In 2004, second-tier Millwall reached the FA Cup final for the first time in the club’s history.
And while player-manager Dennis Wise was unable to orchestrate a cup final upset when they went up against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, the club’s consolation prize was a spot in the following season’s UEFA Cup.
Millwall would be drawn against Hungarian side Ferencvaros in the first round and what should have been a memorable occasion turned into something far more darker for travelling fans and club officials.
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Theo Paphitis on Millwall’s European nightmare
The two clubs played out a 1-1 draw at The Den, with Wise netting for the hosts, leaving Millwall just one result away from the lucrative group stage, where the likes of Sporting, Lazio and Sevilla awaited.
“Millwall have scored two goals in Europe and guess who scored them both? Dennis Wise,” former Lions chairman Theo Paphitis recalls to FourFourTwo. “We drew 1-1 at our ground in the first leg, then went out there.”
The return leg would prove to be a completely different experience, however.
“They were in an old stadium – it’s not often I’m scared, but I was scared for my kids,” Paphitis admits. “We were sitting with officials near to what I can only describe as right-wing fans, proper neo-Nazi types.
“They were making cut-throat gestures. It was vile – spitting, you name it. I had to ask the UEFA representative for some security. It was quite frightening.
“We sadly lost the game, but that wasn’t the tragedy. The tragedy was for our fans, who’d behaved impeccably at the FA Cup final, and also at our place in the first leg of the Ferencvaros game.
“Unfortunately a group of our fans going around the stadium before the game, and some after the game too, were set upon by these masked paramilitary supporters. I didn’t realise how serious it was.”
Following the match, as Paphitis and his family attempted to return home, the true scale of the situation became apparent.
“After the game we got to the airport, but we had to delay the flight. A couple of fans had been stabbed, one was on life support. We had to go with the British consul in Budapest to try to identify who they were. That meant going through a bag of blood-stained clothes and a mobile phone to find ‘mum’ or ‘home’.
“It was horrendous. So, so sad. One of them was poorly for a long time afterwards. We got everybody home eventually and flew them back, but that was a sad occasion. It was my last season, my swansong. I handed over the reins at the end of that campaign.”
