The Den: Millwall 0-1 Oxford United

Millwall 0-1 Oxford United

Supporters often don’t live locally to teams they support and we have an acquaintance in Leicestershire who is not only an Oxford United season ticket holder but also someone that ventures to away games too. With a day to myself (Adrian), I had become aware that the Glenfield U was heading to the Den so I arranged to accompany him, after all what else would you do on the morning of New Year’s Day. Not surprisingly our journey south on the M1 was trouble free, parking up at Stanmore tube station where we met up with another United fan who lives in Harrow. The Jubilee Line from Stanmore winds itself through London and we exited at Canada Water. We then set off on a 20 minute walk through south east London on the unique walk, at times imposing via alley ways and tunnels towards the Den arriving at the stadium on a path at the corner of the Cold Blow Lane and the Dockers stand. Railway lines, Industrial units and unhelpful fencing make taking photos of the Den very difficult. With time to spare, I decided to show the Oxford fans the site of the old Den. Sadly the plaque that was mounted on the housing estate to commemorate the site of the old Den has been removed (or should I say rehomed...). With fine rain now falling, we decided to head towards the ground. Away fans are housed in the North Stand, one of four stands with two tiers and was originally opened in 1993. This was my fourth trip to Millwall and the third to what was initially called the New Den. I wasn’t expecting many goals, Millwall are the lowest scorers in the division, however hopes were high as it was Alex Neil’s first game in charge and returning to the Den was former manager Gary Rowatt. He spent 4 years in charge here with a degree of success. With two wins from two, the visitors were certainly enjoying the new manager bounce. The game was high on effort but Alex Neil will reflect on a game where his new team struggled to create any clear cut opportunities and Oxford who were well organised grew into the game, took their chance and defended their lead assisted by Millwall's failure to supply that final killer pass. The all important goal came just before the hour. Plachetta delivering an excellent cross from the right and Ruben Rodrigues beat the Millwall defender in the air to head across goal into the far corner of the net past Jensen. Oxford then defended their 1-0 lead. Millwall seemed to run out of ideas and both they and the home support grew frustrated. You sensed the home side didn’t have enough in them to get an equaliser and Oxford saw the game through for their first away win of the season and their first away win at this level for 25 years. Our journey back to Stanmore was not easy. We headed up one of the pathways behind the ground to head back to Canada Water but access was denied as gates had been closed. We ended up on the pathway which turned into a holding compound for visiting supporters. We were near South Bermondsey overground station but we were being held until the Millwall fans had dispersed. Eventually after around 30 minutes standing in the wind and rain, we were allowed forward. We were slightly confused as to where Canada Water tube station was, the area is a mass of post war blocks of flats, a road network which resembles a spiders web situated just south of the river. It was by now also getting dark but assisted by a mobile phone showing Google Maps we managed to find a tube station, not Canada Water but Bermondsey on Jamaica Road. Cold and wet, we took the first train available which terminated at Wembley Park, changing for the final few stops to Stanmore. The car journey home was as good as could be expected on a now busier M1 and I was dropped off and in home eventually at 6.30pm. I've seen better games but always enjoy the live experience, the interaction with other supporters travelling to different parts of the country and the challenges this can create.

Millwall 1-0 Leeds United

This is a trip Adrian has endured twice before our visit against of all teams to see play Millwall at The Den, Leeds United. Adrian first visited The Old Den in 1985 against Leicester City in the FA Cup and then visited the 'New' Den in 1994 again against Leicester City and on both occasions he didn't like it. He was even threatened with a knife on the tube back home by a Millwall fan which saw him run off the tube and the rest of the way to the station to get his train home.
We left at 7:30am and headed down a sun blinding M1 Southbound towards the outskirts of the capital.
We stopped briefly at Toddington services at 8:30am before continuing our journey.
We arrived at Kingsbury at just gone 9:15am and parked on our usual road, Melbury Road. We then took the Jubilee line from Kingsbury across the city to Canada Water before changing there and going on the London Overground line to Surrey Quays.
We arrived at Surrey Quays and made the short journey to the ground. We walked through a fairly new housing estate before reaching many dark, intimidating viaducts which we had to go through to get to the ground. When we reached the other end of the viaducts following many twists and turns, we suddenly found ourselves at an early 90's football stadium between railway viaducts and industrial buildings. Swarmed by the Police already preparing for what was expected to be a feisty affair, We decided to take photos of the exterior early making it easier for us later before taking the short walk to The Old Den and the famous Cold Blow Lane which has seen many fights during Millwall’s 83 year stay before being demolished in 1993. We then walked back towards The Den where we ate lunch at a café just outside the ground.
After we ate our Sausage, Egg, Beans and Chips (£5.00) and two rounds of tea (For me, Ross, having 1 tea and 1 coffee), we decided to have a look round at which route we should take for our journey back to Surrey Quays Tube Station later on. Once we found our ideal escape out of The Den, we bought our programmes and went in.
According to Wikipedia “The Den was the first new all seater stadium to be completed following the Hillsborough disaster. It was designed with effective crowd management in mind (given Millwall's crowd problems at the Old Den), with the escape routes being short and direct. After Chairman Reg Burr decided that it would not be viable to redevelop The Den as an all-seater stadium, he announced during 1990 that Millwall would be relocating to a new stadium in the Senegal Fields area. Originally, it was planned to have a seating capacity of between 25,000 to 30,000. Millwall however, could not meet the additional cost. Millwall played their final game on 8 May 1993 at The Den (Old) after 83 years, and moved to the new 20,000 all-seater stadium a quarter of a mile away from Cold Blow Lane. The £16 million Den was the first new football stadium constructed for a professional team in London since 1937.”
In front of the highest crowd of the season (up to the Leeds United fixture), Millwall beat a 10 man Leeds United by 1 goal to nil. The only goal of the match was scored by Millwall’s loanee Chris Wood. Leeds were the better team until Luke Varney was sent off by Mark Halsey for elbowing Millwall’s Adam Smith which saw the Millwall fans in the Kitchener Stand furious at Varney’s actions and surging towards the front of the bottom tier almost causing a riot. With the Millwall faithful getting more agitated and angry in their black flat caps and constant use of the word c*nt (sounding like cant), missiles started being launched between the Dockers stand and the North Stand.

At full time, we left prompt towards the footpath which saw police officers in two's dotted up the path underneath the viaducts. We arrived on the platform at 3:20pm and made the short journey up to Canada Water before changing to the Jubilee line for the rest our journey back up to Kingsbury.
We arrived back at Kingsbury and back in the car for 4:10pm got onto the M1 but this time heading Northbound back towards The Midlands.
We got home at 5:45pm.
Overall, even with the previous experiences which Adrian endured and negative reviews from other ground hoppers who have visited The Den, We enjoyed our visit and Adrian's third visit to Millwall.
The Den is located in an intimidating area with lots of barbed wire and dark tunnels to the ground which is very similar to The Old Den keeping the fear of visiting Millwall alive. The atmosphere was electric and saw the highest crowd of the season up to then. The game was very competitive and even saw a red card for Luke Varney and trouble between the supporters of both clubs with bottles and coins being exchanged across the two stands housing both sets of supporters.

The Den

Thursday, 20 February 2025

Millwall 0-1 Oxford United

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