Greetings! On the occasion of our 38th and final match of the 2024-2025 Premier League season, it is my honour to welcome you to Craven Cottage as we host a formidable opponent in Manchester City. To all Fulham supporters as well as our visitors, thank you for spending your Sunday afternoon with us as we conclude our third consecutive campaign in the Premier League and look forward to returning in three months for our fourth straight top-flight season – and many more!
I am exceptionally proud of Head Coach Marco Silva, his staff and this squad, and I know our supporters echo my sentiment. We kick off this afternoon with a club-record 54 points in Premier League play that required excellence, resilience and belief over the course of 10 months, and last Sunday we happened to see all of that surface in a single match, a bold 3-2 West London Derby victory at Brentford. The energy from our supporters at Gtech Community Stadium was as immense as I’ve experienced at a Fulham away match, and there is no question it was a positive factor in our response in the second half. Massive thanks go to our fans and the team for completing a satisfying double over Brentford – undeniably, a highlight we will long treasure from an historic league season.
Of course, there were many more achievements by the Men’s First Team to commemorate. We went on a brave run to the FA Cup quarterfinals by eliminating Manchester United at Old Trafford on penalties. We took all the points available in our matches vs. Newcastle United and Nottingham Forest. With an away draw and home win vs. Liverpool, we finished undefeated with four points gained against the newly crowned and runaway Premier League champion. And, we will never forget the London Derby wins secured in added time earlier in the season vs. Brentford and at Chelsea. Those moments will shine forever.
For all we have to celebrate, I also appreciate Marco’s comments after Sunday’s win at Brentford that while 54 points is undoubtedly impressive, we want to play for trophies. I am aligned, and our recent contract extensions for Harry Wilson, Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore represent a good start in meeting that objective and solidifying our core for 2025-2026. All three played crucial roles in our three points gained at Brentford, as our travelling supporters and hosts alike are very aware!
I’d like to also warmly recognise Raul for breaking the record for most goals scored in the Premier League by a Mexican player, and salute Willian – who already held the mark for most PL matches played by a Brazilian player, setting a new record for most PL matches played by anyone from South America. We are delighted that both accomplished these feats while wearing a Fulham shirt!
The tradition of Fulhamerica here at Craven Cottage was served in January when our own Antonee Robinson was named United States Men’s National Team player of the year for 2024. With 10 assists this season, Antonee jointly holds the record with Steed Malbranque for most assists by a Fulham player in a Premier League season. Well done, Antonee, and may you become the sole owner of that Fulham club record this afternoon!
Never to be overlooked, let’s applaud our captain, Tom Cairney, for completing 10 years playing for the FFC Men’s First Team. Tom is in rare company, as the last FFC player to do the same was Simon Morgan throughout the 1990s. It takes exceptional talent, commitment and character to earn that kind of staying power at one club anywhere in the world, but those are just a few of the many positive traits that describe Tom Cairney. Congratulations and thank you, Tom!
My last mention related to the Men’s First Team is an important one, and that’s to salute assistant coach Stuart Gray, who will step down from his role after today’s match. Stuart has dutifully served the game as a player and manager for 50 years, and has long been a constant and positive presence for your club at Motspur Park and on match days. Thank you, Stuart Gray! You will always be welcome at Fulham Football Club.
It has been a banner 2024-2025 season for all areas of the club, and especially so for the FFC Women First Team who completed their league campaign unbeaten and were promoted to compete in the fourth tier next season. The FFC Women amassed a fifth-tier record 62 points and eventually won the division title convincingly with a 6-0 win over Sport London e Benfica at Craven Cottage. The squad played four matches in front of appreciative crowds at the Cottage this season and were the only club from the fifth tier to advance to Round 4 of the Women’s FA Cup. Nicely done!
Related, the U-18 FFC Women earned the Capital Cup Junior Champions title with a 3-1 victory over Sporting Duet in the tournament final and finished the season as league runner-up with 34 points. The momentum throughout the entire FFC Women’s programme is real and I commend the squads and staffs alike for a wonderful season!
