Few sides would fancy coming down to The Den, warns Harris
MILLWALL have made a habit of important home vic tories this month. Their biggest, of course, was l a s t we e k wh e n Lewisham Council abandoned plans for a Compulsory Purchase Order of land around The Den. That decision has ended, for now at least, the threat that the club could be forced to leave its home in Bermondsey.
That success came against the odds and, on the pitch, too, it has been a similar story. Three weeks ago Millwall knocked Bournemouth out of the FA Cup, and they followed that up yesterday with another Premier League scalp in Watford.
“I would think there are a few sides who would not fancy coming here,” said Millwall manager Neil Harris. “It’s been a good week for us as a club.”
Millwall got the result they deserved from a display that encapsulated the togetherness the club has shown throughout its battle for the future.
There was little sense before the match of the positive events of last week, and the atmosphere outside the ground was subdued.
The main feeling among the home crowd of 7,400 — perhaps low due to the early kick off and the fact the match was on television — was of relief.
However, when the match kicked off the atmosphere inside the ground was typically raucous and the delight among supporters after Steve Morison scored his late winner showed what Millwall means to so many.
“The more all of this has gone on the more I have recognised the importance of Millwall to the community,” said Willow Winston, a local resident who was due to be evicted under the plans for a CPO. “I have seen it as an organisation for good that helps young and old throughout the borough. Yesterday I went to see it as a football club. There were all sorts of people in the crowd. So many different types of ages and people, plenty of women and small children, people with abilities and disabilities. They were all there.”
Richard Pickering, joint owner of Zampa Fish and the Millwall Cafe, said: “Millwall is the heart of the area. There is a huge amount of benefit the club brings to the borough. Without Millwall it would be like any other area with large tower blocks. It would be relatively soulless. There’s no doubt the area needs regeneration. But it has to be regeneration that complements the area, and Millwall should remain the heart and soul of that.”
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Lisandro Lopez.
Millwall want a fully independent inquiry into Lewisham Council and the whole CPO process. The Association of Millwall Supporters group is campaigning for Sir Steve Bullock, the Mayor of Lewisham, to resign as part of changes at the council.
Nick Hart of the AMS said: “I have seen it [the CPO] described as the biggest threat to the club in its existence. You cannot argue with that. And we have beaten it off. But we want a statement from the council that they will never go down this road again. Without Millwall the area would suffer. At the moment it has identity.
Hart said of the victory against Watford: “It was a classic Millwall performance yesterday. It was full of blood and thunder. The fans were part of the drama and that’s why we love it. It’s an old-fashioned club in many respects, and there’s a sense that is retains something valuable.”