Will Tom Cairney ever get a testimonial?

As TC moves into his 12th season, we ask when will he get his celebratory match?

Credit: IMAGO/News Images

Hands up anyone who’s been to a testimonial match?

Chances are you’re over 40, then, because the concept - a game bestowed on a long-serving player to acknowledge service and provide funds for retirement - has been overtaken by the rise of the Premier League. These days, professional footballers in the higher echelons of the game should leave it set up for life.

Ten years used to be the recognised qualifying period, which means Tom Cairney should be in line for a testimonial. But while the chance to acclaim a club legend would be welcomed by all, our Lamborghini-driving captain is probably not in need of a bob or two. And, given fixture congestion and injury worries, the likelihood of other clubs allowing their players to participate might be slim.

It wasn’t always thus. Fulham have a long and distinguished record of staging testimonials at the Cottage.

The last of the line, to date, was in 2000 when Simon Morgan, the long-time captain who led the team in the pre-Fayed era and just crept into Jean Tigana’s management spell, hosted a Tottenham Hotspur side on 2 August. A pre-season friendly in all but name, a Fulham Veterans v Chelsea Veterans match preceding it.

The game was more than just 90 minutes, however: it was the culmination of a year of fundraising events expertly co-ordinated by Fulham director Dave Gardner; golf days, discos and quiz evenings swelled the coffers. One final event would take place two months later, a dinner at the Ramada Hotel at Heathrow. “The only downside (to the year),” Gardner quipped, “is that he’s enjoyed himself so much he is threatening to stay around long enough for a second testimonial.”

Morgs managed to swing a highly appropriate sponsorship deal with Captain Morgan rum, in whose honour he was pictured on the front of the Spurs testimonial programme cradling a bottle of said spirit.

Humble origins

The first Fulham player to receive a so-called ‘benefit match’ was legendary goalkeeper Jack Fryer, who not only captained the club but led us to two Southern League championships in 1906-07. He pocketed £630, obviously a very substantial sum, in March 1909, from a game against Clapton (now Leyton) Orient. It was a League match rather than a specially organised fixture, but the proceeds were no less welcome as his career ended the following year after 142 Fulham appearances.

Fryer’s successor between the sticks, Arthur Reynolds, was first to have a specially arranged game, which took place in April 1923, Chelsea the visitors. Reynolds’ career from 1909 to 1924 set an appearance record, so the accolade was well deserved. Comparatively few testimonials happened between the wars, 1956 seeing the concept revived for Reg Lowe, whose career was halted by injury. The single-sheet programme for the game against Luton Town would become a major Fulham collectable.

All-star exhibitions

Fulham played an ‘All-Star XI’ in 1960 as a testimonial for Joe Bacuzzi and Arthur Stevens. This took place in May after the season had concluded, Fulham winning 7-6. Fast forward to the end of the 1960s and a Johnny Haynes XI was to play a Bobby Moore XI in late April 1969 in what was billed as Haynes’ ‘20 Season Celebration’. Despite Fulham suffering successive relegations from the top flight, a bumper crowd of 24,444 - the second-highest attendance that season - thronged the Cottage.

Johnny had, of course, famously become the first £100 a week footballer in 1961, smashing the previous £20 wage cap. He captained England 22 times and appeared in two World Cups, while Moore, skipper of the 1966 winners, would finish his League career at Fulham.

Seven months later our own Jules Rimet winner, George Cohen, enjoyed a testimonial. Like Haynes, he has a statue at the Cottage and, also like the Maestro, his one-club career was ended prematurely through injury. So the £7,000 proceeds of a match between a World Cup XI and an International XI were probably welcome. Sadly, George was suffering from pleurisy on the day and was unable to take the pitch. The World Cup side won 10-7 nevertheless!

More heroes honoured

The 1970s saw Stan Brown (1970), Steve Earle (1975), Les Barrett, and Alan Mullery (both 1976) all awarded testimonials. Earle’s unluckily came the year after he had left Fulham for Leicester, and the attendance was a correspondingly low 1,776 as his past and present club drew 2-2.

Future Fulham manager, then England captain, Kevin Keegan arrived at the Cottage in 1982 to honour Les Strong, bringing with him the national team that was about to fly to Spain for the World Cup. Fulham had just won promotion to the second tier, and the 7,120 present to see England win 3-0 swelled Strongy’s pension pot to £17,000. Four years later Gerry Peyton was to see only 2,210 attend his game against Chelsea. This reflected a relegation season, after which the Irish keeper departed to Bournemouth on a free transfer.

John Marshall had not one but two games in his honour in 1990, shared with fellow midfielder Peter Scott. Their team-mate, the legendary Gordon ‘Ivor’ Davies, celebrated his two spells with the club between 1978-84 and 1986-91 by picking a side in 1991 full of his national team-mates over the years. Wales beat Fulham 4-1 in front of a 3,892 crowd.

Glenn Cockerill’s match in 1997 raised eyebrows, but it seems it was part of the deal that brought the veteran midfielder to Fulham for a single season. He was signed by one-time Southampton colleague, now FFC manager, Micky Adams and played a key role with 40 appearances in helping Fulham to the first of three promotions in five years. His fixture brought Alan Shearer, another ex-Saint, to the Cottage - and the pundit-to-be played in Fulham white.

Why not?

Maybe testimonials have had their day. But Tom Cairney qualifies for one, going by the ten-year criterion - and long-time team-mate Tim Ream clocked up an impressive nine years (2015-2024) before departing without an official farewell. How about a Tom’n’Tim testimonial as a pre-season friendly next summer, Scotland v USA? The proceeds could go to a nominated charity; maybe a football-related cause like the Fulham Foundation.

As someone once said, “We can dream...”