'Terrifying' – Championship club had menacing tunnel where fans would spit at players
Today at 12:29 PM
Gary Lineker has revealed his most intimidating football stadium tunnel where fans gave opposition players an unfriendly welcome.
During a career that saw him star for Leicester City, Tottenham and Barcelona, Lineker played at some of the world’s most iconic grounds.
The Nou Camp, Old Trafford, Anfield and the old Wembley Stadium are just some of the venues where Lineker performed before incredible crowds and atmospheres.
However, one football ground in particular sticks in the legendary striker’s mind as the most menacing of all for away teams – Millwall’s Old Den.
Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer were asked to name their most intimidating tunnel walks on The Rest Is Football podcast.
“Anfield, without a doubt,” Richards confidently said. “Anfield, it’s tight, we talk about dingy, it’s intimidating.”
“I’ve got another one that’s worse than that,” Lineker replied, with his co-pundit then correctly guessing that his choice was Millwall.
“The Old Den, oh my goodness. They had a kind of wire mesh and it was really, really narrow.
“The fans were just behind this mesh and they were like shaking it and spitting at you as you walked down.
“It was… honestly, you just thought, ‘Oh crikey,’ terrifying. You were more worried about the fans.”
The Old Den was the home of Championship side Millwall from 1910 until 1993 on Cold Blow Lane in New Cross, south east London.
Lineker’s only appearance there came in 1990 where he scored for Spurs in their 1-0 win against the Lions, one of English football’s most feared clubs.
Millwall saw the birth of their ‘Millwall Roar’, when fans shout ‘Millll!’, at the old ground, which was demolished after 83 years of service.
The London side then moved up the train tracks to Bermondsey in 1993 to their current home of The Den which has maintained their fans’ hostility since.
Even though Lineker’s experience of The Old Den was brief, it was clearly frightening enough to take top spot.
Shearer named other ‘great’ tunnels that he walked down in his career that included Crystal Palace, Wimbledon and Everton.
But he too name-checked Millwall to further support Lineker’s stance of their former ground being a daunting ground to visit.
"There were some great tunnels – Millwall was one of them, Palace was another one, Wimbledon, Everton was really good, it was really tight,” said the legendary goalscorer.
"And some of the s*** that went on in the tunnels before a game back in those days… like Wimbledon with John Fashanu, Dennis Wise and Vinnie Jones!”
