The 2009–10 season was Fulham's 112th professional season and their ninth consecutive season in the top flight of English football, the Premier League, since their return in 2001. They also competed in European competition for the second time in their history, in the newly formed UEFA Europa League after finishing in the seventh position in the 2008–09 season. After beginning in the qualifying rounds of the competition, Fulham eventually reached the final, where they lost 2–1 to Atlético Madrid after extra-time.
The fixtures for the Premier League season were announced on 17 June, with Fulham beginning the season against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on the weekend of 15 August. They entered the Football League Cup at the third round stage due to their participation in European competition. They also reached the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, where they were defeated by Tottenham Hotspur.
Pre-season and friendlies Fulham announced the first three fixtures of their 2009 pre-season schedule on 4 May 2009, with the team scheduled to tour Australia soon after the end of the squad's summer break. The team first played Gold Coast United at Skilled Park in Robina on Wednesday, 8 July. Next, the squad travelled to Melbourne to face Melbourne Victory at Etihad (Docklands) Stadium on Saturday, 11 July. The trip concluded with a match against Perth Glory at Members Equity Stadium (Perth Oval) on Wednesday, 15 July.
Upon their return to England, they played a friendly against AFC Bournemouth on 21 July and Peterborough United on 25 July. Further fixtures were added for the Development Squad against local semi-professional sides AFC Wimbledon, Woking, Aldershot, Staines and Walton Casuals. The team were also involved in a third round qualifying match for the UEFA Europa League. The draw was made on 17 July, giving Fulham a match against Lithuanian side FK Vėtra or Finnish club HJK Helsinki. Vėtra were confirmed as Fulham's opponents after winning the tie 3–2 on aggregate.
Their pre-season campaign started with defeat to Gold Coast United. Despite Danny Murphy scoring in the 15th minute, Gold Coast scored twice in the final ten minutes to win the match. This was followed by a 3–0 victory against Melbourne Victory and a 5–0 win against Perth Glory. Andy Johnson scored in both games and Erik Nevland scored a hat-trick against Perth to follow up a goal in Melbourne. Eddie Johnson and Andranik Teymourian were the other two scorers in the matches in Melbourne and Perth respectively.
Fulham's first match back in England was a 0–0 draw against AFC Bournemouth on 21 July at Dean Court. This was followed four days later by their final pre-season friendly, an eventful match at London Road against Peterborough United. Clint Dempsey and Bobby Zamora (2) gave Fulham a 3–0 half-time lead, but Aaron McLean and George Boyd (2) scored second-half goals to salvage a 3–3 draw.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance8 July 2009 Gold Coast UnitedA1–2Danny Murphy 15' (Gold Coast: Milson 80', Smeltz 86')10,33611 July 2009 Melbourne VictoryA3–0A. Johnson 32' (pen.), E. Johnson 67', Nevland 72'20,66615 July 2009 Perth GloryA5–0A. Johnson 16', Nevland 60', 64', 67' (hat-trick), Teymourian 84'14,90321 July 2009AFC BournemouthA0–03,03025 July 2009Peterborough UnitedA3–3Dempsey 21', Zamora 34', 45' (Peterborough: McLean 55', Boyd 85', 87' (pen.))1,738
Premier League
Fulham began their Premier League season with an away match at Fratton Park against Portsmouth. Their opponents were in financial trouble and had sold many of their top players, including Peter Crouch and Glen Johnson during the summer. A minute's applause was held before the game in memory of Fulham's former manager Sir Bobby Robson. In a game that Fulham controlled, Bobby Zamora put the away side in the lead after 13 minutes, deflecting a Clint Dempsey shot past Portsmouth goalkeeper David James. Both sides created chances but Fulham held the greater threat and won the match 1–0.
Fulham's second league match of the season was against near-neighbours Chelsea in the West London derby. Fulham were missing the injured Andy Johnson and new signing Damien Duff came into the side to replace him, with Dempsey playing alongside Zamora. Dempsey and Chelsea's Didier Drogba both had opportunities but, in the hot conditions, neither side had many shots in the first half. Drogba, however, gave Chelsea the lead five minutes before the break, shooting low past Schwarzer. Nicolas Anelka, the provider for Drogba's goal, doubled their lead from Drogba's throughball in the 76th minute, effectively sealing the match 2–0 in Chelsea's favour.
