Supporters' Trust meet CEO at Craven Cottage Back To The Cottage - 16/06/04 TRUSTED VISITORS One form of words kept cropping up: "surpasses expectations." And one facial expression: a grin of delight. The occasion was a tour of the refurbishment works at Craven Cottage, and the happy faces were those of Fulham Supporters' Trust committee members, Kevin Shea (Chairman) and Peter Hyams. With `Back to the Cottage' a reality, they had accepted the kind invitation of Fulham CEO Jim Hone to join him to see how things were shaping up. Project Manager David Kent led the hour-plus tour and Marketing Manager, Andy Oldknow accompanied too, offering plenty of opportunity for questions and answers as well as sight-seeing. Entry was through the Hammersmith End, where the seating installation has begun in earnest, and should be complete by early July. Everything else in the ground was more advanced and David was keen to stress at every opportunity that he was fully confident that all will be ready in time. It was time for the first, " Wow" as Kevin and Peter viewed the length of the pitch to the new Putney End. A modern roofed stand, with neat seating, where the crumbling open terrace had been......this had already been admired in photos. But to see it in context, with the Cottage intact to one corner, the listed tree still peeking out at the other and FULHAM confidently emblazoned in the black and white seats was a splendid sight: the old blending in with the new beautifully. Jim Hone and Kevin Shea sharing the view from the Putney End Into the former enclosure, there was a chance to confirm that the seats installed there have particularly generous leg room. Underneath the stand, a general sprucing up has taken place, but the main improvements were locked away from sight on the day: "significantly upgraded" toilets. Apparently the Chairman "had had a right go about them" and this had been heeded. The shop has been revamped with a lot more space now in front of the counter (you can now try on a Fulham shirt without the fear of poking somebody's eye out). Equally pleasant was the new open-plan ticket office and Sandra Coles was clearly delighted to be BTTC. "Bet you never thought you'd be back here, eh, Sandra?" She grinned and it was reciprocated. Season ticket sales are now over a thousand more than at Loftus Road and are expected to accelerate again towards the end of the month, partly in the natural way of things and partly because a marketing push is about to be made to 6,000 good prospects. Out through the players' tunnel, the view they'll see is of a pleasingly harmonious ground with matching roof heights at both sides and marginally higher matching ends. Fully covered and seated, it becomes a conventional medium-sized stadium, but with some character and grace to it, with every side complementing the other. And river glimpses! No longer do prospective new signings need to be shown round the place apologetically. "I'm really impressed by the overall quality of the work. None of this looks at all temporary," said Peter, approaching the Putney end. There was general agreement. David explained that the stand had a minimum specified life of 15 years, "which in the way of these things probably means at least 30." And Jim confirmed: "The investment that has been put into this refurbishment would not be justified if we were only here for a two or three-year period." He also made clear that the plan was to add improvements each close-season. The legroom at the two ends is slightly better than in the Riverside (which in turn means infinitely better than at Loftus Road) and the rake seems good. Visiting supporters will have a terrific view, and should have nothing to complain about any more, well not until the game starts. Expect the new-look Fulham to become one of the most enjoyed away outings, with all the former upsides, plus seating that now compares more than favourably with most other clubs'. Up the stairs and into the new hospitality boxes at the Putney/Riverside corner, it was time to be mightily impressed with the Thames, pitch, Cottage and four stands all laid out for inspection. Kevin said: "I had seen the drawings and the boxes from afar and considered they looked cramped and stuck in the corners. But having now seen from the inside you could not get a better view at any other football ground." General agreement again, with the proviso from David that: "actually it is even better at the Hammersmith corner." With this new configuration, guests can choose to sit on roomy outside balconies or retreat inside patio doors. Inside there's lots of space which, for flexibility, can be split into three. And each corner pod has three levels. All in all, there is a lot of scope for corporate use on weekdays, for example for business meetings or training. A wedding licence is also being considered. As for the pods at the Stevenage Road/Hammersmith corner, Sky TV will have the middle tier of this and are believed to be pleased. "Hopefully this may lead to our being on TV more often," said Jim. The TV vans will still have to be parked in the road, however. For the purposes of photo-taking there was dispensation to walk out onto the pitch, normally a no-go area. Here again, all admired the view and the grin-count rose to yet greater heights. The sand-based grass looked "flatter than a snooker table," said Kevin. David agreed and passed on the interesting information that the Club will be investing £45,000 on drilling a well into the existing water-table as a means of irrigating the pitch rather than using mains supply. "Apart from being environmentally friendly it will pay for itself," he added -- another indication that the mind-set is not short-term. Who should then appear as if on cue than Frank Boahene, Chief Groundsman! No need to guess his facial expression as all admired his lovely pitch. "Absolutely delighted" to be back, Frank reckoned that everyone who knew the ground at its most run-down, as it was when he arrived at the Club, will be thrilled at how it has now turned out. He confirmed that from his point of view, the abandoned scheme with no corners would have been extremely difficult, but here there is ample airflow and he is hopeful of being able to produce a good ball-playing surface all season. Impossible not to enthuse about the setting, which Andy confirmed would be one of the marketing points. Above all: "accessible Premiership football", but also in a really nice atmosphere and locale. Try it a few times. Enjoy. Get hooked. And if Andy is to be believed, the range and quality of catering facilities will also be a quantum leap from previously -- as they will frankly need to be to support a push into new markets. "At this juncture, the scarce resource for this Club is not space," summed up Jim, "it is people. We need more of them, and until this ground is regularly full with a waiting list for season tickets, there is no point in looking any further. We now have an excellent product to offer and anything that you in the Supporters' Trust can do to help to spread the word will be appreciated." Commenting afterwards, Kevin Shea said: "The chance to visit the ground at such length and in such company was much appreciated and reflects well on the relationship between Club and supporters now that we have all emerged from recent difficulties. We were seriously impressed both with how the stadium is looking and by the obvious care and pride of the workforce and their management." He continued: "Jim Hone has got his head screwed on and both the supporters and the Chairman can have confidence in what he's trying to achieve. Now the people at the top deserve full backing from the rest of us. That means turning up in numbers and telling all our friends the good news that the Club is looking to go nowhere else but upwards in the league." "To Mr Al-Fayed we say: `The new-look Cottage is even better than we had dared to hope for and supporters will be grateful and proud. What you have enabled on and off the pitch has been fantastic and we look forward to you enjoying it with us for years to come.'" ENDS Link: http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/displaynews.asp?id=5114