The New Den is the home of
Millwall F.C. (originally called
The New
London Stadium). The ground is referred to by Millwall
supporters as
The Den.
It is situated in
Bermondsey
, South East London
, almost directly adjacent to the railway line
between London Bridge
and New Cross Gate
, plus the SELCHP
incinerator. It is under a quarter
of a mile away from the original Den
.
Built on the site of an old church at Senegal Fields, it has an
all-seated capacity of 20,146, although the average attendance for
the 2005-06 season was just 9,529. The local press and fans groups
argued that this was due in part, to the "Membership Scheme"
introduced by former club
Chairman Theo Paphitis. Toby Porter, Chief Sportswriter
of the
South London Press, argued
that the scheme whilst detering the "hooligan element", also
deterred decent law abiding fans who were reluctant to hand over
sensitive personal information in order to watch a game of
football.
The scheme introduced by Paphitis now applies to away games
only.
History
The New Den was the first new all seater stadium to be completed
after the
Taylor Report on the
Hillsborough disaster. It was
designed with effective crowd management in mind (given Millwall's
crowd problems at the Old Den), with the escape routes being short
and direct. Originally, it was planned to have a seating capacity
of between 25,000 to 30,000. Millwall however, could not meet the
additional cost.
Millwall
played their final game on 8 May 1993 at The
Den after 83 years, and moved to the new 20,000
all-seater stadium a quarter of a mile away from Cold Blow Lane at
Senegal Fields. The
£16
million New Den was opened by
John Smith MP on 4 August 1993
prior to a prestigious friendly against
Sporting Lisbon. The New Den was
the first new football stadium constructed for a professional team
in London since 1937.
The New
Den is the sixth ground that Millwall have occupied since their
formation as a Football Club in Millwall
on the
Isle of
Dogs
in 1885.
On 1 May 2006, the New Den hosted the
FA
Women's Cup Final between
Arsenal
L.F.C. and
Leeds United
L.F.C.. Arsenal Ladies won the Cup 5 - 0.
In Drama
The New Den doubles as "The Dragons Lair", home ground of
Harchester United in the TV series
Dream Team. It also
appeared in an episode of the
ITV show
Primeval.
The Base is used on a regular basis by the TV and film industry. It
was used to film an episode of "
The Bill"
during the home game against
Leyton
Orient in March 2008 (aired on
ITV in June
2008).
Sportswear giant Nike
filmed their
Take It To The Next Level advertistment over a period of
three days and nights at The Den also in March 2008
Celebrity Soccer Sixes
The New Den hosted the
Samaritans Celebrity Soccer Sixes on 18
May 2008. Film and Telelevison Stars played at The Den, the first
time the event has not been hosted by a Premier League Club.
Babyshambles failed to retain the
trophy, losing 3-2 to dance act
Faithless.
The winners of the women's trophy were
Cansei
de Ser Sexy. Around 150 celebrities took part including,
McFly,
Tony Hadley,
Amy Winehouse and ex Millwall fan
favourite
Terry Hurlock to raise money
for the charity
Average attendances
Details
Pitch
- Length: 112 yards
- Width: 74 yards
Address
- Zampa Road
- Bermondsey
- London
- SE16 3LN
Notes
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