Fulham to stay at Loftus Road

Fulham fans, already suffering from the stress of a relegation dogfight, received another blow when the club confirmed they will be playing their home games at Queen's Park Rangers' Loftus Road ground for another season.

Fulham vacated their Craven Cottage home for the current campaign under plans to build a new stadium on the site.

But the initial scheme was scrapped after the costs boomed and there are now doubts as to whether the club will ever return to the Cottage, particularly in the wake of owner Mohammed Al Fayed's recent decision to give up British residency and move to Switzerland.

Playing at Loftus Road has cost Fulham an estimated one million pounds (1.5 million dollars) this season because of their failure to attend the size of crowds a Premiership club could reasonably expect.

Fulham have never sold out the QPR ground, despite it having a capacity of just 18,500 and negotiations with Chelsea about sharing Stamford Bridge have never born fruit.

A statement on the Fulham website said the club remained committed to a return to Craven Cottage.

"At present the club is actively trying to find ways of developing a more cost-efficient stadium on the Craven Cottage site whilst negotiations take place with Chelsea regarding a temporary ground share arrangement, should this not prove possible (subject to planning permission being granted and a satisfactory conclusion to negotiations with Chelsea).

"Whilst these investigations and negotiations take place the club will continue to explore the potential of other sites within the borough."

Fulham have lost their last three Premiership games and are only six points clear of the relegation zone with five games to play this season.

Al Fayed's decision to terminate Jean Tigana's contract in the summer has been widely criticised as mis-timed and already there is speculation about a huge exodus of players this summer with playmaker Steed Malbranque and Steve Finnan both reportedly set to join Liverpool.