South London derby

Early rivalries

Millwall were founded in 1885, some 20 years before Charlton Athletic and Crystal Palace, who were both founded in 1905. Soon after Crystal Palace were formed, they joined the Southern Football League, which Millwall were founding members of. The two teams played against each other for ten seasons in this league. The first contested competitive game between the sides was played on 17 November 1906, with Palace winning 3–0 although the fixture was not yet a South London derby — Millwall were based in East London until 1910. Up until that point the most successful team based in South London was Woolwich Arsenal, who were the first Southern member elected to the Football League in 1893.

Charlton Athletic's early years were somewhat hindered by the presence of Woolwich Arsenal, who were the closest team in locality and were well supported. Charlton spent the first years of their history playing in non-professional leagues and did not play either Palace or Millwall. Eventually, Woolwich Arsenal moved to North London, losing the 'Woolwich' from their name, in 1913. The same year Charlton adopted senior status. They became a professional team in 1920, joining the Southern League. Both Millwall and Crystal Palace joined the Football League in the 1920–21 season, playing in the Third Division, while Charlton Athletic joined the year after for the 1921–22 season, finally competing at the same level as both their South London neighbours. Wimbledon became a Football League club five decades later in the 1977–78 season, playing their first South London derby against Millwall in 1980.

All in the same league

There have been two occasions where all four South London teams have played in the same league together. In the 1985–86 season, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Wimbledon all competed in the Second Division. Charlton finished 2nd and Wimbledon 3rd, both being automatically promoted. Palace finished 5th and Millwall 9th. The 1989–90 season signifies the only time all four teams competed in the First Division together, the top tier of English football. Wimbledon finished the season 8th, Palace 15th and Charlton and Millwall were relegated, finishing 19th and 20th respectively.

Ground sharing

During World War II Millwall's ground The Den was severely damaged by a German bomb and a fire destroyed a stand a few days later. For a brief time the club was invited by their neighbours to play their games at The Valley and Selhurst Park. In 1984 Charlton went into administration. The club were forced to leave the The Valley just after the start of the 1985–86 season after its safety was criticised by league officials. The club began a groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, which lasted for six years until 1991. After another year groundsharing at West Ham United's Upton Park, Charlton moved back into The Valley in 1992. Wimbledon groundshared at Selhurst Park from 1991 until their relocation to Milton Keynes in 2003. The relocation prompted the formation of AFC Wimbledon at Kingsmeadow, which the team shares with semi-professional non-league side Kingstonian.

Notable matches

Crystal Palace 3–0 Millwall Athletic (17 November 1906)

The first meeting between any of the three original teams saw Palace, who were only formed a year prior, secure a comfortable victory over the visitors from East London. It was a Southern League match watched by 6,000 fans at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

Millwall 0–3 Crystal Palace (31 October 1910)

This was the first game between the teams since Millwall moved to South London (in 1910), making this the first true South London derby. 3,000 supporters watched a Palace victory at The Den in a London PFA Charity Fund game. The match against their new neighbours was Millwall's second game at their new ground.

Millwall 0–1 Crystal Palace (15 January 1921)

First derby contested in The Football League. Palace won the Third Division (south) game with a second half goal in front of 20,000 fans. Palace also won the reverse fixture 3–2 which was held only a week later on 22 January 1921, to complete the first South London Football League double and continue their early dominance of Millwall.

Millwall 2–0 Charlton Athletic (10 October 1921)

This London PFA Charity Fund fixture was the first contest between the two teams, which Millwall won 2–0 in front of 10,000 supporters at The Den.

Millwall 0–1 Charlton Athletic (31 December 1921)

On New Year's Eve of 1921 the teams met for their first League match, which Charlton won 1–0 at The Den. This was Charlton's first season as a Football League club and they completed a rare double over Millwall, winning the return fixture at The Valley 2–1.

Charlton Athletic 1–1 Crystal Palace (14 November 1925)

The first competitive game played between the teams took place in the Third Division (south), and ended with a 1–1 draw at The Valley.

Millwall 6–0 Charlton Athletic (3 January 1931)

This Second Division game between the sides remains the widest winning margin between any of the clubs. Millwall led 1–0 at half-time and scored five more times in the second half, with goals from Harold Wadsworth (2), Joe Readman (2), Andrew Swallow and Jack Landells.

Millwall 2–2 Wimbledon (5 April 1980)

Wimbledon's first South London Derby was away at Millwall in the Third Division. The game ended in a draw in front of a crowd of 5,364. This was the Wombles third season as a Football League club, they finished bottom of the table and were relegated.

