Sports
Funfairs, river walks and Hugh Grant – welcome to Fulham (away)
As the Tube doors jolt open at Putney Bridge, a gruff cry of “eaaaaagles” echoes down the platform.
It is only 10am but the mood is of boisterous anticipation for what could lie ahead. By 2pm, these people could be having an unforgettable experience.
A young couple bemoan not having remembered there’s a football match on as the queue down the stairs to Station Approach moves at a crawling pace.
There are more queues outside at the River Cafe opposite the station exit as people wait for iced lattes and croissants. Very Fulham.
A tout is trying to sell three match tickets to sit in the Hammersmith End for £270 ($350). A punter tries to haggle and the tout loses his temper: “I just told you, no bidding!”
This is pretty much the angriest scene that’ll be witnessed today (other than home fans lambasting Calvin Bassey’s defending).
This is Fulham, after all, the Premier League’s nicest club and a favourite away day for thousands upon thousands of football fans around the country.
Why? Well, for a start, you’ve got the nearby surroundings. If your route to Craven Cottage is from Putney Bridge station, take a walk down the River Thames on a sunny spring morning and transport yourself to a place of calm and serenity.
Walks along the Thames are part of the matchday routine at Craven Cottage (Tim Spiers/The Athletic)
People are sat on benches eating sandwiches, or doing a crossword in a newspaper. Even the kids swigging from bottles of Corona are harmless. You don’t get this at Millwall.
Then take a wander through leafy green Bishops Park, with its mix of families, small dogs and runners, so many runners.
There’s a funfair in the middle of it, and watching a Fulham fan with a skinhead and a Union Jack flag draped around his shoulders (yes, this man does exist) while navigating the cones laid out for children wearing roller-skates is quite an image.
Crystal Palace fans are dotted around, proudly wearing their red and blue colours. The chances of recriminations for sporting their shirts, which would be a problem at dozens of grounds in the Premier League and below, are minimal here.
Something for everyone at Fulham (Tim Spiers/The Athletic)
They talk of wanting the late kick-off at Wembley at semi-final weekend. Presumptuous, but ultimately fair.
They also talk of this being an ideal away day. “Fulham away is always on my list for the season,” Palace fan Dan tells The Athletic.
“It’s friendly, the walk to the stadium is beautiful, they have away-friendly pubs and it’s a picturesque ground on the Thames.
“They’re probably the most accommodating club for away fans. Well, they’ve been pretty accommodating in the last few years anyway because we’ve won a few.”
Until fairly recently, Fulham were so accommodating that they even had a neutral stand where home and away fans could freely sit next to each other, a concept pretty much unheard of in English football.
It’s a notion in keeping with the middle-class surroundings: quiet streets, multi-million-pound houses and rowers training for the Oxford-Cambridge University Boat Race, which will pass by here in a couple of weeks. There was even (at least) one famous actor at the game on Saturday, with Fulham fan Hugh Grant pictured lending his support.
Actor Hugh Grant was also in attendance on Saturday to support Fulham (John Walton/PA Images via Getty Images
For most of the club’s history, though, Fulham haven’t troubled the headline-makers of English football.
From 1970 to 2001, they didn’t once set foot in the top flight. A 14-year stint in the top division followed under the ownership of the now-deceased and disgraced former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed, who sold the club to Shahid Khan.
Under Khan and his son, Tony, who is vice-chairman and director of football operations, Fulham are moving towards not only becoming an established top-flight club again following a period of flitting between the top two divisions, but also to being a boutique club, where people are asked to pay high prices not just to watch a football match, but to enjoy a deluxe experience in “a location like no other”, in Shahid Khan’s words.
There is the £120million Riverside Stand that backs onto the River Thames and is being opened stage by stage. When fully completed, it will offer a restaurant curated by a Michelin-star chef, high-end bars (including one on the rooftop) and seats and a bar behind the dugout, plus a private pool. There are plans to offer an option to travel there by boat.
