Opponents in focus - Millwall

Ah yes, one of the benefits of dropping out of the safe, clean, plastic surrounds of the Premier League and into the rough-and-ready lands of the Football League below is that we get to re-acquaint ourselves with an old friend from South East London - Millwall.

It is probably fair to say that Pompey-Millwall is a fixture that some look at and think, "I won't be going there!" as there has been a fair amount of trouble associated with the fixture over the years. I remember a few years back watching the "away" match at The Den from Fratton Park on a big screen because Pompey fans were banned from the ground.

In a more modern, sophisticated era, it can be hoped that the tension will simply feed into an electric atmosphere and not spill over into violence. Regardless, the choice of fixture dates (a Tuesday night & Boxing day) should make the fixture less of a powder keg than it could otherwise have been.

Head-to-head

Pompey have the advantage when we dust off the history books - with Pompey having won 18 of the 56 meetings, and Millwall only 14, the rest being draws. Pompey have managed a lot more goals however, 71 versus Millwall's 50.

Memorable games over the years include the 5-nil drubbing by Pompey in 2003 (with no fans allowed), and a 6-1 Pompey win in 1992. Can anyone (without looking it up!) say who the goal scorers were that day?

League Standings in Last 5 years

09/10 - Promoted from League one, having finished 3rd & winning the Play-offs
08/09 - Finished 5th in League one, but lost the play-off final to S****horpe (censored!)
07/08 - Flirted with relegation, finishing 17th in League one
06/07 - Solid Mid-table in League one - 10th
05/06 - Relegated from the Championship, finishing 23rd

Fixture Dates

Millwall - Pompey - Tuesday 19 October
Pompey - Millwall - Boxing Day

The Man in Charge

Kenny Jackett. Jackett is a former Welsh international, who played most of his club football with Watford, a team he later went on to manage. He had an indifferent time with Watford, before moving back to Wales & managing Swansea City. After a reasonable spell with City he moved to London & Millwall where he has had his most successful spell as a manager to-date.

Key Player

Arguably Steve Morison, due to the 23 goals he bagged to help fire Millwall to the Championship, but special mention should go to Neil Harris who has survived cancer and gone on to find the net 88 times for the Lions.

Stadium

The New Den is a far cry from the old Den at Cold Blow Lane, a stadium I was "lucky" enough to have visited along with the new one. The New Den is a tidy, modern, all-seater stadium, located just a quarter of a mile away from where the old one used to be. It is located just south of the river in Bermondsey. The stadium holds 20,146, although average attendances over the last 5 years have been around the 10,000 mark.

Written by Pompeytim.

The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.

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