Fulham Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they celebrated their 125th anniversary in 2004, and are in the top tier of English football, the Premier League. Fulham are the oldest professional football team in London, usually considered to have been founded in 1879 (though the semi-professional Cray Wanderers are the oldest team in London still in existence).
The club spent much time in the old First Division through the 1960s but never gained any major honours. In 1975, as a Second Division team, they contested the FA Cup final for the only time in their history, losing 2–0 to West Ham United, the Fulham side that day containing former Hammers great Bobby Moore. Fulham qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2002 by winning the Intertoto Cup, beating Bologna 5–3 in the final over two legs. In the UEFA Cup, they won through two rounds before being defeated by Hertha Berlin. In the mid-1990s they had a brief spell in the former Fourth Division, but within less than a decade, they advanced into the top flight, their new millionaire chairman, Mohamed Al-Fayed, playing a crucial role. In 2009, Fulham had their highest-ever finish in the top-flight, coming 7th to qualify for Europe once again.
The club has produced many British greats including Johnny Haynes, George Cohen, Bobby Robson, Rodney Marsh and Alan Mullery. They play at the historic Craven Cottage, their home since 1896, a riverside ground on the banks of the River Thames in Fulham, having spent two years at Loftus Road while Craven Cottage was undergoing renovations to bring it up to Premier League standards. The club's training ground is located near Motspur Park (and was where Chariots of Fire among others was filmed), where Fulham's Academy is also situated, including a mini-stadium where the reserves play. Fulham currently has a partnership agreement with the Boston Red Sox, an American baseball club .
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