Millwall’s main stories over the last two decades have not been about the action on the Den’s field, but about the walls and bricks, the history and the sense of belonging that surrounds them.
Since 2006, the association has fought for the right to avoid their own potential homelessness. A forced purchase that would have made them tenants of Renewal, a development company with opaque ownership, seemed extremely likely. Renew probably had a different idea of a stadium than a mediocre football club.
Then the crew seemed to think about the uncertainty of the situation. Millwall jumped between the second and third tiers, but seemed to always look down after the rise. In comparison, Millwall recently reached the FA Cup Final, not the Championship play-offs, and when they did, their attacking partners were Steve Claridge and Dion Dublin.
Therefore, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the two-week period in October 2019 was marked by the birth of a new life. First, manager Neil Harris, a Millwall legend who was still admired, was sacked but lost his appetite. A decision followed when Lewisham Council announced that it had withdrawn the land sale agreement for Den and the surrounding area. Ten days later, Gary Rowett was announced as the new manager.
In primacy, rough health forever requires squint and generous perspective. John Berylson, the American owner of Millwall who took over in 2007, was named the best in English football by CEO Steve Kavanagh and you can see why. Over the past decade, Berylson has committed £69 million, 96 percent of which has been spent on operating losses. It depends on the state of the owner, but what’s new? Berylson is present without being overbearing, generous without pretentious omnipotence, and ambitious, unwilling to unnecessarily jeopardize the future of the club financially.
He and Kavanagh are also committed to society at a club trying to shed stereotypes. Shortly after the acquisition, Berilson appointed an elected director of the Millwall Fans’ Club to his board. Her theory is that a football club can only succeed in the long run if all of the club’s stakeholders are closely aligned with each other.
And it works. Millwall is ranked 18th in terms of wages in the Championship and fifth. They have spent around £13m on transfer fees over the last 10 years. In a department where skydiving payments and massive cost overruns lead to reinforcement of glass ceilings and floors, Millwall and Luton are a magnificent exception. Their critics snobbishly condemn the style of football, which can range from pragmatic to agrarian. But it’s not even among the ten biggest problems in the second division of England. In short: conquer yourself.
Some of Millwall’s transfer cuts are being put into place: few clubs in English football are less efficient at selling players. George Saville, who was sold to Middlesbrough in 2019 and then bought back for a third of the price, is the only player Millwall has sold for six figures in the past decade. Cause? A focus on buying experienced professionals at low prices coupled with a trend towards contract expiration (Jed Wallace being the most prominent example).
But Millwall thrives because, unlike many others in its division, they embrace stability as a choice and a necessity. These things often go hand in hand. Gary Rowett is the only manager to have served as Championship Manager since early 2020. Millwall has the second highest number of players in the division this season. Six of the eight regulars have been with the club for at least their fifth season.
The big irony of this year’s championship is that some owners throw bad money at each other in a desperate fight to get out of the attic door, but the relative durability worked. Luton is similar to Millwall and deserves the same recognition. Former Coventry owners deserve less recognition, but Mark Robins has done more with less. Watford and West Brom take note.
There are even signs that the hiring model has evolved into a longer-term approach. Zian Flemming, the only player Millwall paid a fee for last summer, is one of the league’s brightest offensive players and at 24, his value has grown. Again, these things go hand in hand.
Flemming’s success will make other agents and players look to make The Den a better place to live and learn. The development of recent academy graduates, Tyler Bury, Billy Mitchell and Romain Esse, is another welcome stitch.
And to go full circle, in the same way that the rebuilding of the club helped the team, the team improved and the club prospered. The average number of home visits is the highest in two decades, with Millwall in the top six. A 100-acre site was purchased for the construction of a new training center. Plans have been put forward to develop The Den on their own terms, not at the whim of a company that sells regeneration as a dream to those who cannot afford it.
The championship is a division of hopeless situations in different locations, where the only salvation is to escape. For better or worse, Millwall has always seen itself differently. But now they have moved that revival forward. Without their tireless protest and agitation, their club would have sunk into the sand. This new future is deserved because it was fought for. Maybe, just maybe, it will cost an unthinkable price.
Source: I News
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.