The Fulham obsessive and star of This Country on away days at Millwall, ultras in
Germany and playing alongside Barry Hayles
“I took my girlfriend to Luton away on Boxing Day – that was her
Christmas present,” says Charlie Cooper, outlining his fondness for Fulham before conversation belatedly moves to fishing and filming the third and final series of the Bafta-winning mockumentary This Country. “You look into people’s back gardens [upon entry into Kenilworth Road]; it’s so strange but I do love it and it’s so English. The way we support, it is that island mentality. I’ve been to Ajax, games in
France, Germany, and places like Dortmund are amazing, and the ultras … but it’s not the same. When Crystal Palace did that whole ultras bit, it was sort of laughable. It’s not English; it’s just not what we do.”
Cooper spent last weekend with friends in Bavaria, taking in 1860 Munich’s 1-1 draw with Waldhof Mannheim on Saturday and Bayern Munich’s stalemate with RB Leipzig the following afternoon. The leftovers of Storm Ciara hampered his journey home to the Cotswolds – the backdrop to the
BBC comedy he created with his sister, Daisy May – but the good news is that Cooper made it back in time for Wednesday’s episode of Fulham’s promotion push at the Den.