Fulham Supporters’ Trust calls on Council to approve Cottage plans
The Fulham Supporters’ Trust calls on Hammersmith and Fulham Council’s Planning Applications Committee to approve Fulham Football Club’s application to renovate the Riverside Stand and increase the capacity of Craven Cottage to 30,000 seats.
Craven Cottage has been Fulham Football Club’s historic home since 1898 and the club returned home in 2003 after a two-year exile at Loftus Road. Since then, the Council has approved two applications to increase the capacity of the stadium, including one for 30,000 seats, which is necessary since attendances at the Cottage have steadily risen during Fulham’s ascent up the leagues. The Council have also previously stated that they would work with all three local Premier League clubs to ensure that they remained in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
The returning chair of the Fulham Supporters’ Trust, Tom Greatrex MP, said: ‘We welcome Fulham Football Club’s clear commitment to a permanent stay at Craven Cottage. During Fulham’s unprecedented run of success in both domestic and European football over the past three years, the Cottage has been full to capacity. The new stand will be bring tangible benefits for local residents, including a new Riverside walk linking the ground with Bishop’s Park and will help with crowd management on matchdays. Given that these proposals have the strong support of local residents and having Fulham Football Club in Hammersmith and Fulham contributes £35m to the local economy every year, we believe both residential and sporting interests would be best served by approving the application.’
The Council’s Planning Applications Committee meets on Thursday 26 July (tomorrow, at 7pm) at Hammersmith Town Hall to consider the application, which was backed by 91% of local residents in a detailed consultation exercise earlier this year.
