Promoted back to the First Division again in 1958–59, the form of star player Johnny Haynes helped Fulham to remain in the top-flight until consecutive relegations occurred by 1969.

The club's first league game, playing in the Second Division's 1907–08 season, saw them lose 1–0 at home to Hull City in September 1907.

[14] During this period, businessman and politician Henry Norris was the club chairman and curiously he had an indirect role in the foundation of Fulham's local rivals Chelsea.

John Fox Watson made a pioneering transfer to Real Madrid in 1948, becoming one of the first players from the United Kingdom to sign for a high-profile side abroad.

[citation needed] Promotion to the top tier of English football saw the club perform poorly, finishing 17th in their first year and 18th in their second.

On 20 May 1951, Fulham played one of their first ever games in North America in an exhibition match against Celtic at Delorimier Stadium in Montreal in front of 29,000 spectators.

[citation needed] The club were relegated again after winning only 11 in 42 matches in the 1979–80 season, which eventually resulted in Bobby Campbell's dismissal in October 1980, to be replaced by Malcolm Macdonald.

Fulham narrowly missed out on back-to-back promotions to the First Division, losing 1–0 to Derby County away on the last day of the 1982–83 season – although the match was abandoned after 88 minutes due to a pitch invasion and inexplicably never replayed or finished.

In 1987, the club took part in what was then the longest penalty deciders ever recorded – it needed 28 spot kicks to sort out a winner between them and Aldershot following a Football League Trophy match.

Keegan then helped steer the club to promotion the next season, winning 101 points out of a possible 138, after spending £1.1 million to sign Paul Peschisolido from West Bromwich Albion.

During the season, Chris Coleman was involved in a car crash that put him out of action for well over a year and eventually ended his playing career after he failed to make a sufficient recovery.

[citation needed] Sanchez received strong financial backing from the board and made a number of signings during the summer break, but, after just two league wins in the first five months of the season and with Fulham in the relegation zone, he was dismissed on 21 December 2007 after a defeat to Newcastle United.

Fulham then won a crucial match against fellow strugglers Birmingham City at Craven Cottage, leaving survival in the club's own hands.

Barring a goal-rush from fellow strugglers Reading, a win against a Portsmouth side looking ahead to their fourth FA Cup final would guarantee survival.

[citation needed] With 15 minutes to play at Portsmouth, Fulham were drawing, and with Birmingham City and Reading leading comfortably against Blackburn Rovers and Derby County respectively, they looked likely to be relegated.

However, Fulham earned a free-kick with 76 minutes played; Jimmy Bullard's delivery found Danny Murphy, who headed home the decisive goal, sparking manic celebrations from the travelling fans.

Hodgson had ensured survival against all odds, breaking several club records in the process and cementing his place in Fulham folklore.

They were eliminated from the FA Cup in the quarter-finals for the second year running, and finished 12th in the Premier League, despite fielding weakened teams in the last few matches.

The achievement of taking Fulham so unexpectedly far, beating famous teams like Hamburger SV, Juventus, holders Shakhtar Donetsk and Basel in the competition, led to Roy Hodgson being voted the LMA Manager of the Year by the widest margin in the history of the award.

However, the Cottagers were knocked out with the last seconds of the group stage matches, Odense Boldklub equalising to make a draw, leaving Fulham in third place, with Polish side Wisła Kraków instead progressing to the next round.

[49] The January 2012 transfer window saw Bobby Zamora move over the Hammersmith flyover to Loftus Road, with Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak coming in place from VfB Stuttgart.

[53] Shahid Khan took over as chairman in July 2013,[54] but after a poor start to the 2013–14 season, having only amassed 10 points from 13 games,[55] Martin Jol was dismissed as manager in December 2013, with René Meulensteen taking charge as head coach.

[55][56] Meulensteen was replaced by Felix Magath after just 17 games in charge following no upturn in form,[57] but fortunes did not improve, and Fulham were eventually relegated to the Championship after a 4–1 defeat away to Stoke on 3 May.

The team suffered an inconsistent start to the following season and after a 5–2 loss at home to Birmingham City,[60] and lying in 12th place,[61] Kit Symons was dismissed as manager in November 2015.

[63] Fulham's fortunes did not improve greatly following Jokanović's appointment, but the team finished the 2015–16 Championship season in 20th place, avoiding relegation by 11 points.

[65] Despite a slow start to the following season, the club went on a club-record 23 game unbeaten run in the league which led to a 3rd-place finish, narrowly missing out automatic promotion.

[69] Following a poor start to life back in the Premier League, Jokanović was dismissed in November 2018 and replaced with former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri.

[72][73] In a season that was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, Parker led the club straight back to the Premier League on 4 August 2020, defeating London rivals Brentford 2–1 in the play-off final after a fourth-place finish.

At the halfway point, Fulham sat in 6th place, had tallied a 2–1 win over West London rivals Chelsea, whom they had not defeated in nearly 16 years, and collected a string of four consecutive top-flight victories for the first time since April 1966.

[87] Controversy first surrounded Billy when he tried to cheer up Chelsea manager Avram Grant during a home match in front of the television cameras.