My Millwall v West Ham Preview

Medium Sam with Tash in Millwall Playing Days

It might be strange for Big Fast Sam to return to the club where he played 60 league appearances as a central defender for Millwall (1981-1982)  with that great tash. Bet he was a ladies man in those days ;-)


West Ham have won nine, lost six and drawn 10 of the 25 competitive matches against Millwall.

West Ham's second and most recent league victory on Millwall turf was 1-0 in December 1988 

Millwall have kept one clean sheet in the last 14 league matches with West Ham.

West Ham are unbeaten in five league games (13 points out of 15).

West Ham are looking to match the four successive away league wins attained between April and September 2007. They last achieved such a feat in the same season in December 1985, when a club record five straight away top-flight wins were registered.

I am sure BFS will continue to play 4-5-1 away. Lansbury is sure to get a start but it remains to be seen whether Bentley starts or comes off the bench as he did against Portsmouth.

My Team,  Greeno,   Linda, Tomkins, O'Brien, Faye   Taylor, Nolan, Lansbury, Bentley  Cole

Subs: Stech  Demel,  Faubert, Diop, Carew, Baldock

I think it will be a tight London derby but I will stick to my 3-0 win I predicted on episode 4 of Monday's podcast.

Come on you Irons.  

West Ham v Millwall Rivalry History

It is difficult to imagine two sets of football fans predisposed to go at each other with a more elemental fury than West Ham and Millwall.Most West Ham home games have at least one round of "If you hate Millwall, stand up." despite not playing them since on that infamous night in 2009.

West Ham and Millwall are not especially close geographically, and on opposite sides of the Thames. 


Surely if Millwall are to loathe anyone, they would be better off picking on Crystal Palace, their only South London adversaries of note?


But no, such are the quirks of English tribalism that Palace resort to an age-old feud with Brighton, while Millwall store up all their hostile energies for a trip across the river.

The feeling is mutual: West Ham fans regard Millwall's territory of south Bermondsey as a wasteland; Indian country, if you like. Seldom can Tower Bridge have formed so stark a demarcation.

The roots of such sentiment reside in events of 85 years ago, when an antipathy developed between two shipyards on either side of the Thames.

To the north you had the workforce of the Royal docks (drenched in the claret-and-blue of West Ham) and to the south, the Millwall, London and Surrey docks (Millwall 'til they died). When the Millwall shipyard broke the 1926 dockers' strike, the outrage over the water raised tensions to tipping point.

The significance of the strike, while often invoked, can be overstated. The decline of the docks, coupled with the divergence in league positions of West Ham and Millwall, meant that the two clubs hardly bothered one another in the Thirties and Forties.

Of more recent relevance was the glorification in London of gang warfare, between the Krays in the East End and the Richardsons in the south-east.

Lurid tales abounded of what Reggie Kray did with a carving knife, or what Charlie Richardson was capable of with a bolt cutter.

Inevitably, one offshoot of this was a Sixties culture of bragadoccio on the terraces of the Den and Upton Park, a competition to see who was the better fighter.

Fighting proved to be the order of the day. At the 1972 testimonial in honour of Harry Cripps - renowned Millwall hard man, with a name straight out of a crime novel - there were police horses on the pitch.

An even bleaker turn came in 1976, when Millwall fan Ian Pratt died in a skirmish with West Ham fans at New Cross station that led to his fall under a train.

Leaflets were later handed out in the Den's Cold Blow Lane end with a grainy picture of Pratt and a declaration in capital letters: "A West Ham fan must die next week to avenge him."

And yet to establish a historical rationale for this rivalry seems to confer a dignity upon it that it does not deserve.

Let's not get too carried away!

There is a lot of enthusiam following the two back to back away wins with us briefly climbing to 3rd in the fizzy pop league now 5th.

Like most fans I have great expectations for a win against Leeds on Sunday but we all need a reality check I am afraid. This is a very tough league and promotion won't come easy as some as suggesting.

Whilst we have a good start we have to remember three teams have done better with a 100% record. Southampton, Brighton and Derby have won three out of three game and are all on 9 points.

These pack of three are followed by Middlesborugh on 2 wins and a draw on 7 points and then we lead the 6 point pack with Crytal Palace, Cardiff and Blackpool all hot on our heels.


While WestHam still remain favourites for promotion Leciester, Southampton, Brighton, Blackpool amd Cardiff closely follow in the odds so it will be a close run thing as the season progresses.

I remember the last two seasons in the Championship only too well.

In 2003-2004 we finished 4th in the championship on 74 points some 20 points behind leaders Norwich http://stats.football.co.uk/championship/2003/  We went on to lose the Championship play off final to Crystal Palace at Cardiff. This game I remember only too well with the pain of only goal going in in slow motion in my head.

In 2004-2005 we also did it the hard way finishing 6th on 73 points, 21 points behind leaders Sunderland http://stats.football.co.uk/championship/2004/  That time we were lucky enough to win the play off final at cardiff and return to the premiership.

I also have no doubt that some Championship teams will want to prove something against us and either throw 11 men behind the ball or go that extra mile to put one over on us.

I am hoping I am proved wrong and we storm the league as champions but I have been a WestHam fan for too long and know WestHam always do things the hard way ;-)

Whilst I would love a trip to Wembley to win the play off finals I would rather finish in the top two and get the automatic promotion.  Time will tell but experience tells me not to get over excited about two back to back wins.

Come on you irons and bring on the Leeds!


Sean  @WestHamFootball on Twitter