Derby Weekend: The Dockers Derby Returns and the Black Country Kicks Off

Derby Weekend: The Dockers Derby Returns and the Black Country Kicks Off

Two proper derbies. One weekend. One of them has been waiting 14 years.

If English football still has a tribal weekend left in it, this is it. Millwall host West Ham on Saturday lunchtime, then Wolves welcome West Brom to Molineux on Sunday. Both are in the Championship, and both are on live TV.

Millwall v West Ham: The Dockers Derby

Saturday 19 September, 12:30 BST, The Den

This is the headline. The two clubs haven't met in a competitive game since 4 February 2012, when West Ham won 2-1 at Upton Park. On Saturday it comes back, and it's the 100th meeting between them.

The record is as tight as you'd expect: Millwall 38 wins, West Ham 34, 27 draws.

The roots go back to 9 December 1899, when Thames Ironworks, the club that became West Ham, lost 2-1 to Millwall Athletic in the FA Cup. Both clubs came out of London's docks and shipyards. Rival firms, rival yards, working-class territory that outlasted the docks themselves. Both clubs have since moved: Millwall to The Den in 1993 and West Ham to the London Stadium in 2016. They're still only about four miles apart.

The stat to know for Saturday is this one: West Ham haven't won a league derby at Millwall since December 1988. Since then it's five home league meetings, with three Millwall wins and two draws.

Rarity is part of the heat. When a fixture stays away this long, it doesn't cool off. It marinates.

On the pitch, West Ham are top of the Championship on goal difference after four straight league wins, including a 6-0 hammering of Wrexham. Jarrod Bowen is leading the line under Nuno Espírito Santo. Millwall sit 11th, four points behind, after drawing 2-2 at Middlesbrough. Form says Hammers. The Den has never cared about form.

This fixture has a difficult history off the pitch too, which is why it will be policed as a high-risk game. Whichever end you're in, be a credit to your club.

Wolves v West Brom: The Black Country Derby

Sunday 20 September, 12:00 BST, Molineux

The other half of the weekend is no consolation prize. Wolves host West Brom at Molineux with more than 30,000 inside, and it's the first league meeting there since January 2021.

Two towns close enough to share a bus route and far enough apart to hate the journey. This one has been running since 1886, and it gets nastier the moment the first tackle goes in.

The table adds a twist. West Brom arrive third with promotion on their minds. Wolves are 14th in their first Championship campaign in eight years, with Cesar Peixoto in charge and top scorer Raul Jimenez ruled out with a knee injury. A derby is the perfect place to turn a season around, and the perfect place to lose one.

The ones that measure everything else

Celtic v Rangers is in a different category altogether. Steel City, Tyne-Wear, Villa v Birmingham and Cardiff v Swansea all have their own edge. This weekend isn't those. It's two clubs who rarely share a division suddenly sharing a Saturday and a Sunday, and that's why it matters.

Get the derby day look

Whichever end you're in this weekend, dress like you mean it. Our Stadium Series and Casuals collections are built for exactly this kind of day, and we've got dedicated ranges for West Ham and Wolves fans too. Every tee is UK-made to order and printed for the terraces.

Saturday is West Ham walking into a ground they haven't won at since 1988, in the 100th meeting, after 14 years away. Sunday is the Black Country reminding everyone it doesn't need London's permission to have a derby.

English football's rawest side is 12:30 at The Den and noon at Molineux. The rest is noise.

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