Fulham

2008–09 season
Chairman	Mohamed al-Fayed
Manager	Roy Hodgson
Stadium	Craven Cottage
Premier League	7th
FA Cup	Quarter-finals
League Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League:Andy Johnson andClint Dempsey (7) All:Andy Johnson (10)
Highest home attendance	25,661 vsLiverpool (4 April 2009)
Lowest home attendance	7,584 vsLeicester City (27 August 2008)
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

The2008–09Fulham season was the club's 111th professional season and their eighth consecutiveseason in the top flight of English football, thePremier League, since their return in 2001. They were managed byRoy Hodgson in his first full season as Fulham manager. They played in the Premier League by virtue of staying up on goal difference fromReading on the last day of theprevious campaign and were hoping to improve on their placing of 17th. They eventually finished in seventh place in the Premier League table with 53 points, an improvement of ten places and 18 points. Their league position secured a place in the newly formedUEFA Europa League for the2009–10 season as well as their highest League finish in their history. The club received a number of additional awards from the Premier League, namely theFair Play Award,^[1] theBehaviour of the Public Award and theBarclays Spirit Award for manager Roy Hodgson.^[2]

Some of the most notable results of the season came against clubs who finished in the top four in the table. The club beatManchester United andArsenal at home and managed a draw at home againstChelsea and away againstLiverpool. In other competitions, Fulham reached the quarter-finals of theFA Cup before losing to league championsManchester United. In theFootball League Cup, they defeatedLeicester City in the second round but were knocked out byBurnley in the third round.

Roy Hodgson added to the team in the summer with signings including goalkeeperMark Schwarzer fromMiddlesbrough and strikersBobby Zamora fromWest Ham United andAndy Johnson who arrived fromEverton for a club record £10.5 million (thoughSteve Marlet had cost more when including agents fees in 2001). Club captainBrian McBride decided to return to United States,^[3] where he eventually signed withMajor League Soccer'sChicago Fire.^[4]Olivier Dacourt joined Fulham during the winter transfer window.

Fulham also put out teams in away matches consisting of first and reserve team players againstWalton Casuals (won 3–1),Staines Town (lost 2–0),Banstead (won 3–0)Goals coming in from Jordan Wilson, Joe Anderson and Enrico dos Santos continued the win streak for the whites,Carshalton (won 2–0),Crystal Palace (drew 0–0) andKingstonian (won8–0).

Fulham started the season playing away at theKC Stadium against newly promotedHull City.Seol Ki-hyeon gave Fulham the lead in the eighth minute. Their lead lasted less than 15 minutes becauseGeovanni equalised in the 22nd minute.Caleb Folan completed the Hull turn-around ten minutes from the end of normal time, capping a 2–1 victory for the home team. However, the following week the team gained their first victory of the season with a win against much-fanciedArsenal for only the second time in 43 years. The only goal of the game came fromBrede Hangeland midway through the first half who scored directly from aJimmy Bullard cross, from a couple of yards. A slightly off-colour Arsenal played their usual passing game but could not break Fulham down.^[5]

The team did not have another Premier League game to play until 13 September due toManchester United's participation in theUEFA Super Cup, as well as the break from league football at the beginning of September for internationalWorld Cup qualifying matches.

On 17 May 2009, the club confirmed their highest ever league finish with a 1–0 victory over relegation-threatenedNewcastle United atSt James' Park. The victory kept them in seventh place in the table, with eighth being the lowest they could finish, bettering the ninth-place finish in2004. Kamara scored in the 41st minute of a tense game which was full of chances for both sides.

• Fulham's home match against Blackburn Rovers was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch on 10 January 2009.^[6] Their match away againstManchester United, due to be played in August, was rearranged due to United's involvement in theUEFA Super Cup.

Results summary

Results by round

The club entered theFA Cup in the third round, with an away match againstSheffield Wednesday atHillsborough on 3 January 2009. Fulham took the lead through Andrew Johnson from a Danny Murphy through-ball in the 12th minute but were pegged back by a 25-yard goal fromTommy Spurr after 21 minutes. The game remained 1–1 until the 88th minute, when Andy Johnson scored his second of the game which turned out to be the winner.^[7]

Fulham next faced one of only two non-league sides left in the competition,Kettering Town. After a positive opening from the underdogs Kettering, Fulham took the lead in the 12th minute, Simon Davies scoring a volley from 15 yards from a Clint Dempsey cross. But the lead only lasted until the 36th minute as the livelyCraig Westcarr scored a deflected freekick. Kettering continued to press after the break and with the additions of Danny Murphy and Bobby Zamora, they regained the lead in the 77th minute with Murphy scoring the goal. Kettering, however, were not finished and 9 minutes later, Westcarr scored a penalty after a trip from Brede Hangeland. With Kettering planning a trip to London, Andy Johnson and Zamora scored two late goals to seal the tie.^[8]

