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Revision as of 17:17, 8 April 2005 by 81.131.176.238 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Football club| Full name | Millwall Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Lions | ||
| Founded | 1885 | ||
| Ground | New Den Stadium, London | ||
| Capacity | 20,146 | ||
| Chairman | Theo Paphitis | ||
| Manager | Dennis Wise | ||
| League | The Championship | ||
| 2003-04 | First Division, 10th | ||
| |||
Millwall Football Club is a football team based at the 20,146 capacity New Den Stadium in south-east London, England. They currently play in the Football League Championship.
Their team nickname is The Lions, derived from their club emblem. Their traditional strip consists of vertical blue and white stripes. The club was founded in 1885 by Scottish dock workers. The blue in their home strip comes from these Scottish dock workers. 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.
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. 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.
The 1980's and 1990's
George Graham was Millwall manager from 1983 to 1986, and during that time he guided the club to the Third Division championship and 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 Doherty, previously the club's first-team coach. In his second season as manager (1987-88) Millwall surprised all the 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.
John Doherty returned as Millwall manager following McCarthy's departure and oversaw a 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. The next four seasons were a barren period for Millwall who never looked like gaining promotion. Docherty resigned in the summer of 1996 to be succeeded by Billy Bonds, who left after two unproductive seasons. Millwall's next manager, Keith Stevens, also left after two seasons which had failed to deliver.
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. Midfielder Dennis Wise, 36, was given the role of player-manager and had a promising first season in charge. Millwall reached their first ever F.A Cup final, and qualified for the UEFA Cup despite losing to Manchester United - who had already qualified for the Champions League. On the league scene, Millwall narrowly missed out on a Division One playoff place for the second season in a row. Millwall's future looks promising under the leadership of their young manager, and promotion to the Premiership remains the ultimate target.
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