If the former Fulham and Arsenal chairman Sir Henry Norris had been allowed his way in 1910, London derbies between us and the Cottagers wouldn’t be possible.
In the early years of the 20th century, the self-made Norris was a wealthy and influential figure. Born in 1865, he’d accumulated a fortune through the property market, and his company, Allen & Norris, was responsible for transforming Fulham into a bustling, upwardly mobile district of London.
In the process of constructing, renovating and selling hundreds of houses, he’d built a formidable network of contacts in the construction and banking professions.