This is the itinerary for FulhamUSA while in Columbus. If you have any questions, there is contact phone numbers and email addresses: It is hard to believe, but the week is finally here in which Fulham is crossing the Atlantic to play two preseason friendlies in Columbus, Ohio. The Cottagers will take on the Columbus Crew on Wednesday, July 27th and then the MLS All-Stars on Saturday, July 30th. Mike and I have received a lot of emails with questions about directions, check-in times, and other things regarding the weekend in Columbus, so I thought it would be a good idea to write a small article with all of the details for what will hopefully be a great weekend for everyone in Columbus. The festivities will begin for some on Wednesday, July 27th at Crew Stadium when Fulham takes on the Columbus Crew. If you purchased tickets through FulhamUSA, you received tickets for this closed match. It begins at 7PM EDT. I am planning on getting to Crew Stadium around 4:30 that afternoon. While we have nothing specific planned, there might be some who enjoy some drinks in the parking lot before hand. Feel free to give me a call Wednesday night if you are at the match and would like to join in. My cell phone number is 773-407-0900. The match is general admission so there are no designated seats for everyone. Therefore it will be tough to meet up unless we do so via cell phones. On Friday is when most of the others will be getting into town. For those who are staying at the Courtyard By Marriott Downtown Columbus, check-in time is at 3PM EDT. If there is anything you want to know about the hotel, here is the link: http://marriott.com/property/propertypage.mi?marshaCode=CMHCY If interested on Friday evening, many of us will be meeting at O’Shaugnessy’s Public House in the Arena District. For those who do not know, this is within walking distance of the hotel. We can get something to eat, have some drinks and have a good time. For the address, directions and other information about O’Shaugnessy’s, here is their link: http://www.ospub.com/ On Saturday, the plan is to start the tailgate around 12 Noon. We will be providing food in the form of brats, burgers, hot dogs, etc. However, we do ask that if possible you bring some beers or the drink of your choice for the afternoon. We will provide some beers, but we will not have enough for the entire afternoon. If you have a small grill or some food you would like to bring to help out, that would be great! We have a few grills, but cooking for 80 or so people we might need a few more. The tailgate itself will take place in the VIP Parking lot of Crew Stadium. For those driving, you will have to park somewhere outside the VIP lots. For directions to the stadium, how much it costs to park and a map to show you where to park, click on the link below: http://www.crewstadium.com/?s=parking For those staying downtown at the Courtyard, we do not have transportation set up from the hotel to the stadium on Saturday. We will all likely have to take cabs or perhaps a city bus (if available) to the stadium Saturday morning/afternoon. The hotel unfortunately does not provide a shuttle to and from Crew Stadium. I apologize to anyone if this is an inconvenience. The match itself with the MLS All-Stars begins at 3:30PM EDT. For those not going, it will be shown LIVE on ABC! Look for us in section 124 with a some large FulhamUSA banners!!! As mentioned, we are sitting in section 124. Here is a map of Crew Stadium: http://columbus.crew.mlsnet.com/MLS/coc/stadium/ We sold around 80-85 tickets so we should be able to do a good job cheering on the Black and White Army on Saturday. There is a chance that we will have some song books with some of the various Fulham chants and cheers. That is not certain, but it might happen. If so, Mike and I will be handing out the books to those who want to get in on the singing. After the match, there will be a FulhamUSA party at the Frog Bear Bar in the Arena District. For those going to O’Shaugnessy’s on Friday night, the Frog Bear is located right next to it. The party starts around 5:30 or 6PM EDT or whenever we get there after the match. Unfortunately once again, we do not have transportation to get from the stadium back to the Frog Bear. There might be some busses or cabs to get us back to the stadium. I can assure you we will find something and we will all get back to the Frog Bear safely. At the Frog Bear, we will have a large room with our own bar. It is a cash bar. You will have the opportunity to order food from the menu if you want to eat. There will not be any snacks or food provided at the party by FulhamUSA. Thus, you are on your own in terms of food at the Frog Bear. The party ends when we want it to. There is no time we have to be out of there so we can enjoy the Frog Bear as long as we want. For those looking for information on the Frog Bear, here is the link: http://www.frogbearbar.com Last, but not least, if you would like to contribute to the FulhamUSA’s effort to sponsor Brian McBride, you may do so this weekend. Simply see myself or Mike and give us your donation. I would like to thank those who have donated already and encourage those who have not to help out if you can. We are still well short of where we need to be and it would be great for FulhamUSA to sponsor Brian for the 2005-2006 season. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the weekend, feel free to email myself, tom@fulhamusa.com, or Mike, mike@fulhamusa.com. In addition, while in Columbus, I can be contacted via cell phone at 773-407-0900. Mike can be contacted via cell phone at 516-991-6674. Feel free to call either of us if you have problems or are simply looking to meet up with the group when you get into town. It should be a good time in Columbus and it will be great to meet everyone and enjoy the matches. Only a few more days until the fun begins.