Unpack the nice china again. Take the plastic wrapping off the sofa. No doubt some elements of the Premier League and its surrounding machinery will be quietly relieved that after a season of floating inside the top six Millwall will not now be entering the Championship playoffs, that final spot taken by Sunderland on a thrilling final day.
From 3-1 up at half-time and cruising into the playoffs Millwall ended up losing this game 4-3, as Blackburn Rovers produced a fine second half capped by two goals from Ben Brereton Díaz. It made for wonderful drama all the same on a wild, unbound, emotionally gruelling afternoon at the Den, as these two teams played out an end-of-season classic, a game of slick finishes and calamity defending, an unceasing full-body wrestle at the end of a 46-game season that ran to the final four minutes.
At the start of play the entire top end of the Championship had been alive with possibilities. If Millwall won they would be assured of at least sixth place. Blackburn could still make it if they won and results elsewhere went their way. A draw here would open the door for Sunderland and West Brom. Basically everyone needed to win. It made for a thrilling, full-pelt afternoon of endless shifting sands.
The Den was packed on all sides from the start, including the heavily ostracised away end, where a large single tier of travelling Blackburn fans added to the general cacophony at kick‑off.
Let ’em come, let ’em come. Millwall’s music hall-style pre-match anthem sounded as it should – soppy, fun, but yeah still hostile – with a full ground. The other anthem (the king one) was also belted out. And Millwall started hot, aggressive, pressing down the left through Danny McNamara and Duncan Watmore. Zian Flemming also has excellent long throw. One hard, flat horrible delivery went whistling through the Blackburn six-yard box with two minutes gone.
Five minutes later Millwall took the lead from the same route. Flemming skimmed it in, George Saville flicked it back, and from the edge of the area Watmore produced a stunning finish, walloping the ball first time in off the underside of the bar. From that point on this was an adrenal, relentless, high-grade game of football. The visitors had begun to play. Sorba Thomas was a threat on the right. Jon Dahl Tomasson’s team play easy, slick passing football. And with 22 minutes gone they equalised, Adam Wharton curling a lovely shot outside the post and then in again, beating George Long fair and square, full sight of the ball, from 25 yards.
Championship
Sunderland v Luton Sat 13 May (5.30pm) & Tue 16 May (8pm)
Coventry v Middlesbrough Sun 14 May (12pm) & Wed 17 May (8pm)
Final Sat 27 May (4.45pm), Wembley
League One
Peterborough v Sheffield Wed Fri 12 May (8pm) & Thu 18 May (8pm)
Bolton v Barnsley Sat 13 May (3pm) & Fri 19 May (8pm)
Final Mon 29 May (3pm), Wembley
League Two
Salford v Stockport Sat 13 May (7.45pm) & Sat 20 May (12.30pm)
Bradford v Carlisle Sun 14 May (7pm) & Sat 20 May (3pm)
Final Sun 28 May (1.30pm), Wembley
Then with 37 minutes gone a kind of chaos seemed to settle over this clanky corrugated pop-up ground. First Oliver Burke picked up the ball from a Blackburn corner and hared out down the right. His long straight hopeful pass drifted down in between the goalkeeper Aynsley Pears and Harry Pickering, who headed it up in the air, taking his own keeper out of the game, and left Watmore to tiptoe in from a fine angle, steady himself, and smash the ball into the net.
Three minutes later it was 3-1 and south Bermondsey was rocking on its axis, Burke taking the ball with time to look up and measure a fine low drive into the corner.
Millwall were suddenly flying, two goals to the good, a playoff spot in their grasp. And still this thing kept rolling on. Blackburn made it 3-2 at the start of the second half, Joe Rankin-Costello bundling in after a scramble.
The equaliser was coming. Blackburn began to keep the ball and play nice little revolving triangles. Brereton Díaz got the goal, a lovely finish after a long series of passes. A minute later he hit the post when he really should have scored. And by now the Den was in a state of uproar, paroxysms, generalised fury.
With a single kick Millwall had gone from a fifth to eighth in the table, from eager footballing insurgents to also‑rans. And from there Blackburn were began to take the game away. Brereton Díaz headed on to the bar. Sunderland had gone 3-0 up at Preston and were now in sixth place on goal difference, with Millwall back up to seventh. With four minutes left Brereton Díaz killed the game and the season, with another cool close-range finish.
Did the Premier League ever really feel ready for Millwall, for away-day migrations to this corner of south‑east London lodged up in a bend of the river, and still surrounded by the kind of industry and infrastructure that has disappeared from pretty much every other part of central London. On those winter nights, with mist and the clank of trains, the Den still feels like a place from some semi-distant London timeline.
Coventry, Middlesbrough, Luton and Sunderland will now contest the final promotion spot. Boro are probably favourites. Coventry and Luton have upward momentum, fascinating back stories, and would represent a kind of pyramid fairytale. All that really seems certain is that for all the twin disappointment of home and away fans in south London, the Championship remains an excellent, genuinely gripping league.
