It’s all starting to feel very real now, right Fulham fans?
Any hopes Marco Silva might have had of being eased into life back in the Premier League certainly went up in smoke when the fixture list threw up an opening weekend meeting with Liverpool on August 6th. The footballing equivalent of graduating to the top level of world boxing and then immediately being shoved into a ring with Mike Tyson.
Fulham come out on top during their last Premier League meeting. Mario Lemina’s goal secured a shock Anfield triumph for a side who would suffer relegated just two months later. But the Londoners haven’t got the better of Liverpool on home soil since December 2011, a late Clint Dempsey decider coming after Jay Spearing’s red card reduced the visitors to ten men.
With Craig Bellamy, Andy Carroll and the aforementioned Spearing in the starting XI that day, it’s fair to say that Liverpool side are not quite the same vintage as today’s star-studded outfit. But who wore lined up for the home side on that winter night in West London?
Mark Schwarzer
Schwarzer made over 500 top-flight appearances for Middlesbrough, Fulham and Chelsea. In fact, only seven players in the history of the competition featured more times than the affable Aussie glovesman. Schwarzer will celebrate his 50th birthday in October.
Stephen Kelly
A member of the Fulham side who narrowly lost the 2010 Europa League final to a Diego Forlan-inspired Atletico Madrid, Kelly was a picture of consistency throughout much of his Craven Cottage stay.
Now a pundit after seeing out his career at Rotherham United.
Philippe Senderos
Better remembered for his time down the road at Arsenal, Fulham was where Senderos played his best football after leaving the Emirates Stadium. After short-lived spells at AC Milan, Valencia and Rangers, the former Switzerland colossus is now a technical director at former club Servette.
Brede Hangeland
Once upon a time, Hangeland was one of the most reliable centre-halves in the whole of English football. So much so that Arsene Wenger was determined to lure the rangy Norwegian to Arsenal during the peak of his defensive powers.
Hangeland is now a TV pundit back home in Scandinavia.
John Arne Riise
Playing against his old employers when Liverpool came to town 11 years ago, the pocket-rocket left-back with a thunderbolt of a shot remains one of the Premier League’s undisputed cult heroes. A few months, Riise was confirmed as the manager of of Norwegian women’s team Avaldsnes IL.
Dickson Etuhu
A diligent defensive midfielder at his best, Etuhu represented the likes of Sunderland and Fulham with distinction. Before things went sour at Blackburn Rovers, that is. At 40, and having been handed a five-year ban for alleged match fixing back in 2020 (The Guardian), his footballing career looks over.
Danny Murphy
Perhaps best remembered at the Cottage for the glancing header that made Fulham’s ‘Great Escape’ a reality back in 2008, the former England international proved to be a hugely influential presence on and off the pitch.
Murphy can now be found earning a living on talkSPORT and Match of the Day.
Bryan Ruiz
Hugely gifted but ill-suited to the physicality of the Premier League, the £10 million signing from FC Twente had his moments but ultimately failed to live up to a price-tag which – at the time – was certainly on the expensive side.
Ruiz still going strong at 36, however. The veteran playmaker featured as Costa Rica secured their World Cup spot at New Zealand’s expense this week.
Clint Dempsey
Arguably the greatest player in Fulham’s Premier League history – and certainly the most prolific – Dempsey scored one of his 50 top-flight goals during that hard-fought win over Liverpool over a decade ago.
Dempsey retired in 2018 and has belatedly been included into the USA’s Soccer Hall of Fame.
Mousa Dembele
Perhaps the most naturally gifted footballer in a team chock-full of workhorses, Dembele shone intermittently at Fulham before blossoming as a deep-lying playmaker at Tottenham Hotspur. The Belgian is now a free-agent, having turned down a contract extension at Chinese outfit Guangzhou R&F.
Bobby Zamora
Zamora picked up both of his England caps while at Fulham. A testament to how impressively he led the line in white-and-black. The ex-West Ham targetman is now hoping to move into coaching. He recently offered his services to former club Brighton and Hove Albion.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