In the fifth round, Fulham were drawn away again toChampionship sideSwansea City at theLiberty Stadium. Roy Hodgson made three changes from Fulham's last Premier League match against Wigan, with Dempsey and Paintsil rested after playing abroad in midweek for their countries. to be replaced by Gera and Stoor while Zamora also dropped to the bench in favour of Nevland. Swansea created some clear-cut opportunities in the early stages, withMark Gower,Alan Tate andLloyd Dyer testing Mark Schwarzer. Fulham, however, found the breakthrough a minute before half-time with a slice of luck as Paul Konchesky's corner was deflected in off Swansea defenderGarry Monk. Swansea continued to dominate and equalised in the 52nd minute whenJason Scotland scored, evading a challenge before firing the ball low past Schwarzer. With both sides playing attractive passing football the sides could not be separated.

Fulham and Swansea both went into the hat for the quarter-finals and were given the prospect of a tie with defendingPremier League andChampions League championsManchester United. They first had to get through the fifth round replay, which took place on 24 February 2009 atCraven Cottage. It was Fulham's second game in three days but Roy Hodgson put out a strong side with the only changes being Nevland replacing Johnson up front and Dacourt making his first start for the club in place of Danny Murphy.Jason Scotland scored just after half-time following an even first half, knocking the ball in from 15 yards. Fulham, however, did not give up, Zamora coming close on several occasions before they equalised through Dempsey in the 67th minute. Four minutes later, they turned the game around when Zamora scored his second goal in as many games. The home side held on to secure victory.^[9][10]

Fulham entered theFootball League Cup at the second round stage after receiving thebye awarded toPremier League clubs in the first round. They faced aLeicester City side finding their feet inLeague One after relegationthe previous season. Fulham took the lead in the 31st minute through one of their new signings, Hungarian internationalZoltán Gera, but Leicester turned the game around in the early stages of the second half. VeteranPaul Dickov drew them level on 46 minutes and just two minutes laterAndy King completed the turnaround. The match remained 2–1 until the 83rd minute whenJimmy Bullard levelled the score. But this was not the end of the scoring and with the game seemingly heading forextra-time,Danny Murphy scored the winner for Fulham in the second minute of stoppage time to win the encounter and send Fulham through to the third round.

In the third round, a Fulham side featuring the attacking talents of Johnson, Gera and Dempsey lost 1–0 to aBurnley side who had been performing well and sitting in the play-off positions in the Championship. With the match seemingly heading for extra-time,Jay Rodriguez won the match in the 88th minute. He collected aChris Eagles through ball just inside the area and then slotted the ball pastPascal Zuberbühler. Fulham were therefore knocked out of the competition.

Elliot Omozusi receivedJimmy Bullard's squad number 21, when Bullard left the club.Giles Barnes wore number 7 whileSeol Ki-hyeon was out on loan.

Statistics correct as of final match against Everton, played 24 May 2009.^[11]

No.	Pos.	Name		League		FA Cup		Carling Cup		Other		Total		Discipline
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Mark Schwarzer		38	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	44	0	0	0
2	DF	Moritz Volz *		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Paul Konchesky		36	1	5	0	1	0	0	0	42	1	5	0
4	DF	John Pantsil		37	0	2	0	0(1)	0	0	0	39(1)	0	8	0
5	DF	Brede Hangeland		37	1	5	0	1	0	0	0	43	1	4	0
6	MF	Andranik Teymourian **		0(1)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1(1)	0	1	0
7	MF	Seol Ki-hyeon *		2(2)	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	4(2)	1	0	0
7	MF	Giles Barnes		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	FW	Andrew Johnson		30(1)	7	4	3	1	0	0	0	34(1)	10	0	1
9	FW	Bobby Zamora		32(3)	2	3(2)	2	1	0	0	0	36(5)	4	1	0
10	FW	Erik Nevland		4(17)	4	2(1)	0	0(2)	0	0	0	6(20)	4	2	0
11	MF	Zoltán Gera		20(12)	2	2(2)	0	2	1	0	0	24(14)	3	2	0
12	GK	David Stockdale		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
13	MF	Danny Murphy		37	5	3(2)	1	1	1	0	0	41(1)	7	8	0
14	FW	Eddie Johnson *		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	FW	Diomansy Kamara		3(9)	4	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	3(11)	4	0	0
16	MF	Olivier Dacourt		0(9)	0	2(1)	0	0	0	0	0	2(10)	0	2	0
17	MF	Julian Gray		0(1)	0	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	1(2)	0	0	0
18	DF	Aaron Hughes		38	0	6	0	1	0	0	0	44	0	0	0
19	GK	Pascal Zuberbühler		0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
20	MF	Dickson Etuhu		20(2)	1	4	0	0	0	0	0	24(2)	1	2	0
21	MF	Jimmy Bullard **		18	2	0	0	1	1	0	0	19	3	1	0
21	DF	Elliot Omozusi		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	Fredrik Stoor		0(1)	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	6	0	0	0
23	MF	Clint Dempsey		28(7)	7	4(1)	1	1	0	0	0	33(8)	8	5	0
24	MF	Matthew Saunders		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	Simon Davies		33	2	4(1)	1	1	0	0	0	38(1)	3	2	0
26	MF	Leon Andreasen *		0(6)	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2(6)	0	1	0
27	DF	Adrian Leijer *		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	MF	Rob Milsom		0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
30	MF	Wayne Brown *		0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
33	DF	Toni Kallio		2(1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	4(1)	0	1	0
34	DF	Chris Baird		3(7)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4(7)	0	0	0
37	DF	Chris Smalling		0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
38	GK	Neil Etheridge		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Adam Watts		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	MF	Hamer Bouazza *		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	Gabriel Zakuani **		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Collins John *		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	Rico **		0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	3	2	0	0
	DF	Joe Anderson **		0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	2	1	0	0
	MF	Jordan Wilson **		0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	4	1	0	0
	DF	TJ Moncur **		0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0	0	0

