Lions still haunted by troublesome past

UNFORTUNATELY for Millwall, the South London club's name will forever be synonymous with hooliganism.

The Lions are widely reported to be the club involved in more incidents of hooliganism than any other in England, while firm The Millwall Bushwhackers carry a notorious and long-standing reputation for savage violence on rival supporters and police.

The club's large and loyal following revel in chanting 'no one likes us, we don't care' at games — rarely are such truths spoken inside football grounds.

Millwall are trying to change their image and people at the club insist that it is only a small minority who are spoiling things for everyone else.

However, it will take time to rebuild the bridges that were burnt down during the hooliganism of the 1970s and 80s and three incidents in particular have served to cement the Lions' undisputed number one slot in English football's hall of shame.

First there was the running battle with Ipswich Town fans in 1978 which saw The Den banned from hosting FA Cup ties for two years.

Millwall's thuggish following went one better in a televised 1985 FA Cup tie at Luton, where Lions fans rearranging the Kenilworth Road furniture at the final whistle, tearing up 700 seats and hurling them at police.

During the ensuing pitch invasion, a policeman was knocked unconscious by a concrete block. When a colleague rushed to his stricken partner's aid, Millwall fans attacked him as well.

Those dark days of the 1980s were supposed to be long gone with the advent of the Taylor Report, all-seater stadia and Sky television.

Yet Millwall's hooligan element survived the move to The New Den and the Bushwhackers made sure the whole country knew it by starting one of the worst riots senior police officers had ever witnessed following a 2-1 play-off defeat to Birmingham City.

The 2002 attack lasted for more than an hour and involved more than 900 fans.

The riot proved to be the breaking point for then-chairman and current Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis.

Fed up with the terrible image of his club and faced with the threat of a lawsuit from Scotland Yard, Paphitis introduced a membership scheme which meant only those fans prepared to join and carry identification cards would be allowed into the New Den.

The result was a fall in gates, but there have been no serious incidents involving Millwall supporters since, although there were a series of scuffles with Leeds United fans after both legs of last season's play-off semi-finals.

After the 2004 FA Cup final, which Millwall lost 3-0 to Manchester United, Lions fans' behaviour were praised by police, who reported no arrests of the South London club's supporters.

Today Paphitis' scheme applies only to away matches and still attracts criticism for sending attendances down.

But Millwall will happily live with that if their reputation continues to improve.