Ex Shelton Seagull
New member
People who went there will be probably think i'm f*cked up, but I wish i'd gone to the old Den to watch Albion against Millwall. I never went to many away games as a kid, and I certainly wasn't allowed to go and watch us play Millwall with my Dad.
Looking at pictures of the Den I always find myself wishing I had been there. The crumbling terraces backed by a vista of tower blocks and railway lines. The terraced houses on Cold Blow Lane. Being surrounded by real hardcore Millwall fans and the crackling atmosphere of a big game.
Yeah the facilities were probably beyond description. There was a huge floodlight pylon blocking half the view of the terrace. I suspect that most games in the 80's took place in front of around 6,000 people. I just get the feeling that a trip to the Den would have been an event. Something to get excited about, sort of "f*ck, are you gonna go to Millwall?" and the feeling that you were really entering "enemy territory".
Going to the New Den doesn't really raise any feelings like that at all. It's just another away game to me, I'm going to go but I don't feel any special trepidation about my visit. It's just another modern football ground with no real atmosphere. Now you don't even have to go on the streets of Bermondsey as you can now walk from the station straight to the ground along a special walkway. I'm probably wrong, There probably wasn't much of that atmosphere at the Den towards the end of it's days. I'd still prefer to go to the Old than the New.
I'd also liked to have gone to the Avenue Ground, former home of Bradford Park Avenue. Nothing to do with any atmosphere, it just looks like a great old British football ground. Archibald Leitch designed main stand, covered home end terrace, uncovered away terrace. I once read that the Albion wanted to build a stadium off Dyke Road in the early 20th century. The stadium was to be designed by Leitch and I like to think that it would have looked like the Avenue ground.
In Scotland I wish i'd gone to Kilbowie Park (home of Clydebank) and Bayview (home of East Fife). Kilbowie for its wooden benches, ancient tea bar and the social club behind the goal. Bayview for its acres of open terracing.
Looking at pictures of the Den I always find myself wishing I had been there. The crumbling terraces backed by a vista of tower blocks and railway lines. The terraced houses on Cold Blow Lane. Being surrounded by real hardcore Millwall fans and the crackling atmosphere of a big game.
Yeah the facilities were probably beyond description. There was a huge floodlight pylon blocking half the view of the terrace. I suspect that most games in the 80's took place in front of around 6,000 people. I just get the feeling that a trip to the Den would have been an event. Something to get excited about, sort of "f*ck, are you gonna go to Millwall?" and the feeling that you were really entering "enemy territory".
Going to the New Den doesn't really raise any feelings like that at all. It's just another away game to me, I'm going to go but I don't feel any special trepidation about my visit. It's just another modern football ground with no real atmosphere. Now you don't even have to go on the streets of Bermondsey as you can now walk from the station straight to the ground along a special walkway. I'm probably wrong, There probably wasn't much of that atmosphere at the Den towards the end of it's days. I'd still prefer to go to the Old than the New.
I'd also liked to have gone to the Avenue Ground, former home of Bradford Park Avenue. Nothing to do with any atmosphere, it just looks like a great old British football ground. Archibald Leitch designed main stand, covered home end terrace, uncovered away terrace. I once read that the Albion wanted to build a stadium off Dyke Road in the early 20th century. The stadium was to be designed by Leitch and I like to think that it would have looked like the Avenue ground.
In Scotland I wish i'd gone to Kilbowie Park (home of Clydebank) and Bayview (home of East Fife). Kilbowie for its wooden benches, ancient tea bar and the social club behind the goal. Bayview for its acres of open terracing.
Changing teams? 
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