Fulham chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed vowed his homeless club will never
embark on a permanent groundshare - and revealed the Cottagers have identified
two sites for a new ground in west London.
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Fayed: Alernative plans to Craven Cottage
(PhilCole/Allsport) |
Jean Tigana's team are playing at QPR's Loftus Road base for two seasons while
a nine-strong group of local residents fight a two-pronged, £100,000-plus legal
battle to prevent Craven Cottage's proposed £70million revamp into a 28,000
all-seater stadium.
The protestors, dubbed the 'Fulham Alliance', are asking the House of Lords
and the High Court to reject the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham's
grant of planning permission.
But, as the legal row drags on, Harrods supremo Al Fayed has insisted he will
not commit to a long-term deal with QPR - or to what would be an unlikely and
extremely-unpopular agreement to play at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge home.
The bitter west London rivals meet in the Premiership tonight, in Fulham's
third league fixture at Loftus Road.
And Al Fayed, who wants his team to have a 40,000-capacity ground, marked the
day of the match by declaring: `The players and the fans need their own home -
as when you share, you feel you don't own the club 100 percent.'
He added, in the London Evening Standard: `We're looking at various ways of
increasing the capacity (at Craven Cottage), but it would be prudent to make
alternative plans should that not prove possible.
`So we're exploring the possibility of one or two other sites in west London
as a fall-back position.'
Fulham, whose original reluctance to quit Craven Cottage has been overcome by
the residents' long legal fight, made an unsuccessful bid for a new stadium site
in July.
The 10.3acre former Dairycrest milk distribution depot in Wood Lane,
Shepherd's Bush, is just round the corner from their temporary Loftus Road
home.
But the Cottagers lost out to the preferred bidder, property developer Helical
Bar & Morley Fund Management.
Al Fayed spoke of his anger at the many obstacles halting Craven Cottage's
redevelopment - and disclosed he could ask the London Borough of Hammersmith and
Fulham for assistance in finding a site for a new ground.
`Redeveloping Craven Cottage remains our preferred option and priority,'' he
added.
`We have the plans ready, but at the same time we have to make other
alternatives.
`We're still fighting the residents and still have to go to court. We hope to
go back but can't wait 10 years for people to fight us.
`We're waiting to see if we can win this battle. But if we see it's going to
take time, the council has to help us find us find a new location.'
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