On 29 July, Fulham confirmed former Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Wales national team coach Mark Hughes as its new manager.

[3] The first team squad returned to training on 6 July, with the exception of Mark Schwarzer, John Pantsil, Clint Dempsey, Kagisho Dikgacoi, Dickson Etuhu and Philippe Senderos who had been competing in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Hughes watched from the stands as Fulham lost 1–0 to Portsmouth who had been relegated to the Championship, with Marc Wilson scoring the only goal of the match.

After the departure of Chris Smalling to Manchester United, fellow defender Philippe Senderos was Fulham's first signing of the summer when he moved from Arsenal on a free transfer.

[7][8] Nicky Shorey and Stefano Okaka both returned to Aston Villa and Roma respectively at the end of their loan deals, while Wayne Brown was released.

[7] Erik Nevland, Toni Kallio, Christopher Buchtmann, Michael Uwezu, Andranik Teymourian and Stefan Payne all left the club at the beginning of July.

[9] Jonathan Greening committed his future to Fulham by completing a permanent transfer from West Bromwich Albion after a season-long loan.

On transfer deadline day, defender Paul Konchesky departed to Liverpool, with two young players – Lauri Dalla Valle and Alex Kačaniklić – joining Fulham as part of the deal.

[11] After Jol chose to stay with Ajax and Bradley renewed his contract with the United States, Fulham appointed Mark Hughes as its new manager; he was presented to the press on 3 August.

The provisional fixture list was announced on 17 June 2010, with Fulham starting the season with a match against Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium.

[15] The first match of the season was an even contest that ended 0–0, with Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale turning in a good performance while deputising for Mark Schwarzer.

Luke Varney then put Blackpool in front at 2–1, but Dickson Etuhu scored again for Fulham (87), securing their third successive league draw.

The draw was made following the conclusion of the first round ties and saw Fulham facing a home match against Port Vale from League Two.

In the draw for the third round, Fulham were handed a meeting against fellow Premier League team Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium on 21 September 2010.

[24][25] All Premier League clubs had to declare a squad of 25 players on 1 September 2010, who they could choose from until the transfer window re-opened in January 2011.