55,000 season tickets may have been sold but that still leaves hundreds of thousands of armchair and overseas supporters reliant upon the subscription route to watch West Ham – be it last season in the Premier League or this year in the unfamiliar confines of the Championship, apart from from a handful of FA or Carabao Cup games scheduled largely in the hope of a BBC or ITV audience witnessing a cup giant killing.
However in what is something of a breath of fresh air for fans paying through the nose – or more specifically those that can’t afford to pay or are reliant on YouTube watch alongs or radio for the West Ham fix – one of the Irons’ more momentous clashes of this season – and THE game to watch this Autumn – will be screened live and for free on ITV this Autumn.
Last meeting between the two resulted in a West Ham 2 – 1 win
Millwall vs West Ham is probably the game that most supporters of both sides awaited- and then circled in their calendar -as soon as the Hammers’ relegation and subsequent fixtures were confirmed.
The history between these two sides has often been ugly but, hopefully, these days the battle will take place solely on the pitch: The sense of spectacle for the ‘Docker’s derby’ is such that ITV have confirmed that they’ll be showing the lunchtime kick- off live on terrestrial TV.
The two sides haven’t played each other since February 2012 when West Ham ran out 2-1 winners. In fact, across all the meetings between the two sides, Millwall have won 38, West Ham 34 and 27 have ended in a draw.
So, circle the date in your diary: Saturday 19th September. By which time, you never know, West Ham might actually have brought in some players and have assembled a full squad with which to compete with the best of this second division.
Fighting will be interupted for 90+ mins for the game..