Millwall
Formed 1885
Founder member of Division Three 1920
Kit History
Millwall Rovers
1885
1885-1886 a c
1886-1887 i
1887-1888 b c
1888 i
circa 1889 c
circa 1890-1892 c
1892-1893 i
Millwall Athletic
1893
1893-1894 c
1894-1895 c
1895-1896 m n p
1896-1897 c
1899-1900 c
1900-1906 c
1907-1910 c
Millwall
1910
1910-1911 n
1911-1923 c
1923-1924 i
1924-1933 c
1933-1935 c f
1935-1936 c
1936-1937 c i
1937-1940 c n
1945-1946 (1) i
1945-1946 (2) c i
1945-1946 (3) i
1945-1946 (4) i
1946-1949 d h
cAug-cSept 1948 i
cSept'48-1949 d h
1949-1950 g h i
1950-1953 h
1953-1954 i
1954-1955 h i n
1955-1956 i
1956-1957 h
1957-1959 h
1959-1960 i
1960-1961 h
1961-1963 d h
1963-1964 h
1964-1967 a h
1967-1968 h
1968-1972 d h k
1972-1973 d h
1973-1974 h k
1974-1975 h
1975-1977 h l
1977-1978 d h l
1978-1980 e h l
1980-1981 b h
1981-1982 h
1982-1983 h
1983-1984 d h
1984-1985 b h
1985-1986 b h
1986-1987 b h
1987-1989 b h
1989-1990 b h j
1990-1991 b h j q
1991-1992 b h j
1992-1993 early b
1992-1993 late b h j
1993-1994 b h j
1994-1996 b h
1996-1997 b h
1997-1999 d h i
1999-2001 b h
2001-2003 d
2003-2004 d j
2004-2005 d j
2005-2006 a
2006-2007 a
2007-2008 a
2008-2009 a
2009-2010 a
2010-2011 a
2011-2012 a
2012-2013 a
Background
Millwall Rovers were originally
a works side, formed in the summer of 1885 by workers at Morton's Jam
Factory on the Isle of Dogs. Since most of the staff were emigre Scots,
the natural choice was to play in navy and white, with "MRFC" embroidered across the chest.
Rovers became Millwall Athletic in 1893 and turned
professional, joining the Southern League where they were to become a
leading side, reaching the FA Cup semi-finals in 1903. The team wore a
distinctive all-navy kit with a white stripe sewn into their britches
until 1896. 
In 1910 the club, now known simply as Millwall, relocated
to The Den in New Cross, south of the Thames. In 1920, along with the
rest of the Southern League Division One clubs, Millwall became founder
members of the new Division Three.
In 1928, "The Lions" were promoted to
Division Two and managed to consolidate until, following the death of
their manager, Bob Hunter, morale went to pieces and Millwall were relegated
in 1933. In 1936 the club dropped navy blue in favour of "royal blue" shirts
emblazoned with a red lion badge. Photographs suggest that the shirts worn in that first season were a rather lighter shade of blue than those used from 1938 on. The new image seemed to do the trick."The
Lions" returned to Division Two in 1938 but 
their progress was cut
short when the League was suspended during World War Two.
Millwall reached the 1944 southern region war time cup final against Chelsea. As Millwall had no change strip, a set of white shirts were borrowed from the FA and the pre-war crest was temporarily sewn over the three-lions badge. The badges were removed afterwards and later appeared on the early post-war shirts.
In 1948, Millwall
were relegated back into Division Three (South) and ten years later, when
the regional divisions were scrapped, the club 
found itself in Division
Four. The original lion rampant badge was replaced in 1956 with the more familiar version with two lions. Fashionable shiny rayon shirts were worn between 1954 and 1956 when modern V neck shirts were adopted. The shiny shirts were, however, worn in floodlit friendly matches until 1959 because it was thought they would show up better under the primitive lights of the period.
In the early Sixties, wearing white shirts with a blue chest band, Millwall battled their way back to Division Two, setting a record of 59 home League games without defeat in December 1966.
Between 1968 and 1975 the team wore all-white alternating between the two-lion crest and a simple "MFC" monogramme.
In 1972
the Lions narrowly missed out on promotion to 
Division One, finishing
in third place. Three years later they were back in traditional royal blue shirts, now emblazoned with a white lion rampant but dropped into Division Three. They
bounced back straight away, only to drop back again in 1979.
The lion rampant was replaced in 1978 with a leaping version, a motif that has proved as popular and enduring as the two-lion crest.
Fortunes
changed in 1985 when the club were promoted back into the Second Division.
In 1988, Millwall won the Second Division championship to take their place
in the First Division for the first time. After a creditable 10th place
finish in 1989, it all went wrong 
and Millwall were relegated in 1990.
In May 1993 the club moved into a new 20,000 all
seater stadium at Senegal Fields, christened the New Den. With Mick McCarthy
in charge, Millwall were regularly challenging for promotion but the side
became unsettled when, in 1995, McCarthy left to manage the 
Republic of
Ireland. A year later Millwall were relegated to Nationwide Division Two
(the old Third Division). In January 1997 trading in Millwall's shares
was suspended and the club went into administration. A rescue package
was put in place and the club
survived. During this period several versions of the leaping lion badge appeared before the older crest was reinstated in 1999.
Four year later, in 2001, Millwall returned to
Nationwide Division One and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership
the following season, losing out in the play-offs. In October 2003 Dennis
Wise and Ray Wilkins took charge and, after a remarkable run, Millwall
reached their first ever FA Cup Final in May 2004, losing 0-3 to Manchester
United at the Millennium Stadium. Once Wise and Wilkins moved on, success
was hard to find and in 
2006, the Lions were relegated from the Championship
to League One (once the Third Division). Perhaps in an attempt to improve their fortunes, the leaping lion returned the following season.
Millwall celebrated their 125th Anniversary in 2010 in the Championship after winning the play-off final the previous season. They also adopted a navy and white strip similar to their original from 1885 and produced 
a limited edition version with the names of every player to have turned out for the club and a special crest.
For the 2011-12 season Millwall retained the navy and white colours revived for the previous season and introduced a slightly modified version of the leaping lion badge.
Sources
- (a) Millwall Official Website
- (b) Millwall Club History
- (c) Millwall FC 1885-1939 - Images of Sport (Chris Bethell, David Sullivan & Millwall FC Museum)
- (d) empics
- (e) Football Focus
- (f) The Football Encyclopaedia (Associated Sporting Press 1934) Information provided by Arthur Fergus
- (g) Pete's Picture Palace
- (h) Millwall FC 1940-2001 - Images of Sport (Millwall FC Museum)
- (i) Bill Bridges
- (j) David King
- (k) Football League Review provided by Simon Monks
- (l) Alick Milne
- (m) My photo library
- (n) Keith Ellis (HFK Research Associate)
- (o) Del
- (p) Richard Essen
- (q) Neil Andrews
Modern crests are the property of Millwall FC.