Our game at Millwall kicks off at 3pm on Saturday, which is a bit surprising when it’s been brought forward to lunchtime on several occasions in the past.
The New Den is situated on Ilderton Road, which is just off Old Kent Road (Deptford End) on the A2. The most direct route involves staying on the M1 to the bitter end. At the end of the motorway you first follow signs for the city, then for Shoreditch and Whitechapel, then the Ring Road signs for Dover. Cross over Tower Bridge and after 1 mile take first exit at the roundabout onto the A2. From the Elephant & Castle take the A2 (New Kent Road) into Old Kent Road and turn left after 4 miles at the Canterbury Arms pub into Ilderton Road.
There is no parking is available for supporters at the ground, but you can part in the estate opposite the ground and off Surrey Canal Road, which is the main road off of Ilderton Road. You will have to be careful after the game, as I remember that in 2002 a TV documentary on hooliganism showed a lone Portsmouth fan being attacked by a whole gang as he walked back to his car.
The nearest railway station is South Bermondsey, which is only one stop from London Bridge. A walkway was built a few years ago to allow away fans to use an entirely different exit to the home fans and go straight to the ground. After the game the Police at London Bridge usually try to herd everyone onto the tube to King's Cross, even though there are always plenty of Leeds fans needing to catch trains to other places.
Using Surrey Quays tube station is not advised, as the 10/15 minute walk would take you through an estate where away fans have been targeted, and you would also have to go under a whole series of dark and creepy railway arches. It’s no surprise that the trains between Leeds to Kings will be ‘dry’ at the times we might want to catch them, where no alcohol being served and you won’t even be able to bring your own.
For safety reasons I won't recommend any pubs close to the stadium, but you’re usually OK in the area round London Bridge, if not on the station itself. You could try the 'Hole in the Wall' next to Borough tube station, or one of the other pubs in Borough High Street, such as are the 'Market Porter', (a recognised CAMRA pub serving Harvey's and guest real ales), or the grade II listed building 'The George'. Food-wise, there are a couple of takeaways near the stadium on Ilderton Road, including 'Moby Dicks' and the 'Ilderton Cafe'.
The club was founded in 1885 in the district of Millwall on the north side of the Thames in the Isle of Dogs, which might explain why they regard working class West Ham as their local derby rather than suburban Charlton or Palace. They came south of the river in 1901 and settled at 'the Den' in the New Cross area in 1910. The Den held the record for being the ground closed most often due to crowd trouble (5 times up to 1978) and had become a bit threadbare by the 1990s. The site was cramped and the club had no chance of expanding the ground to meet the needs of the Taylor report, as they didn't own any of the surrounding land, so they moved once more, to nearby Senegal Fields.
The New Den was opened at the start of the 1993/4 season, and although facilities are much better, like most new stadia it lacks a bit of style, with all four sides looking the same. And although the stadium was improved, the clientele was much the same and further disturbances took place in the surrounding streets after play-off defeats by Derby in 1994 and Birmingham in 2002. The club hoped to bring in extra revenue by staging other events at the new stadium, such as concerts and boxing, but with plenty of other venues being available in London, they didn't manage to tempt many promoters to come to Bermondsey.
The total capacity of the New Den is 20,146. Away fans are located in the North Stand, and around 4,000 away fans can be accommodated in this end, but for high-risk matches the visitors only get the upper tier, leaving the rest empty for segregation. So for this game we have only got about 2,000 seats, which have now sold out. Tickets for away fans are £24 for adults, with over 65's at £15, under 16's £12 and under 12's £7. Millwall’s website seems very proud that they have sold “over 13,000” tickets for the home parts of the stadium… “we’re not famous any more”! Etc.
The concourse offers hot food ranging from the usual pies to cod or chicken and chips, and they usually serve beer, though it remains to be seen whether they will do so for our visit. The police have been known to be a bit mob-handed, and there are plenty of stories on the Millwall messageboards about fans being ejected for trivial 'offences'.
So all in all, it sounds like a really fun day out!
Some of this waffle came from www.footballgroundguide.co.uk