Alright folks, today I decided to dive into the history between Crystal Palace and Millwall. Wanted to see what the real deal was with this South London rivalry everyone talks about. Figured the best way is to look straight at the numbers, right?
Where I Started
First thing I did? Grabbed my laptop, opened up a fresh spreadsheet because I’m old school like that sometimes. Headed over to a couple of the big football stats sites – you know the ones. Started punching in searches for Crystal Palace vs Millwall head to head, just looking for anything official listing their past clashes.
Honestly? It was a bit messy at first. Bits of info scattered everywhere. Found one site claiming a whole bunch of meetings, another showing less. Had to cross-reference a few places just to feel confident I wasn’t missing a chunk of games. Like trying to piece together a puzzle someone spilled.
Digging Into the Numbers
Once I felt I had a mostly complete list, I started filling my spreadsheet:
- Date columns – when these games actually happened.
- Venue – Selhurst Park or The Den? Big difference sometimes.
- Final Score – The meat of it all. Who scored what.
- Goal scorers – When I could find them, added those too for flavour.
Competition – League? Cup? Friendlies? Important to know.
Ended up with this massive list going way back. Turns out, they’ve played each other over a hundred times! Started way before I was even born.
The Big Takeaways I Noticed
Sitting there staring at all these rows in my spreadsheet, a few things really jumped out at me:
- Super Close Overall: Honestly? It’s not as one-sided as some rivalries. Total wins for Palace? Just a few more than Millwall. Draws happen quite a bit too. Way closer than I thought!
- Home is… Kinda Home?: Expected strong home records. Millwall definitely holds firm at The Den against Palace, no real surprise there. But Palace at Selhurst? Actually felt a bit less dominant than I expected looking at the W/D/L breakdown. Weird.
- 1-0… Again?!: Seriously, how many times have these two just ground out a 1-0 win against each other? Those tight, cagey wins popped up way more than I anticipated. Like, a lot.
- Where are the Score Draws?: When they do draw, it’s very often 0-0. Low scoring clashes seem like the norm here.
- That Big Gap: Couldn’t help but notice the huge hole in the fixture list when Palace went up to the Premier League and Millwall… well, didn’t. Long spells where they just didn’t play each other for years.
Wrap Up Thoughts
So after all that clicking, typing, and staring at numbers, what’s the bottom line? Yeah, it’s a proper rivalry, you feel it in the stats. Tense, close-fought matches, often decided by a single goal or ending deadlocked. No huge score blowouts jumping out. Palace might edge it overall, but Millwall gives them genuine trouble, especially at their place. The stats honestly paint a picture of two sides who know each other’s tricks, maybe too well, leading to those tight, scrappy affairs.
Glad I did this! Interesting way to look beyond just the shouting and see what the actual history tells you. Those numbers don’t lie – it’s genuinely hard work for either side to get a result in this fixture.