older I get, the harder it seems to be to remember certain things, but cherished memories live long in the mind. Right at the forefront is the 2017/18 season – a campaign that, quite rightly, will never be forgotten.
Jim: It was a really long and miserable journey back from the Stadium of Light just over a week before Christmas 2017, having been turned over by a Sunderland team that had barely won a game all season, leading to Chris Coleman’s acceptance of the poisoned chalice following the dismissal of Simon Grayson as Black Cats manager just a month earlier.
Despite their new club being in total disarray, with Chris and another former Whites boss Kit Symons alongside him, regardless of form, I suppose we should have seen the defeat coming a mile off. And when Cookie elected to bring on former Fulham youth player Josh Maja for his league debut, the writing was on the wall!
Sure enough, just five minutes after coming on the young Nigerian forward scored the only goal of the game, as the campaign neared its halfway point. I remember thinking, “Where do we go from here?”
After the game Chris told me not to worry, Fulham were still a good team, with a good manager, and he felt we'd be “there or thereabouts” come May.
History proves him right, of course, but surely none of us could have foreseen the magnificent record-breaking 23 game unbeaten run that followed, the last of which ironically being a 2-1 home win over Sunderland that proved to be the big man’s final match, but left Slaviša Jokanović and his side just a month away from the greatest single day in the history of the Club!!!
Jamie: The 23-match unbeaten run was the stuff dreams are made of. Losing at Sunderland just before Christmas, on a freezing cold afternoon, was tough to take. Like most fans, I wondered how the season might pan out from there. Fortunately, the players had belief in their own abilities and guided us through a period of matches that will surely never been forgotten and maybe never be repeated.
There were numerous highlights during our greatest of runs, and each and every one of the matches could be picked out for praise. The 4-2 success over Cardiff City on Boxing Day was pivotal. The 6-0 success over Burton Albion was maybe a sign of what was to come, but the victories over Aston Villa and Wolves in February got everyone believing.
It was clear that the momentum was with our Club. Everyone was starting to dream. We recently saw a re-run of the Millwall success on FFCtv, and what a night that was. The first half wasn’t easy but the players stood firm and bossed it after half-time. Kevin McDonald’s goal was a real highlight of a season that was so pleasing on the eye.
Jim: Losing at Birmingham on the last day of the season meant we missed out on automatic promotion to Neil Warnock’s Cardiff City and would face my second least favourite team, Derby, in the Play-Offs.
With hindsight, having experienced the wonder of the “Wall of White” and the glory of winning at Wembley and been involved in what was a momentous, magical, incredibly emotional and memorable occasion, I'm glad we went up the way we did, but coming back from St Andrew’s I was massively disappointed that the lads hadn’t got the reward they deserved. I was also concerned that one below par performance might prove so costly and it could again be a case of “so near and yet so far.”
My apprehension was not due to any real fear of the other teams involved, but simply based on the fact that of the previous six Play-Off games I'd seen us in, we hadn't won a single one and had actually recorded as many red cards as we had goals! Not a great record then!
Jamie: The defeat to Birmingham on the final day of the league campaign was underwhelming and it meant that we would have to negotiate a route through the Play-Offs if we were to return to the Premier League.
So, Derby County were our opponents over two legs and the players were rightly confident. Victory would pair us against either Aston Villa or Middlesbrough. The First Leg saw us lose slenderly at Pride Park but the performance was decent enough and I still had faith in the manager, coaching staff and players that we could turn it around at Craven Cottage. Fortunately, everyone turned up on a great night for football. Ryan Sessegnon and Denis Odoi scored the goals and we were through to the Play-Off Final at Wembley where Aston Villa would be our opponents on Saturday 26th May 2018.
Jim: Losing the First Leg at Pride Park meant we’d suffered consecutive defeats for the first time in around six months but I think the players and fans still felt confident that we could overcome the deficit at home, and sure enough after Ryan Sessegnon had levelled things up, Denis Odoi's majestic header saw us through and the final whistle prompted scenes of mass hysteria around the Cottage.
I couldn’t wait for the Final to come…
I hadn’t seen Fulham play at Wembley since I was a 16-year-old hod carrier in 1975, and whilst I think I expected to be back a bit sooner, I obviously never thought I'd be sitting in the press box commentating!
Myself and Jamie arrived nice and early and, after a quick chat with Luis Boa Morte who'd pulled up next to us in the car park, we set off to pick up our accreditation. But we were told it wasn’t ready, meaning we had some time to mingle with Fulham fans who’d come not just from around London and the South of England, but all over the country and indeed all around the world.
I had no real axe to grind with Aston Villa supporters, but had become increasingly fed up with them constantly moaning in the build up to the Final that a little club like Fulham shouldn’t be entitled to the same number of tickets as them, as we had “no fans!”
How sweet it felt to be amongst 38,000 of our own, knowing that the West Midlands giants had returned some of their allocation unsold!
It was a lovely way to start the afternoon mixing with the fans, and no matter how many times I was asked about the outcome, my answer was always the same, “we’re going to win.”
That belief was enhanced by our great start and half-time lead, and I can honestly say I maintained it throughout the game, although it might have wavered a little bit when Denis was sent off leaving our 10 men to fight a largely rear guard action in intense heat for over 20 minutes.
I can’t begin to imagine what he was going through sitting in the dressing room watching the remainder of the action alone, but he must have been sick with worry that his second yellow card would have an adverse effect on the result and that he would be remembered as a Semi-Final hero and Final villain!
Thankfully, the rest of the lads held out and I'm sure none of us will ever forget the sight of our Belgian defender sprinting back onto the hallowed turf as though released from purgatory before mounting the goal frame to celebrate in front of the delirious Whites fans in the glorious Wembley sunshine, whilst sitting on the crossbar!
That moment is the iconic image that stands out amongst the frenzied celebrations enjoyed by the whole squad and just about everyone connected with the Club.
Jamie: Slaviša Jokanović’s team were beaten at the Semi-Final stage of the previous season’s Play-Offs, but that disappointment seemed to drive the team on and everyone was determined that we would put things right against Villa. Tom Cairney scored the all-important goal in a game that will never be forgotten. It was fitting Tom scored. He said, after the Play-Off defeat at Reading in the previous campaign, that the team would bounce back, and he kept his word.
The wonderful support clearly allowed our players to perform and Gentleman Jim went berserk on commentary. The two of us had sore voices for a week! Would we do it again... you bet we would!
Jim: I actually tried to gate crash proceedings but, sadly, wasn’t allowed on to the pitch.
I did however receive a much appreciated cuddle from an exhausted Tim Ream before he disappeared down the tunnel, a moment captured for prosperity on TV, as well as a bear hug from an ecstatic Tony Khan outside the dressing room and a celebratory handshake with the Chairman.
Then, when myself and Jamie finally got back to the car park, we bumped into Slaviša, who unless my memory is playing tricks on me was actually carrying the Championship trophy!
There's a sad but true saying in football that “You’re only as good as your last game,” and at that particular moment in time, he and his team were monumental!
Jamie: Fulham were back in the Premier League after a long four year absence and it felt so good. The players showed an unbelievable spirit and were fully deserving of their success. Promotion was a well-earned reward for our free-flowing, attack-minded side.
Slaviša ensured that everything was right on the pitch and the Khan family, Alistair Mackintosh and all the staff deserved the adulation they received for the work they put in to make it all possible.
Come on Fulham!