THE DEN (old)

New Cross, London, England

The Den was the fifth football stadium occupied by Millwall F.C. in Cold Blow Lane, New Cross, London since their formation in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs in 1885 before moving to the New Den May 1993. The ground, opened in 1910, was the home of Millwall for 83 years. It boasted a record attendance of 48,672 (v Derby County in 1937). The Den was adjacent to New Cross Stadium, a large athletics stadium which later hosted Greyhound racing and Motorcycle speedway as well as being used by Millwall for training, as Millwall were lacking a training pitch of their own at the time.

By the late 1970s, The Den had fallen into disrepair and there was proposals to build a "Super-Den" on the existing sites of The Den and the adjacent New Cross Stadium, with an anticipated all-seater capacity between 25,000 and 30,000. However, the club could not raise sufficient funds to pay for the ambitious project and it eventually fell through, proving very unpopular with the Lions fans, culminating in mass demonstrations against Chairman Reg Burr.

The stadium hosted First Division football from 1988 to 1990, but within a year of Millwall's relegation it was confirmed that the club would be relocated to a new 25,000-seat stadium at Senegal Fields.

The sale of the stadium to Fairview Homes was completed on 11 December 1991 at a cost of £6.5million, although Millall would play there for nearly 18 months afterwards.

Relocation finally took place to the new stadium (with a capacity of just over 20,000) in August 1993, with demolition of the stadium taking place that autumn.

There had been plans for the old Den to be converted into an all-seater stadium, but these were abandoned in favour of relocation - partly because the new stadium was situated in a more spacious location and also allowed for the development of a sports centre for public use.

The site is now occupied by new houses and flats however the site and surrounding area are now known to locals as "Little Millwall" and Millwall fans still make the trip by foot from New Cross Gate station through the area to the all-seater New Den Stadium in Bermondsey.

Unused 4" x 6" continental size chrome

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