One of the strange things about Europe is that someone you know from the United States is bound to be in the same location as you at some point. This was the case with my friend Todd San Jule. The last game Todd and I had attended together was the Seattle Seahawks at Green Bay Packers NFC divisional playoff game on January 12, 2008.

This time we agreed to meet for the Fulham and Basel Europa League match at Craven Cottage. In order to get to Craven Cottage I took the underground to the Putney Bridge stop. The stadium is a far walk from the tube stop.

Obtaining Tickets
My original plan had been to arrive at Craven Cottage early, hang out at a pub by the stadium and meet Todd when he got off work. This plan changed when Todd got off work earlier than he thought and I arrived later than I thought.

While Todd was waiting for me I told him to buy tickets for the match. I thought the tickets were £20 since I had looked at ticketmaster.co.uk a few days before the match. However, that was the non-day-of-game price. The price at the box office was £30. If I had known of the price increase I would have bought tickets from the ticket touts I passed on the way from the Putney Bridge tube stop to the stadium – but I did not know.

It turned out ok though since our seats were a few rows from the field, halfway between mid-field and the top of the penalty box.

Craven Cottage
Craven Cottage is a classic old English football ground. It is nestled up to a river and is small enough where you really feel apart of the action. In the lowest scoring game I had seen in over a week, Fulham defeated FC Basel 1-0.

Post Game
After the game Todd and I went to The King’s Arm located at 425 New Kings Rd. There are quite a few pubs in the area to try. After one pint I needed to head back to Big Chris’ house so I could pack and book my hotel for Helsinki, Finland.