I know, I couldn't resist blogging about Millwall even though next season's still a while away. And I know I wrote a similar post last year. But next season, there will be some different teams compared to usual playing at the Den, I know I'm looking forward to a few of them.
In honour of this season's fixture list being revealed today, let's go through the last times we played the new boys:
Burnley vs Millwall: 10th January, 2026
We don't have to go far back for this one. It was the FA Cup, in a game we didn't even field that great a side, and lost 5-1. I didn't follow the game, I couldn't tell you if we looked promising at times, but even if it was disappointing to lose like that, in hindsight it was a blessing in disguise as we could focus entirely on the league. If we had to balance a cup run, we might have failed to make it into the playoffs in the first place, honestly.
It does feel like we always play against Burnley, though...they yo-yo so much, it's easy to forget which league they play in. They slumped down from the Premier League this year, so we're forced to play them.
Millwall vs Cardiff City: 21st January, 2025
Cardiff were relegated from the Championship just over a year ago, but quickly bounced back, and I'm delighted - games against them are usually exciting. The last time we played, however, was a pretty annoying 2-2 draw, where we were 2-0 up within 20 minutes before they got an equaliser in injury time. This was one of many games where we dropped points against the poorer side, and which ultimately cost us the playoffs. This is one away day I'm looking forward to, though.
Cardiff are also the only team I've seen play from these six. I've mentioned the time I went to Cardiff away like three times on this blog, and here are some pictures as proof. I'm only saying this again to emphasise how genuinely excited I am to see us play some of these teams, because more often than not, we take on the same teams every season. And I wouldn't mind going back to Cardiff :D
Bolton Wanderers vs Millwall: 9th March, 2019
Now we're going far back. Bolton recently won promotion from League One, after seven years in the wilderness where they very nearly went extinct. Credit to them where it's due, no club should be at risk of not surviving.
Nowadays, though, they're very much safe, so I'd just want to see us beat them. Last time we played, we lost 2-1, in a season where they even had to forfeit a fixture, and went down without a whimper. To be fair, that season we were also fighting to stay up, and we barely did, but even so, we really should have won this one.
Millwall vs Wolves: 26th December, 2017
I have no recollection of this match. Wolves went up that season and went on to stay in the Premier League for nearly nine years, before falling back down this year, so this game's been a long time coming.
Looking back at that Wolves side, wow. They really had Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota, in the Championship. No chance they'll have players like them this time around. It's possibly even more impressive that when we took them on last time, we battled to a 2-2 draw as a newly promoted side. We then only lost 3 from our next 22 to nearly make it into the playoffs, which was fun as a new fan at the time. This is a game I'd love to go to, for sure.
West Ham United vs Millwall: 9th February, 2012
This is the one everyone's been talking about - the return of the biggest rivalry in England. The Dockers derby might just be the most infamous rivalry in the whole of football, mainly because there's usually fighting between the fans. Take the League Cup match between both sides in 2009, which ended in an all-out riot where a Millwall fan was stabbed but thankfully survived. It's almost been made into legend, with films like Green Street Hooligans centred around the derby, and I definitely wouldn't be surprised if a group of thugs planned on ruining the game for everyone else. It's the kind of game the Met Police have multiple contingencies written out for already.
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| Last time Millwall played West Ham. Image credit: Egghead06, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons |
The most recent game was a more drab affair, though, with no crowd trouble. It was a 2-1 win for West Ham in a season where they went up to the Premier League, and we finished 16th. I've got more to say, but I'll leave it for when we play them at the Den...if I manage to get a ticket.
Lincoln City vs Millwall: 13th February, 1999
The final new side is Lincoln, who were very impressive in League One, winning the title with loads of games to spare. We've not played them for over 27 years, and last time we played them, we lost, in what was then Division 2. Oh, and they managed to get relegated that season, too, I mean come on. The game was so long ago, there are hardly any match reports from the time that you can find. The one I linked is from the Mirror, apparently.
On another note, I looked back at the table that year, and wow, it looks weird. Fulham and Manchester City, both in the third tier, that's not happening anytime soon...
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