Why police once warned West Ham and Millwall players about goal celebrations | OneFootball

Millwall's last meeting with West Ham led to warnings from the police about how players celebrated their goals

West Ham will travel to face rivals Millwall on Saturday for the first meeting between the two clubs since 2012.

The Hammers last faced their London rivals when they were last competing in the Championship over 14 years ago.

Sam Allardyce led the team to a 2-1 at Upton Park on 4 February 2012, with the club eventually going on to win promotion that season through the play-offs.

And now Nuno Espirito Santo will be looking to maintain West Ham’s unbeaten run against the Lions, which extends back to November 2004.

West Ham and Millwall players receive police warning

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Ahead of the February 2004 meeting, players from both teams were given a warning by the police, with a tense atmosphere expected.

Superintendent Sean Vickers revealed that police were going to speak to the referee, and that the players would be warned about the rivalry.

Both sides were told to manage their goal celebrations in order to avoid creating any additional risks with the crowd at Upton Park.

"We appreciate a healthy rivalry between the clubs but anything that deviates from this will be dealt with quickly and robustly," said Vickers in 2012, via SportsMole.

"There will be no excuses.

"If you are intent on trouble, you will be targeted by our officers and dealt with appropriately.

"I don't personally speak to the players but I will talk to the referee about the club rivalries and the players are told to manage their goal celebrations, so they do not cause any risk to anyone in the crowd."

Given the high profile nature of the rivalry, it’s no surprise that there would be an extended police presence, but this was an extreme length to go to in preparation for the clash.

Police warning highlights the extent of West Ham v Millwall rivalry

There are countless big derby games across England and the wider United Kingdom, but none have received such police attention as West Ham against Millwall.

Tempers have often flared between the two teams and their respective supporters, which has led to extra caution from authorities.

There will be a similar caution this weekend when the two meet, with the huge gap between fixtures allowing animosity to fester.

There are many great rivalries at this level, but none compare in terms of ferocity to Millwall and West Ham, which is made clear by this warning from 2012.

West Ham’s win against Millwall in 2012

Goals from Carlton Cole and Winston Reid were enough to get the advantage over Millwall 14 years ago.

However, an early red card for Kevin Nolan meant that the Hammers had to work hard to earn all three points.

And there was no holding back when Reid’s strike controversially gave the hosts the lead after Millwall had equalised for 1-1.

Julien Faubert collided with David Forde, with the ball spilling out for the defender, who blasted the ball into the resulting empty net, which sent Upton Park into raptures.

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Millwall will be hoping to end winless West Ham run

Millwall haven’t beaten West Ham in over 20 years, with their last victory coming on 21 November 2004 at the Den.

While the clubs have only met on four occasions since then, there are still a whole generation of fans who have never seen the Lions earn victory over their east London rivals.

Alex Neil’s side are not going into this weekend’s game off the back of a strong run of form, losing three of their last four, but they will still feel confident they can get a positive result.

West Ham are flying at the moment, but Millwall have shown on their day that they can put it up to any team in the Championship under Neil, and there’s no doubt that they will be up for the occasion at the Den this time around.