New plans to redevelop part of Craven Cottage, home of Fulham F.C., and re-open the Thames path beside it have been submitted to the local council.
The club want to knock down the existing Riverside Stand and build a shiny new replacement in its stead, bumping the ground's capacity up from 25,000 to 30,000. You can read more about the application at Building Design. Fulham fans can relax, though — the grade II-listed Johnny Haynes stand will remain untouched. Less reassuringly, the controversial Michael Jackson statue that Mohammad al-Fayed erected last year will remain, though it'll be moved to a new location. The chairman is unlikely to be swayed by calls to get rid of Jacko entirely, given his robust response to prior criticism: 'If some stupid fans don't understand and appreciate such a gift this guy gave to the world they can go to hell'.
As we discovered last year in our map of all the places London's football clubs have called home, Fulham are one of the capital's more peripatetic professional sides, with at least 11 grounds to their name. They moved to their current home in 1896, and have remained there ever since, aside from a a two year spell between 2002 and 2004 when they played at Loftus Road whilst work to modernise Craven Cottage was carried out.
The club will hold an exhibition displaying the plans on 25 and 28 January.
