Millwall Football Crest No One Likes Us Fans Scarf (100% Acrylic)

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So when City’s team coach – guarded by a strong police presence - made its way through the tight south London streets to the Den, they knew they would not have the comfort of their loud away support. They returned in triumph to the Premier League a year ahead of the vital move to the new City of Manchester stadium, now known as the Etihad. The steward said it was just as bad in there, and she was right,” he said. “But we did move and were behind a family, whose young girl – maybe six to eight – started scratching under her arms and making monkey noises when Shaun Goater came over to our side. City chairman David Bernstein also remembers the night well, as he was on the team bus as it made its way through south London, like a stagecoach with a cavalry escort rattling through Apache country. After Palace, City went on a remarkable run, winning 19 of the remaining 24 games, winning the league by ten points and scoring 108 goals, with the brilliant Goater netting 32 of them.

We came in on the team coach with very heavy police protection. The hostility and aggression was at a much higher level than usual,” he said. Shaun Wright-Phillips got his first goal, we got a win, and that was a major result. There were others, of course, after that, but that was probably the turning point for me.” It was a terrible atmosphere – it wasn’t the entire crowd but it was bad. They probably thought it gave their team an edge but I’m not sure it did, it just wound up the City players a bit more.”Things had not improved a great deal when Manchester City went to the new Den, just down the road, at a crossroads moment in their history.

The journalist and his daughter were so upset by the constant racial abuse being dished out to the City players that he asked a steward if they could leave their seats and go to the family stand. How Taylor Swift, a bad bus journey and a goldfish bowl intensified Liverpool's modern Manchester rivalry If the City fans in the ground kept schtum, Radio Manchester reporter Ian Cheeseman, doing live commentary, had no choice but to raise his voice as he described the moment. A London-based City fan who also managed to get in, along with his 15-year-old daughter and a friend, was appalled at the levels of racist abuse.

We had really good players, who were always going to score goals, and Keegan was perfect for that team.” The supporters had left the game early and carefully removed the windscreen wipers from the away fans’ coaches and, as it was raining, it meant the transport was unusable. After the game, we had to walk through a restaurant in the executive area and we took a fair bit of abuse there as well – but that just made it a real us against them situation.” We tried to join in, just to avoid anyone looking at us – in the end we probably over-egged it a bit!” says Sean.

The match, and possibly City’s season, was in the balance, and the unpleasantness pouring down from the stands reached fever pitch. The first time we scored, there were people turning round and staring at me – some of them with F Troop masks on, trying to intimidate me.” In fact, 30 to 40 City fans HAD managed to find their way into the ground, blending in with the locals, desperate not to miss a match which would prove to be a turning point in the season. But what happened that night, as fans racially abused City players Shaun Wright-Phillips, Shaun Goater, Ali Benarbia and Eyal Berjovic, helped to cement the team together and spark a winning run which sent the Blues careering to the Football League title. Shaun Wright-Phillips of Manchester City beats Ryan Green of Millwall to score the winning goal (Image: ALLSPORT)It was my first goal but it was great to score there because of all the abuse they were giving our lads,” said Wright-Phillips. “So to put one past them, and for us to beat them at The Den was exceptional – it’s just a pity the City fans weren’t there.” The Rileys made their way out of the stand to get some refreshment, and spotted a fellow Blue, one of an estimated 30 to 40 who got in that night, by hook or by crook. In terms of positive turning points, I would say the game at Millwall, when we had to go down there – a tough place to go,” he said. It was not going well. The Blues had lost six of their first 20 games and were seven points behind leaders Burnley – and defeat at The Den would have seen Millwall leapfrog them into fourth place, and City plummet to ninth. And this season, in the first game in front of fans at The Den, Millwall fans booed their own players, and visiting Derby, for taking the knee in support of the fight against racism.