Charlton Athletic 1–3 Crystal Palace (aggregate score, 12 & 15 May 1996)

Crystal Palace and Charlton met in the 1996 First Division play-off semi-final, after they finished third and sixth in the league respectively. Palace won the first leg at The Valley 2–1, and 1–0 in the second leg three days later. Palace went on to lose the play-off final to Leicester City 1–2 at Wembley.

Wimbledon 0–1 Millwall (24 March 2004)

A crowd of just 3,043 at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes saw Wimbledon's last game against South London opponents before they were renamed as MK Dons. A goal in the first half from Tim Cahill was enough to seal a win for Millwall against a Wimbledon side that finished bottom of the First Division and were relegated. Technically, Wimbledon's last derby in South London was at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace on 23 August 2003 (they moved in September 2003.) Wimbledon were groundsharing and were considered the home team. They lost the game 1–3.

Charlton Athletic 2–2 Crystal Palace (15 May 2005)

Despite being ahead 2–1 with seven minutes left to play, Palace were unable to see out a win over their rivals. Charlton defender Jonathan Fortune scored an equaliser in the season's final game. Had Palace won they would have avoided relegation from the Premier League but instead became the first club to be relegated from the top-flight of English football four times.

Millwall 4–1 AFC Wimbledon (9 November 2009)

AFC Wimbledon's first competitive South London derby was a match against Millwall at The Den in the first round of the FA Cup. Kenny Jackett's League One side won 4-1 against the Conference National side.

Charlton Athletic 4–4 Millwall (19 December 2009)

The first meeting of the sides since 1996 ended in the highest scoring game between the teams. Millwall went 2–0 up through two Steve Morison goals but Charlton converted two penalties through Deon Burton. Millwall's Jimmy Abdou was sent off early in the second-half and The Lions went twice behind to the home team but Danny Schofield scored a last-minute equaliser. Both teams wore special kits for the match in honour of murdered local teenagers and supporters Jimmy Mizen and Rob Knox. The logos of both clubs' shirt sponsors were replaced by the text, "Street violence ruins lives".

Charlton Athletic 1–2 AFC Wimbledon (17 September 2016)

AFC Wimbledon's first win in a south London derby. Also their first derby in the Football League, with their two previous derbies against Millwall being losses in cup competitions. Wimbledon came from a goal down to win, with a Tyrone Barnett goal in the 85th minute.

By competition

As of 11 February 2017.

Full list of results

Score lists home team first.

By competition

As of 23 September 2015.

This table only includes competitive first team games, excluding all pre-season games, friendlies, abandoned matches, testimonials and games played during World War I & II.

Last two results

Score lists home team first.

Charlton Athletic v Millwall

The teams first met in 1921, with Charlton winning at The Den 1–0. They won the return fixture at The Valley 2–1, completing the first league double over their local rivals. Millwall hold the record for the longest unbeaten run between the teams at 14 games. Between 1922–1930, the Lions won eight and drew six. Charlton's longest unbeaten run against Millwall is six games, between 1934–1968 they won three and drew three. The longest period the clubs have gone without playing each other is 31 years (between the 1935–36 and 1965–66 seasons), due to being in different leagues. Millwall also have a run of 12 games unbeaten between 1979–1992, where they won six and drew six. Millwall have completed the double over Charlton nine times (in 1923–24, 1924–25, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1988–89 and 1992–93) compared to Charlton's three (in 1921–22, 1934–35 and 1995–96). Millwall have the most wins in a row in the derby with five (twice). Charlton have won two games in a row (four times). The teams didn't play each other for 13 years, competing in different leagues between the 1996–97 and 2008–09 seasons. Millwall are currently on a ten-game unbeaten streak against Charlton, with five wins and five draws between 2009–2017.

By competition

As of 14 January 2017.

This table only includes competitive first-team games, excluding all pre-season games, friendlies, abandoned matches, testimonials and games played during the First and Second World Wars.

Full list of results

Score lists home team first.

Crystal Palace v Millwall

The first meeting between the sides was in 1906 in the Southern League, when Millwall Athletic were still an East London side. Palace won the game 3–0 at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre. Millwall moved south of the river in 1910 and the first true South London derby between the teams was held on 31 October, 1910. It was a London PFA Charity Fund game, which Palace won 3–0 and was just Millwall's second game at their new ground, The Den. The first derby contested in The Football League was on 15 January, 1921. Palace won the Third Division (south) game 1–0. They also won the reverse fixture which was held a week later; 3–2, to complete the first Football League double over their South London neighbours. Palace have completed a Football League double over Millwall seven times (in 1920–21. 1949–50, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1977–78, 1963–64, 1986–87, 1989–90.) Millwall have completed a Football League double over Palace six times (in 1925–26, 1926–27, 1957–58, 1959–60, 2001–01, 2010–11.) Palace's longest unbeaten streak is seven games, they won six and drew one game against Millwall between 1986–1993. Millwall's longest unbeaten streak against Palace is 19 games, between 1950–1958 they won 11 and drew 8 games.

