Millwall hooligan reveals how he scared off 125 West Ham thugs and 'gave them a beating'

A former Millwall firm boss has claimed that he and 11 other fans of the Championship club once scared off a group of 125 fans from rivals West Ham United.

When we think of rivalries in football, most of us consider Real Madrid and Barcelona, or Celtic and Rangers or maybe even Wrexham and the rest of the National League.

Few of us would instantly consider Millwall and West Ham to be in our top 10 rivalries in football, even in British football for that matter.

Of course, the fans of those clubs might see things differently, especially any members of the firm culture that took over football in this country in the 70s and 80s.

Things are generally calmer these days, thankfully, and where members of the firm wouldn't have talked about their time fighting rival fans, they can now be more open.

A fan known as 'Ginger Bob,' leader's of Millwall's revered 'Bushwackers' gang, has recently opened up about his time with the group, who he joined aged 15.

'Bob' explained that Cardiff City were his side's toughest opponents in those times, and how they were outnumbered by the Welsh side, but it wasn't the only time.

He has also talked about a 300 style time that he, and 11 mates, took on 125 of West Ham's firm. "We weren't event tooled up – they were tooled up," he told James English's Anything Goes podcast.

"I said to the guys 'over you come lads' and there were 12 of us and we ran at them.

"The Birdman threw a petrol bomb that went 60ft up in the air and as they were trying to get away they dropped their weapons.

"There was a big pile of them, and we just gave them a terrible beating."

The fight is commonly known as the 'London Bridge incident,' in local football circles in the country's capital, however not everyone thinks it happened.

West Ham fans deny that 125 of their supporters were beaten up by 12 from rivals Millwall, but Bob says, "I was there at the front of it.

"They say it's a figment of my imagination, but it's not."

Topics: West Ham United, Premier League, Millwall, EFL Championship, Football

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a journalist for SPORTbible with over eight years of experience. Passionate about all sports, he mainly covers football and F1 - Daniel Ricciardo once spent an entire interview referring to him as 'Ryan Gosling,' still his proudest moment.

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