Fulham are facing criticism from the fanbase for offering match tickets for Brentford away to participants who take part in a pre-match charity run
The Riverside Run is a community 10k event organised by the Fulham FC Foundation, starting at Craven Cottage and ending near the Gtech Community Stadium, taking place on 18 April before Fulham’s Premier League clash with Brentford.
The club offered a Matchday Package for £60 and a Run Only Package for £45. While both grant entry for the run, the former includes a match ticket for the west London derby to finishers, effectively guaranteeing a spot in the away end for £15.
The club’s Foundation does fantastic work in the community – and this is the latest example of how they raise important funds.
Why the backlash?
When the fixture list is released ahead of a new season, the majority of match-going Fulham supporters will immediately scan two fixtures: Chelsea and Brentford away.
Chelsea tickets are incredibly competitive to acquire and typically require a high number of loyalty points, meaning the majority of those in attendance have amassed points by following the club home and away for several years.
Brentford tickets are even scarcer. With Stamford Bridge’s 40,000 capacity, a few thousand tickets are allocated to the away end, but at the Gtech, only 1,500 or so are available for away fans in their 17,000 capacity ground. The demand significantly outweighs the number of tickets available, meaning several thousand loyal fans miss out every year.
The away end, unsurprisingly, promptly sold out on Monday.
Supporters’ frustration centres on fears that long-standing fans — who have built up loyalty points and earned priority access to high-demand fixtures such as Brentford — may have been overlooked.
What have people said?
The Fulham Supporters’ Trust condemned the club’s approach in a post on X on Tuesday.
“As said at the time, we raised our concerns about the (Fulham Foundation’s) Brentford run with the Club last month, as an urgent matter outside our monthly meetings,” the statement said.
“We support their attempts to raise funds, but strongly disagree with using access to away games for this purpose.
“Following further concerns raised by our fans on social media today, we are now seeking urgent clarification on whether that was still the case when the tickets went on sale on Monday.”
Sammy James, host of the Fulhamish podcast, voiced his frustration in a podcast episode last month when the run was announced.
“The fact that Fulham have offered a ticket to an oversubscribed match to people to take part in a fun run – and there’s no stipulation that you even need to be a Fulham fan, it seems like, as far as we can tell – I think it’s just a slap in the face,” he said.
“The whole point is that Fulham fans travel up and down the country each week earn their loyalty points. There is a system. And even if the system is not great, at least there is a process by which you qualify to get Brentford tickets. Effectively, this just allows people to bypass it.
James also praised the admirable work done by the FFC Foundation and stressed he believes there was no malice behind the decision (whoever made it), but that it was an oversight in an attempt to encourage more people to sign up to a worthy cause.
Have Fulham done this before?
The FFC Foundation has previously organised fundraising bike rides from SW6 to Brighton and Nottingham, aligning with Fulham’s away trips to the Amex and the City Ground, with participants also receiving a match ticket in the away end.
On the face of it, this is the same concept as the run to Brentford, but it didn’t spark any backlash for two reasons.
Firstly, those cycles are gruelling endeavours, meaning the number of entries will be fewer than an accessible 10k run.
Secondly, the demand is nowhere near as high for that callibre of fixture compared to Brentford, meaning no hardcore Fulham fan who goes to every home and away game will miss out at the expense of a cyclist.
Arguably the most controversial thing Fulham have done with away ticket allocation was before last season’s Boxing Day match at Stamford Bridge, where the club decided to scrap the loyalty points system and create a chaotic free-for-all for tickets.