Fulham USA: US Supporters club of Fulham FC

Fulham Doing All the Right Things, But Automatic Promotion Still Unlikely

Fulham is halfway through their stretch of 6 matches against competition in the top 8 positions. The team has done well getting 7 points out of a possible 9 so far. Unfortunately, due to Cardiff’s return to top form, our chances of automatic promotion remain unlikely.

After losing all of their matches in the holiday season, Cardiff has gone on a run equal to Fulham’s with 6 wins and 2 draws in the past eight. So while Fulham’s run has allowed them to move up the table they have stayed even with Cardiff. In the past eight matches Fulham has gained 9 points on Derby, 10 points on Bristol City, but 0 on Cardiff.

Cardiff and Fulham Moving Up In Tandem


In just twelve matches Fulham needs to find three more wins than Cardiff. Cardiff does have a difficult schedule and will face four teams in the top six: Wolverhampton, Derby, Aston Villa, and Sheffield United...

There I was, all staked out in front of my computer, six minutes into the match when the other half of the now-defunct Tim and Bob Show arrived with food and good companionship designed to help me recover from my latest medical adventure. Having finally watched this season’s iteration of Fulham enough to be able to write a coherent View, I was saddened to pass up the opportunity to write MY first match report of the season. About three hours later I remembered that ESPN3 has a replay option. There it was, waiting for me like a faithful four-legged friend, the match from the beginning!

And what a match. It didn’t take me more than a few minutes to recognize that this is NOT Mick McCarthy’s Wolverhampton Wanderers. This is a footballing side with disciplined and committed players executing a brilliant game plan. Two things are required to beat Fulham...

With a strong run since defeating Sheffield United in December, Fulham has put themselves in excellent position to qualify for the playoffs and they have an outside chance at earning automatic promotion. In this post we’ll look at what Fulham needs to do to accomplish either option. In the coming weeks we’ll monitor their progress and provide updates. But before we get to that, let’s take a moment to put the season into context.

2017-18 vs. 2016-17
Fulham has managed to exceed last season’s performance to-date, despite facing injury challenges in 2017/18 that were avoided last season. With 31 matches completed Fulham is 3 points ahead of last year’s total and 3 spots higher on the table. We were 6 points outside of the playoffs and 16 points outside of automatic promotion at this point last year. This year we are in the middle of the playoff spots and 7 points outside of automatic promotion.

Last year’s bid for the playoffs required a scintillating...