The 20 Questions - Millwall

Last updated : 03 January 2005 By Denti

Who are you; where are you from and how long have you supported your club?

Neil Richardson. I was born in East London which is home to our much hated rivals West H*m United. Thankfully my old man is a Bermondsey boy and showed me the way to Cold Blow Lane. Have supported the club for 14 years. Went to my first game when I was 6.

What was your first game?

Went to my first game in 1990 against Newcastle United and haven't looked back since. I can't remember the game all that well, but I remember the walk down to the ground, the 'real' Den. Could hear the roar a mile off. We stood on the halfway line and to get there we had to walk what we called, 'The Wembley Steps'...you reached the top and there it was, The Den.

Describe the most memorable and worst game you've seen and why?

The most memorable game would have to be the Semi Final win against Sunderland at Old Trafford. That is a feeling that I doubt will ever be beaten. A lot of Millwall fans will say the final itself, but I felt it was a disappointment. The way we surrendered and didn't have a go. When the final whistle went at Old Trafford it dawned on us all that we're in Europe and in the final of the biggest competition in domestic football. 7 years ago I watched as we slipped further and further to Division 3 (4) football.

Who do you consider as your current local rivals, and why?

West H*m. It's an East v South London kinda thing, and even though I was born in East London I'm a South London mate at heart. East Londoners think they're better, and vice versea. The rivalry stems from the Dockers and has progressed ever since, most noteably for the hooliganism battles between the two sides.

Who are the best and worst players you have seen?

Neil Harris pre cancer remains the best player I've seen in a Millwall shirt. My memory of Teddy 'Judas' Sheringham is very patchy. We had a fella called Etienne Verveer back in 95ish, he used to light up a game. Worst players? Where do I begin? An endless list most noteably though, David Sinclair, Jason Dair, Jason Beckford, Tony McCarthy and Carl Veart.

Which current or former Rotherham player impressed you most?

Andy Monkhouse usually impresses me and it has surprised me that he hasn't moved on or had other clubs checking his progress.

How did you fare last season?

Well we reached Europe and the FA Cup Final, apart from that....! It was an amazing season. We had the easiest cup run known in the competition but you still had to beat the teams infront of you. The only disappointing thing was we didn't make the Play-Offs. Before we reached the Final we had a 2 month spell of not losing. It pushed us into 5th with games in hand. As soon as we got through to the Final the players seemed to lose all interest.

We drew 1-1 earlier this season, hows things gone since then?

We are just rolling along. Making no real strides but at the same time not losing any ground. We haven't played all that well all season, and some fans are already calling for Wise's head. We're currently sat in 7th just 3 points off.

How do you think you'll finish up this season?

It's a really hard one to judge. Watching us play I'd say 10th-12th. But this Division is very, very poor. We have assembled what is a good squad on paper and hopefully we can push ourselves into the Top 6.

If Millwall were a TV personality, who would it be and why?

Cant think of one.

So what do you think of Rotherham?

A proper football club, which is very rare these days. People say "Millmoor is a dump" not to me. A real football ground, only sad thing is it's now got seats in the away end. I would love to see Rotherham stay up at the expense of a club like Leeds United.

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