“No two visits are ever the same,” Fulham’s blurb on Riverside states. “One thing, however, is constant; exceptional service throughout.”
Obviously, this doesn’t come cheap. Just to sit in the Riverside Stand for Fulham’s next home game against Liverpool will cost £150. Season tickets reach the £3,000 level, the most expensive non-corporate season ticket in the Premier League.
Season tickets elsewhere in the stadium can still reach £1,024, while normal Premier League match tickets, again for Liverpool, range from £66 to £106, with a smattering of £35 seats on the sides of the Johnny Haynes Stand.
Exorbitant fees for Premier League tickets are increasingly common, especially in London where Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United will charge similar prices for matchday tickets.
It’s a lot for fans to stomach and they have tried to make their voice heard, with protests in 2023 and again recently at the Manchester United away game in the FA Cup, a joint-protest with home supporters after being charged at least £52 for a seat. In Premier League games, there is a £30 cap on away tickets across all clubs.
A Palace supporter on a successful away day for his club (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)
“There definitely a sense of feeling fleeced by the club,” Fulham regular Liam tells The Athletic.
“I have friends who can’t afford to come anymore, but the club is going in a different direction. Fulham used to be open to everyone, home and away fans, but it’s becoming much more exclusive.”
The club’s chief executive Alistair Mackintosh recently defended the price rises, saying: “When I first spoke to the Fulham Disabled Supporters Association they gave me some advice — that Fulham is the sort of club that can have a business class or first class and have fans that turn left on a plane.
“They said to me, that is for some people, but the rest of us want a premium experience elsewhere.
“They may want to have this experience for the odd game, then may want to return to their seats.
“I feel stretching pricing means there is something for everyone at Craven Cottage.
“But the attention is on the top-end pricing as it is more interesting to report than the bottom end, but our game against Villa is sold out.”
Fulham are a club on the rise, fighting for Champions League football this season under Marco Silva’s management.
On Saturday — which starts with one of the most electrifying atmospheres heard at Craven Cottage for some time for their biggest game of the season, an FA Cup quarter-final against Palace — the task of turning Fulham into a club that offers a high-end experience on and off the pitch is brought home. You can’t really offer one without the other. Just ask Queens Park Rangers.
A comprehensive 3-0 loss puts Fulham’s season on a knife edge. Out of the cup, can they now reach Europe for just the fourth time in their history?
Those boutique ticket sales may depend on it.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Who’ll win the Golden Boot at the 2026 FIFA World Cup? The race is on for who’ll score the most goals at the tournament, and it is set to be one of the tournament’s most closely watched storylines.
Several of the world’s top forwards will be aiming to finish as the competition’s leading goalscorer. Kylian Mbappé enters the tournament after winning the Golden Boot at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, while Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, and Mikel Oyarzabal are among the other players expected to challenge for the award.
And check out our list of all the 2026 World Cup goals, ranked!
