Heroes & Villains – Millwall
Hero-Harry Cripps
It seems somewhat ironic that Millwall’s hero should be a player signed from their biggest rivals West Ham United. This was the case for Harry Cripps, who joined the club from Upton Park in 1961.
Cripps never played a first team game for the Hammers, although he was part of the Youth Cup winning side of 1959, playing alongside future World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore in defence.
His debut came in a 1-0 win at home to Wrexham in the Fourth Division on 19th August 1961 and Cripps soon established himself as a first team regular for the next 13 years. In that time, became the record appearance holder, eventually racking up 400 appearances for The Lions, mostly in the full back position. He was known for his fearless tackling as well as racing forward to join attacks, scoring 37 goals for the club.
Between 1964 and 1967, the club went an incredible 59 games unbeaten at home and Cripps played a big part in this run.
Millwall also had a hugely successful period during Cripps’ time at the club, winning successive promotions from the Fourth to the Third in 1964/65 and then the Third to the Second the following season.
They could have made it three promotions in seven years, but missed out on promotion to the First Division by a single point at the end of the 1971/72 season.
Cripps left The Den in 1974 to join Charlton Athletic. He died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of just 54. The club now has a bar at their stadium named after him called ‘Arry’s Bar.
Villain – Everyone!
No one likes Millwall and they don’t really seem to care about this, or so the song goes:
No one likes us,
No one likes us,
We don’t care,
We are Millwall,
Super Millwall,
We are Millwall,
From The Den
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