Home of Millwall FC
Opened 1993
Capacity 20,146
★★★★★
★★★★★
History (from Wikipedia)
The New Den, as it was initially known to distinguish it from its predecessor, was the first new all-seater stadium in England to be completed after the Taylor Report on the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. It was designed with effective crowd management in mind (particularly given Millwall's crowd problems at The Old Den), with the escape routes being short and direct. After chairman Reg Burr decided that it would not be viable to redevelop The Old Den as an all-seater stadium, he announced in 1990 that the club would relocate to a new stadium in the Senegal Fields area in south Bermondsey. Originally, it was planned to have a seating capacity of between 25,000 and 30,000, however, the club opted to wait so the capacity was kept to just over 20,000.[3]
Millwall played their final game at The Old Den on 8 May 1993 after 83 years and then moved to the new stadium a quarter-of-a-mile away from Cold Blow Lane. The £16 million New Den was opened by John Smith, the leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition at the time, on 4 August 1993 prior to a prestigious friendly against Sporting Portugal, which Sporting won 2–1. The Den was the first new stadium constructed for a professional football team in London since 1937.
Millwall have experienced mixed fortunes since relocating to The Den. Their first season at the stadium (1993–94) saw them finish third in Division One — their highest finish since relegation from the top flight four years earlier. However, their dreams of Premier League football were ended by a defeat in the playoffs and they were relegated to Division Two in 1996, not winning promotion from that level until 2001. They again came close to reaching the Premier League in 2002, finishing fourth, but once again losing in the playoffs. The Lions reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 2004, and despite a 3–0 defeat by Manchester United they qualified for European competition for the first time in their history. Millwall has been relegated twice since then; going down in 2006 and 2015, but have also won promotion in 2010 and 2017. However, the stadium has yet to host Premier League football - Millwall had played in the old First Division for two seasons from 1988 during their final few years at their previous stadium.
In September 2016 Lewisham Council approved a compulsory purchase order of land surrounding The Den rented by Millwall, as part of a major redevelopment of the "New Bermondsey" area. The plans are controversial because the developer, Renewal, is controlled by offshore companies with unclear ownership, and is seen by the club and local community to be profiteering by demolishing existing homes and businesses as well as Millwall's car-park and the highly acclaimed and well recognised Millwall Community Trust - to build up to 2,400 new private homes, with no council housing and less than 15% of 'affordable housing'. Millwall had submitted their own plans for regeneration centred around the football club itself, but the council voted in favour of Renewal's plans.[4]
In December 2016 Private Eye reported how Renewal had been founded by a former Lewisham Council leader and senior officer, suggesting potential bias, and that the decision to approve Renewal's plans may have been made as long ago as 2013 despite the fact that no due diligence had been able to be carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers due to "poor" and "limited" access to information and management at Renewal, which is registered in the Isle of Man.[5]
In October 2019 Lewisham Council terminated the conditional land sale agreement with Renewal. This allowed Millwall to prepare their own development plans,[6] and in February 2020, Millwall announced plans for a phased expansion, adding upper tiers behind existing seating to gradually expand the Den to 34,000 seats.[7]
Millwall played their final game at The Old Den on 8 May 1993 after 83 years and then moved to the new stadium a quarter-of-a-mile away from Cold Blow Lane. The £16 million New Den was opened by John Smith, the leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition at the time, on 4 August 1993 prior to a prestigious friendly against Sporting Portugal, which Sporting won 2–1. The Den was the first new stadium constructed for a professional football team in London since 1937.
Millwall have experienced mixed fortunes since relocating to The Den. Their first season at the stadium (1993–94) saw them finish third in Division One — their highest finish since relegation from the top flight four years earlier. However, their dreams of Premier League football were ended by a defeat in the playoffs and they were relegated to Division Two in 1996, not winning promotion from that level until 2001. They again came close to reaching the Premier League in 2002, finishing fourth, but once again losing in the playoffs. The Lions reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 2004, and despite a 3–0 defeat by Manchester United they qualified for European competition for the first time in their history. Millwall has been relegated twice since then; going down in 2006 and 2015, but have also won promotion in 2010 and 2017. However, the stadium has yet to host Premier League football - Millwall had played in the old First Division for two seasons from 1988 during their final few years at their previous stadium.
In September 2016 Lewisham Council approved a compulsory purchase order of land surrounding The Den rented by Millwall, as part of a major redevelopment of the "New Bermondsey" area. The plans are controversial because the developer, Renewal, is controlled by offshore companies with unclear ownership, and is seen by the club and local community to be profiteering by demolishing existing homes and businesses as well as Millwall's car-park and the highly acclaimed and well recognised Millwall Community Trust - to build up to 2,400 new private homes, with no council housing and less than 15% of 'affordable housing'. Millwall had submitted their own plans for regeneration centred around the football club itself, but the council voted in favour of Renewal's plans.[4]
In December 2016 Private Eye reported how Renewal had been founded by a former Lewisham Council leader and senior officer, suggesting potential bias, and that the decision to approve Renewal's plans may have been made as long ago as 2013 despite the fact that no due diligence had been able to be carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers due to "poor" and "limited" access to information and management at Renewal, which is registered in the Isle of Man.[5]
In October 2019 Lewisham Council terminated the conditional land sale agreement with Renewal. This allowed Millwall to prepare their own development plans,[6] and in February 2020, Millwall announced plans for a phased expansion, adding upper tiers behind existing seating to gradually expand the Den to 34,000 seats.[7]
Things to do near the stadium.
The Mayflower.
Southwark Park.
Wow. What a beautiful park - I stumbled across it tonight on my walk home and just fell in love with it! The band stand located nearest Canada Water... Read More
Bermondsey carnival and funfair festival apparently happen every year and is one of the biggest festival Southwark does. Big headline act with support from... Read More
