LONDON -- The fluorescence of the jackets struck you immediately as you stepped out of Surrey Quays station. If the police officers stationed on every corner didn't tell you Millwall were facing West Ham, then the barricades and vans certainly did.
The London Metropolitan Police deployed 400 officers for the first Dockers Derby in 14 years and a Section 35 dispersal order was in place. It's perhaps why the walk to The Den felt eerie. Indeed, you were more likely to encounter horses than fans a couple of hours before kick-off. An officer on duty told me that there were as many as 12 from the Met stable deployed just in the area around the infamous blue Millwall railway tunnel.
It was a completely different scene outside the stadium, marked by a pleasantness that almost bordered on sedate. For the uninitiated, it would have felt like just another fixture. So when the Met Police confirmed there hadn't been any arrests or disorder before the game began, it didn't come as a surprise.
Millwall fans' motto of 'No one likes us, we don't care' is the most striking emblem of their 'us against the world' mentality. But in 2026, the world has undoubtedly caught up to them. As is the case on most matchdays around the country, The Den too is now populated with food stalls selling gourmet sausages and craft beers. Millwall mascot Zampa weaves his way through the crowds, posing with children and tattooed adults alike.
Content creators were abound and there was even what seemed like an under-10 team of young boys and girls squatting in a corner of the expanse, tucking into their fries. Looking around the pre-match scenes at The Den, you'd struggle to believe that this was once a club that counted figures like 'Harry the Dog' and 'Bobby the Wolf' as part of its fanbase. Perhaps, the contradiction of Millwall in 2026 is best evidenced by the way the high-rise building of Canary Wharf forms the backdrop of the Dockers Stand.
But any concerns about the atmosphere being genteel were quickly dispelled once the game began, albeit with a false kick-off from the hosts. West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen was predictably targeted by the home supporters right from the warmups and when Jenson Metcalfe ran through him with a crunching challenge, The Den came alive.
The tackle set the tone for the half. Millwall boss Alex Neil had brushed off notions about it being 'just another match' and his side's ferocious start showed that. Caleb Taylor poked home from close range to put the hosts ahead in the 16th minute right in front of the West Ham end. Camiel Neghli doubled their lead at the stroke of half-time and The Den became transcendental.
A big reason for the enmity between the two sides was due to the 1926 General Strike where West Ham dockyard workers accused those of a Millwall persuasion of crossing the picket line. 100 years later, it was once again the Hammers who did not go to work in the first half.
Their bubble had been burst. They came into the clash riding on the high of rediscovering what it feels like to win a football match again. They had scored 16 goals in their last four matches, attendances were up at the London Stadium, Jarrod Bowen was playing in the way you'd expect an England international in the Championship to and David Sullivan had been removed from the boardroom, if not the stands.
Millwall captain Jake Cooper had said pre-match that he expected the ground's 20,000 capacity to feel like 40,000 for the occasion. As Neghli ran off in celebration, it felt like there were 60,000.
But when substitute Mohamadou Kanté crashed home an equaliser from distance late on, that number felt like it had fallen to 1774 -- West Ham's ticket allocation. The away end smelt the comeback before they saw it and Konstantinos Mavropanos' 80th-minute equaliser felt entirely predictable. A West Ham winner felt imminent but in an astonishing conclusion, Kanté was sent off late on and Millwall ran out of time to take advantage of being a man up.
When people ask what a game of two halves looks like, this one can be put forward as a prime example. We're still early into the season and it's tough to make major conclusions on both sides in September. The derby re-affirmed what we already knew -- West Ham are the division's standout team and have a near-Premier League level squad and certainly a Premier League level manager. Millwall will again challenge for a playoff spot and what they lack in quality, they make up for in heart.
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Neither sets of players or managers have been involved in this fixture before, but they met the occasion with the right energy.
"I told the players prior to the game that this game's a real rarity and as a player and as a manager, it's a privilege to be part of it," Millwall boss Alex Neil said.
"And the fact that it doesn't happen that often and it's a bit like the Old Firm in Scotland and the fact it's not just about football and it's not just because you live there, you live there. It's from the Dockers.
"It's entrenched in society as much as anything else, which that's why it's so passionate. And yeah, that's certainly not lost on us because we know right now we are the fortunate ones that represent right now and make sure we don't let our fan base or our club down. And I don't think we did today. We are frustrated, disappointed ... Absolutely. But I certainly think everybody left it all on the pitch."
The bigger picture from SE16 feels the fact the Dockers Derby has successfully graduated into 2026. It isn't a fixture that comes around often and each time it has, it feels stuck in the clasps of a previous era. Like that friend who never quite moved on from university and keeps asking you to go out on a Tuesday night.
Millwall vs. West Ham graduated on Saturday afternoon. The enmity and spice of the rivalry haven't been gentrified in the way their respective neighbourhoods have. It's just contained, albeit due to significant police presence, and unleashed in full during the 90 minutes.
Hopefully, this is the template that is followed for the return fixture in February.
