Written into the Cottage: How Fulham FC, Music, and F37 Redefined London’s Oldest Football Club for the Modern Era

Main Facts

In a move that bridges more than a century of sporting heritage with contemporary visual storytelling, Premier League side Fulham FC has unveiled a comprehensive brand evolution titled “Written into the Cottage.” Developed in close collaboration with long-standing creative agency Music and independent type foundry F37, the new design system anchors the club firmly in its status as London’s original professional football club.

At the heart of the overhaul is a bespoke typeface family named FFC Original. Rather than inventing an entirely new aesthetic from scratch, the design teams mined the architectural details of Craven Cottage—specifically looking at the historic lettering embedded within the stadium structures—to build a versatile, expressive, and unified visual identity.

The rollout arrives during a busy period for Premier League branding updates, following recent shifts by clubs like Newcastle United and Manchester City (the latter also partnering with Music). However, Fulham’s project stands out for its deep integration of local architecture, archival research, and the physical texture of a stadium that has served as the club’s home since 1896.

Chronology

• 1896: Fulham FC moves into Craven Cottage, establishing the banks of the River Thames as the iconic, permanent home of "The Cottagers."
• Pre-2026 (The Partnership Years): Creative agency Music collaborates with Fulham FC across various campaigns and digital touchpoints, building a deep understanding of the club’s institutional character and visual DNA.
• Recent Years: The club undergoes significant structural and cultural evolution, underscored by the redevelopment of the Riverside Stand and the opening of Fulham Pier, transforming the SW6 postcode into a multi-faceted lifestyle, hospitality, and cultural hub.
• October 2026: Amid the quiet lull of an international break—a traditional window for club administration announcements—Fulham FC officially reveals the "Written into the Cottage" brand identity alongside Newcastle United’s updated crest system.
• Present Day: The bespoke FFC Original typeface, combined with the "London’s original football club" messaging, begins deployment across digital channels, retail stores, stadium matchday experiences, and international touchpoints as the club approaches its landmark 150th anniversary.

Supporting Data

• 1896: The founding year of residency at Craven Cottage, giving Fulham an unmatched historical footprint in the capital’s football landscape.
• SW6: The iconic postal code and geographical heartbeat of the club’s matchday experience along the River Thames.
• Two Key Creative Collaborators:
  • Music: Led by CEO and Executive Creative Director Dave Simpson, responsible for long-term strategic brand development and creative direction.
  • F37: The independent type foundry tasked with transforming archival stadium lettering into a functional, modern digital typeface family (FFC Original).
• Multiple Global Touchpoints: The new visual framework is engineered to service an increasingly diverse audience base, spanning lifelong local supporters, international digital consumers, hospitality guests, and cultural visitors drawn to Fulham Pier.

Official Responses

The collaboration relied heavily on a mutual respect for the club’s storied past, avoiding the trap of a superficial, trend-chasing redesign.

Dave Simpson, CEO and Executive Creative Director at Music, explained the rationale behind the creative direction:

"We’ve worked with Fulham for a long time, which means this didn’t begin with a desire to redesign everything. The lettering within the stadium had all the character we were looking for. Building around that allowed us to connect the history of the club with a much more contemporary and expressive visual language."

Emphasizing that the new identity treats history as an active tool rather than a static museum exhibit, Simpson added:

"It isn’t heritage sitting alongside a modern identity; the heritage is what creates the modern identity."

Jack Burrows, Marketing Director at Fulham FC, highlighted how the brand reflects the changing identity of the club and its stadium:

"The brand is rooted in the true original character of Fulham and Craven Cottage, allowing it to remain consistent, but also much more agile and expressive."

Burrows further elaborated on the expanding demographic of people interacting with the club:

"Our club has grown significantly in recent years and so have the number of ways in which people experience us. We’re speaking to lifelong supporters, new fans, local and international audiences as well as hospitality guests, each through very different channels and touchpoints."

Implications

1. Cultural Positioning and Heritage Marketing

As football clubs increasingly transform into global entertainment entities, differentiating oneself in a crowded media landscape is vital. By leaning aggressively into its status as London’s oldest professional football club, Fulham is carving out a unique defensive moat around its identity. As the club approaches its sesquicentennial (150th anniversary), phrases like “London’s original football club” and “Written into the Cottage” serve not just as marketing slogans, but as historical assertions of authenticity that contrast sharply with the hyper-commercialized homogeneity seen elsewhere in modern sports.

2. Architecture-Led Design Systems

The decision by Music and F37 to extract typography directly from the bricks, mortar, and murals of Craven Cottage—specifically utilizing the original “The Fulham Football Club” mural—demonstrates a growing trend in sports branding: hyper-local contextual design. Rather than relying on generic sans-serif typefaces designed in sterile corporate boardrooms, the FFC Original typeface carries the genuine physical grit and historic character of SW6. This provides the club with a distinct visual signature that remains instantly recognizable whether stamped across a high-end fashion collaboration, a digital Instagram graphic, or a physical matchday program.

3. Adapting to the Modern Stadium Ecosystem

A modern Premier League club is no longer a 90-minute weekend operation. With the redevelopment of the Riverside Stand and the launch of Fulham Pier, Craven Cottage has evolved into a 365-day cultural destination, blending elite sports with high-end dining, hospitality, and leisure.

This diversification means Fulham now communicates with an eclectic mix of stakeholders: die-hard season-ticket holders who remember decades spent in the stands, international tourists seeking a quintessential English football experience, and corporate hospitality guests who may never step foot on the terraces. The new agile, expressive branding system successfully bridges these disparate worlds, allowing the club to project a unified, sophisticated aesthetic without alienating its traditional base.

Ultimately, "Written into the Cottage" proves that football branding does not need to discard its past to look toward the future. By anchoring modern expression in historic architecture, Fulham FC has secured an identity that is simultaneously timeless and fit for the digital age.