| Revision as of 21:21, 10 December 2005 editLion King (talk | contribs)4,861 editsmNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:49, 10 December 2005 edit undoSteveO (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers10,861 edits →The 21st CenturyNext edit → | ||
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
| Mark McGhee was named as Millwall's new manager in September 2000, and eight months later the club won promotion as Division Two champions after five years in the lower tier of the league. In his second season Millwall qualified for the Division One playoffs but lost to eventual winners Birmingham City in the semi finals, thus missing out on a second successive promotion which would have given them a place in the Premiership. Millwall missed out on a playoff place in 2002-03 and McGhee was sacked soon after the start of the 2003-04 season. | Mark McGhee was named as Millwall's new manager in September 2000, and eight months later the club won promotion as Division Two champions after five years in the lower tier of the league. In his second season Millwall qualified for the Division One playoffs but lost to eventual winners Birmingham City in the semi finals, thus missing out on a second successive promotion which would have given them a place in the Premiership. Millwall missed out on a playoff place in 2002-03 and McGhee was sacked soon after the start of the 2003-04 season. | ||
| In ], ], ex-] and ] player, became caretaker, and subsequently permanent player-manager of the club. In his first season in charge, Wise led the club to the first ] final in their history (excluding the 1945 War Cup Final). Millwall qualified for the final from the lowest league position in the history of the competition |
In ], ], ex-] and ] player, became caretaker, and subsequently permanent player-manager of the club. In his first season in charge, Wise led the club to the first ] final in their history (excluding the 1945 War Cup Final). Millwall qualified for the final from the lowest league position in the history of the competition - though they didn't face any team from the ] en route - and took to the field in Cardiff 25 league places below their opponents. They were only the 24th team from outside of the top flight to play in the final. They played the Cup final on ] ], losing 3-0 to ]. As Manchester United had already qualified for the ], Millwall were assured of playing in the ] ]. Millwall midfielder ], substituted for Wise with two minutes to play, became the youngest Cup Final player in history at 17 years 119 days. | ||
| In the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, Millwall lost in the first round proper to ] side ]. | In the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, Millwall lost in the first round proper to ] side ]. | ||
Revision as of 22:49, 10 December 2005
Football club| Millwall badge | |||
| Full name | Millwall Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
| Founded | 1885 | ||
| Ground | New Den Stadium, London | ||
| Capacity | 20,146 | ||
| Chairman | Peter de Savary | ||
| Manager | Colin Lee | ||
| League | The Championship | ||
| 2004-05 | Championship, 10th | ||
| |||
Millwall Football Club is a football team based at the 20,146 capacity New Den Stadium in Bermondsey, Zampa Road, south east London, England. They currently play in the Football League Championship.
Their team nickname is The Lions, fomerly The Dockers. They changed the nickname after their FA Cup run of 1900, to the semi final, after being refered to as "Lions," for their acts of giant killing, adopting a lion emblem, bearing the legend; "We Fear No Foe." The emblem, along with its legend, was not added to their shirts until the 1930's. "We Fear No Foe" was changed later, however, to just "MFC." They also reached the semi final in 1903 and 1937. Their 1937 appearance was notable, as they became the first team in the old third division to reach the last four. Their "traditional strip" consists of blue shirts, white shorts and blue socks. The club was founded in 1885 as Millwall Rovers, by Scottish dock workers from the town of Greenock, where the local Scottish Football League side Morton F.C. share the clubs' colours. The club's name comes from where it was founded, at the Millwall Docks on the Isle of Dogs, across the River Thames from where the club now plays.
History
The 1980's and 1990's
George Graham was Millwall manager from 1983 to 1986, and during that time he guided the club to promotion to the Second Division. He left to begin a nine-year spell as Arsenal manager which would yield two league titles, one F.A Cup, two League Cups and a Cup Winners Cup. Later in his career he would also lift the League Cup with Tottenham.
George Graham's replacement was John Docherty, previously a manager at Brentford and Cambridge United. In his second season as manager (1987-88) Millwall surprised observers by winning the Second Division championship and gaining promotion to the top flight of English football for the very first time.
Millwall had a good start to the 1988-89 First Division campaign, rarely being out of the top five before Christmas. Their first top division season ended with a tenth place finish which was the lowest place occupied by the club all season. They briefly led the league for one night in September 1989, but won only two more games all season and were relegated in bottom place at the end of the 1989-90 First Division campaign. Just before relegation was confirmed, John Doherty was sacked and replaced by ex-Middlesbrough manager Bruce Rioch. A key player in this era was striker Teddy Sheringham, who later played for the England team as well as being a key player in Manchester United's 1999 treble and being voted PFA and Football Writers Player of the Year in 2001. Sheringham was the highest scoring player throughout the Football League in 1990-91, but was sold to Nottingham Forest after Millwall's defeat in the Second Division playoffs.
