Cottage industry

So on to Fulham, and by virtue of the sad misfortune of others, I have a couple of tickets for the neutral (though one might say the whole place is largely neutral) part of the ground. Regardless of possible outcomes (I'm not particularly optimistic, and think that Martin J is doing a decent job there. I fear another bloody draw, if I'm honest) I know Craven Cottage fairly well, having seen City there a couple of times, as well as Bristol Rovers once, and I really like it as a spectating experience: alongside the Thames, the little pavilion still standing in the terraces, and Diddy David Hamilton (real name: Pilditch!) on the PA. I unearthed an amusing piece from the Daily Mirror in 2010, which mentions that Mohammed Al Fayed gave Diddy Dave a bottle of whisky and a box of Viagra when he re-instated him as match day compère. You also get some very interesting results if you type David Hamilton in a Google image search, let me tell you.

That aside, Craven Cottage seems more Henley than football really. I saw City there when Keegan was managing them, and I embarrassingly let loose a foul mouthed rant at him when he appeared at the corner of the pitch, attracting disapproving looks from a family group standing near me. I will be more circumspect on Saturday, especially as Kev is unlikely to be present. I believe Anelka scored for us, though I am admittedly a little hazy, and sometimes confuse the Cottage with Loftus Road in my memory.

My own good fortune - balancing out the above-mentioned misfortune of others - with the tickets extends to not having to pay for them, but if I had, the price would have been a cool £55 each! That does seem excessive, I have to say. My City supporting cousin Steve, who still lives in Oswestry, seemed to think that Fulham would be a short little jaunt for me, but I had to disabuse him of the fact, and tell him that it can take between 90 minutes and 2 hours to get there from where I live - not a whole lot shorter than it would take to travel to London from Oswestry. I'm looking forward to the match, though, and hope that we get some decent entertainment, even though the Lord Berba is out with his hip problem.