The third fixture of the season was an away match at Villa Park against Aston Villa. New midfield signing Jonathan Greening made his debut and Aaron Hughes captained the side in the absence of Murphy. Fulham got off to the worst possible start when John Paintsil, under pressure from Villa's Carlos Cuéllar, inadvertently headed the ball past Schwarzer. Villa had a few promising attacks, notably through the pace of striker Gabriel Agbonlahor, but Fulham created chances of their own in an even first half. However they could not score past goalkeeper Brad Friedel and were punished by a second goal, this time from their own player Agbonlahor on the hour mark. Villa held out for a 2–0 victory and Fulham lost their second successive Premier League match.
DateOpponentsH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance15 August 2009PortsmouthA1–0Zamora 13'17,51023 August 2009ChelseaH0–2(Chelsea: Drogba 39', Anelka 76')25,40430 August 2009Aston VillaA0–2(Aston Villa: Paintsil 3' (o.g.), Agbonlahor 59')32,91713 September 2009EvertonH2–1Konchesky 57', Duff 79' (Everton: Cahill 33')24,19120 September 2009Wolverhampton WanderersA1–2Murphy 66' (pen.) (Wolves: Doyle 18', Edwards 50')27,67026 September 2009ArsenalH0–1(Arsenal: Van Persie 52')25,7004 October 2009West Ham UnitedA2–2Murphy 47' (pen.), Gera 57' (West Ham: Cole 16', Stanislas 90+2')32,61219 October 2009Hull CityH2–0Zamora 43', Kamara 64'23,94325 October 2009Manchester CityA2–2Duff 62', Dempsey 68' (Man City: Lescott 53', Petrov 60')44,90631 October 2009LiverpoolH3–1Zamora 24', Nevland 73', Dempsey 87' (Liverpool: Torres 42')25,7008 November 2009Wigan AthleticA1–1Dempsey 39' (pen.) (Wigan: Boyce 13')16,17221 November 2009Birmingham CityA0–1(Birmingham City: Bowyer 16')23,65925 November 2009Blackburn RoversH3–0Nevland 43', Dempsey 67', 88' 21,41428 November 2009Bolton WanderersH1–1Duff 75' (Bolton Wanderers: Klasnić 35')23,5546 December 2009SunderlandH1–0Zamora 7'23,16812 December 2009BurnleyA1–1Zamora 50' (Burnley: Elliott 60')18,39719 December 2009Manchester UnitedH3–0Murphy 22', Zamora 46', Duff 75'25,70026 December 2009Tottenham HotspurH0–025,67928 December 2009ChelseaA1–2Gera 4' (Chelsea: Drogba 73', Smalling 75' (o.g.))41,8055 January 2010Stoke CityA2–3Duff 61', Dempsey 85' (Stoke: Tuncay 12', Faye 34', Sidibé 37')25,10417 January 2010Blackburn RoversA0–2(Blackburn: Samba 25', Nelsen 54')21,28726 January 2010Tottenham HotspurA0–2(Tottenham: Crouch 27', Bentley 60')35,46730 January 2010Aston VillaH0–2(Aston Villa: Agbonlahor 40', 44')25,4083 February 2010PortsmouthH1–0Greening 74'21,9346 February 2010Bolton WanderersA0–022,2899 February 2010BurnleyH3–0Murphy 23', Elm 31', Zamora 54'23,00521 February 2010BirminghamH2–1Duff 23' Zamora 91' (Birmingham: Baird 3' (o.g.))21,75828 February 2010SunderlandA0–040,19214 March 2010Manchester UnitedA0–3(Man Utd: Rooney 46', 84', Berbatov 89')75,20721 March 2010Manchester CityH1–2Murphy 75' (Man City: Santa Cruz 7', Tevez 36')25,35927 March 2010Hull CityA0–2(Hull City: Bullard 16', Fagan 48')24,3614 April 2010Wigan AthleticH2–1Okaka 47' Hangeland 58' (Wigan: Scotland 3')22,73011 April 2010LiverpoolA0–042,33117 April 2010Wolverhampton WanderersH0–025,59725 April 2010EvertonA1–2Nevland 36' (Everton: Smalling 49' (o.g.), Arteta 94')35,5782 May 2010West Ham UnitedH3–2Dempsey 45' Cole 58' Okaka 79' (West Ham: Cole 61' Franco 92')24,2015 May 2010Stoke CityH0–1(Stoke: Etherington 83')20,8319 May 2010ArsenalA0–4(Arsenal: Arshavin 21' Van Persie 26' Baird 37' (o.g.) Vela 84')60,039
