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30 Greatest Teams in Premier League History

By Benjamin Taylor

Who will lift this trophy in May and join these 30 teams among the greatest ever to compete in the English Premier League? (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Who will lift this trophy in May and join these 30 teams among the greatest ever to compete in the English Premier League? (Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images) /
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19. Fulham, 2008-10

Fulham’s USA player Clint Dempsey (L) congratulates Fulham’s English striker Bobby Zamora (R) after he scores the second goal during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London, England on December 19, 2009. AFP PHOTO/CARL DE SOUZA FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY Additional licence required for any commercial/promotional use or use on TV or internet (except identical online version of newspaper) of Premier League/Football League photos. Tel DataCo 44 207 2981656. Do not alter/modify photo. (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images)
Fulham’s USA player Clint Dempsey (L) congratulates Fulham’s English striker Bobby Zamora (R) after he scores the second goal during the English Premier League football match between Fulham and Manchester United at Craven Cottage in London, England on December 19, 2009. AFP PHOTO/CARL DE SOUZA FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY Additional licence required for any commercial/promotional use or use on TV or internet (except identical online version of newspaper) of Premier League/Football League photos. Tel DataCo 44 207 2981656. Do not alter/modify photo. (Photo credit should read CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images) /

Starting XI: M. Schwarzer (GK); J. Pantsil, B. Hangeland, A. Hughes, P. Konchesky; Z. Gera, D. Murphy, S. Davies, C. Dempsey/D. Duff; A. Johnson, B. Zamora.

I live in West London and have several friends who went to Fulham’s home games around this time. They maintain it was some of the most entertaining and uplifting football they have ever seen live.

Having avoided relegation by the skin of their teeth the previous season (they survived on goal difference at the expense of Reading), 2008-09 was Roy Hodgson’s first full season in charge of the Cottagers. Expectations were low, with most fans crossing their fingers that their team could avoid the drop once more.

Hodgson immediately replenished the front line, adding strikers Bobby Zamora and Andy Johnson for a combined £16.8 million, and combining them with the threat of Clint Dempsey and Zoltan Gera on the wings – players who had had little impact in previous seasons, but would be instrumental in Fulham’s successes during this period. The team finished the 2008-09 season in an excellent 7th place, qualifying for the following season’s Europa League.

The following season, a heroic, captivating run in the competition saw them beat several European giants including Juventus and Hamburg to reach the final, where they lost in extra time to an Atletico Madrid side driven by a young striker named Sergio Aguero. The next few seasons would see Hodgson turn Fulham into a solid Premier League team, until his departure for Liverpool in 2010. Fulham struggled on for four more seasons before finally being relegated in 2014.

Next: No. 18

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