I remember Alex Ferguson on The Premier League Years talking about how good the atmosphere at The Valley was, and how hard we were to contain when the crowd got going.
I'm glad you remember it as a few seem to have forgotten.
Supports my point again, from the halfway line our home end is noisy on the right occasions as Ferguson alluded too. I’ve spoke to united fans who have been in our away end however and barely heard a wimper.
I would say that the best atmosphere I've ever witnessed was at Wigan. I saw the Wigan-West Ham game on the penultimate day of the 2010-11 season. The arithmetic meant that the winners had a good chance of staying up, the losers went down and a draw meant that both went day. West Ham led 2-0 in the first half, but Wigan nicked a winner in the last minute. The place was rocking all second half as Wigan fought back. Amazing atmosphere that day.
Having been to over 120 grounds all I will say is that:
1. As a Charlton fan we rarely see another clubs fans at their best as we’re an unattractive fixture to 90% 2. Most clubs can create a racket on special occasions. Even us vs Donny last year. 3. I think it matters hugely where the away support are positioned. At Millwall you have the two most vocals areas either side of you. At the Valley you’re miles away from our vocal support etc. 4. The clubs who really retain that higher percentage of working class vocal support are the ones where all four sides of the ground can take off on the right occasions - the likes of Millwall, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield, Pompey, Everton, etc still have it. We are not and never have been one of them. Even Cardiff have been decimated by the new ground /prem football and Msn City and West Ham are a shadow of there former selves but it’s still there on the one off occasions. 5. Our support has changed dramatically for the better the last few years. May it continue.
5. Best I’ve heard and they’re all impacted by occasion except number 1:
1. Pompey - a nothing middle of the road prem game many moons ago, I think it finished 2-2 in the Di Canio era. They did not shut up all game. Never forget that one.
2. Birmingham in 98 last game of season - Keep Right On. Still don’t think I’ve heard anything compare.
3. Sheff U in the Cup quarter final recently - all four sides going at it.
4. Millwall - you can’t deny it and it is because it’s a big game to them. Believe me it does not rock like that very often. As an aside didn’t you get 12k against West Ham in 2004??
Additionally - I’ve been to two old firms at both Ibrox and Celtic Park, both in the Rangers end and was far from impressed each time.
Special mention to the Jocks though for the loudest single noise I’ve ever heard at a game, when they scored those two fee kicks in quick succession at Hampden a few years back - Wow!! We did shut them up in injury time though 😀
Good point about the working class support and agree 100%.
Re our place, of course everyone comes out for Charlton, as we do most other London clubs (check out our attendances v QPR, Fulham etc) and the likes of leeds. This helps with the atmosphere obviously but two of the best atmospheres I’ve experienced down there have been v Huddersfield and wolves. And of course the cup games against PL opposition the place is always rocking. Always.
Its totally random at Millwall though. It can be dead all game then a crunching tackle can go in and the whole ground comes to life. I love that organic atmosphere. Could never have that orchestrated crap they have at palace.
That West Ham game you mentioned was not long after the Birmingham riot and it was strictly ST holders and members only and a lot of people hadn’t renewed. We’ve always sold out v them in the past and since then. Obviously there’s larger sections left neutral when we play them, hence why our attendances v palace and Charlton are usually bigger than our attendances v West Ham.
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
You’ve played palace at home 12 times since you returned to the valley, but only 1 of those was in the premier league.
I know the reasons some of your fans give for not attending your games V us but genuinely surprised you haven’t sold out one of those games v palace, what with it being a derby and Charlton being such a big club.
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
You’ve played palace at home 12 times since you returned to the valley, but only 1 of those was in the premier league.
I know the reasons some of your fans give for not attending your games V us but genuinely surprised you haven’t sold out one of those games v palace, what with it being a derby and Charlton being such a big club.
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
You’ve played palace at home 12 times since you returned to the valley, but only 1 of those was in the premier league.
I know the reasons some of your fans give for not attending your games V us but genuinely surprised you haven’t sold out one of those games v palace, what with it being a derby and Charlton being such a big club.
