Ex-West Ham hooligan warns ‘scores want settling’ at Millwall match as he makes plea
Millwall and West Ham play one another for the first time in 14 years this weekend and one former hooligan wrote in his book about why away fans should be banned from the tasty fixture
Cass Pennant is a huge West Ham fan (Image: BPM)
A notorious former football hooligan believes away fans should be banned from attending matches between Millwall and West Ham. Cass Pennant, who had a film made about his life and was once heavily involved in the Inter City Firm, made the revelation in his book You’re Going Home in a F***ing Ambulance: Hooligan Wars – The Inside Story.
At the time in 2022, his beloved West Ham played in the Premier League, and fixtures between the East End club and their south London rivals were rare. The last time they met was in 2012.
However, that all changes this weekend, when Millwall host West Ham at The Den in a Championship clash that will have the eyes of England on it, mainly because of how fierce the derby is.
And Cass, who knows more about the intensity of the rivalry than most, wrote in his book: “Final word on these two teams and their supporters is simply that they should NEVER meet, and the only way you can solve that is to ban away fans. There is a fierce rivalry that is beyond the rivalry of most football derbies.
Cass Pennant is a former leader of the feared Inter City Firm (ICF)(Image: Getty Images)
“Today, the West Ham and Millwall clubs’ fan bases are beginning to change, much like the game itself has in recent years, so don’t think it will ever be as bad as the past experiences shared with with you here when the divide really was just the River Thames, but football can only hope whenever there is another cup draw or a promotion / relegation that has them in the same league or in a cup competition these two clubs aren’t drawn out of the hat together because for some there will always be scores to settle, just as there were for their forefathers.”
One of the last matches in the ‘Dockers derby’ came in 2009 when Millwall travelled to Upton Park in the Carabao Cup. However, it was marred by three pitch invasions, and before the game a 44-year-old Millwall fan was stabbed.
And speaking to The Athletic about his memories of it, former West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green said: “I was in front of the Millwall fans, they’d ripped up the chairs and started throwing them on the pitch.
“But then they started pulling out the metal framework that held the seats in. That’s when I realised, ‘S***, this is going to be a long night.’ It was venomous hatred.”
West Ham fans at Green Street near Upton Park after their match against Millwall in 2009 (Image: PA)
He added that “nothing about that game felt safe” whereas former Millwall goalkeeper David Forde remembered: “That night was just extreme hooliganism.”
And giving an insight into the derby from a fan perspective, former hooligan Cass, now a film producer and author, wrote in his book: “If England is the motherland of football hooliganism then a Millwall–West Ham game is the mother of all hooligan derbies.
“The bad blood has always been there between east and south of the river. You can go back to your forefathers.
“When those two teams meet it goes beyond football. The atmosphere is a feeling of genuine hatred and uncertainty; other clubs’ rival fans have long said both Millwall and West Ham have the hardest firms in England.”
The two clubs both originate in London’s East End but after Millwall moved further south the rivalry never went away. And during the 70s and 80s, when hooligans caused chaos on the terraces, it was heightened even further.
However, there has been tragedies, and it started in 1976 when Millwall fan Ian Pratt died after falling under a train during a fight with West Ham fans at New Cross.
Cass Pennant was a notorious hardman (Image: London News Service)
Shortly after, chilling leaflets were handed out at Cold Blow Lane, showing a picture of Ian alongside the words: “A West Ham fan must die next week to avenge him.”
More tragedy struck 11 years later when Terry Burns, a 19-year-old West Ham fan, was stabbed to death by suspected Millwall fans at Embankment Station.
As for this weekend, West Ham will start the game sitting top of the Championship, with Millwall four points behind in 11th.
Fans can watch the game for free on Saturday on ITV1 or stream via ITVX and the 12.30pm kick-off is also being broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event
