“… Julian Dicks is describing to The Athletic his memories of playing in a match between Millwall and West Ham United — one of the fiercest and most notorious derbies in English football. While he is able to laugh about it now, the sheer scale of the rivalry is clear. … Dicks adds that after the game, police officers had to shield his team off the field and that the windows of the team bus were smashed when they returned, but this was ‘fairly normal back then’. Nearly 30 years on, times have changed, but the antipathy remains, despite the two London sides not having met since 2012, when West Ham won 2-1 at their former Upton Park ground, and an 18-year-old Harry Kane was brought on as a substitute for Millwall. …”
NYT/ATH
Millwall vs West Ham: Rivalry, riots and getting ‘hit with a brick’ during a corner
Leave a reply
“Clock-watching. It’s a cherished element of the workday for uninspired office employees, but for referees, timekeeping is serious business. And this season, their handling of it is under more scrutiny than ever. That is because the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that sets the sport’s laws, introduced a suite of tweaks this season designed to curb time-wasting. These measures include a 10-second limit for substituted players when leaving the pitch. If they take longer, their replacement is not allowed to enter the pitch for a further minute. Referees have also been instructed to use five-second countdowns for goal kicks and throw-ins. …”
“Thomas Tuchel has admitted there are times when he craves greater control in matches. But the England head coach feels the more chaotic, adrenaline-fuelled nature of the Premier League will remain his template as he targets glory at Euro 2028. Tuchel described his team as ‘maybe not the most economical to play football’ in terms of their habit of constantly playing at full throttle. They 
Scissors Kick 