To not want to live next to a football stadium?

You can only afford your dream house because it's so close to the stadium otherwise it'd be out of your price range.

So do you want your dream house or are you willing to have not a dream house but a dream location.

I was dragged along to Millwall home matches my entire childhood (only just turning 40 so not that old!). I did not know any different but I look back as an adult and I’m horrified by the amount of racism and general violence. We was even caught up in a huge riot one year where the fans were setting cars on fire. You couldn’t pay me to live there.

The colleague claiming the bad reputation is from the 70/80s is not telling the truth.
Before having children I used to attend a lot of away games. 2010 or thereabouts I went to a Millwall game at the Den. We left early as I was with my Dad and his friend, both in their 60s and didn’t want to be kettled. Big mistake. The walk to the train station is caged but we were still pelted with stones. Lucky none hit us but the noise of them against the cage was petrifying. I probably went to about 30 football grounds around the country, Millwall was the only one where I felt fear.

I used to live in shepherds drive and never experienced any problems, however this was 20 years ago so my knowledge of the area is very out of date.
There used to be a very heavy police presence on match days and the pubs would close if it was against one of the teams they thought could cause problems.
What I will say is the reason we moved was because I never felt entirely safe using south Bermondsey station.

A friend used to take his Ds and mine to Millwall games when they were kids. I was very nervous the first time because of the reputation, but it was fine.

Poor Millwall. We all knew it was them.

The only people in my life that actually go to Millwall are the colleagues that said there is rarely any trouble these days and the reputation is outdated

Yes, and even in the 70s and 80s the fans were claiming "it's only a tiny, TINY minority", which is a natural sort of thing for supporters to say

I was in the area last year when a match ended with Millwall losing and it's not an experience I wish to repeat, and in addition to the chaos of match days and parking issues there's the resale value of the house to consider too

Personally I'd run a mile

Has the house only gone on the market since the football season has ended? That might be an indication that the sellers don't want potential buyers to see what it's like on match days.

I’ve been to The New Den as an away fan. Travelled in on trains with Millwall fans and it was great.

Theres always a tosser element everywhere but Millwalls rep is an outdated one now in truth. The fans are separated close to the ground, and police are on the train station etc.

Well, if your husband insists of you getting that house, if he is at all inconvenienced - car parked across the drive when he wants to get out, heavy traffic, vandalism etc you can of course say I told you so but you would get pretty sick of saying it!!!

Leeds reputation is based on the hooliganism of 70s. I’d fear Millwall more,although Leeds v Millwall is always interesting but not violent.But now Leeds have been promoted..yay!

Lived a block away from Vicarage Rd when Watford were in their pomp.

Wouldn't recommenced it. Noise and fan movement around the place was liveable with.

Parking was a 'mare. Ended up leaving the car a mile away and having to go out on a bike to look for it in the morning!!

I always knew when there was a game on at Millwall by the amount of police horses I saw.

Recently I came out of Fulham tube station and it was hard just to walk down the road, passing the horde of drunken fans who all walked out in the road without looking. The car drivers were very patient I have to say!

I live near there. Unless you're in a desperate situation to move, don't buy the house. Most of the time it is ok (although South Bermondsey is still a grotty area), but match days are awful. There's an enormous amount of severe drunkeness and I've seen a few fights. Although public transport still seems to run on match day (unlike Tottenham), it's hideous to take and I feel unsafe travelling alone, let alone with my child.

I lived in same street as West Ham old stadium did not affect me much apart from :

a couple of times men peed up against my house

you won’t be able to leave leave your house on home match days at kick out
but this only caught me out once in 5 years you need to know you match days

other than that it was nice hearing the cheers and seeing ( sometimes) happy crowds

I live v. close to a premier league football club. Parking is a nightmare (I'm lucky I have off-road parking) on match days and traffic before and after is appalling for at least an hour so yes, you learn to live your life around fixtures.

