Famous Fulham Players: No 42 Bobby Robson

1950-67 (absent between 1956 and 1962), 370 appearances, 80 goals

Started his playing career at Fulham and made his debut as a teenager. Left for West Brom in 1956 (chasing medals) and returned in 1962 and played for another five seasons. Became manager in 1968, but walked into a disastrous situation and only lasted 10 months. Got another chance at Ipswich shortly afterwards and the rest, as they say, is history. Robson the player started as an inside forward with Bedford Jezzard and Johnny Haynes, then, on returning, played a more cultured, defensive game.

8: Gordon Davies

1977-91, 450 appearances, 178 goals

Roger Brown says "[Davies] was probably the laziest centre-forward there was, but Ivor was always in the right place at the right time". Ray Lewington says: "you very rarely play with natural goalscorers like our Ivor... had the wonderful knack of being in the right place at the right time, and could score goals with just about any part of his body. He was an instinctive player, and his goals got us out of trouble on many occasions." The records say that he scored 178 goals for Fulham, more than anyone else.

7: Alan Mullery

1958-76 (elsewhere 1964-71), 412 appearances, 42 goals

A tenacious tackler with a wide range of passing and an ability to score goals, Mullery started and ended his career at Fulham with an eight year spell at Tottenham in between. Broke into the Fulham side when Johnny Haynes was in his pomp, and presumably learned a lot from the great man. A good argument could be made that England's 1970 World Cup side, in which Mullery was an important cog, was every bit as good as the more famous 1966 side. Played 412 times for Fulham.

6: Arthur Stevens

1946-59, 413 appearances, 124 goals

Another one club man, Stevens served Fulham for 25 years as player, coach and caretaker manager. George Cohen says that Stevens was one of the most skillful players he ever came across, as good as Stanley Matthews. Stevens - nicknamed Pablo - was also good in the air, had two good feet, and was lightning quick over 15 yards. He played 413 games for Fulham and scored 124 goals.

5: Bedford Jezzard

1948-56, 306 appearances, 155 goals

Jezzard was never prolific in the top flight, but when the team was relegated in 1951-52 he went on a goalscoring bender: in the next four seasons he scored 35, 39, 23 and 27 goals, at which point he retired due to injury. In his prime he could score with either foot and was handy in the air. He managed the club from 1958 to 1964.

4: Graham Leggatt

1958-67, 280 appearances, 134 goals

Gordon Mills: "Graham Leggatt now was a really good striker. He came to Fulham in 1958 as a winger who had already played for Scotland and had he come the year before when the deal all but went through, I'm convinced his goals would have secured not only promotion - we finished fifth just a couple of points behind Blackburn who came second - but also a Cup Final place; remember, that year we lost 5-3 in a semi final replay to Manchester United. However, having arrived as a goalscoring winger, he was pressed into service as a centre forward in our first season in the top flight and scored a hat-trick on his first appearance as No 9 in a 3 - 3 draw at Old Trafford.

I believe he was the first of the modern forwards - not very tall but quick and difficult to shake off the ball. He had a great shot with both feet and was very good with his head. He could play anywhere in the front line. He was also tough: when he first came he played with his wrist bandaged to protect a fracture and the programme one day had a little snippet of dressing-room talk in it. Apparently, Tosh Chamberlain remarked to Leggatt when the Scotsman was bandaging his wrist, "When I see you doing that it makes me think you're getting ready for a fight." To which Leggatt replied, "Well, Tosh, you never know.""

3: Ronnie Rooke

1936-47, 110 appearances, 78 goals

What might have been. At the end of the 1939 season Ronnie Rooke was 27 years old and had scored 63 goals in 90 games for Fulham. Then came the war. He scored 13 more in 18 games in 1946-47, and, amazingly, added 68 more in 88 games for Arsenal after that. Prolific. I'm worried about overdoing the stats here, but they're so good we might as well keep going: Rooke also scored 212 goals in 199 unofficial wartime games for Fulham. Wow.

2: George Cohen

1956-69, 459 appearances

Brian Glanville describes Cohen: "an immensely amiable Londoner who had played all his professional football with Fulham, a strong, fast, endlessly determined player with a penchant for overlapping and a bottomless good humour." Sounds about right. Cohen, of course, was in the 1966 World Cup side, and is a clear choice for second place on this list.

1: Johnny Haynes

1952-70, 658 appearances, 158 goals

Haynes was Fulham, is Fulham. He is the player Bobby Charlton was told to model himself on, the complete footballer. It is tempting to reach for modern comparisons, but those who saw him say that there is no modern player who can play like Haynes, who had that presence that only the very greatest players have, whose passing (with the old heavy ball, remember) was otherworldly, and whose will to win astounded opponents and team-mates alike. He appeared in the 1958 and 1962 World Cup finals, but a car-crash in '62 robbed him of his pace and his game finally came down to earth. The Johnny Haynes Stand at Craven Cottage is a fitting tribute, and he has recently been immortalised as a statue outside the ground. "The Maestro". There will never be another like him.

If it's not too pretentious, references, thanks, etc: Dennis Turner's indispensible "Fulham, The Complete Record", Martin Plumb's three volumes: "Johnny Haynes, The Maestro", "Tales from the Riverbank vols 1 and 2", Bobby Robson "Farewell but not Goodbye", George Cohen "My Autobiography", Alan Mullery "The Autobiography", Michael Heatley "Match of My Life - Fulham", Michael Joyce "Football League Players' Records 1888-1939", Barry Hugman "Premier and Football League Players' Records 1946-2005", Gordon Mills for permission to excerpt his comments, other Fulham fans who may not wish to be associated with this list but whose input was extremely valuable.