Millwall Bushwackers
Millwall played local rivals West Ham United away at Upton Park on 17 September 1906 in a Western League game.
[citation needed] A local newspaper, East Ham Echo, reported that, "From the very first kick of the ball it was seen likely to be some trouble, but the storm burst when Dean and Jarvis came into collision (Millwall had two players sent off during the match).
"[8] In the 1920s Millwall's ground was closed for two weeks after a Newport County goalkeeper, who had been struck by missiles, jumped into the crowd to confront some of the home supporters and was knocked unconscious.
"[10][11] Trouble was reported at Loftus Road on 26 March 1966 during a match between Queens Park Rangers and Millwall, at a time when both sides were near the top of the league table pushing for promotion to Division Two, but the London derby was won 6–1 by QPR.
[4] The BBC documentary Panorama was invited into the club by Millwall in 1977 to show the hooligan reputation was a myth and being blown out of proportion by reporting.
[12][13] On 11 March 1978 a riot broke out at The Den during an FA Cup quarter-final between Millwall and Ipswich Town, with the home team losing 6–1.
[4][9] The 1985 Kenilworth Road riot, after an FA Cup sixth-round match between Luton Town and Millwall on 13 March 1985, became one of the worst and widely reported incidents of football hooliganism to date.
[17] Some legal experts said it would have been difficult to hold a football club responsible for something that occurred away from its ground and involved people who did not attend the match.
[18][19] The most infamous recent example of the rivalry between Millwall and West Ham flaring up was when, in the 2009–10 season, The Lions were drawn against The Hammers in the Football League Cup.
Millwall were cleared of all charges while West Ham were found guilty of two: violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour and failing to prevent their fans entering the field of play.
[24] In August 1993, Millwall relocated to the New Den and ended that season third in Division One, entering the playoffs to try and win a place in the FA Premier League.
[26] In January 2009, hundreds of Millwall fans perceived as "high risk" individuals gained access to an FA Cup fourth-round match away at Hull City.
There were conflicting reports in the media as to whether missiles were initially thrown by Hull supporters following chanting and jeering by Millwall fans at Jimmy Bullard (an ex-West Ham player) just prior to the fixture.
West Ham were fined £115,000, an amount seen as an insult by Millwall, which staunchly defended the actions of its own fans and the club's inability to do any more than it had for a match at a rival's ground.
[30] Former club chairman Reg Burr once commented: "Millwall are a convenient coat peg for football to hang its social ills on",[31] an example being the reporting of convicted murderer Gavin Grant.
[32] After a game against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in September 2010, manager Kenny Jackett said Millwall's hooligan problems are to a certain extent exaggerated by media sensationalism.
[33] Other examples of this include archive footage of their hooligan element's past bad behaviour being shown, when disorder has occurred at other grounds, not involving them.
This has led to a siege mentality among supporters of the club, which gave rise to the Millwall fans' famous terrace chant, No one likes us, we don't care, being sung in defiant defence of themselves and their team.
[37] Towards the end of the match, violence broke out in part of the stand allocated to Millwall, with individuals fighting amongst themselves and then against police, resulting in 14 arrests, of which two were Wigan supporters.