Wow - great knowledge, thought you didn't care
Didn’t take long. Just googled Charlton palace head to heads.
And never said I don’t care. Always happy to chat about football fandom.
Tried that, can see results etc. but not attendances ? Reminded me of our last trip there, rubbish result but great afternoon/evening. EDIT - I am an old git, I will look/ investigate a bit further - cheers
Could be wrong but I seem to recall the atmosphere at St James Park in the 92/93 season being electric. It was a midweek game and Keegan’s Toon Army were heading for promotion. Goals from Nelse and Carlo secured us a draw but IIRC we were getting battered but managed to secure a point.
Filbert Street was a favourite ground for me when it came to atmosphere, hemmed in at the side, close to the pitch and their more vocal fans situated in the corner behind the goal. Proper ground.
Loathe to admit it but Elland Road is pretty impressive when it’s rocking. During our PL stint I sat in the home end and found it both exhilarating and a little bit scary. I sat on my hands when Alex Dyer scored our consolation in a 3-1 defeat.
Was at that Newcastle game, absolutely brilliant evening on that little terrace and coming away with a draw, felt like a win, they were flying at the time.
Those sorts of night games on the terrace are what it was all about for me.
I remember Alex Ferguson on The Premier League Years talking about how good the atmosphere at The Valley was, and how hard we were to contain when the crowd got going.
He must have been talking about before the North Upper was constructed, surely
No doubt it can get a bit lively down at the new den when they want, but on their best day the knuckle draggers don't even come close to a few away days up at Goodison park or West Ham (when they were at Upton Park). Two proper clubs with home stands full of passionate fans. Games against little old Charlton always made a noticeable amount more noise than anything I've experienced at millwall.
As the owners debate has had a side debate about atmosphere at grounds, i will give your five good and five bad,Hope this has not been done before
Good /Great 1, Newcastle 2, Sunderland 3, Liverpool 4, Leeds Utd 5, Portsmouth
Poor/Bad 1, Arsenal (not called the library for nothing) 2, Millwall,(Just foul mouth abuse) 3, Man Utd 4, Spurs (One song, poorly sung) 5,Bournemouth (just strange)
All the atmospheres at grounds fluctuate. No one ground is good ALL the time.
But to put Millwall in the bottom five is just nonsense to be honest.
You beat me to it. Atmosphere is what makes Millwall what it is. Probably get slated for this, but would love similar at Charlton, rather than the trend setting atmosphere that you get across the country.
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
You’ve played palace at home 12 times since you returned to the valley, but only 1 of those was in the premier league.
I know the reasons some of your fans give for not attending your games V us but genuinely surprised you haven’t sold out one of those games v palace, what with it being a derby and Charlton being such a big club.
Wow - great knowledge, thought you didn't care
Didn’t take long. Just googled Charlton palace head to heads.
And never said I don’t care. Always happy to chat about football fandom.
You alright there? You're gonna miss us next season aren't you haha! Arguing abt attendances lol. Especially when we have better home and away followings despite being a shower! We always sell out the tiny allocation you give us, we always make a load of noise, despite the constant bad results, and we bop around without any issues. Your atmosphere vs Charlton, Leeds etc may be good, but against the rest its shite, let's be honest
As the owners debate has had a side debate about atmosphere at grounds, i will give your five good and five bad,Hope this has not been done before
Good /Great 1, Newcastle 2, Sunderland 3, Liverpool 4, Leeds Utd 5, Portsmouth
Poor/Bad 1, Arsenal (not called the library for nothing) 2, Millwall,(Just foul mouth abuse) 3, Man Utd 4, Spurs (One song, poorly sung) 5,Bournemouth (just strange)
All the atmospheres at grounds fluctuate. No one ground is good ALL the time.
But to put Millwall in the bottom five is just nonsense to be honest.
You beat me to it. Atmosphere is what makes Millwall what it is. Probably get slated for this, but would love similar at Charlton, rather than the trend setting atmosphere that you get across the country.
Honest post there. And yes our atmosphere is quite unique. We don’t churn out the same generic chants that every club are doing at any particular time, just with slightly different words.
