WITH football more sterile than it has ever been, we should all be willing Millwall to get to the Premier League.
Automatic promotion is still within their reach and, while are in the driving seat for second-place going into the final day, it would be great to see them break the mould in the top flight.
Millwall could earn automatic promotion to the Premier League this weekend Credit: PA
Ipswich are in pole position to take the second qualification spot Credit: PA
The Lions have a certain stigma about them, a reputation that, at times, has been well-earned.
But I played against more than any other club in my career and, whether as a player or a pundit, I absolutely loved going to The Den.
It is a hostile place. The Millwall cry is intimidating for any player, but I always saw the stick their fans gave me as a sign of respect.
once told me that the second people stop screaming at you, you are no longer any good.
Some of these mollycoddled players going there now — wow! We should all be here for that.
Maybe the South Americans in the top flight, used to wild atmospheres back home, would enjoy it.
But there would be a lot of arse twitching from a host of pampered Prem stars.
I have some great memories of playing Millwall, some of them which cannot be put in print.
The Den has one of the most intimidating atmospheres in English football Credit: Getty
The stadium can be a tough place to go as a player Credit: Getty
My first-ever goal, playing for Walsall, came at The Den.
And, in one of my very early games for , we won 6-1 there.
The home fans were understandably not too pleased to be 4-0 down before an hour had gone, and one of them decided to run on and try to fight Lloyd Doyley — our right-back — who very quickly decided to leg it.
I was on the substitutes’ bench that day and warned by our manager, Malky Mackay, not to wind anyone up when I was out warming up on the sidelines.
The first time I got up a few of them called me a fat b*d, so I told them where to go. The whole stand were suddenly up and getting after me and I was ordered back to the bench very quickly.
Even doing some stretches at The Den can test your character.
Back in my Walsall days, a young lad called Netan Sansara had pies hurled at him while he was trotting up and down the touchline.
Getting up through the play-offs will be a task for Millwall should they not snatch automatic promotion.
No one will want to go there in a semi-final.
But I wonder how the Lions would get on at Wembley in a potential final against a team like or , who want to play a bit.
Should they make it though, I only pray they hold on to what they are all about and do not end up bending to be part of the sanitised Prem elite. I can’t see that happening though, can you?
It can be a horrible place to go if you cannot front up to the fans but it can also be brilliant fun.
And that bite is something that has been lost at so many clubs across the country.
New stadiums change clubs and even at places like , where Stamford Bridge is still a fine old ground, there are too many fans waving their phones around and spending the whole time on TikTok.
At Millwall you’re going under the arches with all the potential danger that entails. I loved it.
They have a very hard edge as a club but it is also a place where, if you are one of theirs, then they will look after you for ever — and that matters more than anything else about the place.
The media room at The Den is named after , who loved Millwall dearly.
That gesture says everything about the true heart of a club like Millwall.
What a sight they would be in the Premier League.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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