Abandoning fans in the Algarve shows Fulham's contempt for the hardcore

The decision to play a BCD friendly in Portugal is a slap in the face to travelling fans

On the 6 June, Fulham Football Club announced vague details of a pre-season tour in Portugal. “There will likely be two matches in the Faro area that fans will be able to attend,” it said in the news piece.

A month and a half later, the club went back on that statement, announcing a behind-closed-doors friendly against Al Ittihad. It’s another empty statement from FFC following a series of PR disasters over the last few months, that further illustrates the club’s disrespect and contempt for their hardcore support.

It makes me question where the club’s hierarchy intend to take the club long term. It feels like this is the final straw. It’s time for change.

Forgotten and disrespected

Hundreds of hardworking Fulham fans, like myself, have forked out large sums of cash to see the Whites play in Portugal – a massive commitment, especially in tough times like these.

First off, the club should have realised this and followed through with two games for fans to watch. The word ‘likely’ in the initial release is now doing some heavy lifting. The club will know that as soon as the tour dates were announced, fans would flock to book flights and accommodation – and by playing a game behind closed doors despite this knowledge, you’re sticking two fingers up at the hardcore.

On top of this, perhaps the club could have offered subsidised tickets or discounted package deals? Give an incentive for fans to travel, perhaps? Nope, not at Fulham FC. Instead, fans are left in the dirt. London’s Original play their opening game in Iberia in three days. It was announced less than 24 hours ago that the scheduled second game in Estádio de São Luís wouldn’t be open to fans. Thanks to this, I haven’t been able to book a flight back to Blighty. Many have missed our solitary game in the Algarve. We’ve been forgotten and disrespected by the club many of us dedicate our lives to – and it’s nothing short of a disgrace.

Club and supporters distant

The club and its loyal support seem to become more detached with every passing day, and with every PR misstep. People are angry. The club we once loved seems to be changing in front of our eyes. Real Fulham fans are second-class citizens at our own “local” football club. This pre-season scandal exemplifies that. When will enough be enough? The Portugal saga is the final nail in the coffin for me. Change has to come – and it has to come now. If we allow this disrespect for ordinary FFC fans to continue, where will we be in five years?

How a Premier League club can operate with such incompetence is beyond me. Fans’ travel should be reimbursed. A statement of apology should be released. Will any of this happen? No, of course not. The summer-long silence toward soon-to-be European-travelling support speaks a thousand words.

They don’t care about us

A broken loyalty points system, lack of club-to-supporter relations or transparency and rising ticket prices – yet deteriorating facilities for mere mortals in the ground anywhere but the Riverside – should tell all about what Fulham’s hierarchy think of our loyal support. Simply, they don’t think, they forget. We are an afterthought. To Alistair Mackintosh, and the people below the CEO delegated to these issues, we are merely a hindrance to their grand plan. What is their grand plan, you ask?

Intentional incompetence?

Recent events illustrate the club’s ‘grand plan’ perfectly. The now-infamous “local club” line in the Fulham Pier description simply proves theories that Fulham FC is a mere vessel for the valuable real estate coveted by Fulham higher-ups. If possible, Ali Mac and co would probably ditch the football all together and have an endless gate of tourists whisked in and out the gates of the Cottage every week.

Let’s not forget that the Khans were on the cusp of a Wembley purchase. It was only when the FA didn’t sell their prized asset that the Riverside ambitions were announced. With recent Fulham Pier comments, it’s hard to not ponder if the Khans did just see Fulham as “the local football club” that they intended to displace – like our previous owner – in a bid to utilise London’s best real estate to make a billionaire’s social club that could even open on a match day.

Don’t forget your role

This pre-season calamity has just cemented what many of us thought. It isn’t even that you prioritise more profitable “fans”; you hold your hardcore support in contempt. You don’t even care about us enough to ensure we don’t lose out on hundreds of pounds of our hard-earned money for no reason other than your unwillingness to even communicate with us.

When Marco Silva – the linchpin holding Fulham FC together – leaves because you refuse to listen to his pleas for signings before the eve of the season, and Fulham succumb to yet another Khan-led relegation, it will be us, your loyal supporters, who you will come crawling to. Don’t ostracise us, and don’t forget you are custodians of FFC - we are the heart and soul of it.