• * Player out on loan
• ** Player left club

Player	PL	FAC	LC	Total
Andrew Johnson	7	3	0	10
Clint Dempsey	7	1	0	8
Danny Murphy	5	1	1	7
Diomansy Kamara	4	0	0	4
Bobby Zamora	2	2	0	4
Erik Nevland	4	0	0	4
Simon Davies	2	1	0	3
Zoltán Gera	2	0	1	3

Mark Schwarzer arrived on a free transfer fromMiddlesbrough when his contract expired and fellow goalkeeperDavid Stockdale came fromDarlington. Despite the promotion ofWest Bromwich Albion to thePremier League,Zoltán Gera rejected "the best contract the club could [offer]"^[12] and signed with Fulham. The club also signedAndranik Teymourian fromBolton Wanderers on 12 June 2008.Toni Kallio signed a permanent contract after a loan spell during the second half of the previous season. On 15 July 2008,Bobby Zamora andJohn Pantsil signed on a joint-deal fromWest Ham United.^[13] On 30 July 2008,Sweden internationalFredrik Stoor signed a deal with the team, moving on fromRosenborg.^[14] Andy Johnson was bought fromEverton for a fee of around £10.5 million, Fulham's second highest transfer fee.^[15]

Fulham released ten players, includingCarlos Bocanegra,Philippe Christanval and goalkeeperTony Warner.^[16]Paul Stalteri returned toTottenham Hotspur after a loan spell andBrian McBride returned to the United States to play for theChicago Fire.Norwich City took two of Fulham's players,Dejan Stefanović permanently andElliot Omozusi on loan for the season. Two goalkeepers also left the club, asRicardo Batista left forSporting CP and veteranKasey Keller was released.David Healy moved to Sunderland,Steven Davis made a permanent switch toRangers andMoritz Volz andHamer Bouazza both went out on loan.Alexey Smertin had his contract with Fulham terminated.^[17]

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
22 May 2008	GK	Mark Schwarzer	Middlesbrough	Free[18]
4 June 2008	GK	David Stockdale	Darlington	Undisclosed[19]
11 June 2008	MF	Zoltán Gera	West Bromwich Albion	Free[20]
12 June 2008	MF	Andranik Teymourian	Bolton Wanderers	Free[21]
24 June 2008	DF	Chris Smalling	Maidstone United	Free
4 July 2008	DF	Toni Kallio	Young Boys	Undisclosed*
15 July 2008	FW	Bobby Zamora	West Ham United	£6,300,000
	DF	John Paintsil
30 July 2008	DF	Fredrik Stoor	Rosenborg	£2,000,000
6 August 2008	GK	Pascal Zuberbühler	Neuchâtel Xamax	Free
7 August 2008	FW	Andy Johnson	Everton	£12,500,000[22]
29 August 2008	MF	Dickson Etuhu	Sunderland	Undisclosed[23]
1 September 2008	MF	Julian Gray	Coventry City	Season-long loan

• Kallio had been on loan at the club since January on loan and signed a permanent two-year deal.
• Zamora and Paintsil came for a joint fee of £6,300,000.

