[themaclad]

Millwall Football Club (/ˈmɪlwɔːl/)[1] is a professional football club in Bermondsey, South East London, England. The team competes in The Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in 1910. From then until 1993 the club played at what is now called The Old Den in New Cross, before moving to its current home stadium nearby, called The Den. The traditional club crest is a lion rampant, referred to in the team's nickname "The Lions". Millwall's traditional kit consists of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks.

In Millwall's 90 seasons in the Football League from 1920–21 to 2016–17, the club have been promoted eleven times and relegated ten times. They have spent the majority of their existence yo-yoing between the second and third tier of the Football League. The team spent two seasons in the top flight between 1988–90, in which the club achieved its highest ever finish of tenth place in the First Division. In 2004, the team reached the FA Cup final and qualified for the UEFA Cup, playing in Europe for the first time in their history. The club have reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1900, 1903, 1937, 2013 and the League Cup quarter-finals in 1974, 1977 and 1995. Millwall also won the Football League Group Cup in 1983, and finished runners-up in the Football League Trophy in 1999.

In the media, Millwall's supporters have often been associated with hooliganism, with numerous films having been made fictionalising their notoriety. The fans are renowned for their chant "No one likes us, we don't care". Millwall have a long-standing rivalry with West Ham United. The local derby between the two sides has been contested almost a hundred times since 1899. The club also share a rivalry with Leeds United, and local rivalries with fellow South London clubs Crystal Palace and Charlton Athletic.

Off to South London, a new ground for me for what will be a very tough encounter against a side that are extremely tough to beat on their home ground although saying that they have lost three times on their own soil. A team without stars but will give 100% for the cause of their partisan bunch of fans.
Last time we played there was under the master mind that was Graham Westley losing a cup tie 1-0 in the league Tango Man was in charge when we lost 4-0 on a Saturday night in front of Sky TV a result which basically relegated us back to League 1. Not one of our favourite grounds however going back to the early 80's we did actually win 2-0 both goals scored by Graham Bell, odd fact about this game it was played about 10 days after everybody else had finished their season.
Squad wise we will need to keep an eye on Lee Gregory and the evergreen Steve Morison has now started to score, Saville in midfield has also scored some vital goals for them season. Toughie this one.
For us plenty of choices for the manager, competition for places which can only be good, expect Hugill to come back will be a physical game. Sols 1200 for this one decent support at the Lions Den.
Match blog later on Sunday strangely appear to have a life this weekend.

Stat Attack: Millwall

We visit the New Den for the tenth time since our first visit in 1997, following 20 previous trips to Cold Blow Lane.
We are seeking a rare win, with only six successes to date, together with four draws. Our hosts have outscored us by almost two goals to one, with 58 to our 30 so far but having said that, we have won on two of our last four attempts in New Cross.

Our 2-1 defeat in 2002 was to prove to be David Moyes’ last game in charge before he was lured to Goodison Park, but the connections do not finish there (see below).

There have been several high scoring games in south London between our two sides but nothing compares with our 12 goal thriller in 1930. We had already beaten Southampton 5-0 on the opening day, won 4-1 at Reading, overcome Wolves at Deepdale by the odd goal in nine and put another five past Stoke the previous week when we turned up at the original Den.

By the end of the game, Millwall had scored five times at home, but still lost, as doubles from Alec Reid and Tussy Owens, plus a Tom Scott hat-trick, saw us end a remarkable game as 7-5 winners.
This was only the second time we had scored seven times in an away league match (the previous one was at Notts County in 1888) and we have not repeated the feat since.

North End team-mates in the 1950s, Angus Morrison and Fred Ramscar, both moved to Millwall from Deepdale, Fred playing for Northampton in between his spells with North End and Millwall. Angus played 280 games for North End, scoring 74 goals including the equaliser in the 1954 FA Cup Final.

On This Date
This is only the fourth time we have played an away league match on this date, but we have won two of the previous three, 2-1 at Bury in 1990, thanks to first half goals from Waren Joyce and Brian Mooney and 1-0 at Barnsley in 2007, Liam Chilvers sealing the points with a 55th minute goal.

We have played more FA Cup ties than league games on this date, with nine in all and seven of these being away from Deepdale. Again, we have a good record with four wins, one draw and only two defeats.

A notable victory was back in 1923 when we overcame Aberdare Athletic 3-1 away during the Welsh club’s brief spell as a Football League club. Aberdare are one of only six Welsh clubs to appear in the Football League and they did so for six seasons, from 1921/22 to 1926/7. They were a mid-table side until 1926/27 when they finished bottom of division three south and failed to gain re-election and were replaced by Torquay United.

Marnick Vermijl is 25 on Saturday, whilst former centre half Steve Holmes celebrates his 46th birthday today.
North End won an AWS tie at Macclesfield Town on this date in 1998 – David Moyes’ first game in charge.

