After four seasons of attempting to return to the promised land of the Premier League, Slavisa Jokanovic finally led Fulham back to the top flight in 2018 via the play-offs.
It was club captain Tom Cairney – who is still going strong now – who scored the decisive goal after some great work from Ryan Sessegnon.
Fulham fans at Wembley will never forget that day, especially after seeing a certain John Terry in tears on the pitch at full-time.
Things haven’t exactly gone smoothly for the Whites since that boiling hot afternoon in North West London, with two further relegations followed by another two promotions.
While the squad have been continuing to yo-yo, many players have come in and moved on.
But where exactly are the players involved on that magical day plying their trade now?
Marcus Bettinelli – 31 – GK – Chelsea
A home-grown talent who came through Fulham’s academy under the tutelage of his father, Marcus Bettinelli went on to make 120 appearances for the club before leaving in 2021.
He had failed to establish himself as first choice under several managers and when it became clear that Marek Rodak was going to be number one, he spent his final season with the club on loan at Middlesbrough.
The 31-year-old goalkeeper has made just a single start in three seasons at Stamford Bridge but has picked up a Club World Cup winners medal in that time.
Ryan Fredericks – 31 – RB – AFC Bournemouth
The first player to leave the club after their involvement in Fulham’s victory in the 2018 play-offs was full-back Ryan Fredericks.
The absolutely rapid defender was brilliant on the right all season and with his contract expiring, he ended up making the move across London to West Ham.
He established himself as first-choice at the London Stadium in his first season before dropping out of the team for Vladimir Coufal.
Scott Parker brought him in at Bournemouth at the start of last season, but he’s made just 12 league appearances since then and has been unavailable due to injury all campaign.
Matt Targett – 28 – LB – Newcastle United
Left-back Matt Targett only spent six months at Craven Cottage but was an incredibly popular player among the fanbase in that time.
The left full-back position had been a problem area for years and the Southampton loanee immediately came in and fixed the problem, his crossing and attacking play was a joy to watch.
Fulham decided not to spend the cash required to retain Targett and 12 months later he joined Aston Villa after their subsequent promotion.
Two-and-a-half season in Villa Park preceded his move to St. James’ Park although he’s lost his place in the side to fellow Fulham alumni Dan Burn.
Denis Odoi – 35 – CB – Club Brugge
The definition of a cult hero at Fulham, Denis Odoi now infamous header in the semi-final of the 2018 play-offs will never be forgotten by any fan at Craven Cottage that evening.
He nearly made himself the ultimate villain in the final after being sent off but was seen bouncing on the crossbar a full-time celebrating his side’s victory.
Odoi was still in the squad for Fulham’s win over Brentford two years later, but after barely featuring in the subsequent Premier League campaign, was allowed to leave halfway through Fulham’s Championship-winning season to join Club Brugge.
He picked up a winner’s medal for his 17 appearances that season and helped the Belgian side qualify for the Champions League before representing Ghana at last year’s World Cup.
The only downside for Odoi was being subjected to another spell under Scott Parker while in Belgium, although that was only a short-lived experiment from his current team.
Tim Ream – 36 – CB – Fulham
The first member of the squad still at Fulham, Tim Ream has enjoyed three promotions during his time at Craven Cottage.
After not being trusted during Fulham’s first two stints in the Premier League, Ream had arguably the best campaign of his career last year, helping the Whites to a tenth-place finish.
It appears as though his regular involvement is set to be reduced this season, with Issa Diop, Calvin Bassey and Tosin Adarabioyo all impressing.
If we are seeing the end of Tim Ream’s time at Fulham, he deserves huge credit for the more than 300 appearances he’s made for the club.
Kevin McDonald – 35 – DM – Bradford City
Another incredibly popular player among the Fulham fanbase, Kevin McDonald was sensational during the club’s 2018 victory in the play-offs.
He started 42 league games that season and will be best remembered for the shock on his face when his unbelievable strike away to Millwall flew into the back of the net.
McDonald was another player that didn’t get his chance in the Premier League and after a disrupted 2020/21 campaign, McDonald had to have kidney surgery that he’d been putting off for much of his career.
He’s since had spells at Dundee United, Exeter City and Bradford City where he was briefly player-caretaker manager.
It’s a route every Fulham fan who has watched him boss his teammates around on the pitch would agree is going to suit him brilliantly in future.
Stefan Johansen – 32 – CM – Without club
It shows just how much Fulham fans love Stefan Johansen that when it was announced he would be joining arch-rivals QPR in 2021, virtually everyone gave him their blessing.
