South London derby

• Crystal Palace 3–0 Millwall Athletic (17 November 1906)

The first meeting between any of the three original teams saw Palace, who were only formed a year prior, secure a comfortable victory over the visitors from East London. It was a Southern League match watched by 6,000 fans at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.[3][7]

• Millwall 0–3 Crystal Palace (31 October 1910)

This was the first game between the teams since Millwall moved to South London (in 1910), making this the first true South London derby. 3,000 supporters watched a Palace victory at The Den in a London PFA Charity Fund game. The match against their new neighbours was Millwall's second game at their new ground.[8]

• Millwall 0–1 Crystal Palace (15 January 1921)

First derby contested in The Football League. Palace won the Third Division (south) game with a second half goal in front of 20,000 fans. Palace also won the reverse fixture 3–2 which was held only a week later on 22 January 1921, to complete the first South London Football League double and continue their early dominance of Millwall.[9]

• Millwall 2–0 Charlton Athletic (10 October 1921)

This London PFA Charity Fund fixture was the first contest between the two teams, which Millwall won 2–0 in front of 10,000 supporters at The Den.[10]

• Millwall 0–1 Charlton Athletic (31 December 1921)

On New Year's Eve of 1921 the teams met for their first League match, which Charlton won 1–0 at The Den. This was Charlton's first season as a Football League club and they completed a rare double over Millwall, winning the return fixture at The Valley 2–1.[10]

• Charlton Athletic 1–1 Crystal Palace (14 November 1925)

The first competitive game played between the teams took place in the Third Division (south), and ended with a 1–1 draw at The Valley.

• Millwall 6–0 Charlton Athletic (3 January 1931)

This Second Division game between the sides remains the widest winning margin between any of the clubs. Millwall led 1–0 at half-time and scored five more times in the second half, with goals from Harold Wadsworth (2), Joe Readman (2), Andrew Swallow and Jack Landells.[11]

• Millwall 2–2 Wimbledon (5 April 1980)

Wimbledon's first South London Derby was away at Millwall in the Third Division. The game ended in a draw in front of a crowd of 5,364. This was the Wombles third season as a Football League club, they finished bottom of the table and were relegated.[12]

• Wimbledon 0–3 Crystal Palace (4 May 1991)

The last South London derby and last ever game at Plough Lane. Wimbledon were forced to move at the end of the season due to a new FA rule requiring all-seater stadiums.[13] They started ground-sharing with Palace at Selhurst Park the following season. Palace won the game with a hat-trick by Ian Wright in the second half. Palace finished 3rd and Wimbledon 7th in the 1990–91 First Division.

• Charlton Athletic 1–3 Crystal Palace (aggregate score, 12 & 15 May 1996)

Crystal Palace and Charlton met in the 1996 First Division play-off semi-final, after they finished third and sixth in the league respectively. Palace won the first leg at The Valley 2–1, and 1–0 in the second leg three days later. Palace went on to lose the play-off final to Leicester City 1–2 at Wembley.

• Wimbledon 0–1 Millwall (24 March 2004)

A crowd of just 3,043 at the National Hockey Stadium in Milton Keynes saw Wimbledon's last game against South London opponents before they were renamed as MK Dons. A goal in the first half from Tim Cahill was enough to seal a win for Millwall against a Wimbledon side that finished bottom of the First Division and were relegated.[12]

• Charlton Athletic 2–2 Crystal Palace (15 May 2005)

Despite being ahead 2–1 with seven minutes left to play, Palace were unable to see out a win over their rivals. Charlton defender Jonathan Fortune scored an equaliser in the season's final game. Had Palace won they would have avoided relegation from the Premier League but instead became the first club to be relegated from the top-flight of English football four times.

• Millwall 4–1 AFC Wimbledon (9 November 2009)

AFC Wimbledon's first competitive South London derby was a match against Millwall at The Den in the first round of the FA Cup. Kenny Jackett's League One side won 4–1 against the Conference National side.

• Charlton Athletic 4–4 Millwall (19 December 2009)

The first meeting of the sides since 1996 ended in the highest-scoring game between the teams. Millwall went 2–0 up through two Steve Morison goals but Charlton converted two penalties through Deon Burton. Millwall's Jimmy Abdou was sent off early in the second half and The Lions went twice behind to the home team but Danny Schofield scored a last-minute equaliser.[14] Both teams wore special kits for the match in honour of murdered local teenagers and supporters Jimmy Mizen and Rob Knox. The logos of both clubs' shirt sponsors were replaced by the text, "Street violence ruins lives".[15]

• Charlton Athletic 1–2 AFC Wimbledon (17 September 2016)

AFC Wimbledon's first win in a south London derby. Also their first derby in the Football League, with their two previous derbies against Millwall being losses in cup competitions. Wimbledon came from a goal down to win, with a Tyrone Barnett goal in the 85th minute.

• Charlton Athletic 0–1 Millwall (3 July 2020)

First South London derby League game to be played with no fans present and in the summer. The game was re-arranged from 4 April due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The game was won in the 81st minute with a goal by Jake Cooper.[16]

Charlton and AFC Wimbledon first met in 2016, after Wimbledon were promoted via the League Two playoffs and Charlton were relegated from the Championship.[17] Wimbledon won their first ever meeting at The Valley 2–1.[17] Charlton won only one of their first six meetings, with Wimbledon knocking Charlton out of the FA Cup in 2017 and Football League Trophy on penalties in 2018.[17] Charlton completed the double over their local rivals in the 2018–19 season.[17]

Rivalry strength as described by fans in 2012[18]

Charlton and Crystal Palace first met in 1925 in the Third Division (South), with the match ending in a 1–1 draw. Palace dominated their first 20 meetings, winning 13, and losing only four. Palace have completed the league double over Charlton six times, in 1926–27, 1927–28, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1989–90, and 2012–13. Charlton have done it twice, in 1999–2000 and 2007–08. Palace's longest unbeaten run in the fixture is nine games between 1993 and 1996, where they won six and drew three, including knocking their rivals out of the 1996 First Division Play-offs. Charlton's best unbeaten run is four games (three wins and a draw) twice, between 1982–83 and 2004–08.