Last Five Games At The Den
Millwall 1 (Feeney) Preston North End 0, 5th January 2013
Millwall 4 (Purse, McQuoid, Marquis, Henry (pen)) Preston North End 0, 23rd April 2011
Millwall 1 (Hutchinson) Preston North End 2 (Jones, Agyemang), 10th September 2005
Millwall 2 (Sweeney, Hayles) Preston North End 1 (Nugent), 24th April 2005
Millwall 0 Preston North End 1 (McKenna), 14th October 2003

Ref Watch: Millwall

Saturday’s clash at The Den will see Carnforth referee Jeremy Simpson taking charge of the two clubs for the second time this season.

His first North End game was the 1-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers in December, whilst he was at Millwall for the Lions’ 0-0 home game with Hull City in November.

Those were two of his 25 games as a referee so far this season, issuing 107 cautions and five red cards – two of them coming in his game at Deepdale – including former North End centre half Alex Baptiste after the final whistle.

Last year, the select group two match official took the role for our Boxing Day clash with Leeds United and the Lilywhites’ Roses victory over Huddersfield Town in October, as well as acting as fourth official at two home games.
He also was in charge when North End took on Stoke City at PR1 in pre-season that year, and is an experienced official, with plenty of Championship action under his belt.

This weekend Jeremy will be assisted by Adam Matthews and Michael George, whilst Tim Robinson will be the fourth official.

[themaclad]

Millwall 1 (O'Brien) Preston North End 1

Millwall: Archer, Romeo, Hutchinson, Cooper, Meredith, Wallace (Onyedinma 88), Tunnicliffe, Saville, O'Brien, Morison, Gregory (Williams 88). Subs (not used): McLaughlin, Craig, Thompson, Elliott, Martin.

PNE: Maxwell, Browne, Clarke, Davies, Cunningham, Pearson (Johnson 78), Gallagher, Bodin (Barkhuizen 46), Harrop (Horgan 70), Robinson, Hugill. Subs (not used): Boyle, Welsh, O'Connor, Rudd.

Referee: Jeremy Simpson (Carnforth) Attendance: 11,751 (1,483 PNE)

A hard earned point for the Whites at the New Den in what in truth was not a game for the purist. North End backed by a staggeringly amazing support of 1500 found out what other clubs have found out there are no freebies when you play Millwall at their gaff.
First half we played some decent football only troubled the keeper once when a Robinson shot was only parried by Archer sadly no one was following up. The Lions were having some joy down the left flank and in the early stages a couple of excellent defensive blocks by skipper Clarke kept the scores level.
Liked teh look of Gregory leading the home sides attack always seemed to be first to the ball and linked up well with Morison and caused us some problems. The home side took the lead just before half time again down the left it came as North End switched off, ball came in slight touch by Gregory and O'Brien got in front of the defender to fire home.
Second half after the initial burst from Millwall we dominated the ball although the build up was so slow and ponderous that the home side just sat back and easily contained us. Millwall had a goal disallowed after Gregory was adjudged offside but in no problems they defended in depth and their attacks were mainly aim at Morison and let Gregory get the flick on. North End made changes and the last one made the difference Johnson when he got the ball found the wide players and we looked maore dangerous and sure enough from Cunningham's cross Robinson chested the ball home.
Could have won in the end only a great block denied Horgan but will take a point and are now only two points from the play offs.
Anybody going to the Den best way to get there is the train, that way you miss the joys of crawling through South London traffic. Decent ground though although seems to have been built in the where access is limited, as for the away end intimate is the phrase.
Milwall boss Neil Harris said:

"When you're 1-0 up at home at half-time, it's disappointing not to get three points.

"But they're a good side, a competitive side, an aggressive side in the way they press and the way they play. They're a team that'll be in the top six come end of the season.

"But I thought there were two very fine calls today. Both should have gone our favour. Ben Pearson should have been sent-off because it was identical to Jake Cooper's second yellow card at Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the season, so I don't understand that one.

"Secondly, Lee Gregory goes through one-on-one and was clearly three yards onside. I've watched it through two different angles and he was clearly onside. Two fine margin decisions at 1-0 that could have affected the outcome of the game."

Preston manager Alex Neil said:

"I think it's harsh to say Ben Pearson should have seen a red card. I thought the first booking was really disappointing and he didn't really deserve it, and I think Ben's frustration was the same as mine.

"Within a game, there are a lot of 50-50 decisions and you're hoping they're going to get spotted evenly. I feel we didn't get our fair share.

"There was one incident where the ball was on the sideline and the linesman said it was out. I was right next to it and it was nowhere near out. You get them from time to time but he certainly did not deserve a red card. I don't think there were any dirty tackles in the game whatsoever."

[St Charles Owl]

Decent away point for you, especially after being 1-0 down. You are hanging just below the playoffs again, is this the year you keep the form going and finally get into them?

[themaclad]

Two points from it SCO need to be more clinical in front of goal, poser for the manager is Hugill when we pay him we lump it forward when he doesn't pay we look a really good football side see what happens all to play for