Favorites To Win The Golden Boot
Harry Kane: +310 (bet $10 to win $41 total)
Lionel Messi: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Kylian Mbappé: +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Erling Haaland: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
Kai Havertz: +1300 (bet $10 to win $140 total)
Vinícius Júnior: +3300 (bet $10 to win $340 total)
Folarin Balogun: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Mikel Oyarzabal: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Lamine Yamal: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
Raphinha: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Michael Olise: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Romelu Lukaku: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Viktor Gyökeres: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
Cody Gakpo: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Cristiano Ronaldo: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
3 Goals
Lionel Messi (Argentina)
2 Goals
Johan Manzambi (Switzerland)
Harry Kane (England)
Erling Haaland (Norway)
Kylian Mbappé (France)
Harry Kane (England)
Elijah Just (New Zealand)
Yasin Ayari (Sweden)
Kai Havertz (Germany)
Folarin Balogun (USA)
1 Goal
Granit Xhaka (Switzerland)
Rubén Vargas (Switzerland)
Ermin Mahmic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Michal Sadilek (Czechia)
Teboho Mokoena (South Africa)
Jáminton Campaz (Colombia)
Luis Díaz (Colombia)
Daniel Muñoz (Colombia)
Abbosbek Fayzullaev (Uzbekistan)
Caleb Yirenkyi (Ghana)
Jude Bellingham (England)
Marcus Rashford (England)
Martin Baturina (Croatia)
Petar Musa (Croatia)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
João Neves (Portugal)
Marko Arnautović (Austria)
Jude Bellingham (England)
Marcus Rashford (England)
Yoane Wissa (DR Congo)
João Neves (Portugal)
Caleb Yirenkyi (Ghana)
Ali Olwan (Jordan)
Romano Schmid (Austria)
Leo Østigard (Norway)
Ayman Hussein (Iraq)
Ibrahim Mbaye (Senegal)
Bradley Barcola (France)
Ramin Rezaeian (Iran)
Mohammad Mohebbi (Iran)
Maxi Araújo (Uruguay)
Abdulelah Al-Amri (Saudi Arabia)
Emam Ashour (Egypt)
Alexander Isak (Sweden)
Viktor Gyökeres (Sweden)
Mattias Svanberg (Sweden)
Omar Rekik (Tunisia)
Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)
Keito Nakamura (Japan)
Daichi Kamada (Japan)
Virgil van Dijk (Netherlands)
Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands)
Felix Nmecha (Germany)
Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany)
Jamal Musiala (Germany)
Nathaniel Brown (Germany)
Deniz Undav (Germany)
Connor Metcalfe (Australia)
Nestory Irankunda (Australia)
John McGinn (Scotland)
Ismael Saibari (Morocco)
Vinícius Júnior (Brazil)
Breel Embolo (Switzerland)
Gio Reyna (USA)
Mauricio (Paraguay)
Cyle Larin (Canada)
Jovo Lukić (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Ladislav Krejcí (Czechia)
Julián Quiñones (Mexico)
Raúl Jimenez (Mexico)
Hwang In-Beom (South Korea)
Oh Hyeon-Gyu (South Korea)
Own Goals
Yazan Al-Arab (Jordan; 1)
Ayman Hussein (Iraq; 1)
Mohamed Hany (Egypt; 1)
Miro Muheim (Switzerland; 1)
Damián Bobadilla (Paraguay; 1)
Last 5 Golden Boot Winners
- 2022 (Qatar): Kylian Mbappé (France) – 8 goals
- 2018 (Russia): Harry Kane (England) – 6 goals
- 2014 (Brazil): James Rodríguez (Colombia) – 6 goals
- 2010 (South Africa): Thomas Müller (Germany) – 5 goals
- 2006 (Germany): Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 5 goals
Sports
Justin Gaethje and Ilia Topuria receive lengthy medical suspensions after UFC Freedom 250 fight
Justin Gaethje waited a long time to become an undisputed UFC champion.
Now the 37-year-old MMA star might have to wait another six months or so before fighting again.
Gaethje upset former two-weight champion Ilia Topuria with a technical knockout in a lightweight unification championship bout at the UFC Freedom 250 event Sunday on the White House South Lawn.
Topuria was a bloody and swollen mess by the time his corner stopped the fight between the fourth and fifth rounds. Gaethje executed a soaring back flip off the cage to celebrate his first undisputed belt, but it turns out that the former two-time interim champion also suffered significant injuries during the bout.
Both Gaethje and Topuria were among the five UFC Freedom 250 fighters who received 180-day medical suspensions from the Assn. of Boxing and Combative Sports Commissions, according to a list issued by the commissions and viewed by The Times.
Ilia Topuria suffered two broken orbital bones during his loss to Justin Gaethje at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14 in Washington.
(Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
Gaethje’s suspension can be shortened if he is cleared with negative MRIs for his right wrist and left knee. Topuria, who suffered two broken orbital bones, can return early if cleared by a an Oral and Maxillofacial Foundation specialist.