Not sure who @MillwallFan expects us to sell 24,000 home tickets to outside PL ? Them, QPR, Brentford, Fulham - last Palace game may have sold out but was Friday night on Sky
You’ve played palace at home 12 times since you returned to the valley, but only 1 of those was in the premier league.
I know the reasons some of your fans give for not attending your games V us but genuinely surprised you haven’t sold out one of those games v palace, what with it being a derby and Charlton being such a big club.
Wow - great knowledge, thought you didn't care
Didn’t take long. Just googled Charlton palace head to heads.
And never said I don’t care. Always happy to chat about football fandom.
You alright there? You're gonna miss us next season aren't you haha! Arguing abt attendances lol. Especially when we have better home and away followings despite being a shower! We always sell out the tiny allocation you give us, we always make a load of noise, despite the constant bad results, and we bop around without any issues. Your atmosphere vs Charlton, Leeds etc may be good, but against the rest its shite, let's be honest
How do you know? Have you watched much football at The Den as a neutral? The one poster on this thread who said he had, said that the atmosphere has been good every time he’s been there.
When it comes to London derbies/big matches, we’ll always sell out an away allocation.
And I’d back us to be louder than 90% of other away supports in those scenarios too.
The most hardcore of our support take some beating on their day.
What makes you think that? Have you seen many other clubs away fans in those scenarios?
This season just gone I remember you was really loud on a couple of occasions early on in the game but after that I wouldn’t say you was that loud to be honest.
Not a dig, just an observation.
Leeds was the best who came to us last season and always make plenty of noise. That marching on together, got to hand it to them, great chant and gets bloody loud when they all do it. Our games v them always have a derby feel to them. Even though it’s not a derby. The atmosphere is always immense from both sides.
You were beating us from the first 5 minutes, why do you think the atmosphere was a bit flat? We all knew what was on the cards from then.
When it was 1-1 briefly and we were on the attack, Millwall fans I know in the home end said we were loud.
Not got to look far on twitter to see fans of various clubs saying we're the loudest they've had visit in ages.
I remember Alex Ferguson on The Premier League Years talking about how good the atmosphere at The Valley was, and how hard we were to contain when the crowd got going.
Atmosphere at the valley was much better before the upper tier was added to the covered end. Singers were spread all over, and the noise benefitted from it
@MillwallFan no mate, I don't go to Senegal Fields/The New London Stadium as a neutral, why would I put myself through that? But I do know Millwall fans who don't subscribe to the myth that it's a "cauldron of hate" like fenerbache or something! Been to loads of games at the old den and the new one. Sometimes the atmosphere is good sometimes it's been deadly quiet. Cant imagine its rocking on a Tuesday night against Barnsley with 6k there, but if you say it is....
Edit....and you only have 2 "songs" Miiiiiiiiiiiii and that no one likes us rubbish. C'mon :-)
I think a lot of the old stadiums had something edgy about them, whether this be Upton Park, The Den or Stamford Bridge (for example). All seater stadiums have made the atmosphere sterile and assisted in me falling out of love of going to the valley regularly.
@MillwallFan no mate, I don't go to Senegal Fields/The New London Stadium as a neutral, why would I put myself through that? But I do know Millwall fans who don't subscribe to the myth that it's a "cauldron of hate" like fenerbache or something! Been to loads of games at the old den and the new one. Sometimes the atmosphere is good sometimes it's been deadly quiet. Cant imagine its rocking on a Tuesday night against Barnsley with 6k there, but if you say it is....
Edit....and you only have 2 "songs" Miiiiiiiiiiiii and that no one likes us rubbish. C'mon :-)
Never did I say the Den is a cauldron of hate or that the atmosphere is good ALL the time. In fact in a previous post I actually said some times it was flat. But what ground isn’t? How many grounds are rocking on a Tuesday night against nothing opposition?
the truth is though, for a crowd of our size we can make a tremendous atmosphere at times. Lost count the amount of times I’ve heard a player say it felt like there was 30k in the den tonight, or something along those lines. Oh, and whenever a team gets a result at the den the manager nearly always comes out with the same old line.... “it’s not the easiest place to come and get a result”
as for only having two songs, that old chestnut lol. I mean, for one you’re forgetting the other one we always end up singing when we play you lot 😉....
