On Sunday 22nd August 1993, south London outfit Millwall prepared to open their New Den Stadium in Zampa Road. Underneath the shadow of South Bermondsey rail station, the 20,146-capacity complex was a far cry from the original Den, which was situated a stone’s throw (sometimes even literally) from the new ground, in Cold Blow Lane. It is still regarded by many as a somewhat treacherous journey into the dark underbelly of the capital, though.
The first match was against Sporting Lisbon in a friendly encounter, but it was the Shrimpers that had the honour of breaking in the new ground live on London Weekend Television’s flagship football programme, ‘The Big Match’. Just seven days earlier, Roots Hall had seen the television cameras in attendance for the 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest, in which Andy Sussex netted the Shrimpers strike.
However, in midweek, things had taken a turn for the worst as Barry Fry’s outfit lost 2-0 to Third Division Barnet at home in the first leg of a first round Coca-Cola (League) Cup tie. It was an all-too-familiar story for United in that competition, and so the mercurial manager set his thoughts on the upcoming fixture with the Lions, who had opened their new term with a 2-1 victory at Stoke City.
He would be without a number of first-team regulars in the likes of Mick Bodley, Keith Jones, Gary Poole and Pat Scully, but new capture Jason Lee was finally available having sat the opening two matches of the campaign out through suspension. The tall front man was immediately into the action after kick off as he slammed a Ricky Otto through-ball straight at American goalkeeper Kasey Keller from close range.
Otto also wasted a good chance, and Sussex hit a free-kick straight into the wall as Blues started the brighter. It was Millwall, though, who did net the first competitive strike at the New Den on 21 minutes. Tony Dolby’s cross, set for John Kerr’s finish, was scuppered by Andy Edwards at the heart of the Shrimpers defence just a couple of minutes before, but there was no such mistake second time around.
Ian Dawes’ long clearance found erstwhile forward Iain Bogie. He in turn picked out Kerr’s goalbound run, and Graham Bressington was unable to get to terms with the speedy striker, who tucked a left-footed drive low past Paul Sansome in the Shrimpers net.
Brett Angell, who would soon be watched closely by Everton and Southampton, joining Howard Kendall’s Toffees, forced Keller to parry before Derek Payne crossed for Lee to offer more goalkeeping practice to the international custodian. And the visitors’ bad luck continued when Andy Ansah fired against the left-hand upright, with Angell slamming the rebound against the same piece of woodwork.
On 35 minutes, the equaliser was finally forthcoming. Right-back Adam Locke delivered a precise corner to the near post, where Lee celebrated his acquisition by nipping ahead of Tony McCarthy and nodding past Keller. It could have been a short-lived parity as Bruce Murray headed against Sansome’s crossbar.
At the break, the teams were level, although Southend held the ascendancy in terms of attacking intent. Somewhat inhibited by the inevitable pressure of hosting your first match at a new ground, Millwall were again under the cosh immediately after the interval, Angell heading a Payne cross wide.
With the match threatening to boil over, United took the lead ten minutes after half-time. Locke was again involved as his long through-ball was misjudged by Lions captain and notorious hot-head Keith Stevens. ‘Rhino’ thus afforded Lee a chance to centre the ball for Otto, who touched home with aplomb.
Bogie wasted an opportunity to level when he was denied by a fine close-range block by Sansome, and the ex-Lions shotstopper was at it again, keeping out another effort from Kerr. From his clearance, McCarthy and Stevens dallied to allow substitute Tommy Mooney to dash between the pair and help the ball past Keller.
Ten minutes later, it was 4-1. Payne and Otto combined on the left-hand side, and Ansah cut inside of Dawes and Stevens to send a bullet header into the corner of Keller’s net. Incredibly, Millwall’s notorious support booed their side off of the field, whilst Fry beamed and declared, “we murdered them from start to finish!” on the box.
Fry’s men would continue to sweep all before them until December 1993, when he inexplicably left to join the so-called ‘sleeping giants’ Birmingham City. Peter Taylor took over, and nothing pleased the new boss and his team more than a 3-1 triumph over Brum on New Years Day, a result that left United fifth, and only six points off of top spot.
Millwall ended up in third spot, losing out to Leicester City in the race for the Premiership via the Play-Offs. Southend would win only five more League matches that season and finish sixteenth, just eight points from relegation. Oh, I forgot to mention – that last spot was occupied by Fry’s Birmingham, that big club in the Midlands. And bottom of the lot was Peterborough United, where he would next wash up.
Match Details |
Millwall (1)…1 Southend United (1)…4 @ the New Den, Bermondsey in Endsleigh Football League Division One on Sunday 22/08/1993 |
Referee: Keren Barrett |
MILLWALL | 1 | ELD1 | 4 | SOUTHEND UNITED |
John Kerr 21 | 10273 | Jason Lee 35 Ricky Otto 55 Tommy Mooney 71 Andy Ansah 81 | ||
4-4-2 | TEAMS | 4-4-2 | ||
Kasey KELLER | Paul SANSOME | |||
Kenny CUNNINGHAM | Adam LOCKE | |||
Tony McCARTHY | Andy EDWARDS | |||
Keith STEVENS | Graham BRESSINGTON | |||
Ian DAWES | Chris POWELL | |||
Andy ROBERTS | Andy ANSAH | |||
Gavin McGUIRE | Andy SUSSEX | |||
Bruce MURRAY | Derek PAYNE | |||
Tony DOLBY | Ricky OTTO | |||
Iain BOGIE | Jason LEE | |||
John KERR | Brett ANGELL | |||
SUBS | ||||
Carl EMBERSON | Simon ROYCE | |||
Richard HUXFORD | Tommy MOONEY | |||
John BYRNE | Jonathan HUNT |
Robert Craven
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