This is a blogpost about Millwall. They don't play in Millwall, they play in South Bermondsey, but that's beside the point.
I've been going to Millwall matches on and off for the past six years. My first match - an FA Cup tie against somehow then Premier League champions Leicester City - pleasantly ended in a 1-0 win for Millwall. And yesterday I went to watch an exhilarating match against rivals Leeds United.
Weirdly for a club which has only spent two seasons in the top flight of English football (and never really did anything then), Millwall are probably one of the most (in)famous football clubs in England. This is probably due to their fans, arguably one of the most passionate in the whole country (if not world), and due to an association with hooliganism (a perception that has been popularised by various forms of media), as well as knocking out teams in the FA Cup when they feel like it. This has made Millwall a very polarising team in the news, but as their fans chant, they themselves don't care - a sentiment I love.
Treat this blogpost as a "Places to see in South London" if you want to - a match at The Den is a great experience. Situated among an array of suburban streets and estates, the stadium looks strikingly traditional compared to those of many other clubs, with a railway running near it. Half an hour before kickoff, many fans were gathered outside the gates; there's a bar shaped like a bus (the SE16 Bar, as their website will inform you); The Jam was being played by a DJ. The police (not the band) were standing by the entrance with horses (as they usually do at home games). Fans were chanting even before kickoff and before they had got into the stadium, the queues were that long. Everything was looking positive, even if Leeds, recently relegated and once runners up in the European Cup, were to come.
Inside the stadium, the chants continued even louder (helped by the addition of thousands more people), and they only amplified come the 55th minute. For a club this size, you can tell why Millwall are so well known for their fans. The fans got very passionate whenever the referee made a call - celebratory when he favoured Millwall, insults fired if Leeds got the upper hand.
As always, there's a catch. Millwall lost 3-0, after what I would describe a rather rough display. Gary Rowett isn't a bad manager, but his tactics were reminiscent of a Sam Allardyce satire - kick the ball up the pitch in the hope someone will get it, and most of the time, it was not a Millwall player. Come the third goal, to my surprise, fans were exiting the stadium (though I'd like to think this is as it was the 81st minute, and the Overground wasn't running down towards Croydon). At least I got a better view as I watched the rest of the match, though things didn't really improve, with the overcast afternoon only improved by occasional showers.
I will admit, however, that the Leeds fans were brilliant. When the Millwall fans weren't chanting, they got their voices heard, even if the chants merely resorted to goading the leaving fans. This rivalry has never truly made sense to me - Millwall are on opposing sides of the country to Leeds and the two only seemingly became rivals by 2008, according to Wikipedia - yet you could tell both sides cared a lot about bragging rights.
Before I go, I'd like to praise who I thought was the best player - Leeds United's Wilfried Gnonto, almost always unmarked on the left flank and punishing Millwall's sloppy passes. How he's playing in the Championship baffles me. I can only hope he stays there next season, if only so I can watch this match again in a year's time with him involved.
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