1886-87 season

Overview
The 1886-87 season was Fulham's (then known as Fulham St Andrew's) fifth in regard to organised football.

Over the summer of 1886, the club joined the West London Football Association and rechanged their name from St Andrew's to Fulham St Andrew's. This was in order to distiguish themselves from the several London-based sides who also went by the name of St Andrew's.

Along with the name change, there was also a change of grounds for the club as they moved to a ground at Ranelagh House. Many of the players were good friends with the owner of the Eight Bells pub in Fulham High Street, James Howard. Howard had recently become a patron of the club and allowed use of the pub as headquarters and changing rooms, whilst also providing refreshments after each home match. The Ranelagh House & grounds had just been bought for redevelopment and the tenants (The Ranelagh Club) had moved out, but for the time being the grounds were available for rent. This allowed the club to acquire its first private pitch near to Putney Bridge station and the Eight Bells, which was an ideal arrangement, especially compared to the previous pitch on open-land with no real facilities to speak of.

This season found Fulham St Andrew's in confident mood. For the first time the club had its own full size pitch, and the players celebrated with a 5-0 victory over their main rivals the Stanley FC on 23 October 1886. The visitors were perhaps unsettled by St Andrew's tactic of playing six forwards (it was routine to play five forwards during this period), with the front line being bolstered by new players in the shape of Fred Keefe and 20 year-old East Ender Billy Bolster. This experimental lineup showed the players faith in their defence and especially in the new goalkeeper Johnny May from Greyhound Road. Johnny was to retain his place in the team for the next decade.

It was a very successful season, with 21 victories out of 22 matches played, scoring a total of 87 goals whilst conceding only 13. To top it off, the club won its first piece of silverware in the form of the West London Cup after a 2-1 win over St Matthew's. The cup can be seen in a historic photograph (the first of any known Fulham team) which can be seen above and right.