Millwall 2-1 Aston Villa
The Den
25/01/13
Att: 15,007 with ~1,700 Villa
Welcome to the Den.
We viewed this weekend as the “return to normality” in the amount of sport that we watched. The fixture list on the Friday appeared to be very limited, but one fixture stuck out in the FA cup. Within no time the weekend was planned and the tickets were purchased. Our previous visit to the ground came in the FA Cup 2nd round, when Aldershot bowed out to a 3-0 defeat. That day we took no photo’s so it doesn’t feature on the site. In order to get to South Bermondsey we had to go by train, mainly as there is no parking. So off to Aldershot station we went via Waterloo east and London Bridge. On the train from London Bridge some Villa fans struck a conversation, discussing various visits to the new and old ground. Surprisingly they said this was the first time that Villa had played away to Millwall since the late 80’s so there would be a larger turnout than expected. Particularly considering the way they lost the League Cup semi-final days earlier to Bradford City.
The Den is probably the only ground in England that you can compare the security of the away end to Holland. Whilst not as extreme (Combi’s etc) it does have that feel. Immediately as you leave South Bermondsey Station you can go one of two ways, straight on or right into a fenced walkway straight to the away compound. The walk for away fans is much shorter than that for the home fans but they miss out on a view that really should be photographed more. As you turn a corner you see the Den peeking under an arch on a railway bridge. We made our way to our turnstile and immediately were struck by how different the feel of the place is to the majority of new grounds in England. You don’t have to know about football to know of Millwall’s past, and because of that the Den has a bit of an edge. It could be attributed to the fans, how tight the stands are or just the sheer amount of barbed wire and camera’s, but this place felt very different to a sterile new ground. I’d even go as far to say it has lots of character.
The Den opened in 1993, replacing well….er…The Den. The “new” Den was to be the first all-seater stadium built post-Taylor report. One of the key motives behind the design of the new ground was Security, keep the fans separated. The solution to this was 4 very similar stands, all 4 stands are two-tiered with the upper tiers being larger than the lower. Most away fans are only given the top tier of the North end. One interesting feature of the Cold Blow Lane end was the missing front row. In it's way was a series of wires preventing access to the pitch. It was little things like this (and the blue lines) that helped to create an interesting venue, and as we found out the place has excellent acoustics (and food).
As mentioned Villa had been dumped out of the League Cup and were struggling in the league. Because of this it wasn't that surprising that the team looked low on confidence. They may have taken the lead, but you could always sense that Millwall were going to get something out of the game, as they ended up doing. One thing that was especially obvious throughout the game was how little interest Darren Bent showed. He may have scored Villa's goal but he didn't appear to want to put any effort in what-so-ever. Oh and Ashley Westwood didn't appear to be able to make a pass for most of the match, I'm told this was a one off, but he didn't look that good. In terms of Millwall they looked pretty confident and not out of their depth. Danny Shittu was our choice for man of the match with a solid performance at the back, and getting the equalizer.
Before signing off this blog it only seems fair to comment on the Millwall support, especially given their reputation. For this game they provided as good of an atmosphere as we have heard in a long long time. From the word go it was support of the team and nothing else. In the second half when they got the "Milll" chant going was extremely impressive, I wish I had have taken a video of it. There was the sour note of beer being thrown on the pitch, but that was the minority. After the game we walked with the home fans to South Bermondsey station, all singing as they went which continued through to London Bridge. It had turned out to be a very good start to the weekend.
The Den is probably the only ground in England that you can compare the security of the away end to Holland. Whilst not as extreme (Combi’s etc) it does have that feel. Immediately as you leave South Bermondsey Station you can go one of two ways, straight on or right into a fenced walkway straight to the away compound. The walk for away fans is much shorter than that for the home fans but they miss out on a view that really should be photographed more. As you turn a corner you see the Den peeking under an arch on a railway bridge. We made our way to our turnstile and immediately were struck by how different the feel of the place is to the majority of new grounds in England. You don’t have to know about football to know of Millwall’s past, and because of that the Den has a bit of an edge. It could be attributed to the fans, how tight the stands are or just the sheer amount of barbed wire and camera’s, but this place felt very different to a sterile new ground. I’d even go as far to say it has lots of character.
The Den opened in 1993, replacing well….er…The Den. The “new” Den was to be the first all-seater stadium built post-Taylor report. One of the key motives behind the design of the new ground was Security, keep the fans separated. The solution to this was 4 very similar stands, all 4 stands are two-tiered with the upper tiers being larger than the lower. Most away fans are only given the top tier of the North end. One interesting feature of the Cold Blow Lane end was the missing front row. In it's way was a series of wires preventing access to the pitch. It was little things like this (and the blue lines) that helped to create an interesting venue, and as we found out the place has excellent acoustics (and food).
As mentioned Villa had been dumped out of the League Cup and were struggling in the league. Because of this it wasn't that surprising that the team looked low on confidence. They may have taken the lead, but you could always sense that Millwall were going to get something out of the game, as they ended up doing. One thing that was especially obvious throughout the game was how little interest Darren Bent showed. He may have scored Villa's goal but he didn't appear to want to put any effort in what-so-ever. Oh and Ashley Westwood didn't appear to be able to make a pass for most of the match, I'm told this was a one off, but he didn't look that good. In terms of Millwall they looked pretty confident and not out of their depth. Danny Shittu was our choice for man of the match with a solid performance at the back, and getting the equalizer.
Before signing off this blog it only seems fair to comment on the Millwall support, especially given their reputation. For this game they provided as good of an atmosphere as we have heard in a long long time. From the word go it was support of the team and nothing else. In the second half when they got the "Milll" chant going was extremely impressive, I wish I had have taken a video of it. There was the sour note of beer being thrown on the pitch, but that was the minority. After the game we walked with the home fans to South Bermondsey station, all singing as they went which continued through to London Bridge. It had turned out to be a very good start to the weekend.