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“Let ’em come, let ’em come, let ’em all come down to The Den!” goes the famous chant of Millwall FC. Think Bear Grylls (hopefully without the p*ss drinking), mixed with Louis Theroux (hopefully without the crystal meth). They also have the second-highest number of arrests last season, with 69 in total. A little girl dressed in Millwall gear from head to toe drops her chips and gets upset. “We heard that they have a great atmosphere with great fans,” says Lars. Just being a Millwall fan is reason enough to trust a man. It is highly likely, however, that Millwall’s troublemakers are merely “glory supporters”, only attending the Den for the big games or derbies. You can hear Millwall fans chanting this on a Saturday afternoon in South-East London. Whilst on the train, I overhear a dad asking his young son, for who it was his first Millwall match, what he thought of it all. I feared trouble, yet there was none to be found. I reach the top of Zampa Road, where I get chatting to a local stall holder. It’s a dull grey afternoon, heavy clouds look as though they could burst at any point. Bill May, 69, who owns a business close to the Den, thinks it could be. Seems like a friendly enough invitation, no? You’d get more for a reserve match back then than you would get for a league match now.”, Bill May outside the Den. Millwall have a certain reputation among football fans, but is it still deserved? Ex- Red Bradshaw put a header wide, but Barnsley's fragile defence were never really troubled. Outside the Zampa Road gate I get chatting to Ayse Smith, a committee member for the Millwall Supporter’s Club who last month was part of a team who collected sleeping bags for Home 4 Heroes. Bill was at the game, and said that the troublemakers were not regular fans: “I take my granddaughters to most matches and there’s never any problems. Tico. How to get rid of these ads and support TW, Bet on Everton and get a deposit bonus with bet365 at TheFreeBetGuide.com. I had initially feared for the single steward who had been tasked with policing our section, but the fans were very well behaved. It wasn’t always so bleak for Millwall fans. Overlooking it, a mural to the manager Neil Harris, who’s status as a player with the Lions earns him pride of place under the railway bridge. However, statistics on football banning orders suggest Millwall do still go some way to living up to their reputation. His pokey store, equipped with everything a Millwall fan would ever need, is sandwiched between rusty metal railings. We use cookies to enhance your experience on ToffeeWeb and to enable certain features. An older fan offers what’s left of his, before staff at the cafe present her with new ones and soon the girl’s Cheshire grin is restored. At first I though he’d just got an absolute fire match on Tinder but it turned out he was covering the game for TV. “I hate Zlatan”, declares William. All rights reserved. The VAT number for the News UK Group is GB 243 8054 69. And when you factor in Millwall’s average attendance with the other clubs in England, the situation looks even worse. I attempt to bring it to life with some sauce. Copyright © 2015 News Group Newspapers Limited. There is no trouble outside, although I do bump into Iain Dowie at a bus stop (bus w**ker.). Lars Larsson, 70, Fredrick Larsson, 41, and William Larsson, 18, three generations of the family, had come to see their first game in England. Then, against the run of play Chaplin scored for the Reds. I was sat in the Cold Blow Lane stand, and it took me ages to work out that it was all unreserved seating- very continental. This February, the club were at the centre of another hooligan story, when Millwall fans invaded the pitch after an FA Cup match against Premiership Champions Leicester City. But a long string of pitch battles, riots and other skirmishes reached a violent crescendo in the mid-1980s, and subsequently gave the Lions their reputation for hooliganism. Shane Kevin Ferguson (born 12 July 1991) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays for Championship club Millwall and the Northern Ireland national team.He previously played for Newcastle United in the Premier League, where he had two spells on loan to Birmingham City of the English Championship, as well as Rangers of the Scottish Championship. An absolute thunderbastard from Jed Wallace was the single highlight in an otherwise shocking half. Lost Lions: are 57 Millwall hooligans scaring away the real fans? On Sunday 27th May, I will be playing in a Celebrity Match at the Wonderwall Cup in aid of the London and Manchester terror victims. A police helicopter circles the area, just as a lifeguard patrols a gym swimming pool, only this time not laughing at Yer Da in his new speedos. Severe damage to the Den caused by Germany’s bombing campaign turned Millwall from being one of the biggest clubs in the Football League to one of the smallest. Millwall FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website). “We’re always called the biggest small club in the world, it’s really starting to feel that way,” Tom explains. As I queued up to collect my ticket, I got chatting with three fans who had come from Uppsala in Sweden to watch the game. The young fan playfully replies, “I liked it, but, there was a bit too much swearing.”. As many as ten condiment bottles were open at once, many left discarded and a new one selected in its place, almost symptomatic of Millwall’s seasons in recent years. Rows of police watch us take one step at a time, they stand their redundant, supporters only getting close to them when they reach out a hand to stroke the mounted horses. 1 decade ago. The club’s worldwide attraction is further confirmed to me by Tom Gale and Harry Cooper, who both run the supporter’s club’s online platforms. Proceeds from the event will be used to help the victims and the emergency services. ', Disappointment in the camp that derby wait goes on, Carlo Ancelotti would like to talk about Crosby, Atalanta, Bayern... Everton? “It’s no good looking at the teams around us, we can only focus on our results,” one declares, slightly adjusting his baseball cap, a legion of Millwall badges hanging from it. After Celtic's decision to quit football, some of their support attached themselves to Distillery FC, which would have been the next closest club to …

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