Both men also are required to serve mandatory rest days (45 for Gaethje, 60 for Topuria).
Alex Pereira, who lost his interim heavyweight title bout to Ciryl Gane by TKO, was medically suspended for 180 days or until he’s cleared with a negative maxillofacial CT scan. Undercard fighters Aiemann Zahabi and Steve Garcia also received 180-day medical suspensions.
Topuria won the UFC featherweight championship by knocking out Alexander Volkanovski in February 2024. He vacated that title a year later and in June 2025 defeated Charles Oliveira by knockout to claim lightweight belt.
In November, Topuria announced he was temporarily stepping away from fighting. Gaethje earned the interim lightweight title in January by defeating Paddy Pimblett by unanimous decision.
That set up the unification bout between Gaethje and Topuria, which was the final fight of an elaborate event at the White House held on President Trump’s 80th birthday and billed as part of a summer-long celebration of the country’s 250th anniversary.
Sports
Deion Sanders wanted more from his son, Shedeur Sanders, but backs development plan after Myles Garrett trade
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
The Cleveland Browns entered last season with one of the NFL’s more crowded quarterback rooms.
Shedeur Sanders took over as starting quarterback in Week 12 last season, and after two more starts, he was named the starter for the remainder of the season. Sanders’ stunning slide to the fifth round of the 2025 draft set the stage for him becoming one of the most scrutinized rookies in recent memory.
Few know Shedeur’s game better than Deion Sanders, his father and former college coach. On Wednesday, the two-time Super Bowl champion reflected on his son’s rookie season.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders throws a pass to tight end Harold Fannin Jr. during the first half of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills in Cleveland, Ohio, on Dec. 21, 2025. (Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo)
After Shedeur endured an uneven rookie season for the 5-12 Browns, the Colorado football coach said he hoped for more from his son but also pointed to the support young quarterbacks need early in their development.
“I would have wanted him to perform a little better, but that’s not just an individual thing, that’s a team thing,” Sanders told Covers while speaking on behalf of his partnership with Depend.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders greets his dad Deion Sanders before an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills in Cleveland on Dec. 21, 2025. (Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo)
“A quarterback needs help tremendously from the offensive line, from the receivers, from the running game, from the coordinators as well. “It’s not just a singular thing, like a defensive back. I don’t care what the pass rush is, (the DB) has got to do his job. It’s a little different with a quarterback. He needs several things to go right for him to be successful.”
BROWNS GM ANDREW BERRY WON’T COMMIT TO SHEDEUR SANDERS AS 2026 STARTER DESPITE ROOKIE’S PROGRESS
Sanders also weighed in on Cleveland’s decision to trade the reigning Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett to the Los Angeles Rams, a move that underscored the Browns’ rebuild.
“I’m happy with Mr. Berry, the GM, and what he’s doing, I’m not going to question his direction of what he’s bringing to the table,” Sanders said of Browns general manager Andrew Berry.
Cleveland Browns quarterback Shedeur Sanders warms up before an NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers in Cleveland on Nov. 30, 2025. (Sue Ogrocki/AP Photo)
“I’m not there, so I don’t know all the intangibles that provoked that trade. I’m happy with what they got, and I can’t wait to see how it plays out.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Sanders finished his rookie season 3-4 as a starter, with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
New York1 hour agoVideo: Knicks Fans Celebrate With Ticker-Tape Parade
-
Los Angeles, Ca1 hour agoArmed, dangerous CHP pursuit suspect tied to double homicide in Pomona
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoFirst responders honored after rescuing 12 people from capsized sailboats near Belle Isle
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoOakland man faces hate crime charges for Castro District attack
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoAt least 4 injured after vehicle drives into Dallas crowd, driver arrested
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoMiami Central students prepare for life changing trip to Zimbabwe amid funding challenges
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoGiannis to Boston is a possibility. Should the Knicks be worried?
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoDenver Public Schools’ decline in enrollment continues to reshape district
