Ex-hooligan says Millwall vs West Ham must ban away fans for terrifying reason

One of England’s fiercest derbies will return this weekend when Millwall host top of the Championship West Ham — the first meeting between the bitter rivals since 2012.

The atmosphere at The Den on Saturday afternoon will be raucous but one former hooligan believes the fixture is too dangerous to safely allow away supporters to attend.

In 2009, the clubs met in the Carabao Cup, and a 44-year-old Millwall fan was stabbed in the chest just minutes away from Upton Park. During the game itself, there were three pitch invasions and former Hammers goalkeeper Rob Green later told The Athletic he witnessed “venomous hatred”, adding: “Nothing about that game felt safe.”

In 2022, Cass Pennant, once a leader of the notorious Inter City Firm (ICF), released a book called You're Going Home in a F***ing Ambulance: Hooligan Wars – The Inside Story.

He wrote about his grave concerns of a potential future clash between his beloved West Ham and Millwall. At the time of the book being written, the Hammers were still in the Premier League while Millwall were in the Championship.

He said: “Final word on these two teams and their supporters is simply that they should NEVER meet, and the only way you can solve that is to ban away fans. There is a fierce rivalry that is beyond the rivalry of most football derbies.

“Today, the West Ham and Millwall clubs’ fan bases are beginning to change, much like the game itself has in recent years, so don’t think it will ever be as bad as the past experiences shared with with you here when the divide really was just the River Thames, but football can only hope whenever there is another cup draw or a promotion / relegation that has them in the same league or in a cup competition these two clubs aren’t drawn out of the hat together because for some there will always be scores to settle, just as there were for their forefathers.”

West Ham and Millwall both have roots in London’s East End and it was known as the ‘Dockers derby’ before the The Lions moved south. However, the rivalry never went away, and it was heightened in the 70s and 80s when football hooliganism was rife.

The ICF and the Millwall Bushwackers had some deadly clashes over the years but there were times when the violence went to tragic levels. This included in 1976 when Ian Pratt, a Millwall fan, lost his life after falling under a train after a clash with West Ham fans at New Cross station.

Afterwards, Millwall fans gave out terrifying leaflets at the Cold Blow Lane end of The Den, which had a picture of Ian alongside the chilling words: “A West Ham fan must die next week to avenge him.”

Then, just over a decade later, West Ham fan Terry Burns, who was just 19, was stabbed to death by suspected Millwall fans on the stairs of Embankment Station.

And speaking about the emotions felt on both sides of the rivalry, Cass, who is now an author and film producer, wrote in his book: “If England is the motherland of football hooliganism then a Millwall–West Ham game is the mother of all hooligan derbies.

“The bad blood has always been there between east and south of the river.