Fulham Would Be Mad Not To Visit America This Summer

You’ve just escaped relegation on the last day of the season on goal difference. What are you going to do next? “I’m going to Disney World.” Or, at least, that should be the answer if you were Fulham Football Club.

Now, the timing is better than ever for Fulham to visit the United States this summer for a preseason tour. Fulham owner Mohamed Al-Fayed needs to capitalize on how his club has won the hearts and minds of so many neutral American soccer fans. If Fulham doesn’t visit the United States this summer, they’re missing out on the best opportunity the club will ever have to increase its fan base stateside.

The club has a wonderful opportunity to play in front of packed stadiums in the large cities in the U.S. With American players such as Kasey Keller, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride and Eddie Johnson, no other team has so much American presence in the Premier League. And with the U.S. economy down the toilet, now is the cheapest time in decades for an English club team to fly to America (plus American Airlines is a sponsor of Fulham).

The temptation for Fulham will be to fly to Asia for preseason friendlies, but the west London club would be in a long line of sides battling for the interest of fans in China and East Asia. Instead of doing that, why not be one of a small handful of Premier League clubs to invade the U.S. and to take advantage of a blossoming interest in your club? We wouldn’t mind being taken advantage of — trust me.