Fulham Report: Match day 417

“Let us now praise famous men..”

For supporters like me who did not watch the Fulham sides with Johnny Haynes, Bobby Robson, George Cohen and the other luminaries of the Trinder years, this has been an unbeatable era, the peaks of which would have seemed unattainable if not delusional when I began following the Fulham in earnest about ten years ago. The final home match of the season is appealing insofar as it is often played under balmy conditions preceded by riparian ales. I like it moreso because we acknowledge our players as young men with families who sacrifice that family life to provide us our entertainment and as a true "family club" it is right and just to thank them all for their contributions.

This season's last home match in particular represents a final time to pay of respects to this golden generation of Fulham players. Yes, I arrived this morning to thank Clint Dempsey, but also, to Simon Davies, the scorer of that sublime and impossible 75th minute goal on the 29th of April, 2010, shifting and shooting across his body, and then again in Hamburg in front of the Athletico end. I came to thank Dickson Etuhu, whose short series of square balls back to Murphy were exactly what we needed to stabilize midfield in the post "Wellard" era. I came to thank Chris Baird, the hero of centre midfield in two legs against Juventus, who saved our season 2010-11 season with his veteran leadership off the pitch after the Boxing day disaster and backed it up with two goals against dreaded Stoke, and for good measure, punched Wellard in the nose: Howzat! I came to thank Andy Johnson for his determination to battle back from recurring injuries and for that one glorious October afternoon when it all seemed worth it. The memories they have given us, like the dead, "will not grow old, as we grow old." They will forever be etched like the photo of the XI who faced Juventus. As Lord Lindsay said of his fellow British heroes of 1924 "we can close our eyes and remember those few young men with hope in our hearts and wings in our heels."