"You don’t have to be a racist, misogynistic, homophobic bloke with anger issues and a penchant for tragedy-chanting to feel at home at The Den. But it helps."

He hasn't held back there has he?!

The irony of the Daily Mail calling anyone racist. 

JustFloydRoad said:

SporadicAddick said:

The Daily Mail has fewer fans at The Den than on Charlton Life, but good to see them doubling down.

 

I've been to all 92 Football League grounds - these are the five WORST, writes OLIVER HOLT

• Find out which grounds you should only go to if you're a diehard stadium nerd - or need a Covid jab! These five are a mix of the harrowing and horrifying
• Join Mail+ to read Oliver Holt's unmissable column every Monday, plus the full ranking next week including which team claims top spot and where your team is

On Tuesday night, I'll take my place on the terraces at Harrogate Town’s Wetherby Road stadium for their match against Tranmere Rovers and, after a lifetime of trying, complete my set of each of the current 92 league grounds in the English game.

I’m a stadium nerd. I love grounds like they are people, their character and their quirks and their beauty and their architecture.

I’ve ranked my favourites from 1 to 92.

The best and the rest will come later but there are a handful I would happily never set foot in again.

 

92. The Den, Millwall

I’m banned from The Den at the moment, in a professional capacity anyway. I could still go in a personal capacity but, on balance, I think I’d rather not.

The Daily Mail has been told our reporters are not welcome at the club because we had the temerity to report on the horrendous challenge by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts on Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta during the FA Cup tie at Selhurst Park a few weeks ago.

I’m banned from The Den at the moment, in a professional capacity anyway.

Let’s be honest about this: there are worse places to be banned from... being banned from The Den is the football equivalent of being banned from your local abattoir

Inside the ground, which is modern and neat and relatively characterless, the level of hatred for visiting supporters feels unusually visceral

Let’s be honest about this: there are worse places to be banned from. Being banned from The Den is the football equivalent of being banned from your local abattoir.

You don’t have to be a racist, misogynistic, homophobic bloke with anger issues and a penchant for tragedy-chanting to feel at home at The Den. But it helps.

And, yes, I know Millwall are trying to rebrand themselves a ‘family club’ now and the odd Tarquin and Tabitha stray across the county lines from Blackheath and Clapham to keep it real but that just makes The Den experience even worse.

The last time I went as a supporter was 15 years ago to watch Stockport County play there and the walk from South Bermondsey station to the away turnstiles was an eye-opener.

Not that there were any problems: even at Millwall, football has moved on since the 70s. But this still felt deeply dystopian: for their own safety, away fans walk to the ground through a long wire mesh cage that seems to have no end.

It felt like embarking on a tour of Jurassic Park: you know that if the fences fail, the dinosaurs are going to take a run at you.

Inside the ground, which is modern and neat and relatively characterless, the level of hatred for visiting supporters feels unusually visceral. It’s loud. I’ll give it that. It’s primeval.

It’s unreconstructed, which can be a good thing, too, and it breeds a sense of togetherness. If medievalism is your thing, you’re in for a treat. If not, give it a miss.

Number One Stockport County, Selhurst Park (no sign of the Valley) in Top 20 hardly a world beating list.

Quelle surprise…Holt is a Stockport County fan. 

JustFloydRoad said:

SporadicAddick said:

The Daily Mail has fewer fans at The Den than on Charlton Life, but good to see them doubling down.

 

I've been to all 92 Football League grounds - these are the five WORST, writes OLIVER HOLT

• Find out which grounds you should only go to if you're a diehard stadium nerd - or need a Covid jab! These five are a mix of the harrowing and horrifying
• Join Mail+ to read Oliver Holt's unmissable column every Monday, plus the full ranking next week including which team claims top spot and where your team is

On Tuesday night, I'll take my place on the terraces at Harrogate Town’s Wetherby Road stadium for their match against Tranmere Rovers and, after a lifetime of trying, complete my set of each of the current 92 league grounds in the English game.