Rioch left Millwall in 1992 to be succeeded by Irish midfielder Mick McCarthy. McCarthy guided Millwall to third place in the new Division One at the end of the 1993-94 season (their first season at the New Den) but they lost to Derby in the playoff semi finals. McCarthy resigned to take charge of the Republic of Ireland national team in December 1995, shortly after Millwall had been knocked off the top of the Division One table by Sunderland after a 6-0 defeat.
Jimmy Nicholl (of Raith Rovers) was appointed as McCarthy's replacement, but could not address the slump in form which saw Millwall relegated at the end of the season in 22nd place - just five months after they had been top of Division One supposedly pushing for a place in the Premiership. Instead, Millwall found themselves in Division Two for the 1996-97 season. Also during the season, the club experienced extreme financial difficulties that resulted in the club being placed in Administration for a short period of time. Jimmy Nicholl was relieved of his duties. John Docherty returned on a short term basis to stabilise the club at playing level.
The club came out of Administration, and new chairman Theo Paphitis appointed ex-West Ham United Manager Billy Bonds as manager. This wasn't a successful season, with the club hovering close to relegation to the third division. Bonds was sacked and replaced by the long-serving and popular Keith Stevens with Alan McLeary as his assistant. McLeary was promoted to joint manager.
Keith Stevens and Alan McLeary led Millwall to their first ever Wembley appearance in the Auto Windscreens Final. However, Millwall lost by a single injury time goal to Wigan Athletic. Millwall also lost on aggregate to the same club in the 2nd Division play-off semi finals in 1999.
The 21st Century
Mark McGhee was named as Millwall's new manager in September 2000, and eight months later the club won promotion as Division Two champions after five years in the lower tier of the league. In his second season Millwall qualified for the Division One playoffs but lost to eventual winners Birmingham City in the semi finals, thus missing out on a second successive promotion which would have given them a place in the Premiership. Millwall missed out on a playoff place in 2002-03 and McGhee was sacked soon after the start of the 2003-04 season.
In 2003, Dennis Wise, ex-Chelsea and England player, became caretaker, and subsequently permanent player-manager of the club. In his first season in charge, Wise led the club to the first FA Cup final in their history (excluding the 1945 War Cup Final). Millwall qualified for the final from the lowest league position in the history of the competition - though they didn't face any team from the Premiership en route - and took to the field in Cardiff 25 league places below their opponents. They were only the 24th team from outside of the top flight to play in the final. They played the Cup final on May 22 2004, losing 3-0 to Manchester United. As Manchester United had already qualified for the Champions League, Millwall were assured of playing in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup. Millwall midfielder Curtis Weston, substituted for Wise with two minutes to play, became the youngest Cup Final player in history at 17 years 119 days.
In the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, Millwall lost in the first round proper to Hungarian side Ferencváros.
In 2005, Theo Paphitis announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the club with Jeff Burnidge to replace him from May 2005. At the end of the 2004-05 season, manager Dennis Wise announced that he was leaving as he was unable to form a working relationship with the new chairman.
On the 21st June 2005 Steve Claridge (Millwall forward 2001-03) was announced as the new player/manager of Millwall FC.
Burnige then stepped down just two months after taking up the post, and on July 27th it was announced that Claridge had been sacked, without him ever taking charge of the team in a competitive match. Former Watford, Wolves and Walsall manager Colin Lee replaced him.
Millwall Supporters
Millwall FC are indeed a well supported club for their size and status, with notable large followings away from home. They have, however, had a long and notorious (if somewhat, exaggerated) history of football hooliganism. This exaggeration has led to a seige mentality among the fans, who are a constant "easy target" for both press and media alike. Examples of this include: archive footage of their past bad behaviour being shown, when disorder has occured at other grounds, not involving them. During a game between Millwall and Huddersfield Town, a Huddersfield fan threw a coin at a linesman. Some Millwall fans intervened, and handed him over to police. One Sunday Newspaper the following day bore the headline: "Millwall Thugs Deck Linesman With Concrete". These, and many other similar incidents, gave rise to the Millwall fans' famous song; "No One Likes Us - We Don't Care," being sung at games, in defiant defence of themselves, and their team. A former Chairman of the club, Reg Burr, once commented; "Millwall are a convenient coat peg for football to hang its social ills on."
Current Squad
|
|
Notable former players
- Tony Cascarino
- Jimmy Constantine
- Teddy Sheringham
- Dennis Wise
- Harry Cripps
- Alex Stepney
- Barry Kitchener
- Derek Posse
- Gordon Hill
- Keith Weller
- Phil Walker
- John Fashanu
- Bryan King
- Nicky Chatterton
- Sam Allardyce
- Mick McCarthy
- Kasey Keller
- Steven Reid
- Terry Hurlock
- Keith Stevens
- Kenny Cunningham
- Alex Rae
- Neil Ruddock
- Tim Cahill
- Steve Claridge
- Kevin O'Callaghan
- Neil Harris
- Paul Ifill
- Gordon Bolland
- Eamon Dunphy
- John Seasman
- Lucas Neill
- Ben Thatcher
- Charlie Hurley
- Darren Ward
- Chris Armstrong
- Tony Warner
- Clive Allen
- Ray Wilkins