MICHAEL JACKSON STATUE AT CRAVEN COTTAGE TO BE REMOVED

Fulham are to return the statue of Michael Jackson that is situated outside Craven Cottage to the club's former owner Mohamed Al Fayed.

It was installed behind the Hammersmith Stand in 2011 in tribute to the late pop star, who visited the ground in 1999, but it split opinion among fans.
Al Fayed, who sold the club to American Shahid Khan for £150m in July, insisted Jackson was a Fulham supporter.
The club said the statue does not fit in with the revamp of the stadium.

 

A Fulham spokesperson said: "The statue is not part of the Riverside development of the stadium and will be returned to the former chairman in due course."
Al Fayed had initially planned on placing the statue - which was commissioned after Jackson's death in 2009 - outside Harrods, but after selling the Knightsbridge store in 2010 he switched the site to Craven Cottage.
It was not popular with some supporters of the West London club but Al Fayed said any fan who did not appreciate it could "go to hell".
Jackson was a guest at Craven Cottage in April 1999 and watched the 2-0 victory over Wigan in League Two.
Before the unveiling, Al Fayed said: "Michael Jackson was truly a legend, a term used too often in this modern world saturated in the hyperbole surrounding celebrity.
"He was my friend, a man with whom I shared many happy memories and who died a tragic and untimely death."