To not want to live next to a football stadium?

[Nataliaa]

We’ve found a house that in all ways is perfect for us. In terms of price, close to work, size, minimal work needed - we could happily live with the interior, as it is- so no rush to put our stamp on it. No renovations needed. However, it is very close to a football stadium. My DH is saying if I let that one negative sway my decision, we would be turning down our dream family home and as we have been house hunting for 6 months and have not come close to finding any house that ticks so many of our wants, we would regret not going for this one.
My DH says that whilst there may be some disruption on match days, it’s not going to be every single weekend, and therefore minimal.
Am I really being picky, or would this be an issue for others?? Would you happily live near a football stadium?

Yeah I have been to many many many Prem games and National League games and League one games and I have never seen this behaviour. Some of the local pubs will get it but this kind of behaviour will get you ejected from a game and possibly banned which isn’t what fans want. There is a lot of influx into the area and then quick dispersal. I would worry about the behaviour at all I would worry about the noise and traffic. I think you need to see the house when a game is on (unfortunately the season is over though) or talk to the neighbours

My husband is a Millwall fan, as is my son. I've been to a few games, and I am a POC, if that makes a difference. I would say to avoid South Bermondsey station either side of the game. Other than that it's no problem. Millwall have a bad reputation but it's not like the old days. They are also a very strong community club.

It won't be every two weeks though. There will be midweek games, cup games, reserve games, women's games. Add road closures when big teams come to play, coaches parking all along the road on match days. Drunken or aggressive fans going past your front door. I wouldn't touch this with a barge pole.

Average attendances for championship games for the season just ended was bettween 10000 and 40000. Many fans get there hours before the game starts to drink in local pubs. The noise from the singing and chanting registered over 90 decibels inside and outside Wembley yesterday and outside our local ground 10 days ago.

Unless you are a huge fan of the team. don't buy this house.

I live very close to a premiership stadium that also has concerts and other events. Have fond for years. It’s absolutely fine. On match and event days only residents can park. There is a real buzz in the area. Never been any problems for me with drunks. Have you been to the road on a match day ti see for yourself

I lived near the Arsenal stadium and the fans were fine, never noticed any drunks or hooligans and often saw lots of families. The problem was mainly clogging up the pavements, buses, trains etc.

Later I lived near Lords cricket ground and got regularly hassled by drunk fans though

Does your road lead to the away end? That’s the fans you need to worry about. Milwall do have a bad reputation but it’ll only be a certain section of fans and you find those type of fans tend to be worse at away games or against teams who also have fans with a bad reputation. The ‘nasty’ games will be Cardiff, Birmingham, maybe Leicester and West Brom but all clubs have their own group of idiots who pretend to be fans but only go looking for trouble.

id say as you have a drive way you’ll be fine but be prepared for traffic to be gridlock on game day

When I was younger I lived right near a big stadium and it was a nightmare tbh because access was blocked for hours and the crowds could often be lairy and obnoxious. I don’t like match days at all and I wouldn’t do it again. And that was in my work hard, party hard days so would definitely bother me more now.

I suspect the decision to sell out of season isn't a coincidence....

I live less than a mile from a premier league stadium (bet you can't guess which one) whose capacity is c. 11000 🤣 and it's not a problem, tbh it wouldn't even put me off living closer as the houses are nice next to the stadium. Having lived here for over 20 years and the club having risen through the ranks in that time the only difference I have seen is people now park near my house and walk to the ground, whereas they didn't when the club was in the lower leagues as fewer fans and where I live is not the more obvious area near the ground to park, so generally just tend to get local supporters.
So I would say it depends on the type of people as well as the number who would be in the vicinity of your home.

I tthought exactly the same, though it doesn't stop OP asking at a local pub, chatting to neighbours, etc.

I used to live half-a-mile away from the Den, over towards Deptford. Our road got parked up with fans' cars on match days and the noise went on all afternoon. I quite liked the sound of the chants on the wind, but that was in a flat that definitely wasn't my dream home and I knew I wouldn't be there forever. If I wasn't a fan, it would do my head in as an ongoing state and this would not be my dream house. There's also the incinerator right by it which isn't dreamy either. I'd keep looking and not be swayed by the 'only one negative' argument. It's a huge factor in the house location and there's plenty of other homes in south London. It's not like some unique period home in a rural glade. Something else will come up where the only negative is less major.

