FOX ON THE RUN

Saturday 7th August 2010 (Pre-season Friendly)

Fulham 5 (Zamora 53, Gera 65,71,76, Johnson 86) Werder Bremen 1 (Pizarro 10)

Att: 8,149

If this had been Leicester City's Walker's Stadium I would have assumed the fox that was snaking its way across the pitch was the club mascot. But this was Craven Cottage, less than 30 minutes before Fulham kicked off against Werder Bremen in their final pre-season friendly before the "Big Kick-Off" at Bolton next week.

It was my first day as a match day steward at Fulham and I had been assigned to a position in the Putney End, next to the pitch in front of section P3, by the "neutral" section. As it was a friendly that was unlikely to attract a large crowd, things had been pretty unspectacular until the introduction of our  lupine friend.

As far as I know, the quick brown fox isn't a regular visitor to the Cottage, though match day announcer David Hamilton (or "Diddy David Hamilton," as he was known in his BBC Radio 1 days in the 1970s) did comment on the foxy intruder from his position on the halfway line. didn't seem too fazed when it got onto the pitch and raced towards the Putney End. After leaping into the seats, it hopped in the direction of the exits row-by-row, with stewards and fans in hot pursuit. After evading all attempts to catch it the fox disappeared and wasn't seen again and, presumably, made a beeline for nearby Bishop's Park.

Before our foxy friend stirred things up, the crowd in the Putney End had been buoyed by the sight of Sir Alex Ferguson being escorted to his seat in the Director's Box. With Manchester United playing Chelsea at Wembley in the Community Shield the following day, Sir Alex was certainly well-placed to take in a game, but why Fulham vs Werder Bremen? Was it because United have to visit Craven Cottage on 22nd August? Unlikely. Or perhaps he was checking out Bremen as possible opponents in this season's Champions' League? Also hard to believe. No, the reason why Sir Alex was in West London was the presence of German international Mesut Ozil in the Bremen squad, who may well be back at Craven Cottage before the end of the month wearing the red of Manchester United.

The Manchester United manager wasn't the only star on the pitch before the game, with Werder's General Manager Klaus Allofs signing autographs for the  fans in the Putney End. Allofs was an German international and scored 17 goals in 56 appearances for the national team between 1978 and 1988. He started his career with Fortuna Dusseldorf in 1975, which means that I might have seen him play in the only Bundesliga game I have ever attended--Fortuna at home to Bayern Munich in 1976.

I had to feel a bit sorry for the fans in the Putney End, as none of the game's six goals troubled the net at their end. Former Chelsea man Claudio Pizarro opened the scoring after 10 minutes and that's how it remained until half-time. The second half saw a transformed Fulham side, with the Cottagers running out as rather flattering 5-1 winners. Zoltan Gera's 11-minute hat-trick after replacing Clint Dempsey just after the hour did the Hungarian's chances of making the starting XI at Bolton next Saturday no harm at all.

As a new steward, the game was a comfortable way to get used to the job before the big first home game of the season against Manchester United on 22nd August. The only problem resulted from the small crowd, in that fans could run around the Putney End at will, meaning that any substituted player that made his way around the pitch to the changing rooms in the Cottage was the subject of hordes of autograph hunters. And when Dempsey paused to sign his name in front of my position I had to hold back a bunch of kids screaming for him to give them his scrawl. At one point the gate burst open and I had to push it shut. This time it was not a problem, but a warning of what could happen in a Premier League game, when the implications could be much worse.

The only thing that marred the day was the rain in the first half. My official steward's raincoat did its job but my legs were completely soaked. Also, when you're seated at the front of the stand it's difficult to see any of the game over the perimeter fence. Nevertheless, I will be back for the next game and look forward to getting up close with Messrs Rooney and Berbatov.