In "Music meets Football", we speak to some of our artists about their love of the beautiful game and the teams they support. Our latest feature is with proFESSional's Rob Hennebry.
Rob is one of the guitarists for the London-based punk rock quintet, and is a fan of one of the capital’s West London sides, Fulham. One of the most exciting new bands of 2024, proFESSional are Rob, Mani (vocals), Paul Fifield (guitars), Marco Gaspari (bass) and Jonny Brister (drums).
They recently played live shows with the Levellers at Dreamland in Margate and with The Luka State at Green Door Store in Brighton and the 100 Club in London. Recent single ‘Madam G’ follows the release of debut track ‘Pizza For Breakfast’ and ‘Television’, the latter of which you can listen to on Cottage FM – our unofficial Fulham FC playlist.
Sport Playlists: Tell us about how you became a fan of Fulham?
Rob Hennebry: When I first moved to London as an already huge football fan and I really just wanted a base from which to watch the Premier League. Fulham had the best priced season ticket so I went for it. Within ten matches I started caring about the results…then a scarf, a hat and a Monday night win in January later I was hooked.
SP: What are your earliest memories of attending a game at Craven Cottage?
RH: It was my first game at the Cottage against Arsenal. We lost 2-1, but for me it was a moral victory.
SP: Who were your footballing heroes growing up – whether that be Fulham players or otherwise?
RH: Growing up in Ireland we had a decent team and I always loved Robbie Keane, Roy Keane and Damien Duff.
SP: Did you ever have any aspirations about becoming a professional footballer when you were a child? If so, how far did they go towards becoming a reality?
RH: I absolutely had aspirations of being a footballer, but it was more likely the middle child and musician in me chasing the maximum amount of attention possible. As soon as I actually played the game it was pretty clear that my future lay elsewhere.
SP: What’s the best moment been in your time supporting Fulham?
RH: It’s 100% when the mercurial Clint Dempsey chipped in our fourth goal against that Juventus side (including Del Piero) at the Hammersmith End to send us through to the Europa League Quarter-finals in 2010. We went all the way to the final, but having lost the first leg 3-1 in Turin that fourth goal in the Cottage sent me to another place.
SP: What are your thoughts on how the 2024/25 season has gone so far?
RH: I’m pretty happy with the season so far. I felt we should have beaten Everton but the late comeback against Brentford at the start of this month set us right again. We’ve got a very winnable game coming up this weekend against Wolves, so fingers crossed.
SP: What are your hopes for the rest of the season – is competing for a European place the next step under Marco Silva?
RH: Let’s be realistic, Silva is playing a blinder and if he doesn’t get poached by someone bigger then naturally, we will expect progress. He has done really well in adapting our style and replacing what I thought, would be some heavy losses like João Palhinha. However, looking at the size and strength of clubs above us you have think Europe might be a stretch.
Having said that, I think our owners are expanding positively and cautiously so never say never.
SP: Who are your favourite players in the current Fulham squad?
RH: I really like a lot of our players at the minute: (Bernd) Leno is awesome. (Kenny) Tete is a legend, TC (Tom Cairney) as well, Raúl (Jiminez), (Andreas) Perierra, (Rodrigo) Muniz – all working really hard. (Alex) Iwobi is doing a job too.
SP: How important has the crossover between music and football been in your life?
RH: For me there has always been that element of shared experience. Of something bigger when you’re in a match day crowd or a big gig. Music and football definitely share the ability to lift us up and provide hope. (Except Iwobi should leave the music to us and we’ll leave the football to him. LOL)
SP: What song do you associate with a cherished footballing memory?
RH: The one that comes to mind is from my childhood was ‘Put ‘Em Under Pressure’ for Jack Charlton’s Irish team for Italia ’90 World Cup. An awesome track using music from the band Horslips.
SP: If you had to pick one proFESSional song for Fulham to walk out to before kick-off at Craven Cottage, which one would it be?
RH: ‘In the City’, one of our upcoming singles, because London is the best city in the world.
SP: What statement do your recent singles ‘Televion’ and ‘Pizza For Breakfast’ say about what to expect from proFESSional as a band going forward?
RH: We start as we mean to go on. The world is in a state of madness and we are going to continue holding up that mirror. At the end of it all we’re artists and it’s our duty to see it and say it.
SP: What’s coming up next for proFESSional?
RH: We’re having such a good time at the minute. We are finishing our album at the legendary RAK studios and being produced by Danton Supple. Then single #4 is out in January, so it’s all systems go for us right now!
