columnist has symphatie

By Ian Winwood

Here’s something that you won’t often hear in the mainstream press. Ready?

I have sympathy for Millwall Football Club.

There, I’ve said it.

Before explaining why, let me first add the usual qualification. Even the most defensive of Lions supporters would surely admit that the club does see an uncomfortable number of horrible people rallying beneath its flag. Last season, for this column I spoke to a regular at the New Den who claimed that he wouldn’t take a young child to the stadium because “you just don’t know what’s going to happen down there.” I have to admit, this wasn’t quite the stout defense of the organisation that I was hoping for.

But let he or she whose own club is without sin cast the first stone. Descriptions of how ‘orrible fans of the League 1 side can be must also be accompanied with credit for how much effort the club and many of its supporters have put into clearing out the worst elements of their fanbase, and of cleaning up Millwall’s oft-tarnished name.

Needless to say, the monkey business that occurred at Upton Park in the Carling Cup last month has done little to aid what is anyway a very difficult PR job.

To add to this blackening of an already murky name, the FA has laid charges at the club’s door relating to these events.

But I’m not sure what Millwall FC could have done to prevent what happened that night. And I’d like to hear from anyone that thinks they could.

Let’s recap. The visiting fans that night did not invade the pitch. They stood and watched as the home fans did. Lions’ supporters may not have reacted to this sight with smiles of patient indulgence, but the playing surface remained untouched by their feet.

What this shows is that Millwall’s ticketing policy worked.

One of the other complaints concerned the trouble outside of the ground. But it seems apparent that many people travelled from South London without tickets for the game, specifically, surely, to get involved. Shocking in a tedious kind of a way, for sure, but how on earth is this the fault of the football club they claim to support? The Lions did not sell them tickets from the game. They were no more responsible for their actions than Transport For London were for allowing them to board trains out of Bermondsey and Deptford.

Of course, not everything that happened can be excused in Millwall’s favour. Carlton Cole’s allegations of racist abuse should be investigated and, if accepted, the club should pay. The individual responsible, though, must pay more.

But let’s keep this thing in perspective. As much as humanly possible, England’s most unloved club acted in good faith on this night of bad behaviour.