Why Millwall FC will always have the last laugh over Leeds United with one player | OneFootball

Millwall FC will always have the last laugh over Leeds United with Steve Morison, with the striker flopping at Elland Road - this is his story...

Leeds United and Millwall FC share a fierce rivalry with one another in English football, but they have shared some players over the years as well.

From Charlie Cresswell and Jamie Shackleton, to Matt Smith and Tom Elliott, there have been a number of players in recent years. Of course, there are rivalries in football born of geography, history, or bitter historic defeats, but Millwall and Leeds United goes further.

There are the grudges stitched into the fabric of supporter folklore and moments that shape how fans remember players long after their boots have been hung up. For Millwall and Leeds, one such looming figure is Steve Morison and his contrasting fortunes at both sides.

A centre-forward who failed to spark at Elland Road but became a cult hero at The Den, Morison is the living embodiment of why Millwall will always have the last laugh over Leeds — and not just because he scored goals.

Steve Morison's contrasting fortunes with Leeds and Millwall

Leeds and Millwall don’t share a classic derby in the local sense but they are bound the gritty mutual respect of two clubs whose identities are forged in working-class steel. For Leeds, a club with European nights and top flight history, meetings with Millwall are tests of character — and tests they’ve often failed.

Millwall, on the other hand, carry themselves with an edge, given that they thrive on the underdog tag, embrace the noise, and know exactly how to unsettle “big” clubs. However, when Steve Morison arrived at Elland Road, they hoped to have one over on their rivals after his two highly successful years with the Lions.

The hope was that he’d be another sharp, physical forward to bolster a Leeds side pushing for the Championship play-off places. What followed, in terms of Morison’s impact at Leeds, was muted at best. Outside of a memorable brace against Crystal Palace — a performance that briefly hinted at what might have been — Morison struggled to replicate his Millwall form.

That firepower he’d shown elsewhere deserted him. For Leeds fans, he became forgettable despite his work-rate and nickname 'The Shift' among many of them. But strip away the white of Leeds and put Morison back in Millwall blue, and suddenly everything clicked.

It's hard to pin down exactly why, perhaps he just belonged there. The roar of The Den, the physical battles, and in more familiar southern surroundings. On those occasions when Millwall needed a talisman, across multiple stints, Morison became a figure supporters would chant for.

In many ways, Morison was a man who embodied their fighting spirit. Goals came with him at the heart of the attack, particularly between 2013 and 2019 during his second stint, having returned to the club on an initial loan from Leeds. While his time at Leeds feels like a brief cameo, his legacy at Millwall is a highlight reel.

Footballs history is littered with players who ‘should have been’, but Morison is concrete proof that context matters. In South East London, he wasn’t just a striker, but that impact was simply not there in West Yorkshire.

Part of the story around Morison’s Leeds tenure is tied up in the decision to bring him in. It came at the expense of another key figure: Luciano Becchio. The Argentine was in scintillating form for Leeds before his exit, with 19 by the end of January in the league; his goals were key to their play-off push.

His departure was always going to leave a palpable void. Many supporters remember watching Becchio’s tally tick over while wondering why Leeds were letting one of their most reliable finishers go from Neil Warnock's ranks.

The move to bring Morison in was seen by some as compensation — a like-for-like swap on paper that, unfortunately for Leeds fans, failed to deliver on the pitch. It’s one thing to make big transfer decisions but it’s another to watch your goalscorer leave in his prime and the replacement struggle to replicate that spark.

The juxtaposition of Becchio’s form and Morison’s challenges only amplified fan frustration. Back at Millwall mere years later, though, Morison found his stage. Free from the pressure cooker of being “the answer” to Leeds’ striking questions, he blossomed into the kind of leader defenders feared and fans adored.

In total, he scored 92 and assisted 65 for Millwall in 336 games. Leeds was a mere five goals and two assists in 42 games. And that’s why Millwall will always have the last laugh regarding the 42-year-old.

While Leeds fans might debate what could have been, Millwall supporters can simply smile — because Morison wasn’t a misfit, he was theirs. And in football folklore, that’s worth plenty.