The Compulsory Purchase Order threatening land around the Den has now been abandoned.
Lewisham Council have been in talks for months with private property investment company Renewal over selling the land around Millwall FC’s home.
The proposal would have meant possible closures to both the Community Trust and Academy, with the Lions even considering relocating out of South-East London if the scheme had gone through.
Sir Steve Bullock, Trustee of the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation and Mayor of Lewisham said that the plans should ‘not go ahead’, with the council later agreeing.
‘Heart-breaking’
Matt Hawkins, volunteer at the Association of Millwall Supporters, said of today’s move: “We are so glad that the council has made the right decision but we are wary that this came only after significant media and public pressure”.
Millwall and their loyal fans may be able to breathe a sigh of relief for now, but Hawkins remains cautious: “At the moment the language sounds definite but these things often get brought back in new guises a year or so later so we will not relax completely”.
Hawkins said the move would have been ‘heart-breaking’, adding, “It would take the club away from the home it’s had for 110 years”.
He said leaving Bermondsey would “tell the fans that their history and all that the club has done for the community does not matter”.
It recently emerged that Surrey Canal Sports Foundation did not have a £2million funding agreement with Sport England despite their claims. Lewisham Council had given the Foundation half a million pounds’ worth of public money on the basis that they had this funding.