Millwall supporters respond to fans ban

Last updated : 15 June 2002 By Tony Scholes

That's certainly what the Millwall club would have you believe and this has angered the Burnley fans as much as anything. Apparently though that is not strictly true and after contacting the Millwall Supporters Club they have told us in no uncertain terms that their ideas were ignored and that this decision has been made by the police who were otherwise going to oppose any granting of a safety certificate making it impossible to play the game.

They are upset that visiting fans have been banned from any game and say their ideas, which have been ignored, would certainly not have included the banning of any away supporters.

We are happy to reproduce the statement issued by the Millwall Supporters Club on 11th June which is shown in full below:

The MSC Committee would like to say how disappointed they are with the Police/Millwall Football Club Statement sent out on Tuesday June 11.

Our disappointment comes from suggestions we put to Club Officials in a hastily arranged meeting that the Club asked us to attend at The Den on Thursday May 9. During this meeting we were asked not to divulge information given to us at this time and we have adhered to this stringently.

Since the above date we have not been informed by anyone at the club on whether or not our suggestions were going to be used or incorporated into other measures that the Club were looking to implement along with the Police. This is very disappointing as the Club were quick to consult with us and look for our/supporters suggestions. We would have thought that there would have been more consultation from the Club to the MSC as things moved along up to today's date.

We felt that we came up with reasonable suggestions that would not have resulted in an away fan ban whether it was away supporters travelling to Millwall or Millwall Supporters going into away grounds.

We were at the meeting and still are vehemently against any sort of an away fan ban, as this penalises the VAST MAJORITY OF DECENT FOOTBALL SUPPORTERS, and we put this point to the Club very strongly and will continue to do so.

We do realise that the measures introduced could have been a lot worse with the Police insisting that we have a complete away fan ban.

We did however suggest to the Club that the all Millwall Supporters wishing to attend matches at The Den become members of the Club, as after gathering information from letters, e-mails and conversations with fellow supporters this seemed a popular idea. It was felt that by implementing a membership scheme, the Club could continue to appease the relevant authorities that they are still very serious about ridding itself of the hooligan element that continue to use our Club and drag its name through the mud.

We have agreed in principle today (11/06/2002) that the new membership will be reduced from its present £15 a season to £5 for ADULTS and OAPs and £2 for CHILDREN (under) 16.

The Club has informed us that existing MSC Members will be sent new forms by the club. Anyone else WHO IS NOT AN EXISTING MSC MEMBER will have to apply with a self-addressed envelope to the Club for an application form. The following requirements will be needed by the Club for your application to be processed:

1x Passport sized photograph

Proof of identity (Either your passport or Birth Certificate)

Proof of address (Either your bank statement, Driving Licence with photo or a recent utility bill)

We are also in negotiation with the Club at this present time in trying to allow Supporters to book match tickets over the telephone. Please note that if this facility is brought back you will only be able to purchase 1 ticket per membership over the telephone giving the relevant details.

We have also asked Theo today (11/06/02) for a Fans Forum to be arranged as soon as possible and he has agreed to this. It is hoped that as well as Club Officials the Police will attend this meeting to further explain the measures that have been implemented.