An ontological perspective would not place me as a Fulham fan. Perhaps if the only biographical information provided was that I was reared in Dublin, Ohio and Chapel Hill, NC it would appear a seamless fit. But it isn't. It feels more like a ripped and ill-fitting prom dress to a dance I was never invited to in the first place.
I'm sitting in a bar eating fish and chips, sipping on another Jameson's (the beer is served way too cold all across London...don't get it). All is well except that I feel out of place and annoyed that it is a popped collar type of scene. And the F'ing Arsenal fans are chanting Thierry Henry. I wonder if they are Red Bulls fans.
But I am a Fulham Football Club fan. I don't have to live here. McBride. Dempsey. Forever FFC.
Quite a different scene from the locales of my other teams: Cleveland and Columbus.
The Cottage. That is where it matters most. Our seats are 4 rows up form the pitch behind the goal, in the HammyEnd. Immediately it is obvious that low seats in the end section are way better than lower seats on the sidelines. So in other words, I think the keeper gets a better read of the match than the coach.
FFC warms up at our end. Clint is so close. The rest of the players I'm used to seeing only on tv are huge. Hangeland might actually be 9 feet tall. RVP is lean and pretty, just as you'd expect....too lean and too pretty actually. Murphy is scrappy and ready to go. Bobby Z is back.
2-1 Fulham. I'd like to say enough said... but that would be a lie.
All goals at the Hammy End. And to be quite honest we think it all turned around at half time, with our entrance into McBride's bar.
We knew going in to the stadium that it was an invited-only type of thing and we were not invited. No official tag of status did we have. But of course we tried anyways.
Attempted to walk right in like we owned the place. Apparently not well enough. The bouncer (of sorts) was then privileged to a soliloquy of our long love affairs with McBride, Columbus Crew, Fulham.... Shawn flashed his Crew jersey that he was wearing under two coats. The guard-bouncer said he couldn't let us in then, but maybe at half. Word.
Back and forth went play. Fulham fans were singing and thankfully drowning out the section of Arsenal fans at the opposite end. Arsenal scored. We should have scored.
Whistle blows for half.
We head to McBrides. It takes about 10 minutes to wade through the crowd. Literally a cluster F.
But we make it to McBrides and look for our guard-bouncer. He looks at both of us and remembers - he says, 'Go on in.' Yes!
Two Guinness ordered, we toast, sip, and smile. Goal accomplished.
As the second half begins we make our way back to our seats. Arsenal goes down to 10 men. Dempsey has a few close shots and has that crazy look in his eye. Yep close enough to see his eyes.
We bring it equal. We go wild. The Hammy End is the place to be. I jump up and down so much I fall into the seat in front of me and acquire a little Cottage souvenir on my knee. Small price ;)
The match goes into injury time. Bobby Z puts it in the net. 3 points v Arsenal.
Arsenal are broken down and sad looking. Fulham celebrates in the near corner. Too f'ing fantastic.
Dempsey is clearly happy for the win but I suspect bummed he didn't get a goal himself. He is a beast. He goes by the name of Clint Dempsey.
Proud Fulham fan. No doubt.
And oh yeah, Ryan.... nice bet... of course we placed it for you :) We'll bring your winning betting page home so you can claim your goods :)
C'MON FULHAM!!!!!!!!
Bliss.
~beth
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