Blues Eye Return To Craven Cottage

Talks under way for Varsity match to be played at Fulham’s home


The Oxford-Cambridge varsity football match could be on its way back to the big-time.

Talks are under-way between OUAFC, CUAFC and Fulham FC to bring the game back to Craven Cottage – its home from 1991 to 2000 and then intermittently to 2009.

The match has historically been a major one in the Oxbridge calendar, and was actually held underneath the twin towers of Wembley from 1953 to 1988.

However, the game has struggled to find an audience or a home in recent years, with the 2013 iteration played at surburban Selhurst Park in south London, after fixtures at the two towns’ local lower-league clubs the prior two years.

If  Julian Austin scores a cracker, but there’s no-one in the stands to witness it, does it make a sound?

What’s more, if the deal goes through, the game would be held on the morning of the Boat Race – further upping the ante of what is already the biggest sporting day of the year for all those who subscribe to an Oxbridge rivalry.

I don’t think there is a Cambridge Tube so hopefully we can keep this lot to a minimum in west London.

Blues captain Jack Fletcher said: “we are very excited about the prospect of returning to such a prestigious ground. It makes for a very exciting boat race atmosphere if we can have Putney Bridge and Craven Cottage packed with Oxford and Cambridge fans.”

For their part, a Fulham spokesman said: “We are in discussions to bring it back”.

Imagine this, but every seat filled with a guy in red chinos. What a prospect!

However, Fletcher also sounded a note of caution: “At this stage, unfortunately, it remains only a prospect.

“We aim to finalise an arrangement before the end of this term.”

Eyes on the skies, football fans…