Fulham FC : Wigan Athletic

The last match of our England trip took us to the London suburb of Fulham. Our opponents were Wigan Athletic, the club of Austrian team player Paul Scharner.

As we wanted to make ourselves comfortable in a pub before the game, we drove to Fulham early. From the underground station, a path led through a park, along the Thames to Craven Cottage. The stadium impresses with its almost ancient construction. It is not possible to walk around the grounds, as the stadium borders directly on the Thames at one end.

After getting a first impression, we went in search of a pub. And that turned out to be quite difficult - and ultimately culminated in a task. So if you ever go to Fulham, you should look for a pub right next to the underground station. There is only one residential area around the stadium.

So one had to shorten the time with a walk through the adjacent parks before greeting the Wigan team bus and making short contact with Scharner (Pauli !). After the gates were opened, they stormed the beer stall - for the thirst was now already very great. Nevertheless, the Carlsberg will probably never become my beer.

Our seats were in the third row. Thank God the weather had improved a lot compared to the day before - because a glance upwards revealed: no roof over our heads. The pitch was almost at head height, as the first rows were a little lower. This gave us rather unusual perspectives on the pitch.

The game itself was rather one-sided. Fulham were in control of the game after an early goal and Wigan could hardly make their mark. Only Paul Scharner was dangerous in front of the goal - but his header was just wide.

The atmosphere was great - it seems that the atmosphere is better in smaller stadiums. On the whole, I can only recommend a trip to this stadium.