Our Academy sides have also enjoyed outstanding campaigns, with the Under-21s finishing second in PL2 – only narrowly beaten to the top spot by Manchester City – while also reaching the Semi-Finals of the Premier League International Cup. Our Under-18s also represented the Academy well with a top-five finish in the league, reinforcing once again that player development will always be a core value here at Fulham Football Club.
There is good news to report off the pitch as well. First, at the Football Business Awards held here in London earlier this month, Alistair Mackintosh was named Premier League CEO of the Year for 2024-2025 while the club earned bronze awards for submissions by Jack Burrows for Best Football Club Stadium Experience and Eleanor Rowland on our female inclusion initiatives in the ‘Club of the Year’ category. Alistair, Jack and Eleanor are emblematic of our people at Fulham, always working selflessly for the good of the club and others, and for that I am most grateful.
Second, it won’t be long before the New Riverside Stand and Fulham Pier will be fully opened. The debut of the rooftop at our last home match vs. Everton was a rousing success and we are in countdown mode to the grand opening of Fulham Pier the weekend of June 20-22. I hope you will join us for what will be a fun and lively series of activities at Fulham Pier that weekend as we usher in a new era for our neighborhood and the city of London. Please stay tuned to fulhampier.com and fulhamfc.com for more information in the weeks ahead.
Finally, it was a privilege to host a 50th anniversary celebration earlier this month for the Fulham squad that reached the 1975 FA Cup Final. A dinner was held in the New Riverside Stand prior to our match vs. Everton, with players Alan Mullery, Peter Mellor, Les Strong, John Mitchell, John Fraser, John Lacy and John Cutbush joined by coach John Collins in attendance. I thank club director David Daly for hosting these club legends and presenting them to our appreciative fans at halftime of the match. I hope each of these men and their guests had as wonderful of a time as we did.
In summary, I’ve touched on our record Premier League success this season, the progress enjoyed by the FFC Women and Academy teams, high industry honours for our staff, the New Riverside Stand and Fulham Pier coming alive, and a weekend to remember for our beloved squad that competed in the 1975 FA Cup Final. It’s been a fantastic year by all measures, amplified by last weekend’s big win at Brentford, and fun to reflect upon it all here in these final notes of the season. Thank you for being part of it!
What is extremely important, however, is how we move forward – and that’s what enthuses me the most.
We are secure for many generations to come here at Craven Cottage, home to London’s Original Club. The New Riverside Stand and Fulham Pier will soon benefit the club and our community in ways both measurable and immeasurable, all while protecting what we love most about our ground – the stroll through Bishops Park, the historical character of the Johnny Haynes Stand, football on the bank of the River Thames, and the very Cottage itself. That was always my goal when I became your Chairman in 2013, and the project has undoubtedly posed challenges none of us could have anticipated.
But, the most difficult path usually turns out to be the correct path, and so it is. As it relates to the timeline of the project, we are now nearly home – specifically, our spiritual home of Craven Cottage – and I am humbled to see it now becoming reality. Thank you for your patience and support!
On the pitch, while it’s been a very satisfying 2024-2025 campaign, Marco and his team are hardly declaring victory. They made it clear to me at Motspur Park, prior to the Brentford match, that the squad has more to offer in 2025-2026 and hinted that we’d see their true quality and resolve a few days later vs. the Bees. We certainly did! It was a superb response that happened to occur in the right place, at the right time. I anticipate a similar effort this afternoon vs. Manchester City and then we will work closely with Marco this summer and throughout next season to back and complement this exceptional group of players that has beautifully represented our club and fans.
Finally, about our fans. Quite simply, we have the best. You are supportive, respectful, passionate and knowledgeable. You show up, home and away, and far away as well. Our supporters community continues to grow well beyond London, England and the UK, and that’s only going to continue if we keep doing our best to serve all of you. That, we will.
Thank you for an amazing season, enjoy the match, and mark your calendar for 18 June when the Premier League fixtures for 2025-2026 are announced. See you again in August!
Come On, Fulham!
Shahid Khan
