The last time Fulham embraced the top flight of English football, Yorkshire
were winning the county championship under Brian Close and The Beatles were
sounding better than Liam Gallagher ever would.
But as the stylish Londoners prepare now for their reincarnation as a serious
team, there will be more than nostalgia to sustain their debut in the Premiership
next season.
They needed only a draw to ensure promotion, so dominant are they in the First
Division with six matches left, but they rounded out their campaign with a win
of nervous brilliance.
As a Fulham fan of 60 years' standing remarked during this classy performance:
'There is not a single player of ours out there who has played better than he
is playing now for Jean Tigana. In fact, this has to be our most talented team
of them all.'
It would be a delight for all impartial admirers of the passing game if Fulham
were able to embrace that talent under pressure against the likes of Manchester
United, Liverpool and Leeds.
This is the sort of football that Arthur Rowe would have been proud of at White
Hart Lane several decades ago - yet Tigana has brought a French flair to Fulham's
play that is just as wonderful to watch.
He has obviously given them free rein to express themselves as they see fit
and they did just that with a flurry of nutmegs, backheeled flicks, dummy runs
and intuitive running off the ball.
There was little in the first 45 minutes to suggest we had gathered to witness
anything more than an exhibition, although, playing into a driving wind and
drizzle in the second half, Fulham had one or two uncomfortable moments.
Overall, though, Fulham were quicker, smarter and more composed than Huddersfield,
whose anxiety for points was probably more urgent given their parlous position
near the bottom of the table. They had come to this match unbeaten in five games
yet were so clearly outclassed it was hard to believe these teams were in the
same division.
One of the first to recognise Fulham's superiority was the sharp-eyed Town
manager Lou Macari, who said: 'On the opening weekend of the season I went to
watch Birmingham play Fulham at St Andrews. When I came back into the McAlpine
on the Monday morning, I told the rest of our coaching staff that I had just
seen the champions-elect of Division One.'
These were two teams going in decidedly opposite directions, a disparity made
cruelly obvious through the class of Boa Morte and Saha up front and the masterful
defending of Melville at the back, leaving few areas in which Huddersfield competed
on level terms.
Nevertheless the first goal was a long time coming, as Fulham played with almost
arrogant ease. In the 65th minute Lucketti brought Boa Morte down in the area
and, from the spot, Saha did what he does best and blasted the ball home. Within
12 minutes, however, Facey robbed Symons in midfield, held off Melville and
placed the equaliser neatly under Taylor.
Even though they needed only a point, Fulham now regathered their senses and
pressed forward again after this hiccup in search of a win. Boa Morte, yet again,
picked up Finnan's chipped pass, rounded the keeper Vaesen and languidly stroked
in the winner.
While Fulham had the majority of possession and chances - 11 shots on goal
to Huddersfield's five - there were a few moments in the second half when the
machine looked a little creaky. Fulham missed chance after chance.
For Huddersfield, Lucketti was competitive throughout, bringing down Saha and
Boa Morte in separate challenges; Heary and Facey also provided odd moments
of encouragement and their Dutch international Gorre might have scored in the
second half if he'd had an extra moment on the ball.
For Fulham, Clark, despite missing a late chance, was all smooth control in
the middle of the field. Generally, the players around him had all the time
and space they needed in which to create a succession of eye-pleasing attacks.
The several thousand who travelled to Huddersfield to witness Fulham's elevation
stayed behind for 20 minutes celebrating near the golf range-end goalmouth.
Next season they will have one more winter at Craven Cottage, before the builders
move in. Overall they can hardly care where they play - this time five years
ago they were losing 2-1 to Torquay at the bottom end of the Third Division.
It's been some journey.