'best Stand In The World'? Fulham Take Fan Experience To New Levels

Have you ever packed your swimming costume to spell and watch unrecorded football?

Season tickets successful Fulham's Riverside Stand tin already costs up to £3,000 - nan highest successful nan convention - and a caller eight-tier hospitality conception opened this play offering Michelin prima menus, rooftop excavation entree connected nan three-floor 'Sky Deck', sweeping views crossed nan River Thames and London, positive nan champion halfway statement seats.

Fulham is owned by US billionaire Shahid Khan and location is nary uncertainty this an American sport-inspired hospitality acquisition - but it's really much akin to a five-star edifice aliases a cruise ship, than different elite stadium hospitality for illustration Tottenham aliases Everton's caller ground.

BBC Sport was invited to return a look astir connected Saturday, arsenic Fulham mislaid 3-1 to Everton.

The rooftop excavation hadn't been vanished - though you can't really spot nan transportation from nan pool. But that's deliberate. Watching nan shot feels almost for illustration an afterthought.

Architect Phillip Johnson of nan patient Populous explains: "Usually erstwhile you build a caller guidelines you effort to maximise nan position of nan pitch. The Riverside Stands switches nan attraction to nan river.

"It intends it is designed unusually for a shot ground. We took from nan contented of rowing and vessel houses down successful Putney."

And task head Glen Sutton said: "We thought measurement little astir nan mean shot experience. The creation of this is overmuch much akin to world people hotels, cruise chips aliases restaurants than thing successful football."

On non-matchdays, nan guidelines remains unfastened and besides becomes a backstage members' nine - targeted astatine section residents successful nan able portion of westbound London wherever Craven Cottage is situated.

The caller Riverside Stand accommodation are straight other nan Johnny Haynes Stand. Built successful 1905, it is nan oldest guidelines successful English shot and a Grade II listed building, offering existent practice - but limiting opportunities to modernise that portion of nan ground.

Fulham main executive Alistair Mackintosh explained: "Fulham has ever been blessed pinch a awesome location but until coming not had awesome hospitality.

"This has been a agelong clip coming. We wanted nan champion guidelines successful nan world. Going measurement back, this was a existent imagination for maine - but we had delays pinch Covid, and needing a lease for nan River Thames.

"I said to nan Fulham Supporters' Trust erstwhile I first started 17 years ago, and they said 2 things were important to them. First, sustainability and past staying astatine Craven Cottage.

"They had moved earlier and it wasn't right. The proprietor Shahid Khan took nan imagination and put it connected steroids."

So Fulham fans person kept their historical 28,000-capacity ground. But what's nan pay-off?

The wider backdrop to Fulham's 'world class' Riverside instrumentality acquisition is nan Premier League's relentless march towards monetising nan matchday experience.

Fans astatine respective clubs including Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea person held protests this play complete summons value rises, concerned that clubs are prioritising much lucrative firm hospitality income alternatively of play summons holders who lend to nan ambiance astatine games.

Broadly, location is besides a cognition that local, hardcore supporters are being priced retired of matches, successful favour of tourists, who will walk much money connected food, portion and successful nan nine shop connected matchdays.

The Football Supporters Association has been captious astir an "attack connected concessions" astatine immoderate clubs and suggested nan simplification connected play tickets disposable is simply a "covert" measurement of charging premium prices for nan biggest games.

Other clubs specified arsenic Wolves, Brentford and Liverpool person announced freezes connected summons prices.

A Liverpool MP, Ian Byrne, precocious said "young moving people supporters" were being "priced out" of top-flight matches.

At Manchester United, immoderate fans down nan dugouts are being relocated to person those seats into 'premium' priced hospitality areas.

When United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe defended those ticket value increases recently, he argued: "I don't deliberation it makes consciousness for a Man United summons to costs little than a summons to spot Fulham."

The caller Riverside improvement arrives amid some disapproval from Fulham Supporters Trust (FST) astir play summons prices rising by 2.8% crossed nan board.

FST, nan biggest instrumentality group astatine Craven Cottage, does judge that nan Riverside Stand is an important gross stream, which it says should thief support prices down for nan mean protagonist successful nan remainder of nan ground.

They based on that matchday gross is dwarfed by broadcast income and commercialized sponsorship deals.

Fulham opportunity nan determination to raise prices "was made pinch observant consideration, mostly driven by nan continued emergence successful matchday and operational costs", adding: "Our ambition to beryllium financially sustainable, arsenic good arsenic competitory connected nan transportation successful an ever-demanding Premier League, are besides ever important factors erstwhile deliberating summons prices."

A caller Uefa report put Fulham extracurricular nan apical 10 Premier League clubs for mean gross output per location lucifer - down West Ham (£1.9m); Brighton (£1.1m) and Wolves (£0.9m).

The caller Riverside Stand is accessed via Gate 51, and you travel retired straight onto a decking area which overlooks nan stream and has nutrient kiosks and unrecorded euphony playing.

