Ticket to Europe
In the 2008/09 Premier League season, Fulham finished seventh, their highest-ever finish, earning qualification for the inaugural UEFA Europa League.
Fulham began their European campaign in a third qualifying round. Their opponent was a Lithuanian side FK Vetra. The first leg was played away in Lithuania in July 2009, still a few weeks before the start of the Premier League season. The Cottagers won 3-0.
The second leg in London ended with the same score. In the subsequent playoff round, Fulham eliminated Russian side Amkar Perm (after results of 3-1 and 0-1), so they could look forward to the main draw.
Further steps on the road to the final
Fulham were drawn in Group E along with AS Roma from Italy, Swiss side FC Basel and Bulgarians CSKA Sofia. The Cottagers finished second in the group with 11 points (3 wins and 2 draws) behind Roma, and they advanced to the playoffs.
In the first playoff round (round of 32), Fulham faced Shakhtar Donetsk, the defending champions from the previous season (when the competition was named the UEFA Cup for the last time). After a 2-1 win at home and a draw in Ukraine, Fulham achieved another great win. However, an even greater scalp was yet to come.
The greatest result in Fulham's history
In the round of 16, Fulham were drawn against a team of seismic proportions, Italian giants Juventus. The first leg was held in Italy. At the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, Juventus beat Fulham 3-1.
A week later, on March 18th, 2010 in London, things were even worse inside two minutes of the second leg when David Trezeguet struck. However, Fulham showed their never-say-die spirit.
Bobby Zamora restored parity on the night with some fine centre-forward play just seven minutes later. Juventus then got into big trouble in the 26th minute when Fabio Cannavaro was sent off for bringing down Zoltan Gera.
The Hungarian playmaker then got himself on the scoresheet with a close-range finish. The first half ended with Fulham leading 2-1.
Early in the second half, Gera netted again from the penalty spot to bring the aggregate score level. And with about 10 minutes left, Clint Dempsey scored one of the most incredible goals Craven Cottage had ever witnessed to secure a 5-4 victory for Fulham over famous Juventus.
Roy Hodgson’s Fulham team wrote themselves into the history books with an unbelievable comeback against Juve. The home match in the round of 16 was arguably Fulham's greatest result in the history of the club.
Two more big wins and one devastating loss
The Cottagers then celebrated success in the next two rounds: the quarter-finals and semi-finals. In both cases, they defeated German opponents.
First, Wolfsburg, whom they defeated both home (2-1) and away (1-0), and then in the semi-finals, the West London side eliminated Hamburger SV (0-0 in Hamburg, 2-1 at Craven Cottage).
Fulham were suddenly in the final of a major European competition. It was being played in Hamburg, whose team the Cottagers had previously not allowed into the final. It is as if the Volksparkstadion remembered who eliminated their team and dealt Fulham severe retribution.
Fulham lost the final against Atletico Madrid in unfortunate fashion, conceding the decisive goal from Diego Forlan in the 26th minute of extra time.
Roy Hodgson led the way for Fulham
The 2009/10 season was arguably the most successful season in the club's history. They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the quarter-finals after being knocked out by Tottenham, and finished 12th in the Premier League.
However, the main success was of course reaching the final in the inaugural year of the Europa League. The achievement of taking Fulham so unexpectedly far, beating famous teams like defending champions from the previous year Shakhtar Donetsk, Juventus, Hamburger SV, and others, led to Roy Hodgson being voted the Manager of the Year (by League Managers Association). He won the poll by the widest margin in the history of the award.
Which players were the main building stones of this team and the great success for Fulham? The goalkeeper was Australian legend Mark Schwarzer and the defence was based on the reliable performances of Norwegian Brede Hangeland, two Northern Irishmen Aaron Hughes and Chris Baird, and also Paul Konchesky.
The experienced Irishman Damien Duff and Danny Murphy played brilliantly in midfield. Key player Zoltan Gera also starred. And we can't forget striker Bobby Zamora, who contributed a total of 19 goals throughout the season.