An absolutely elite midfielder at Championship level, Johansen came a long way from his first-half substitution during his debut against Birmingham City.
Nearly 150 appearances later, Fulham fans had plenty of great goals, underappreciated assists and fantastically cynical yellow cards to look back on.
Johansen went on to wear the captain’s armband at QPR before leaving at the end of last season.
He’s now been without a club for six months, but with the Norwegian top flight set to return at the beginning of 2024, he could decide to end his career there.
Tom Cairney (c) – 32 – CM – Fulham
The other member of Fulham’s win in the 2018 play-offs that remains at the club, Tom Cairney is enjoying a renaissance under Marco Silva this season.
His quality has never been in question but injuries have scuppered some of the most promising spells of his career.
He appears to have found a way to keep fit and the minutes he’s now playing are a testament to the work being done behind the scenes to prolong with time in the top flight.
Fulham haven’t had a player earn a testimonial for a very long time and it would be fitting if Cairney – alongside Ream – were given that opportunity.
His goal that day will never be forgotten and as he recently said in an interview after passing 300 Fulham appearances, he wants to help establish the club as a Premier League outfit when his time at the Cottage is up.
Aboubakar Kamara – 28 – RW – Al-Jazira
Kamara joined Fulham that summer from Amiens and struggled initially to establish himself in the team.
However, Slavisa Jokanovic couldn’t settle on a right-winger throughout the campaign, but it was Kamara who got the nod during the play-offs.
It’s unlikely that Fulham will ever have a faster right-side than Fredericks and Kamara but the Mauritanian international never quite hit the heights many expected him to in West London.
Issues off the field meant he joined Yeni Malatyaspor and Dijon on loan and after spells at Aris Saloniki and incredibly Olympiacos, he now plays alongside his good friend Neeskens Kebano at Al-Jazira in the UAE.
Ryan Sessegnon – 23 – LW – Tottenham Hotspur
Although Tom Cairney stole the headlines during the play-offs for Fulham in 2018, Ryan Sessegnon was the poster boy of the whole campaign.
Spotted warming up with the first team as a 15-year-old before making his debut away to Leeds United, Sessegnon went from strength to strength that season, scoring 15 goals and providing six assists.
He stuck around at Fulham despite interest from elsewhere for our return to the Premier League, but when relegation was confirmed, he made the switch to Tottenham for £25m.
While Mauricio Pochettino seemed like the perfect manager to aid his development, Jose Mourinho did not and a loan move to Hoffenheim didn’t work out.
Injuries have plagued his time in North London and it would be a surprise if he didn’t move on sooner rather than later.
At 23, he still has plenty of time to salvage his career as long as he can stay fit.
Aleksandar Mitrovic – 29 – CF – Al-Hilal
The final player who started that day was Aleksandar Mitrovic and it’s safe to say he had a game-changing influence on the team as soon as he arrived on loan from Newcastle.
Although he didn’t score during the play-offs in 2018, his 111 goals in 206 Fulham matches is an incredible achievement.
The way he left to join Al-Hilal in the Saudi Pro League will, unfortunately, taint his reputation at the club, but his record-breaking Championship season will be nearly impossible for any striker to beat in the future.
Slavisa Jokanovic – 55 – Manager – Without club
Slavisa Jokanovic still has a very strong reputation amongst Fulham fans and his sacking just months after our promotion was largely down to the poor recruitment the club did that summer.
Since then, he’s had spells in charge of Al-Gharafa in Qatar, Sheffield United and Dynamo Moscow.
He lost his job in Russia in May and has been unemployed ever since, but considering the turnover of managers in the Championship, it’s unlikely he’ll be out of work for long before another opportunity arises.
Fulham Substitutes
Jokanovic called upon Oliver Norwood, Tomas Kalas and Cyrus Christie that day, mainly to protect our one-goal advantage and make up for the loss of Odoi in defence.
Norwood still plies his trade in the Premier League with strugglers Sheffield United, while Tomas Kalas plays for German side FC Schalke.
Cyrus Christie is at Championship side Hull City, working under Liam Rosenior and playing with the impressive Jean Michael Seri.
David Button, Floyd Ayite, Rui Fonte and Lucas Piazon weren’t called upon that afternoon and aside from Ayite all moved on that summer.
Button is first choice at League One strugglers Reading and a 35-year-old Ayite has been without a club since leaving Valenciennes FC in the summer.
Rui Fonte is back in Portugal with Pacos Ferreira in the second tier and Piazon plays in the division above him for Braga.