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The Den (previously The New Den) is a football stadium in Bermondsey, south-east London, and the home of Millwall Football Club. The Den is adjacent to the South London railway originating at , and a quarter-of-a-mile from the Old Den, which it replaced on September 30, 1993.
Built on a previous site of housing, a church and the Senegal Fields playgrounds, the Den has an all-seated capacity of 20,146, although that is restricted to approximately 18,100 to allow for visiting fans' segregation and crowd safety measures.
The Den is the sixth stadium that Millwall have occupied since their formation in the Millwall area of the Isle of Dogs in 1885. Previous grounds include Glengall Road (1885–1886), Lord Nelson Ground (1886–1890), The Athletic Grounds (1890–1901), North Greenwich (1901–1910) and The Old Den (1910–1993).
Millwall played their final game at The Old Den on 8 May 1993 after 83 years and then moved to the new stadium a quarter-of-a-mile away from Cold Blow Lane. The £16 million New Den was opened by John Smith, the leader of the Labour Party and of the Opposition at the time, on 4 August 1993 prior to a prestigious friendly against Sporting CP, which Sporting won 2–1. The Den was the first new stadium constructed for a professional football team in London since 1937.
Millwall have experienced mixed fortunes since relocating to the Den. Their first season at the stadium (1993–94) saw them finish third in Division One—their highest finish since relegation from the top flight four years earlier. However, their dreams of Premier League football were ended by a defeat in the playoffs and they were relegated to Division Two in 1996, not winning promotion from that level until 2001. They again came close to reaching the Premier League in 2002, finishing fourth, but once again losing in the playoffs. The Lions reached the FA Cup final for the first time in 2004, and despite a 3–0 defeat by Manchester United they qualified for European competition for the first time in their history. Millwall has been relegated twice since then; going down in 2006 and 2015, but have also won promotion in 2010 and 2017. However, the stadium has yet to host Premier League football—Millwall had played in the old First Division for two seasons from 1988 during their final few years at their previous stadium.
In September 2016 Lewisham Council approved a compulsory purchase order of land surrounding the Den rented by Millwall, as part of a major redevelopment of the "New Bermondsey" area. The plans are controversial because the developer, Renewal, is controlled by offshore companies with unclear ownership, and is seen by the club and local community to be profiteering by demolishing existing homes and businesses as well as Millwall's car-park and the highly acclaimed and well recognised Millwall Community Trust—to build up to 2,400 new private homes, with no council housing and less than 15% of 'affordable housing'. Millwall had submitted their own plans for regeneration centred around the football club itself, but the council voted in favour of Renewal's plans. Original plans submitted in 2012 would have seen the stadium demolished for redevelopment.
In December 2016 Private Eye reported how Renewal had been founded by a former Lewisham Council leader and senior officer, suggesting potential bias, and that the decision to approve Renewal's plans may have been made as long ago as 2013 despite the fact that no due diligence had been able to be carried out by PricewaterhouseCoopers due to "poor" and "limited" access to information and management at Renewal, which is registered in the Isle of Man.
In October 2019 Lewisham Council terminated the conditional land sale agreement with Renewal, ensuring the stadium's future. This allowed Millwall to prepare their own development plans, and in February 2020, Millwall announced plans for a phased expansion, adding upper tiers behind existing seating to gradually expand the Den to 34,000 seats.
In June 2021, Renewal submitted new plans for its housing development by the Den, with 3,500 new homes in towers of up to 44 storeys over a 15-year period. The first phase, behind Surrey Canal Road, would see 600 new flats in three 31-storey blocks, with 35% meeting an "affordable" requirement. Surrey Canal railway station is planned to service the area.
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Construction of New Bermondsey railway station, a London Overground line adjacent to the Den, began in 2012 but then stalled as plans for a major development were delayed. The June 2021 Renewal plans for its housing development included completion of New Bermondsey station.
The Quietway cycle route runs around South Bermondsey station and past the Den. However, the route is closed and diverted in the vicinity of the stadium on Millwall match days.Sustrans, http://www.sustrans.org.uk/news/millwall-quietway-cycle-path-connects-waterloo-greenwich
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