[Lord Snooty]

Millwall v Huddersfield Town
The Sky Bet Championship
Saturday March 18th - 15:00 ko
at The Dirty Den

Huddersfield Town travel to Millwall to the Dirty Den on Saturday afternoon for the latest episode of this crisis of a season. In fact it's such a crisis, I would like to quote Blackadder.........

Captain Blackadder:
This is a crisis. A large crisis. In fact, if you got a moment, it's a twelve-storey crisis with a magnificent entrance hall, carpeting throughout, 24-hour portage, and an enormous sign on the roof, saying 'This Is a Large Crisis'. A large crisis requires a large plan. Get me two pencils and a pair of underpants.

Ageing Head Coach, Neil Warnock had to give his Press Conference on Thursday as the team set off early to London. It's not so long ago that Huddersfield Town would fly down to play matches in the capital, now it's not such grand transportation. Warnock is going from Huddersfield Bus Station via the Megabus, taking advantage of his bus pass, whilst the players are going in Jeppo's Tranny Van that he uses for his window cleaning round and Boothy's Ford Fiesta.

Here's what the old codger had to say before he toddled off.......

If, like me, you can't be arsed listening, here's a brief sumary from the Town website......

Ahead of our Sky Bet Championship fixture against Millwall on Saturday 18 March, Manager Colin Wanker updated the press before our trip to the capital.

Discussing the point taken against Norwich City, our latest team news, and our upcoming international break taking place after this weekend, our Manager said:

“I think it’s a feeling of what might have been in honest – we could have lost it in the first half and then could have won it in the second half.

“We know we need three points, but we take what we can and move on, it’s just a matter of confidence.

“We hadn’t had much luck, but you have to make your own as well and we did that in the second half last night.

“I’m disappointed we didn’t get a second goal because we had the better chances in the second half.

“There’s nothing concerning in terms of injury after last night, hopefully during the international break we’ll sort one or two of the lads who’ve been missing.

“The lads will have some time off during the international break, come back and have a couple of days focussing on ourselves physically and then prepare for the next game.”

Going on to speak about our next Sky Bet Championship fixture against Millwall, Colin said:

“Millwall is going to be a challenge, it’ll be different to the game against Norwich but still challenging. They will play with a lot of strength and we have to be prepared mentally and physically to match that or it will be extremely difficult.

“They are brilliant when it comes to long throws and set pieces, which we have been a lot more positive about lately, so we need to continue with that.

“The fans will be there on Saturday, even with the train strikes and the obstacles – they will be there. The fans who turned up against West Brom were amazing and we need that again.”

Tickets:

Adults - £26
63s and over - £17
Armed Forces - £17
18-21 year-olds - £17
Under 18s - £15
Under 16s – £13
Under 12s - £8
Under 6s - £5

Ambulant disabled tickets are priced at £26 with a carer free of charge.

Please note: Tickets will be removed from sale at 2pm on Friday 17 March 2023.

Pay on the Day will be available at the Den on match day, but prices will increase by £3.

Supporters wishing to purchase concession tickets will need to provide proof of age.

Official coach travel is available for this fixture, costing £30 per person. Coaches will depart from St Andrew’s Road car park at 8am on match day.

If you're making your own way there, the trains are on strike so here's what the Millwall site has to say on the matter........

Usually, the quickest and easiest way to reach The Den is by train via South Bermondsey station, but strike action will mean no services will run to the station on the day.

Match-goers are strongly advised to check their journeys before leaving. Nearby stations include Surrey Quays (which can be reached on London Overground) and London Bridge, from which the Jubilee Line will be available to travel to Bermondsey; a 20-minute walk to The Den. The strike action may mean that some of these stations are out of action, so please check your journey as soon as possible.

There are also numerous bus routes stopping in close proximity to The Den, including the 21, 53 and 172, which will get you to Old Kent Road, the P12 to Ilderton Road, the 1 and 381 to Rotherhithe New Road and the 47, 188 and 225 to Surrey Quays.

A brief history of Millwall FC: They haven't actually played in Millwall since 1910. Formed as Millwall Rovers in 1885 by the workers of a canning factory, mainly Scottish lads who had come down to work at the new plant opened in 1872 by the Aberdeen based company, JT Morton. They played at four different venues in Millwall before moving to New Cross in 1910 to play at The Den.

The old Den

They joined the Football League in 1920/21 with the newly formed regional Third Division and one of their biggest results in those early years was beating the thrice champions, Huddersfield Town, 3-1 in the 1926/27 FA Cup. And in 1937 they reached the FA Cup semi finals, losing 2-1 to Sunderland at Huddersfield Town's Leeds Road Stadium. Town legend Dave Mangnall leading the line in that famous cup run, the first 3rd division team to reach the semis. Here's some old footage of the cup run. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any footage anywhere on t' internet of the game at Leeds Road.

They were on the brink of the First Division, when the Second World War broke out. The Den took a pounding from the Luftwaffe and when the war was over, so was Millwall's chance of reaching for the sky. By the end of the 1950s they had plummeted down the league and when the third divisions went national, they were in the 4th division. They won promotion in 1964/65 though and have never been back to the 4th tier.