The teams first met in 1921, with Charlton winning at The Den 1–0.[20] They won the return fixture at The Valley 2–1, completing the first Football League double over their local rivals. Millwall hold the record for the longest unbeaten run between the teams at 14 games.[20] Between 1922 and 1930, the Lions won eight and drew six.[20] Charlton's longest unbeaten run against Millwall is six games, between 1934 and 1968 they won three and drew three.[20] The longest period the clubs have gone without playing each other is 31 years (between the 1935–36 and 1965–66 seasons), due to being in different leagues.[20] Millwall also have a run of 12 games unbeaten between 1979 and 1992, where they won six and drew six. Millwall have completed a League double over Charlton ten times (in 1923–24, 1924–25, 1931–32, 1932–33, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1988–89, 1992–93 and 2019–20) compared to Charlton's three (in 1921–22, 1934–35 and 1995–96).[20] Millwall have the most wins in a row in the derby with five (twice). Charlton has won two games in a row (four times). The teams didn't play each other for 13 years, competing in different leagues between the 1996–97 and 2008–09 seasons. Millwall are currently on a twelve-game unbeaten streak against Charlton (their joint-second longest), with seven wins and five draws spanning 24 years (1996–2020).[20] Many Millwall fans do not consider Charlton a serious rival due to the one-sided nature of the contest.[21] The Lions have won 37 (50%) of the 74 league fixtures between the teams spanning 99 years, with the Addicks only winning 11 games (14%).[22]

Millwall and Charlton playing at The Den in December, 2016.

Millwall and Crystal Palace line-up at The Den on New Year's Day 2011.

The first meeting between the sides was in 1906 in the Southern League, when Millwall Athletic were still an East London side. Palace won the game 3–0 at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.[3] Millwall moved south of the river in 1910 and the first true South London derby between the teams was held on 31 October 1910. It was a London PFA Charity Fund game, which Palace won 3–0 and was just Millwall's second game at their new ground, The Den.[8] The first derby contested in The Football League was on 15 January 1921. Palace won the Third Division (south) game 1–0. They also won the reverse fixture which was held a week later; 3–2, to complete the first Football League double over their South London neighbours.[9] Palace have completed a Football League double over Millwall seven times (in 1920–21. 1949–50, 1963–64, 1968–69, 1977–78, 1963–64, 1986–87, 1989–90.)[24] Millwall have completed a Football League double over Palace six times (in 1925–26, 1926–27, 1957–58, 1959–60, 2001–01, 2010–11.)[24] Palace's longest unbeaten streak is seven games, they won six and drew one game against Millwall between 1986 and 1993.[24] Millwall's longest unbeaten streak against Palace is 19 games, between 1950 and 1958 they won 11 and drew 8 games.[24]

Millwall and Wimbledon first met in the First round of the FA Cup in 2009, when Wimbledon were playing in the Conference National.[27] Millwall won the game 4–1.[27] The two sides have only played in the same tier together once, in the 2016–17 League One season and both games were drawn.[27] They've played two other cup games; a 2–1 win for Millwall in the League Cup in 2013 and most recently in 2019, an FA Cup Fifth round game at Kingsmeadow, which Millwall won 1–0.[27]

Chart of the league table positions of the South London Derby clubs.

The table includes all competitive first-team games played between the London rivals. From the first game played between Crystal Palace and Millwall on 17 November 1906, to the most recent South London derby between Charlton Athletic and AFC Wimbledon on 23 February 2019. Defunct club Wimbledon's results are included in a separate table below.

As of 12 December 2020

The 2003 relocation and 2004 renaming of Wimbledon as Milton Keynes Dons meant that a South London derby team was lost.[35] In 2002 some Wimbledon supporters formed a new team, AFC Wimbledon, based at Kingsmeadow in Kingston upon Thames.[36] The non-League club started in the Combined Counties League, and played their first competitive South London derby on 9 November 2009, losing 4–1 away at Millwall in an FA Cup first-round match.[37] Having worked their way up through non-League with five promotions in nine seasons, AFC Wimbledon were promoted first into Football League Two for the 2011–12 season.[38] They spent five seasons at that level before being promoted into League One for the 2016–17 season, where they competed in the same league as Charlton Athletic and Millwall.[39]

• South London derby
• 
  Millwall and Charlton play at The Den in 2015
• 
  AFC Wimbledon and Millwall players met for the first time in the FA Cup at The Den in 2009.
• 
  Millwall and Charlton players pay tribute to Graham Taylor at The Valley in January, 2017.

• Millwall F.C.–West Ham United F.C. rivalry
• Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.–Crystal Palace F.C. rivalry
• Leeds United F.C.–Millwall F.C. rivalry
• London derbies

Bibliography

• Tarrant, Eddie; Richard Lindsay (2010). Millwall: The Complete Record. DB Publishing. ISBN 1-85983-833-2.

• Charlton Athletic official website
• Crystal Palace official website
• Millwall official website
• AFC Wimbledon official website