One instrumentality said it is for illustration stepping into a "posh plot party" - this is simply a abstraction unfastened to fans pinch wide admittance tickets.

Another entranceway awaits those pinch 'extra' hospitality tickets and features a golden, well-lit spiral staircase serving various lounges up from nan basement to nan 5th level wherever nan excavation is.

Architect Johnson says location is very small mention of Fulham, nary memorabilia, and conscionable a fewer logos aliases discreet achromatic and achromatic colouring, pinch 1 level having cloth upholstery much fitting of a Dubai skyscraper than a shot setting.

There are besides backstage rooms pinch backstage balconies overlooking nan river, wherever you tin person Fulham shirts signed by nan full squad connected arrival.

The guidelines overhangs nan River Thames and this is wherever nan pre-match hospitality takes spot pinch champagne aliases mimosas served connected arrival.

The opening of nan guidelines was substantially delayed from its original target day of September 2021 because of galore factors that arose during construction, including nan Covid pandemic.

Johnson added: "It juxtaposes pinch nan historical Johnny Haynes guidelines which was designed by a leader of nan sports architectural industry, Archibald Leitch."

A unsocial offering is simply a creche for parents pinch children excessively young to bask nan match.

Private members salary betwixt £750 and £1,250 a year, pinch nan creche, a spa, edifice rooms and a excavation available.

That interest doesn't see entree to matches and Fulham opportunity presently only astir 20%-30% of members are willing successful matches alongside their packages.

Mark Wooding, who has been a instrumentality since 1962, said: "It is costly but a awesome stand. We request immoderate hospitality and though immoderate fans salary £3,000, only a fewer 100 fans are paying that. We person to co-exist pinch hospitality and it happens astatine each clubs. We person a 28,000 capacity stadium only and are trying to compete pinch Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal."

David Clarke, a Fulham instrumentality since 1958, said: "I understand that we request to raise arsenic overmuch money arsenic we tin to compete astatine a precocious level and for nan squad to succeed. I americium happy capable pinch what we person sewage but it is not cheap.

"The disappointment is that erstwhile you salary £1,200 aliases truthful for a play ticket, you consciousness for illustration location are a batch of bully places you can't spell to. We person bully bars down present but it would beryllium bully to beryllium fto into moreover nan little hospitality levels.

Darby Goede added: "I emotion nan Riverside Stand. We effort to get present astatine slightest an hr early to bask nan £3 pints (available to non-hospitality fans until an hr earlier kick-off) and nan river."

Tottenham's caller stadium offers 22 tiers of tickets, pinch suites, good eating and a passageway club, wherever you tin watch nan teams travel retired onto nan transportation done glass. Brighton also person a passageway nine offering utmost closeness to nan players.

Chelsea person precocious travel up pinch a 'Dugout Club' and charged up to £15,000 for a azygous spot for nan caller location lucifer against Liverpool.

The offering includes a spot straight down either bench, entree to a bluish carpet, wherever nan squad autobus comes into nan stadium and allows you to locomotion connected nan transportation earlier nan match. Manchester City person besides offered akin pitchside entree for respective seasons.

Arsenal charge much than £30,000-a-year to subordinate nan Diamond Club pinch heated seats, eating astatine an exclusive edifice and an onyx barroom for drinks.

When Everton move into their caller stadium, they will beryllium offering a "Club View Lounge" for £1,200 a ticket, successful a fenced-off enclosure which will person reclining chairs, individual televisions for replays and a concierge work to present food.

Of course, nan Premier League is only catching up pinch akin experiences successful motorsports, equine racing and crossed nan biggest US sports.

Increasing gross streams, successful theory, is sold to beforehand amended performances connected nan pitch, particularly successful nan era of Premier League profit and sustainability rules.

Clubs for illustration Fulham must proceed raising revenues, to salary transportation fees and wages - but successful a sustainable mode to equilibrium nan books and not only clasp Premier League status, aft years arsenic a 'yo-yo club', going betwixt nan apical formation and nan Championship.

They person now established themselves pinch 4 years successful nan Premier League and are pushing to suffice for Europe for nan first clip since 2010 nether head Marco Silva.

But that each costs money and Fulham are competing alongside bigger, richer clubs.

Project head Sutton told BBC Sport: "It's a monumental time for Fulham FC.

"We borrowed overmuch much from unthinkable high-end hospitality and location are different experiences connected offer. The Riverside marketplace downstairs has 10 independent traders, 7 of which are from nan section borough and that's unfastened to each fans.

"This improvement creates revenues streams that are important for nan financial sustainability of a historical nine for illustration this.

"Unless you travel up pinch imaginative ways to create nan location you are in, we've seen that different clubs person near their historical homes a fewer miles away, to build nan capacity and amenity they need.

"By opening for 365 days a year, we tin guarantee we support nan champion unit distant from restaurants and hotels successful nan metropolis which different sections of nan intermezo assemblage struggle with."