Results summary
Results by round
FA Cup DateOpponentsRoundH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance2 January 2010Swindon Town3rd roundH1–0Zamora 16'19,62323 January 2010Accrington Stanley 4th roundA3–1Nevland 21', Duff 59', Gera 80' (Accrington Stanley: Symes 25')3,71214 February 2010Notts County5th roundH4–0Davies 22', Zamora 41', Duff 73', Okaka 79'16,1326 March 2010Tottenham Hotspur 6th roundH0–024,53324 March 2010Tottenham Hotspur 6th round replayA1–3Zamora 17' (Tottenham Hotspur: Bentley 47' Pavlyuchenko 60' Guðjohnsen 66')
Football League Cup In the third round draw, Fulham were drawn against fellow Premier League side Manchester City, who had spent £120 million on new players during the summer. DateOpponentsH / AResultF – AScorersAttendance23 September 2009Manchester CityA1–2 Gera 34' (Man City: Barry 52', Touré 111' AET)24,507
UEFA Europa League
Fulham began their first European campaign in seven years with a third qualifying round tie against FK Vėtra from Lithuania. The first leg was played away at the Vėtra Stadium on 30 July 2009. Hodgson started with his preferred line-up from the previous season, with Brede Hangeland, Aaron Hughes, John Pantsil and Paul Konchesky in front of Schwarzer and the front pairing of Andy Johnson and Bobby Zamora. Dickson Etuhu was the only absentee, giving an opportunity to Chris Baird in central midfield. The game was tight for the first half-hour before Fulham seized the initiative and Bobby Zamora gave them the lead on the stroke of half-time with a shot just inside the penalty area. Danny Murphy doubled Fulham's advantage from the penalty spot in the 56th minute following a foul on Zamora. Both sides made changes but Fulham continued to press and they added a third goal through Seol Ki-hyeon five minutes from the end. A minute's silence was held before the second match at Craven Cottage following the death of former Fulham manager Sir Bobby Robson. Fulham took the lead in the 57th minute through Etuhu, putting the tie beyond any real doubt at 4–0. Andy Johnson scored two further goals from close range in the 80th and 84th minutes, the latter set up by his namesake Eddie Johnson. Fulham progressed to the next round and awaited the identity of their opponents for the play-offs.
The draw for the play-off round was conducted on 7 August and saw Fulham drawn against the unfamiliar opposition of Amkar Perm from Russia. In the first leg at Craven Cottage, Andy Johnson scored early on in the 4th minute to settle any nerves but he also picked up an injury to his collarbone in the first half and had to be substituted. Clint Dempsey scored a second goal just after half-time and Zamora added to the lead in the 75th minute. Amkar Perm did manage to score an away-goal two minutes later in the shape of a Martin Kushev volley but Fulham held a 3–1 advantage. Fulham travelled to Russia for the second leg without the presence of injured first-team regulars Andy Johnson, Murphy, Zamora and Konchesky. Amkar Perm dominated the match but did not score a goal until the last minute when Martin Kushev scored a header past Schwarzer. Fulham's 3–1 victory from the first leg, however, was enough to see them through 3–2 on aggregate.
The draw for the group stages was made a day later. Fulham were drawn in Group E along with Roma of Italy, Swiss side Basel and Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia.
Group stage