By competition

As of 30 April 2013.

Full list of results

Score lists home team first.

By competition

As of 2 January 2017.

Full list of results

Score lists home team first.

All-time results

As of 11 February 2017.

Managers

Jimmy Seed, Alan Mullery, Iain Dowie, Ian Holloway and Alan Pardew have all permanently managed two of the three South London clubs. Seed was in charge of Charlton for 23 years from 1933 to 1956, leading them to one of the most successful periods of their history, with successive promotions to the top-flight and an FA Cup Final win in 1947. He was sacked in 1956 after a bad run of form and took over at Millwall in 1958. Seed's start at The Den was poor, with the team going nine matches without a win. The team finished in 23rd place in Division Three (south). The following year saw The Lions playing in the new Fourth Division in which they finished 9th. Seed resigned at the end of that season, but stayed with the club as a director until his death on 16 July 1966.

Alan Mullery was in charge of Charlton from 1981 to 1982 and left to take the helm at Crystal Palace, where he remained manager until 1984. Theo Foley was Charlton manager from 1970 to 1974 and was briefly in charge of Millwall as a caretaker manager in 1977. Steve Gritt, who was joint-manager at Charlton with Alan Curbishley from 1991 to 1995, was also caretaker at Millwall briefly in 2000. Lennie Lawrence was Charlton's manager from 1982 to 1991 and was assistant manager at Crystal Palace, before joining former manager Dougie Freedman at Bolton Wanderers.

Iain Dowie was in charge of Crystal Palace between 21 December 2003 and 22 May 2006, when he was allowed to resign from his post, apparently to return to northern England because his wife was homesick. However, eight days later Premier League club Charlton unveiled Dowie as their new manager. Simon Jordan, Palace's chairman, immediately issued Dowie with a writ, claiming that he had misled him about his reasons for leaving the club; Dowie, however, insisted this was not the case, and was publicly backed by Charlton chief executive Peter Varney, who branded the writ "a sad and pathetic publicity stunt", and chairman Richard Murray, who was adamant that his legal team could find no grounds for the writ to be upheld, and suggested that there may be more personal reasons behind the writ being issued. The case was heard in the High Court in the summer of 2007 where a judge ruled that Dowie had lied when negotiating his way out of his contract. His spell at Charlton was largely unsuccessful and they parted company on 13 November 2006, after just 15 games in charge.

Ian Holloway took charge of Crystal Palace in November 2012. He guided them to promotion to the Premier League via the 2013 Football League play-offs, after beating Watford 1–0 with a penalty converted by Kevin Philips in extra time. On 23 October 2013, Holloway left the club by mutual consent after less than a year in charge. He managed to gain only three points from their first eight games in the top flight. On 6 January 2014, Holloway signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with Millwall, taking over from Steve Lomas. On 6 January 2014 he signed two-and-a-half-year deal with Millwall, taking over from Steve Lomas. He guided the club to Championship safety for the 2013–14 season as Millwall finished 19th, four points above the relegation places. In the 2014–15 season, as Millwall dropped in the relegation places in The Championship, Holloway admitted that he had become an unpopular manager with the Millwall fans. On 10 March 2015, Holloway was sacked, with the team second from bottom in the Championship and having lost five of their last six games.

Players

Players who have played for at least two of the four clubs are listed below. As of 18 August 2012 (the last game he played for Millwall), Darren Ward has played the most games for South London teams, with 317 appearances in total (232 for Millwall, 69 for Crystal Palace and 16 for Charlton). Peter Burridge played 114 games for Palace, 87 for Millwall and 44 for Charlton. He holds the record for most goals scored by a player for South London clubs, with 104 in 245 appearances.

Wimbledon and AFC Wimbledon

The 2003 relocation and 2004 renaming of Wimbledon as Milton Keynes Dons meant that a South London derby team was lost. Wimbledon's last South London derby was on 24 March 2004 against Millwall, which they lost 0–1. Their record in all competitions against Charlton, Crystal Palace and Millwall is as follows.

Some Wimbledon supporters formed a new team, AFC Wimbledon, in 2002, based at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames. The non-League club started in the Combined Counties League, and played their first competitive South London derby on 9 November 2009, losing 4–1 away at Millwall in an FA Cup first-round match. Having worked their way up through the non-League with five promotions in nine seasons, AFC Wimbledon were promoted first into Football League Two for the 2011–12 season, and then into Football League One for the 2016–17 season, where they are competing in the same league as Charlton Athletic and Millwall.