@MillwallFan haha...I'll give you that, three songs then, with one especially for that team none of you care abt! Our day will come mate...maybe :-)
As someone mentioned above, CAFC regularly get praise from other fans for our loud support. I honestly don't think you lot ever do, but maybe I'm missing something?
@MillwallFan haha...I'll give you that, three songs then, with one especially for that team none of you care abt! Our day will come mate...maybe :-)
As someone mentioned above, CAFC regularly get praise from other fans for our loud support. I honestly don't think you lot ever do, but maybe I'm missing something?
I think you are mate to be honest. Think we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one. 😊
Only away game I was impressed with in terms with home support this season was West Brom. When Robson Kanu equalised and they sung 'we've got Kanu...' it was deafening. Millwall, QPR, Fulham were very quiet. Stokes home support was decent.
As the owners debate has had a side debate about atmosphere at grounds, i will give your five good and five bad,Hope this has not been done before
Good /Great 1, Newcastle 2, Sunderland 3, Liverpool 4, Leeds Utd 5, Portsmouth
Poor/Bad 1, Arsenal (not called the library for nothing) 2, Millwall,(Just foul mouth abuse) 3, Man Utd 4, Spurs (One song, poorly sung) 5,Bournemouth (just strange)
All the atmospheres at grounds fluctuate. No one ground is good ALL the time.
But to put Millwall in the bottom five is just nonsense to be honest.
You beat me to it. Atmosphere is what makes Millwall what it is. Probably get slated for this, but would love similar at Charlton, rather than the trend setting atmosphere that you get across the country.
Honest post there. And yes our atmosphere is quite unique. We don’t churn out the same generic chants that every club are doing at any particular time, just with slightly different words.
That’s true, you never hear millwall fans do that. Probably because there are lots of syllables and words to remember. Is that why you stick to mmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
the best millwall away noise was in the 4-4 game. I hate it when away teams make noise as it means we’ve given them something to make noise about. But I hate the fact that we have Fleetwood, Accrington who will bring 100 supporters. Portsmouth and Sunderland will come in numbers and be vocal, then it’s half full Wimbledon and Gillingham, then nothing! Depressing
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EDIT - I am an old git, I will look/ investigate a bit further - cheers
Those sorts of night games on the terrace are what it was all about for me.
Two proper clubs with home stands full of passionate fans.
Games against little old Charlton always made a noticeable amount more noise than anything I've experienced at millwall.
Probably get slated for this, but would love similar at Charlton, rather than the trend setting atmosphere that you get across the country.
Millwall for example post-lockdown played away to us and QPR where they'd have taken big followings.
When it was 1-1 briefly and we were on the attack, Millwall fans I know in the home end said we were loud.
Not got to look far on twitter to see fans of various clubs saying we're the loudest they've had visit in ages.
Edit....and you only have 2 "songs" Miiiiiiiiiiiii and that no one likes us rubbish. C'mon :-)
the truth is though, for a crowd of our size we can make a tremendous atmosphere at times. Lost count the amount of times I’ve heard a player say it felt like there was 30k in the den tonight, or something along those lines. Oh, and whenever a team gets a result at the den the manager nearly always comes out with the same old line.... “it’s not the easiest place to come and get a result”
as for only having two songs, that old chestnut lol. I mean, for one you’re forgetting the other one we always end up singing when we play you lot 😉....
https://youtu.be/hFIqVuwaOk4
As someone mentioned above, CAFC regularly get praise from other fans for our loud support. I honestly don't think you lot ever do, but maybe I'm missing something?
the best millwall away noise was in the 4-4 game. I hate it when away teams make noise as it means we’ve given them something to make noise about. But I hate the fact that we have Fleetwood, Accrington who will bring 100 supporters. Portsmouth and Sunderland will come in numbers and be vocal, then it’s half full Wimbledon and Gillingham, then nothing! Depressing