People are saying it's a match every two weeks, but no, it's more than that.
There are the friendlies, the rising Women's football matches, the ad hoc events (boxing matches, pop concerts etc). So think carefully - do you want to be constricted at weekends by such things?

That said, I wouldn't move because I love my home, mortgage is paid off and I don't feel the urge to be anywhere else.

One of my friends’ dads is originally from up North and when his team played Millwall he was wearing colours and got kettled in with the away fans - he only got out of the pack when they got to King’s Cross. Only issue was they lived in South East London 😂

My first flat was next to Selhurst Park (I’m always amazed how many of us SE25ers post on these threads!) I’m a football fan but not Palace. I think the best bit was probably watching them film Ted Lasso’s first season!

Negatives were the parking and the fact Sainsbury’s would shut when I needed something!

We never had any issues with antisocial behaviour but that was probably because the police vans used to park up next to our garden gate 😆 I always used to say I’d rather live next to the stadium than the pub they all went to after, the stewards and police were always very quick at dispersing people.

With a drive I’d be tentatively ok with this house if it ticked all the other boxes but you need to clue up about football imo, it’s not really optional when they’re next door!

If it’s the New Den, I’d give it a swerve.
A good portion of their fans have no respect for people’s property and you’d experience a lot of low level vandalism and antisocial behaviour.

Don't do it OP.

There's very little actual data on this thread to help you make a decision, so I looked up the annual stats on banning orders and arrests. Millwall have the 3rd highest number of banning orders in all 4 divisions. That's quite something when you consider their average gate is less than 20k, around a third of the teams around them in the banning order 'league table'. That suggests they're still worthy of their long held reputation.

I love football but wouldn't consider living near Millwall.

On the basis I live by two schools with approx 500 kids/families and we experience maybe 20-30mins twice a day disruption 39 weeks of the year…. Yet the moaning and complaints on the local FB sites are unrelenting, I’d personally be very wary of buying within walking distance of a football stadium.

I lived in Wimbledon and we dealt with people defecating on our doorstep as well as peeing and vomiting there. Never again.

You must have been a neighbour of one of my best friends. He also lives close to Arsenal. He’s totally au fait with the drill now (walk to other tube station on these days, don’t have visitors with cars then etc) and loves the location at all other times, so just gets on with it. I definitely couldn’t cope with it all, though. I think it’s quite a personal decision. Ultimately, as a pp has said, you have to accept that the location is why it is the house that it is at the price that it is and make a conscious decision that basis. It’s a tough one, though - especially if you and DH have different views about whether or not it’s a dealbreaker.

I think there are always compromises and the perfect house doesn’t exist. This one is probably in budget because it’s where it is. So yabu if you’ve been looking for 6 months.

I wouldn't be keen. My family support another championship team & have season tickets. When Milwall came to play us at home this season, I wouldn't let DH take our 7 year old due to worrying about his safety getting to & from the ground due to their fans (he completely agreed & didn't want to take him either). A significant amount of their fans aren't nice people. There was actually a bit of trouble from their fans too so he was pleased he didn't take him.

Also, you have to find out what the parking restrictions are like on match days. At our local club, no one is allowed to park on the roads leading to thr club - including those who live on the road so they have to find somewhere else to park for every day & evening match - it's a comple pita & I wouldn't live there.

Traffic is a nightmare from 1pm - 6pm every home game in the surrounding 5/6 miles & it can take ages to drive anywhere near it.

But every team & council manage it differently & you really need to speak to people who live locally to find out what it's like.

Good luck

How far away is the house you are interested in ?

In all honesty you need to go there on match day and see what it's like! We've lived 10 mins walk from a premier ship football ground which is also opposite a large cricket ground that has international matches / test matches etc live on tv so really busy. The only thing we hear is the cheering from our home. At close the traffic can be a nightmare but that's why you need to see if it's something g you can cope with. Parking can be awkward around the streets but we have a driveway and live in a town ce tre so not much room for extra parking, they usually park on local parks the council own for a fee
Good luck ! I quite like living around all the sports, cricket is the best IMO