The Run Begins:

Fulham have earned the respect of the Premier League. The unfancied West-London club surprised everyone – themselves included with their amazing run from qualifiers through group stage to the knock-out stages and all the way to the final in Hamburg tonight. Unlike their opponents Atlético de Madrid they had to do it the hard way, having earned their place on merit, rather than being parachuted into the competition after failing to impress in the Champion’s League.

It started in July against FK Vetra. Fulham beat them 3-0 home and away. There were stiffer tests ahead. The Cottagers reached the group stage of the Europa League comfortably. Few believed that Hodgson could turn Craven Cottage into a European fortress and embark on a run that saw them unbeaten at home in the Europa League. Serie A giants Roma came to Craven Cottage and only just snatched a draw.

Basle came and left empty handed and only had to avoid defeat in Switzerland to eliminate Fulham, but Hodgson and his men had other ideas, beating Basle 3-2 in Switzerland. Results went their way and they progressed to the knock-out stage – a plum tie against the last UEFA Cup Champions Shakhtar Donetsk, but despite securing an away goal at fortress Craven Cottage, the Ukrainians had to win in Donetsk – they didn’t. The defending champions had been eliminated by Fulham.

The once great Old Lady of Turin was next. Trailing 3-1 from the away leg, Fulham needed a special European night. It couldn’t have started worse as David Trezeguet gave Juventus the lead rapidly. Fulham had to score four to progress. “At the Cottage on each European night, the fans really get behind us and we seem to pull out the extra when we need it,” said Brede Hangeland, “so those are a few great experiences here and it’s just an honour to be part of that.”

Getting Serious:

Hangeland is not alone in appreciating the contribution of Fulham’s no longer secret weapon. “We just had that belief that we’d always come through,” said Nigerian defender Dickson Etuhu. “We worked hard in training. We just kept going and luckily we got the goals and this year we believed in ourselves; we kept pushing and we got the goals that we needed.”

Next came German champions Wolfsburg. They proved no match for Fulham, home or away. An Icelandic volcano did its bit to scupper Fulham, but despite travelling to Hamburg by bus which exhausted the players – a 0-0 bore draw was the result – Fulham’s fans that had stayed loyal through all four divisions wanted and deserved a special night and not even Mladan Petrić superb performance would be allowed to rob them of their moment.

Trailing 1-0 at half time to Petrić’s magnificent free kick, Hodgson had to perform his magic at half time and Fulham’s not so secret weapon had to come into their own again – the fans. “The fans help,” said Ghanaian defender John Pantsil. “At 1-0 we had to change things around. Also the changes we did before we got the second goal was amazing and at the right time. They picked us up to keep our attacking play, which is important. I always believe in the fans.”