I’m a stadium nerd. I love grounds like they are people, their character and their quirks and their beauty and their architecture.

I’ve ranked my favourites from 1 to 92.

The best and the rest will come later but there are a handful I would happily never set foot in again.

 

92. The Den, Millwall

I’m banned from The Den at the moment, in a professional capacity anyway. I could still go in a personal capacity but, on balance, I think I’d rather not.

The Daily Mail has been told our reporters are not welcome at the club because we had the temerity to report on the horrendous challenge by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts on Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philippe Mateta during the FA Cup tie at Selhurst Park a few weeks ago.

I’m banned from The Den at the moment, in a professional capacity anyway.

Let’s be honest about this: there are worse places to be banned from... being banned from The Den is the football equivalent of being banned from your local abattoir

Inside the ground, which is modern and neat and relatively characterless, the level of hatred for visiting supporters feels unusually visceral

Let’s be honest about this: there are worse places to be banned from. Being banned from The Den is the football equivalent of being banned from your local abattoir.

You don’t have to be a racist, misogynistic, homophobic bloke with anger issues and a penchant for tragedy-chanting to feel at home at The Den. But it helps.

And, yes, I know Millwall are trying to rebrand themselves a ‘family club’ now and the odd Tarquin and Tabitha stray across the county lines from Blackheath and Clapham to keep it real but that just makes The Den experience even worse.

The last time I went as a supporter was 15 years ago to watch Stockport County play there and the walk from South Bermondsey station to the away turnstiles was an eye-opener.

Not that there were any problems: even at Millwall, football has moved on since the 70s. But this still felt deeply dystopian: for their own safety, away fans walk to the ground through a long wire mesh cage that seems to have no end.

It felt like embarking on a tour of Jurassic Park: you know that if the fences fail, the dinosaurs are going to take a run at you.

Inside the ground, which is modern and neat and relatively characterless, the level of hatred for visiting supporters feels unusually visceral. It’s loud. I’ll give it that. It’s primeval.

It’s unreconstructed, which can be a good thing, too, and it breeds a sense of togetherness. If medievalism is your thing, you’re in for a treat. If not, give it a miss.

Number One Stockport County, Selhurst Park (no sign of the Valley) in Top 20 hardly a world beating list.

He put the Valley at 43

Fumbluff said:

Starinnaddick said:

I met him once at the Valley when we were still in the Prem.
Btw his  mother was Emily Bishop in Coronation Street. 

One of the best claims to fame I’ve ever heard, “I’ve met the son of Emily Bishop from Coronation Street”

I am suspicious though as his surname would surely be Bishop too…

Ignorance is bliss. Lol

I started at 92 and worked down his list. It started so well, with the Den then all of the soulless identikit bowls ranked poorly. However, the list lost all credibility when The Valley ranked where it did. In terms of history, design, location, atmosphere etc (some are critical but it's consistently rated as many fans favourite awayday in London for a host of reasons) it should have been within the top 25 or 30.

soapy_jones said:

SporadicAddick said:

I started at 92 and worked down his list. It started so well, with the Den then all of the soulless identikit bowls ranked poorly. However, the list lost all credibility when The Valley ranked where it did. In terms of history, design, location, atmosphere etc (some are critical but it's consistently rated as many fans favourite awayday in London for a host of reasons) it should have been within the top 25 or 30.

Rose tinted glasses mate?

The pot holes in the car park and chip portion sizes would automatically place it in the low 80's...

I thought I was being harsh, I would actually put The Valley in the top 20...

The top and tail of the list were clearly nonsense. No way is The Den the worst (realistically it should come about 75th - dull identikit architecture, average atmosphere, poor away fan experience, no history whatsoever, limited local pre match options), and no way is Stockport the best (maybe 70th) but aside from the authors two personal picks at the top and the bottom, the rest should have been "better". I think we'd all agree that a list that has Selhurst at 18 is nonsense.