Millwall Football Club - The Lions

Millwall FC History

2006-07 Season

10th in League One
League Cup: 2nd round; Southampton h.0-4
FA Cup: 3rd round; Stoke City a. 0-2
JP Trophy: 3rd round; Brighton & Hove Albion h. lost 3-2 on penalties.

Highlight:
4-1 win at Brentford, 26/12/06

Low Spot:
2-5 home defeat to Leyton Orient, 20/2/07

Good:
Darren Byfield
Byfield remains one of the lower divisions' sharpest strikers and hit 16 for the Lions at better than a goal every other game.
Richard Shaw
Shaw's experience was vital in a generally young squad and he helped settle a defence that was a shambles early on in the season. Reads the game well and retains his competitive edge.

In Brief:
The Lions made a truly awful start under Nigel Spackman and looked in big trouble after collecting only 2 points in 7 games from the end of August.
Then a vital win at Rotherham began a three game winning spree and the club really began to show consistent improvement after Willie Donachie had taken over from Spackman.
The Lions are trying to develop a young squad with a fair amount of talent and the attitude within the camp looks decent. On several occasions the team took a fair beating but bounced back with good results to follow every time.
10th position was an excellent end result and if this form can be carried over into next season the play offs are a genuine possibility.

Millwall F.C. - Club History

Millwall Football Club was formed in 1885 and was originally known as Millwall Rovers. The founders of the club were employees of a jam and marmalade factory in West Ferry Road.

Although Millwall would not gain entry into the Football League until 1920 when they became original members of Division Three the club had already established a proud tradition through their performances in the FA Cup. Millwall reached the semi finals of that competition in both 1900 and 1903. They knocked out such illustrious names as Aston Villa, Preston North End and Everton during those runs before losing to Southampton after a replay and Derby County.

Millwall gained promotion after winning the Division Three South title in 1928 and although they quickly dropped back down again they reached another FA Cup semi final in 1937. The Lions put out Chelsea, Derby County and Manchester City before losing narrowly in the semis, 2-1, to the eventual winners of the competition Sunderland.

The following season, 1937-38, Millwall again won the Division Three South championship but faded after the Second World War, slipping into Division Four for the first time in 1958.

The club escaped briefly back to Division Three before suffering relegation to the basement again in 1964. This time the club made a proper recovery. They immediately won promotion back to Division Three and went straight up into Division Two in 1966.

It was during this period that Millwall set a Football League record by remaining unbeaten at home in 59 games. The Den was undoubtedly a difficult place to visit.

The Lions missed out on promotion to Division One by a whisker in 1972, losing out to Birmigham City by just a single point.

Millwall were relegated in 1975 but bounced straight back out of the third division the following season. When they again suffered the drop in 1979 they found it more difficult to respond, however. The Lions looked odds on for relegation to Division Four in 1983 only to be spared by a late revival under George Graham and in 1985 the club were promoted back to Division Two after finishing as runners up.

Then in 1988 Millwall shocked everyone by taking the second division title to claim a first division place for the only time in their history. The club were fired to promotion by the goals of Tony Cascarino and Teddy Sheringham.

Millwall managed an excellent 10th place finish in their first season in the top flight but suffered a comprehensive relegation the following year.

Relegation in 1996 came without warning but a strong side was assembled in the third tier and the Lions eventually earned promotion as champions in 2001 to return to the second tier.

In 2004 the club had its greatest moment when it won through to the FA Cup final. Tim Cahill's goal was enough to defeat Sunderland in the semi final at Old Trafford.

The final itself was completely one sided, however, as Manchester United cruised to an easy 3-0 victory. Their exploits had earned them a place in Europe though. The Hungarian side Ferencvaros proved too strong in the first round of the UEFA Cup, however.

With the club seemingly well placed to move forward the exact opposite happened. The club quickly sold off its best players and has spent the last year or so hiring and firing managers apparently at whim.

The furthest the Lions have progressed in the League Cup is the 5th round which they have reached on three occasions, in 1974, 1977 and 1995.

The club claimed the Football League Trophy in 1983 with a victory over Lincoln City and were runners up in 1999, by which time it had become the Auto Windscreens Shield, losing 1-0 to Wigan Athletic in the final.

The club have had some outstanding servants down the years and their appearance record is held by one such stalwart. Barry Kitchener, an uncompromising defender, made 523 league appearances for Millwall between 1967 and 1982. Kitchener took the record from another sturdy defender, Harry Cripps, who played exactly 400 games for the club between 1961 and 1974.

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