Be it the New or the Old Den, or at Carrow Road, like tonight, games against Millwall hold plenty of happy memories for the boys in yellow and green.
The most recent one coming on our last visit to Millwall during 2018/19 when captain Zimmermann’s bullet header led the Canaries to a valuable 3-1 away win. It was the third in eight consecutive wins on a relentless march to the Championship title.
Mind you, it took a while for City to record their first win at Millwall. Another 3-1 on 26 February 1949, on Norwich’s 10th visit to The Den. A result that ended a miserable run, including a 6-0 and a 6-1 defeat.
The home form, during that period, was much better with just one defeat in the first eight. One game in particular that stands out was on 29 October 1938. Millwall won that day 2-0 at Carrow Road, a City defeat that was witnessed by reigning British Monarch, King George VI. The first time a King of the realm had attended a game outside of the top flight.
King George viewed a Norwich squad that was destined for relegation and it would be another 30 years before we faced Millwall again in the second division. Before that, there would be a couple of lows, in particular, the 1956/57 season when Norwich ended the season rock bottom of the English professional pyramid and having to rely on their fellow clubs for re-election. A 5.1 thrashing by Millwall a low point in an awful season.
In the 1971/72 season, etched in history as one of City’s finest, Millwall were one of our rivals for those coveted top two positions and they took three points (in those days it was two for a win) beating us 2-1 at The Den followed by a 2-2 at Carrow Road. Despite these impressive scores versus Ron Saunders eventual champions, Millwall agonisingly missed out by a single point, finishing third behind Norwich and Birmingham.
An early-season defeat to the Lions in August 1985 continued a disappointing start for the pre-season favourites. Class would soon show and the title challenge was in full flow by the time Millwall arrived in Norwich for a pre-Christmas clash. A 6-1 victory a highlight among many that year and the largest win in a run of 18 league games undefeated.
Millwall finally joined us in the top division in 1988/89. The away game that season was notable for a couple of reasons: it was only the second time (and the first away from home) that a Norwich league game had featured live on TV (the Big Match on ITV) and it was the first time City had played a league game on a Sunday. Both facts are unbelievable in today’s football environment. The game itself a classic settled in the last minute by a spectacular Robert Fleck Volley after City had been pegged back to 2-2.
We are unbeaten against Millwall in the top division with two wins and two draws in the four games between 1988 and 1990.
There was an FA Cup win (2-1) on 5 February 1992. It was our only meeting in the Cup and an important one, coming in the fourth round, part of a cup run that cumulated in the semi-finals (when we lost 1-0 to Sunderland).
It hasn’t always been great against Millwall. There was a dismal 4-0 opening day defeat of the 2001/02 season although City would recover with both sides making the end of season play-offs.
Then there was also another 4-0 loss early in 2017/18, a watershed moment in the early days of Daniel Farke. An eye-opener for the young German coach, City would never be quite as poor under him as they were that day in South London.
Before Farke, there was a massive 6-1 win on Boxing Day 2014, however it wasn’t enough to save Neil Adams. It was his final home game and two away defeats later he was gone. His replacement, Alex Neil, led City to a 4-1 away win later in March 2015 -a 10-1 aggregate win over the 2014/15 season.
And we can’t have a Norwich / Millwall article without reference to 10 November 2018 and a comeback of epic proportions. City were dead and buried at 3-2 down – after Mo Leitner had earlier given City a 2-1 lead – as the clock moved into injury time, but Farke’s vintage never accepted defeat. First Jordan Rhodes netted a late equalizer before, in the 97th minute, Teemu Pukki sent Carrow road into meltdown with a fine, late late winner.
The finest comeback at Carrow Road – at least it was until Forest a month or so later but that’s another article for another day.
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Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/norwich-city-football-club-al-vals-we-meet-again/id1530101924
Great stuff Allan. Didn’t know there was a re-election season. Fascinating. Things a bit rosier these days, eh? I also remember the televised 3-2 away at The Den very well. We went 2-0 up in the first five minutes, were rampant and looking like getting seven or eight. Midfield bruiser Terry Hurlock got the very rough and tough Millwall back into it and they gradually pegged it back. Everything was a bit glum as the clock ticked town, then Flecky crashed a volley in from the edge of the box in injury time. That’s proper old-school injury time btw.. Only one or two minutes, none of this seven or eight minutes which seems par for the course these days. (Sucks on pipe and adjusts cardigan.) An injury time winner meant something in those days. Now you often see more than one goal scored in a game after 90 minutes is up. (Puts on slippers and prepares a nice soothing cup of ovaltine.)