'I don’t think there’s an issue with it': London City's return to the Den fails to stir WSL regulars
London City secured a 1-1 draw with Chelsea in a familiar and controversial setting
A late goal from Isobel Goodwin secured a well-earned 1-1 draw for London City Lionesses against Chelsea at the Den on Saturday.
Johanna Rytting Kaneryd put Chelsea in front in the 22nd minute, but the champions couldn’t pull away from big-spending London City. Goodwin secured a memorable point for the home side when she was first to react to a rebounded shot in the 82nd minute and headed home from just a few yards out. The result puts yet more pressure on sub-par Chelsea, but it was the venue for Saturday’s match that became the main story.
London City play all their games at Hayes Lane, home of League Two side Bromley, but due to a scheduling clash, this match had to be moved to the Den, home of Millwall, a club where London City have plenty of history.
Long before Michelle Kang bought the club, and even before London City became an independent venture, Millwall Lionesses were operating as one of the biggest women’s football sides in London.
In 2019, the women’s team split away from Millwall and became London City Lionesses, ending a more than 50-year association with the club.
London City took over Millwall’s second-tier licence and in 2023 Kang bought the club, transforming it into one of the wealthiest women’s sport teams in the world.
In the lead up to Saturday’s game, a Millwall supporters group posted on Instagram expressing their unhappiness with the decision to host London City at the Den, saying “the breakaway nearly destroyed a team rooted in our community”, “why would the club enter into a deal that allows LCL anywhere near the Den?”.
Millwall later issued an apology, acknowledging that the situation could have been handled with greater consultation, and adding that there were currently no plans for further collaboration with London City. The club has said that all revenue from the fixture would be reinvested into Millwall Lionesses, the second iteration of the club’s women’s team who currently compete in the fifth tier.
The Den holds a reputation in English football culture for being intense, intimidating and historically associated with hooliganism. In contrast, women’s football and London City in particular, are often framed as a family-focused environment. Was this fixture a clash of identities and values? The fans don’t think so.
“I don’t think there’s an issue with it,” said one London City supporter. “For now, London City are the biggest team in southeast London. When it comes to Millwall’s history as a club, I think it’s important to respect that, but if the facilities are there and available to use, they should be. Why wouldn’t you want to have more opportunities for the community to get together, regardless of where, to support good players?”
Another Chelsea fan echoed that sentiment, “Long term, if London City could play here at a 20,000-capacity stadium week in and week out or even build their own, why not?”
For many in attendance, the game’s venue was somewhat irrelevant, perhaps because so much of the fanbase (for both teams) is young. A lot of the fans are unaware of Millwall and the club’s history in women’s football to care.
While the venue was different, the match day experience remained unchanged. London City’s fanzone was lively, with the crowd pretty evenly split between home and away fans.
The fact that the WSL champions were in town helped steer the attendance to 4,820, London City’s second-highest of the season. The club have only sold out one match at Hayes Lane this season - last weekend’s clash against Arsenal.
Rather than a conflict of values, the day felt like a glimpse of the women’s game continuing to grow into bigger spaces. Eder Maestre, London City’s manager, agreed: “It was amazing playing a match in this stadium. Hopefully, yes [we can play more games here]. The global vision is very ambitious. This environment is something special, you can smell it everywhere in every corner when you are walking around.”
One London City fan, went one step further, saying: “For me, London City represents the future for players, for little kids, and for the world. That future includes playing here at a bigger stadium, at Wembley and on the biggest stages. I am a season-ticket holder, and I would support them building their own stadium.”
For London City Lionesses, the match offered a vision of their future- one that may yet outgrow grounds like Hayes Lane and redefine where, and how, the women’s game is played.