Fulham upset may prove a blessing in disguise

IT DIDN’T occur to me until Saturday that the seats at the far end of the Putney Stand at Craven Cottage afford visiting fans the opportunity to contemplate the gently lapping waters of the river Thames and the pleasure craft and wildlife serenely cruising by one of the Premier League’s few remaining old-fashioned stadia.

Doubtless the Arsenal estate agents would ramp up the prices for seats with such “exclusive riverside views”.

It’s easy to appreciate why Fulham have been fending off the property developers these past few decades and why their charismatic chairman has tussled with his own instinctive tendencies to want to turn a profit. Unfortunately the “landmark developments” that were intended to offset our massive debts (up until “the credit crunch”!) do not offer prospective investors the benefits of anything like such a highly desirable location. The nearest one gets to nature at our new gaff is an adjacent patch of waste ground, laughably known as the Gillespie Park Nature Reserve (considering it’s smaller than some people’s back garden).