West Ham United vs Millwall is one of the fiercest rivalries in world football.
It is an understatement to say there is no love lost between the two clubs and their supporters.
Millwall are struggling at the wrong end of the Championship this season while West Ham sit midtable in the Premier League eyeing up a Europa League spot.
They may be a league apart but the FA Cup could yet bring the two teams together.
West Ham are in the hat for the fourth round draw after a 2-0 win over Birmingham City.
Meanwhile Millwall beat Hull City 2-1.
Historically fixtures between the clubs have made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Trouble has marred games between the two sides in the recent and distant past.
A match that doesn’t need talking up
West Ham vs Millwall is a match that does not need talking up.
But that’s exactly what Millwall boss Neil Harris has done ahead of Monday night’s FA Cup draw.
“The TV money, the prize money, that’s important for us trying to sign a player in the transfer window,” Harris told Sky Sports.
“I wanted to be competitive, I wanted to win at home and now I want to draw West Ham in the next round!”
The Met Police are unlikely to echo Harris’ sentiments.
The police operation for the derby have proved costly in the past.
Indeed incidents of trouble even led to calls for the fixture to be banned altogether.
‘Put the balls back in and draw them again’
Former Hammers player and manager Harry Redknapp told The Sun back in 2009 that cup ties between the clubs should be scrapped after violent scenes during a Carling Cup tie that year.
“I don’t like saying this but I am afraid there is only one answer if the Hammers and Lions are ever drawn to face each other again — put the balls back in the hat and draw them out again.
“When the two names were drawn together it was just asking for trouble and that is exactly what we got because of the history between them.
Two bad? The numbers to look out for
“And if they ever meet in the league then the game should be played behind closed doors because the human cost of these kind of disturbances is just too high to bear any longer.”
Two bad? It is a case of all the twos as West Ham are ball number 22 in the draw while Millwall are number 2.
The draw will take place after Wolves’ clash with Liverpool on Monday night at around 10pm.
The remaining 32 teams will go into the hat and the ties will be played on weekend commencing January 26.
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