‘Friendliest club’ Millwall is worth saving, says Keller
KASEY KELLER is still able to remember the expression of horror from his psychology tutor at the University of Portland.
It was 1992 and he was a young American college graduate about to embark on a professional football career in Europe. ‘I had this Scottish professor and I had to ask him to take the final exam early because I was going over to England to go on trial,’ recalls Keller.
‘He asked: “Where are you going?” I said: “Oh, I’m going to Millwall.” And the look on his face I remember to this day. “They kill people there!” So I thought: “This will be interesting”. But when I got there I was struck by how accommodating everyone was, from players, to staff, to fans.’
The goalkeeper went on to play in the World Cup and the Olympic Games. He also played for Tottenham and Leicester, where he won the League Cup, and in Spain and Germany. Yet it is Millwall that he credits with providing the foundation for his career. ‘I have huge debt to the role Millwall played in my career,’ he says.
Millwall, who provided one of the biggest shocks of the third round by knocking out Premier League Bournemouth, have been in the news this week and not only because the FA Cup fourth round today pits the League One club against Premier League Watford.
The very existence of the club was in jeopardy thanks to a compulsory purchase order on land around The Den which was due to be enforced by Lewisham Council.
This week, with allegations that some of the funding behind the companies keen to regenerate the land had been misrepresented, the threat seems to have receded, with the Mayor of Lewisham now saying the scheme can’t go ahead, though the policy has yet to be formally ditched by the council.
Keller, who is now settled in Seattle, where he does media work for ESPN and the Seattle Sounders MLS team, joined the club when they still played at Cold Blow Lane, the old Den. He was part of the club when they moved to the new Den in 1993, where they now play, in South Bermondsey, still part of the same community but in more modern facilities.
‘It looked like a huge step forward to be moving into the new Den and the club seemed to be moving in the right direction,’ recalls Keller. ‘So hearing these rumours and reports that they might get kicked out of the stadium and redeveloped was just unfathomable, knowing what Millwall means to that south-east London community.
‘Sometimes the club has a reputation which precedes itself and there is a portion of the fan base which enjoys keeping that reputation intact. People find this odd, but I always found Millwall one of the friendliest clubs I played for. I was just out of university so I would have friends that were travelling around Europe and they’d come to a match. They’d be talking and someone would recognise the accent and they’d say: “Oh we’re friends of Kasey’s.” And fans would be like: ‘Come with us, we’ll take you here; we’ll show you where he’ll come out after the stadium.” Everyone was super friendly. And when you think about the reputation Millwall has, you wouldn’t think that would be the case.’
And yet in recent months, there has been the very real prospect of it all ending forever, at least in Bermondsey. Millwall have been living under the threat of what they believe would have effectively been a forced relocation, with their academy facilities and community centre, situated next to their stadium, being purchased by the council to make way for a regeneration project.
‘It’s not just about having to move it was the reason why we might have to move,’ says current manager Neil Harris, a player who was iconic for fans for overcoming testicular cancer and then overhauling Teddy Sheringham to become the club’s record goal-scorer.
‘It’s quite bizarre that it’s our council which could cause our eviction. That’s wrong.’
For now, though, Millwall appear safe and today, amidst all the turmoil and relief, they have the cup tie against Watford, which, though important in its own right, is becoming something of a celebration.
‘We are being cautious,’ says chief executive Steve Kavanagh, ‘but the fans are celebrating and have every right to celebrate.’
And who knows? Could the triumphal atmosphere lead to another upset? ‘We ain’t going to pass anyone off the park, says midfielder Steve Morison. ‘But we’re going to run, fight, bully and do all we can to win — that’s one thing they’re going to get.’
At Millwall, you wouldn’t expect it any other way.