Good afternoon and greetings from Dusseldorf, a Fulham fan here, I come in peace.
I visit The Mag occasionally.
Generally, I think it is very fair and balanced.
However, two recent articles were very negative to the only team in Fulham.
Firstly, it was the article on Saturday, ‘Broadcasters crying after making these decisions on Premier League fixtures‘, which mentioned the fact that Burnley vs Fulham had been chosen for live TV in the UK.
It was not Fulham who decided this fixture for TV, and I can assure you that in my local pub in Dusseldorf, there were lots of fans from other clubs watching Fulham’s first win at Turf Moor since 1951.
I also understand there were more fans watching that game in that pub, than the games on the Sunday afternoon.
Secondly, the article on The Mag today (Tuesday 16 December), reporting on Fulham fans failing to buy up all of the 1,700 away ticket allocation that our club had chosen to take (from the near 5,000 maximum away allocation allowed at St James’ Park under Carabao Cup rules).
The cup game at St James’ Park is at 8.15pm on a Wednesday night before Xmas. This means the game won’t end until at least 10.30pm.
To be honest, to get 1,500 Fulham fans there on Wednesday is a miracle in itself.
I have seen us at Darlington with a couple of hundred; at the time I thought that was good!!
If the game kicked off at 7.30pm (like they used to), more fans would have travelled, as could have taken the last train back to London.
Just because the six hour coach journey is subsidised (£20 adults and £10 kids) doesn’t really count. Surely the ko time is worth mentioning?
Not every club is blessed with support that Newcastle United has. No doubt you could fill the Putney end with your London based fans.
However, all supporters have similar issues in making ends meet, and getting their work completed before Xmas.
I hope you take my observations in good faith.
Wish you luck in your game [against Chelsea] on Saturday lunchtime. On Wednesday not.
PS. I think you will see a difference in the away support on Wednesday compared to Saturday. Maybe not in quantity, but as Lee (jigsaw) Clark said, quality!
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