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
23 May 2008	DF	Paul Stalteri	Tottenham Hotspur	Loan return
23 May 2008	DF	Carlos Bocanegra	Rennes	Free
23 May 2008	DF	Philippe Christanval	Released	Free
23 May 2008	DF	Ian Pearce	Oxted & District	Free
23 May 2008	MF	Simon Elliott	Released	Free
23 May 2008	MF	Jari Litmanen	Lahti	Free
23 May 2008	MF	Michael Timlin	Swindon Town	Free
23 May 2008	FW	Ismael Ehui	Released	Free
23 May 2008	FW	Björn Runström	OB	Free
28 May 2008	GK	Corrin Brooks-Meade	Released	Free
28 May 2008	GK	Tony Warner	Hull City	Free
28 May 2008	FW	Brian McBride	Chicago Fire	Free
16 July 2008	GK	Kasey Keller	Seattle Sounders FC	Free
18 July 2008	GK	Ricardo Batista	Sporting CP	Nominal
18 July 2008	DF	Dejan Stefanović	Norwich City	Undisclosed
25 July 2008	DF	Nathan Ashton	Wycombe Wanderers	Undisclosed
21 August 2008	FW	David Healy	Sunderland	Undisclosed
21 August 2008	MF	Steven Davis	Rangers	£3,000,000
1 September 2008	MF	Alexei Smertin		Contract terminated[17]

The first departures of the winter transfer window happened in December whenLee Cook returned to his former clubQueens Park Rangers on a permanent deal, having spent several months back there on loan. He had not made any first-team appearances for Fulham since signing in the summer 2007 transfer window.Gabriel Zakuani also moved toPeterborough United following a successful loan spell. MidfielderJimmy Bullard also left the club on 23 January 2009, signing forHull City in a £5 million deal.^[24] He had been a target forBolton Wanderers but they decided not to pursue their interest in him.Adrian Leijer andAndranik Teymourian moved on loan toNorwich City^[25] andBarnsley^[26] respectively, withElliot Omozusi returning from Norwich.^[27]Leon Andreasen signed for German sideHannover 96 on loan.^[28]TJ Moncur left the club to sign forLeague Two sideWycombe Wanderers.

Giles Barnes was Fulham's first signing during the winter transfer window, moving on loan fromDerby County until the end of the season.^[29] He was also joined on transfer deadline day by formerLeeds United playerOlivier Dacourt, who also signed on loan fromInter Milan.Julian Gray made his loan signing fromCoventry City a permanent deal.^[30]

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
31 January 2009	MF	Giles Barnes	Derby County	Loan
2 February 2009	MF	Olivier Dacourt	Inter Milan	Loan[31]
2 February 2009	MF	Julian Gray	Coventry City	Undisclosed

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee
5 December 2008	MF	Lee Cook	Queens Park Rangers	Undisclosed[32]
December 2008	DF	Gabriel Zakuani	Peterborough United	Free
2 January 2009	DF	TJ Moncur	Wycombe Wanderers	Free
23 January 2009	MF	Jimmy Bullard	Hull City	£5,000,000[33]

Date From	Date To	Pos.	Name	Moving To
19 July 2008	2 February 2009	DF	Elliot Omozusi	Norwich City[34]
1 August 2008	8 January 2009	MF	Lee Cook	Queens Park Rangers
8 August 2008	1 January 2009	DF	TJ Moncur	Bradford City[35]
9 August 2008	30 June 2009	MF	Hamer Bouazza	Charlton Athletic[36]
22 August 2008	30 June 2009	FW	Eddie Johnson	Cardiff City[37]
28 August 2008	30 June 2009	DF	Moritz Volz	Ipswich Town[38]
31 August 2008	3 March 2009	FW	Collins John	NEC[39]
11 September 2008	13 December 2008	DF	Gabriel Zakuani	Peterborough United[40][41]
21 November 2008	31 December 2009	MF	Robert Milsom	Southend United[42]
8 January 2009	30 June 2009	MF	Hamer Bouazza	Birmingham City[43]
14 January 2009	30 June 2009	MF	Seol Ki-hyeon	Al-Hilal
2 February 2009	30 June 2009	DF	Leon Andreasen	Hannover 96
2 February 2009	30 June 2009	DF	Adrian Leijer	Norwich City
2 February 2009	30 June 2009	MF	Andranik Teymourian	Barnsley
2 March 2009	30 June 2009[44]	GK	David Stockdale	Leicester City[45]
26 March 2009	30 June 2009	DF	Adam Watts	Northampton Town[46]
2 April 2009	16 August 2009	MF	Wayne Brown	Turun Palloseura[47]

• David Stockdale was initially signed by Leicester City on a one-month loan deal but this was later extended for the rest of the season.

Position	Staff
Manager	Roy Hodgson
Assistant manager	Mike Kelly
First team coach	Ray Lewington
Reserve team coach	Billy McKinlay

Supplier:Nike

Sponsor:LG

Chairman	Mohamed Al-Fayed
Ground(capacity and dimensions)	Craven Cottage(26,000 / 105x68 meters)

Updated to match played 7 August
Source: Fulham F.C. andCraven Cottage

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