A steady climb upwards led to the eventual promotion to the top flight of English football in 1988/89 under the management of John Docherty and with the goals of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham. They stayed there for a couple of seasons, finishing 10th in the first one, before finishing bottom in the second.

In 1993 they moved ground, across New Cross to the New Den. After initial success at the new all seater stadium, a slump saw them relegated in 1996, but as a third division club, they reached Wembley for the first time, losing the 1999 Auto Windscreens Trophy Final 1-0 to Wigan, a team who would become their nemesis by beating them again in the following season's Play Offs. They went up as champions in the season after this though, with a club record 93 points.

In 2004 they reached the FA Cup Final, losing to Man Utd 3-0, but as United had already qualified for Europe, this meant that Millwall would play in the following season's UEFA Cup. They lost in the first round to Ferencváros.

Relegated again in 2006, they won promotion back again in 2009/10, via the Play Offs, beating Swindon in the final at Wembley. They did, of course, beat us 2-0 on aggregate on their way there.

In 2013, Millwall once again reached the FA Cup semi finals, losing again to their old nemesis Wigan by two goals to nil.



Head to Head



Town lead the head to head with 24 wins to Millwall's 21, with 7 draws.

The programme image shown above was from our first league season together, 56 years ago to the day of this week's match. Town won it 3-1 with two goals from Brian Clark and one from the recently deceased Colin Dobson. That completed a double over the Lions, having won 2-0 at Leeds Road in October 1966. Dobson with a penalty and one from Tony Leighton.

Before that, we'd been drawn to play each other three times in the FA Cup in the 1920s. Millwall were in Division 3 (South) for all those games, while Town were the best team in the country. We beat them in the quarter finals in 1922, on the way to winning the Cup. Two from Clem Stephenson and one from Ernie Islip were the goals scorers for us in a 3-0 win at Leeds Road.

The following season, we drew them away in the 2nd round (modern day 4th round) and played out a goal less draw at the Den before beating them 3-0 again in the replay. Two goals this time from Charlie Wilson and one from George Richardson.

Four years later, as the Thrice Champions, we were giant killed by Millwall at the Den in front of 35,962 spectators. They beat us 3-1 for what must've been the biggest shock of the year.

We've had one FA Cup meeting since then, which they won 4-0 at Leeds Road in 1992.

They beat us a few years later in the League One Play Offs, when they won 2-0 on aggregate at the semi final stage. Danny Schofield played against us as two goals from Steve Morison and Paul Robinson saw our brave lads whimper out, disappointingly.

Since then, we've had 13 meetings in the Championship, with us winning 8 of them and losing 4, with one draw. The most recent one, in October, was won with a spectacular shot (cross?) from Yuta Nakayama in the 9th minute, the only goal of the game.

So what's going on down in this particular part of sarf east Landan? They are still managed by Gary Rowett, who in his fourth season there, must be one of the longest serving managers in recent football history.

He's just gone 49 and has now managed teams in over 500 matches, having previously managed Burton, Birmingham, Derby and Stoke. As a player, he started out with Cambridge, but reached the dizzy heights of the Premier League with Everton, Leicester and Charlton.

Tuesday night's line up at home to Swansea:

1 George Long - Ex Sheff Utd and Hull keeper.
2 Danny McNamara - Sidcup born Irish u21 international.
15 Charlie Cresswell - Centre back on loan from L***s.
5 Jake Cooper - Ex Reading centre back.
3 Murray Wallace - Ex HTFC Young Player of the Year.
18 Ryan Leonard - Ex Southend and Sheff Utd defensive midfielder.
23 GeorgeSaville - Ex Boro, Norn Iron international.
39 George Honeymonster - Tell 'em about the honey, mummy.
10 Zian Flemming - 24 year old Dutch attacking midfielder.
21 Andreas Voglsammer - German striker signed from Union Berlin.
9 Tom Bradshaw - Barnsley reject, leading scorer with 14.

Subs:
4 Shaun Hutchinson - Centre back and skipper, ex Motherwell and Fulham.
7 Oliver Burke - Ex Baggy, Blunts and Bradford, on loan from Werder Bremen.
11 Scotty Malone - Wheels a wheelbarrow through streets broad and narrow.
16 Jamie Shackleton - Manufacturer of High Seat Chairs
19 Duncan Watmore - FFS! Not him! Always scores against us.
33 Bartosz Białkowski - Polish keeper, ex Notts County and Ipswich
50 Romain Esse - 17 year old winger, made his debut on Boxing Day.

George Honeymonster (left)

Recent form - last 6 matches:

Town 1-1 Norwich
WBA 1-0 Town
Town 0-0 Bristol C
Town 0-4 Coventry
Burnley 4-0 Town
Town 2-1 Birmingham

Millwall 2-1 Swansea
Reading 0-1 Millwall
Millwall 2-3 Norwich
Luton 2-2 Millwall
Stoke 0-1 Millwall
Millwall 1-1 Burnley

Town are 23rd in the Championship table with 33 points. Millwall are 6th with 60.

Leading scorers:

Terriers:
Jordan Rhodes (6)
Danny Ward (3)

Lions:
Tom Bradshaw (14)
Zian Flemming (13)