Fulham get go-ahead to rebuild Cottage

Fulham can kick off next season at Craven Cottage after local council officials approved the Londoners’ £5m (€7.1m) scheme to bring their outdated ground up to Premiership standards.

Chairman Mohamed Al Fayed is funding the budget revamp after axing a far more grandiose £100m (€142m) plan for a 30,000 state-of-the-art stadium because of its wildly escalating cost.

Builders will now move into Craven Cottage and bolt seats onto terraces, add roofing and instal new floodlights, giving Fulham’s traditional home an all-seater capacity of 22,000 by August 2004.