Fulham Comfortably Retain the Unofficial World Club Championships!

Barney Corkhill's Unofficial World Club Championship (UWCC) saw another defence yesterday, as champions Fulham took on Gareth Southgate's Middlesbrough at Craven Cottage.

Fulham, who were defending their status as the greatest club in the world for the fifth time, had been on an impressive run of six games without defeat prior to this match, whereas Middlesbrough were without a win in five.

Far from being considered one of the easier ties now, Fulham had established themselves as contenders for a top-half finish with this recent run, and there was even some talk of Europe at the Cottage, albeit perhaps optimistically.

True to the form book, it was Fulham who came out on top, recording their first win as defending UWCC champions, after their first four matches ended in draws.

It was their talismanic midfielder Jimmy Bullard who gave them the lead just before half-time, poking in Bobby Zamora's spilt shot from close range. Bullard has been linked with a move away from the club in recent weeks, but Fulham's recent form will certainly be making him think twice.

It was Bullard's midfield partner, Danny Murphy, who converted the second from the penalty spot after Tony McMahon was adjudged to have handled in the area. It was the third penalty in UWCC history, all of which, incidentally, have been scored by English midfielders (Lampard and Gerrard scored the other two).

With Fulham cruising to a deserved victory, Clint Dempsey rounded off the scoring with a tidy finish on the hour mark.

It isn't the first time Middlesbrough have let the UWCC title escape them, after losing 5-0 to Chelsea way back in October.

94.1 percent of voters on the poll said that Middlesbrough wouldn't be able to beat Fulham, so well done to all of you!

History

Chelsea 4-0 Portsmouth

Stoke 0-2 Chelsea

CFR Cluj 0-0 Chelsea

Chelsea 2-0 Aston Villa

Middlesbrough 0-5 Chelsea

Chelsea 1-0 AS Roma

Chelsea 0-1 Liverpool (Liverpool become new champions)

Liverpool 1-0 Portsmouth

Tottenham 2-1 Liverpool (Tottenham become new champions)

Tottenham 4-0 Dinamo Zagreb

Manchester City 1-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 4-2 Liverpool

Fulham 2-1 Tottenham (Fulham become new champions)

Liverpool 0-0 Fulham

Aston Villa 0-0 Fulham

Fulham 1-1 Manchester City

Stoke 0-0 Fulham

Fulham 3-0 Middlesbrough

Fulham's next title defence comes on Boxing Day as they take on the very side they beat to win the title: Tottenham Hotspur. Can Tottenham beat Fulham at White Hart Lane to become the first ever two-time UWCC champions?!