IN YEARS to come, it is possible the memory of 2023 might be revised.
The year will end with a new, interesting project still only beginning as Joe Edwards looks to build Millwall up in his image. In time, the decision to appoint the 37-year-old in November may be seen as a masterstroke and mark an important moment in the path of Millwall Football Club.
For now though, we only have a handful of new games under the new boss to try and draw ideas and conclusions about where this could be heading. And the back-to-back wins over Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City is an optimistic note to end 2023 on given what has otherwise been a year of huge emotion on and off the pitch.
In an alternative universe, Millwall could be experiencing their first December in the Premier League with fans potentially having done their first trips to a wintry trip to Old Trafford or Anfield over the Christmas period. Instead, supporters were left playing the usual suspects in the Championship like Huddersfield Town, Stoke City and QPR.
The reason for this comes back to that faithful afternoon on May 8, which undoubtedly is the most defining game of the year and the one that, unfortunately, will live longest in the memory.
Millwall had to beat Blackburn Rovers on the final day of the season to guarantee a place in the play-offs, which offered a ticket into the Premier League. The Lions had not been in the top flight since back-to-back seasons in the late 1980s and landing a place in the world’s richest and most glamorous league had become an aim for a club which, famously, was not all that rich nor keen on glamour.
It wasn’t to be – Blackburn came down from 3-1 down at half-time to win 4-3 and a whole season’s worth of hard work came apart during 45 befuddling, shocking and barely believable minutes.
An unfancied club with a small budget did get promoted through the play-offs but 2023 turned out to be the year of Luton Town, not of Millwall. If any Lions fans had forgotten how cruel football could be, they were reminded in May.
The Blackburn defeat hurt but whatever happened that day does not in any way compare to the shock and pain that Millwall suffered in July.
“It is with a collective broken heart and the deepest of regret that we announce the passing of our beloved owner and chairman, John Berylson,” a statement from the club posted on Twitter late one evening read.
“He was a truly great man, incredibly devoted to his family, and a person of such remarkable generosity, warmth, and kindness. He lived a storied life, one full of colour and joy, and was infinitely thoughtful of others with an endless desire to share his immense knowledge and experiences to help people.
“John revelled in the club’s underdog status and mentality. He related strongly to such values and identity and adored Millwall supporters.”
A car accident in Massachusetts was the cause of the tragic passing of the beloved Berylson at the age of 70, leaving the entire club in shock.
Many fans made the point at the time but it is worth repeating: There are so many cases across English football where supporters have nothing but contempt for the people who run their club. But at Millwall there was only love and affection towards Berylson and the feeling was very much mutual.
The collective grief following his death was striking but it united so many people around the club. Suddenly the kick of a ball became meaningless and instead things like community and companionship, the values that make football clubs so special, were at the forefront.
Supporters would get their chance to pay tribute to Berylson in the first home league game of the new season against Bristol City and the booklet released before the game, the video played ahead of kick-off and all the other features to mark an astounding life were moving and heartfelt.
Unfortunately, Gary Rowett’s side couldn’t reach their own emotional pitch as the Lions lost 1-0 to Bristol City after a late goal by Matty James, with the defeat coming just days after an awful 4-0 home defeat to Reading in the Carabao Cup.
The year 2023 will go down as one when the reputation of The Den as a Championship fortress would take a serious hit, with FIFA boss Gianni Infantino and Green Day musician Billie Joe Armstrong among the more famous spectators over the past 12 months. Millwall’s record in all competitions in SE16 reads: won eight, drew six and lost 12 although the festive victories in recent days over QPR and Norwich has given cause for optimism.
If fans have been disgruntled by the home form, it is nothing compared to the open hostilities that came away from home during one of Millwall’s worst performances of the calendar year – the 3-1 loss at Norwich. Travelling supporters to Carrow Road turned up the heat on what was an already sweltering August day by chanting ruthlessly about Rowett, who was approaching four years in charge, and would depart by mutual consent in October.
For such opposition to be voiced against a manager just three league games into the season left many of us surprised, but the problems went further. There was a widespread feeling Millwall had seriously blown the best chance they had of finishing in the play-offs for many years and the stumble began long before Blackburn.
There were some dreadful defeats by the odd goal to Wigan Athletic, Huddersfield and Hull City. Millwall’s form had been so quietly consistent from October 2022 to March 2023 that this sudden run of results in the spring was hard to understand. They picked up just eight points in their final nine league games.
The mood due to the rough end-of-season form would not have been improved by the early knockings of the transfer window when Zian Flemming became the subject of sustained interest from Burnley.
The Dutchman enjoyed an outstanding debut season in 2022-23 and, in terms of this calendar year, is currently the Lions’ second top-scorer with nine after Tom Bradshaw’s 16. But for a couple of weeks in the summer it did appear like Vincent Kompany’s newly-promoted side would get their way and swipe Millwall’s jewel in the crown after just one season. But Burnley were ultimately unsuccessful in their pursuit.
Keeping hold of Flemming was one of the positives of the year and, make no mistake, there have been plenty of highlights.
Who can forget Bradshaw’s brilliant hat-trick against Sheffield United in February’s rip-roaring 3-2 win at The Den? In fact, the Welsh international’s goal-scoring form at the back end of last season was generally outstanding and he is up there for player of 2023.
Another feel-good moment was Romain Esse’s winner at Middlesborough on the opening day of this season, potentially one of many goals the eighteen-year-old will score for the Lions. That game also featured one of the funnier moments of the year when Duncan Watmore briefly headed to the wrong dugout after being substituted off against his former club in a moment that would go viral among football fans.
There was also the redemption tale of Bartosz Bialkowski quietly playing out in the background. The once back-to-back player of the year winner had been displaced by first George Long and then Matija Sarkic in between the sticks but showed he is still more than capable when he was drafted in 14 games due to Sarkic’s injury. And we shouldn’t forget the fantastic achievements of Millwall’s under-21 side who lifted the mood in the weeks after the Blackburn loss by unexpectedly winning the Professional Development League.
The beginning of the Edwards era was also memorable with a 4-0 win at Sheffield Wednesday kicking off his reign. There have been ups and downs since but the image of the joyous and optimistic Millwall supporters hardly able to contain their excitement throughout the second half at Hillsborough was a moment to behold.
That’s where this story goes next – the journey of a new, young manager trying to work his way through an unforgiving industry with thousands of Millwall fans behind him hoping that Edwards is the man to lift the club from their year of disappointments.
The answer as to whether this project is a success or not will lie in 2024 and beyond.