Fulham’s Marcus Bettinelli: Perpetual backup, turned England international

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To many outsiders, Marcus Bettinelli’s past four weeks may have appeared utterly unconventional.

The Fulham goalkeeper began the season as third choice at Craven Cottage. He was completely left out of the squad for the club’s first two matches, despite making it clear he was not injured.

Just under a month later, he has been re-installed as Fulham’s number one, steered the Whites to their first win of the season, saved a penalty in just his second Premier League start and was called up to the senior England squad for the first time.

But, ask Fulham supporters, and they’ll tell you this resilience is par for the course for the 26-year-old lad from Camberwell.

At each step of his career Bettinelli has been doubted, demoted, and seen others preferred in front of him. However, at every obstacle he has faced, he has fought back, regained his spot, and propelled himself to loftier heights than ever before.

The son of academy goalkeeping coach Vic Bettinelli, Marcus rose through the ranks at Fulham and broke into the first team in the 2014/15 season, making 39 appearances in the Whites’ first season since relegation.

However, in each of the past three years, Bettinelli has started the season as second, or even third choice at Fulham.

Nonetheless, in each campaign, Bettinelli has clawed his way back into the starting role. And when he returns, results have a funny way of automatically improving.

The first iteration of the trend occurred in April 2017, where David Button had held the title of first team goalkeeper for much of the 16/17 campaign.

But after Button’s abysmal display at Pride Park left Fulham outside the play-off places with just six matches to play, Bettinelli was recalled to the side for the following match against Ipswich.

A month later, Fulham had won five and drawn one of their closing fixtures, catapulting into sixth position and setting up a play-off semi-final against Reading.

Although the tie ultimately ended in defeat, Bettinelli’s record was remarkable: eight matches played, five wins, two draws, and one loss.

Yet as pre-season rolled around in the summer of 2017, Bettinelli again found himself watching on helplessly from the substitute’s bench.

Bettinelli’s injury in pre-season gave Button the starting role between the sticks, a spot which the ex-Brentford man held until December.

The turning point for Slavisa Jokanovic was the 3-1 away loss at Griffin Park, a result which left Fulham mired in 15th.

In came Marcus for the home match against Birmingham City, delivering the Cottagers a 1-0 win and their first clean sheet since 26 August— a run of 13 matches.

And what followed will be fondly remembered as the best recent run in the club’s proud history.

An away defeat to lowly Sunderland shocked the Whites into form, with a 23-match unbeaten run to come.

In that rampant spell, Bettinelli transformed a previously inept defence, keeping a remarkable 11 clean sheets against the likes of promotion contenders Wolves, Aston Villa, and Middlesbrough.

When it mattered most, the goalkeeper shut out Derby County and then Aston Villa in Fulham’s final two matches of the play-offs, sending the southwest London club back to the Premier League.

The resounding image of that play-off final win was an exultant Bettinelli wheeling around the Wembley pitch holding a flare and smiling in utter glee.

Yet just months later, the celebrations at Wembley were long forgotten and the Englishman faced his toughest career test yet.

Over the summer, Fulham brought in not one, but two experienced keepers, in the form of Fabri and Sergio Rico. Both had Champions League experience, and both were selected ahead of Bettinelli for the first two matches of the season.

Some fans were incensed, some were satisfied. Fabri’s initial performance against Crystal Palace brought criticism— despite some decent saves, the Spaniard was terribly at fault for Wilfried Zaha’s goal and was far from commanding in his penalty area.

What followed was a debate like none other. Some saw Bettinelli’s demotion as a misguided decision that disrupted the back four, while others cheered the fact that Fulham selected two players with European experience ahead of the academy graduate.

After Tottenham dispatched Fulham 3-1 in the second match of the season, Fulham’s goalkeeping coach Jose Sambade Carreira departed the club in mysterious circumstances.

His influence had been instrumental in bringing Fabri to SW6 from Besiktas, and now that Carreira was gone, Bettinelli swiftly was recalled to the starting XI against Burnley.

Although Fulham’s fluid front three was more responsible for the 4-2 win than Bettinelli’s return, it has become a pattern that one can no longer write off. When Betts returns, Fulham succeeds.

The following week against Brighton, Bettinelli put in a man-of-the-match display, highlighted by a stunning penalty save to keep the scores 0-0 in the first half.

Yes, his distribution needs work. But the fact of the matter is that no keeper on Fulham’s payroll could produce the moment of magic that Bettinelli did when denying Pascal Gross.

No keeper on Fulham’s payroll can communicate as effectively and instill confidence in the defence than Bettinelli. And no keeper on Fulham’s payroll is as consistent as Bettinelli.

His England call up is thoroughly well-deserved. Bettinelli faced questions over whether he could cut it at the top level, and his first two Premier League appearances have delivered a resounding answer: yes.

In addition, his close relationship with Gareth Southgate from his time with the U-21s only helps to bolster Bettinelli’s Three Lions credentials, and hopefully the England manager will give Betts a run out during the Switzerland friendly.

Few players divide opinion among Fulham supporters like Marcus Bettinelli, and it is hard to understand why.

He is Fulham through-and-through, has performed exceptionally whenever he has been relied upon, has never let his head drop when he has been demoted, and has achieved a dream of playing for his boyhood club in the Premier League.

Bettinelli’s latest chapter appears to have the potential to be his best yet. With a consistent role between the sticks at Craven Cottage along with a burgeoning England career, the 26-year-old has the world at his feet– a situation he hardly could have dreamt of just a month earlier.

No matter what the coming months bring, Marcus Bettinelli will never let the occasion overawe him, as he knows far too well how quickly success can turn to sitting on the bench.

If yet another demotion presents itself, Bettinelli will do what he does best: ignore the noise, work even harder, and fight with all he has to regain his spot.