Father's Day at Fulham

Russell family on Father's Day, June 2013

We were blessed to be able to spend Father's Day with our two generations of Russell dads. Grandparents were in England for Lexi's high school graduation. Ryan was able to be here as well. We all took a special Father's Day tour of Craven Cottage.

Chris is a Fulham Football supporter (that's a Fulham "soccer fan" to Americans) and the team plays in a historic stadium called Craven Cottage.

I'm not a big soccer fan but I did enjoy the tour for the historical perspective. The original thatched cottage on the grounds was the family home of Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife. The area surrounding it was her hunting grounds. The building was destroyed by a fire. In 1903 the current building at the corner of the stadium was built and named for Lord Craven, the owner of the original home.

Craven Cottage sits in the corner of the stadium.

Sitting in the stands of the Cottage

Fulham is one of the oldest of London's teams, first kicking off in 1879. I won't bore you with too many historical details but it was really cool to get to sit in the original wooden stands of the Cottage. It is a Grade II listed building which means it can't be altered without special permission to maintain its history.

View from the Cottage

The stadium entrances were built when people were smaller.

We went into the home changing room. It was not very big but that's sort of the unique aspect of the historical stadium, the old time feel of the cramped spaces.

Changing Room

British soccer fans are truly fanatical about the sport, knowing miniscule facts about past games. The detailed questions that the other people on the tour were asking of the former player at the Q&A session were impressive. "Remember that game against Liverpool in 2002? Started at 7 pm on a Wednesday? Oh yes, their lineup was so and so across the front, etc."

Players run on to the field through this tunnel.

Sitting in the Press Box area

We saw the seat where Michael Jackson sat when he was a guest of the team owner, Mohamed Al-Fayed. We also saw the large statue of Michael Jackson that was intended to be placed in Harrods but Al-Fayed sold the store so it is now housed in the unlikely location at the Fulham grounds.

The tour was topped off with a yummy barbecue lunch cooked on the terrace of the stadium overlooking the Thames River. It was a feast of lamb, chicken, seafood skewers, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, potato salad, chocolate cake for dessert.

BBQ lunch after tour, complete with gifts for the Dads.

All in all, an interesting and entertaining Father's Day.