I used to live pretty close to a Scottish premier league football stadium. Honestly I barely noticed apart from on days the old firm were playing at the stadium and on those occasions the police would use my street to station their vans and mounted police! However it only really related in minor inconvenience if you wanted to walk along the street in the opposite direction to the crowd and it was only really a few times a year. There is no match on almost all of the time!

Also @Nataliaa if you aren't white then I absolutely wouldn't buy near Milwall or even live in the area. The area and fans are well known for their unwelcoming attitude towards people from diverse backgrounds.

I used to live a couple of miles away from our city’s football stadium. We were just outside the permit parking only zones and I lived in a terraced house - I would end up having to park streets away from where I lived on match days. I hated it. If you have permit parking or your own drive it won’t be too bad from that perspective. Although you might find the traffic crazy on match days and having to plan when you can leave and return to your own home around football fixtures isn’t fun. I couldn’t have been more relieved to move away from that area. As long as you go in to it with your eyes open it could work for you. Can you not spend some time in the street during a match day to see what it’s like?

The only concern would be parking. If you have your own drive then it shouldn't be an issue. I've been to the den countless times from the early 90s onwards and never seen anything much to write home about. Millwall fans are worse away, but then lots of away fans can be trouble. If you love the house and it ticks all the boxes then I personally wouldn't hesitate.

Amused by people claiming that the "no-one likes us" chant is exclusive to Millwall and therefore concrete evidence of their fanbase. It may have originated with them but loads of other clubs sing that chant 😂

My relative lived a street away - couldn't go out on match day, or they wouldn't get parked again. If they put the car away before hand, they couldn't get out. Otherwise, no issues, other than rubbish. The stadium moved, a couple of miles away - same parking issues on match day unfortunately.

I guess it depends on if you dont miond your car and property being damaged, getting boxed in by traffic and happy to have them shitting and pissing in your garden. Because that is the reality.

I live next to a small local club and it’s a pain. I wasn’t aware at the time I bought as it’s further along and set back. I thought it was all woods along the road.

On Saturdays I can barely leave the street for cars everywhere. They have a car park but it’s tiny. It was very noisy at first as the hall was let out for functions at night but the council intervened and they had to install a sound breaker.

You could make a pretty penny renting out your car parking space during match days.

My friend lives right near Twickenham Stadium, she always said they couldn’t take the car out on match days or other big events.

to be honest, I’d be more concerned about the power station next door and the comings and going’s of the rubbish being brought in

Two of my sons’ friends live within walking distance of our local prem ground, around 30k capacity. Match day is chaos and they frequently have people parking across their drives blocking them in.

if it was my ideal home I d deal with it, I d make sure I have the match schedule in advance and just go out 11 til 7 those Saturdays/Sundays, there’s only around 20 ish home matches a year so it’s a small proportion of days. However I understand people would also not want the inconvenience even just a couple of times a month, so I guess it’s whether you can live with it or not!

Also the fans of this team may be more considerate with their parking of course!

I go to Millwall fairly regularly. I live about 15 mins from the stadium. I can hear when we score, etc from my home, so I imagine you’d hear a lot more.

As for our ‘reputation’ it has changed, as soon as you said family club, I knew who you were talking about. I take my children, it’s safe.

Millwall do a lot for our community, raise money for the British Legion, have their own food bank, have heavily subsidised holiday clubs, etc.

The Police presence on match days is high around the ground and if there is ever violence (not saying there is) it’s never going to be on top of the ground where the police are.

So yes, it will be noisy on match days, there will be lots of people walking down Ilderton Road annnnd.. No one likes us, we don’t care, we are Millwall, Super Millwall, we are Millwall from the den 🦁

We turned down a house in Sutton (much smaller team) because we happened to view on a match day and you could hear it from the garden. My DP is a football fan and he agreed it was too much.
I wouldn't even consider it now, just for the noise. But I'd be happy with a school or a train line! All depends what you can cope with.

You could rent out your driveway on match days!