The Lions play host to the Hammers at The Den on Saturday lunchtime, having not faced their bitter foes since 2012.
The game comes about after the Irons’ relegation from the Premier League last term, and they find themselves in the second tier for the first time since that 2011-12 season.
It is a fixture with a serious history of violence, with a particular nod to the ‘Upton Park Riot’ in 2009, where tempers spilled over between supporters at the Hammers’ former home during a second-round Carling Cup tie.
There were numerous pitch invasions by spectators, while a Millwall fan was stabbed amidst the chaos outside the stadium.
Pitch invasions: Fans clash in 2009 Upton Park riot
West Ham were fined £115,000 after being found guilty of ‘violent, threatening, obscene and provocative behaviour’ and of ‘failing to prevent fans entering the field of play’, while Millwall were cleared of all charges.
Both fanbases are renowned to be trailblazers for hooliganism, which has uglied English football’s reputation for years.
The Millwall Bushwackers and West Ham’s Inter City Firm were the two infamous mobs that incited violence so bad that a Millwall fan died in 1976, while a West Ham supporter was murdered in 1986 as a result of fan disorder.
Such incidents have forced notable figures – such as former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp – to call for the two sides to be separated in domestic cup draws. But when it comes to league football, there is nothing that the footballing authorities can do.
Police intervention: West Ham fans before Millwall clash in 2012
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Why do West Ham and Millwall fans hate each other?
This game – known as the ‘Dockers Derby’ dates back to the 19th century.
These sides were known as works teams, made up of labourers. Millwall, hailing from the Isle of Dogs, were factory workers from J.T. Morton’s, while West Ham were shipbuilders, from the Thames Ironworks company.
As a result, both companies were competing for work on the same dockland, and whoever went without contracts, would suffer financially and to provide for their families.
Geographically, as both grew in the football world, Millwall would base themselves in Bermondsey, where The Den lies now, after a spell in New Cross, having moved across the River Thames.
West Ham, now in Stratford, previously located to the Boleyn Ground, which was separated by 8.5 miles from Millwall’s home ground.
That geographical proximity, added to the tensions on the docks, is what has fuelled this fierce derby for over a century.
