List of Millwall F.C. seasons explained

This is a list of all seasons played by Millwall Football Club from their early beginnings in the Southern League, to their inaugural season in the English Football League and up to their last completed season. It details their record in the FA Cup, the League Cup and other major competitions entered, as well as managers, top goalscorers and average home attendance for each season.

Millwall were founded in 1885 and for the first nine years of their existence did not compete in league football. They first entered the FA Cup in 1887, turning full-time professional as a club in 1890. They were founding members of the Southern League in 1894, which they competed in for 22 seasons, claiming the title twice in 1895 and 1896. They left to join the Football League in the 1920–21 season. Millwall have played in all four divisions during their 97 consecutive seasons in the league, including the Third Division South, which they won twice, in 1928 and 1938. They were Fourth Division champions in 1962. The 1988–89 season stands as The Lions most successful when Millwall reached the top tier of English football, where they finished 10th in their first ever season in the First Division, after being promoted as champions of the Second Division in 1988.^[1] Their lowest league finish is 9th in the founding season of the Fourth Division in 1958–59.^[2] Millwall were Second Division champions in the 2000–01 season, when they finished with their highest ever points total of 93.Millwall have been promoted eleven times (five as champions) and relegated nine times.^{[3] [4]} They reached the 2004 FA Cup Final, losing to Manchester United, but still qualified for the UEFA Europa League the following season, playing in Europe for the first time in their history. They've also reached the FA Cup quarter-finals on eleven occasions, and the semi-finals four times; in 1900, 1903, 1937 and 2013. Millwall have also reached the quarter-finals of the League Cup on three occasions, in 1974, 1977 and 1995. Millwall have reached the Football League play-offs eight times. They were play-off semi-finalists in 1991, 1994, 2000, 2002, finalists in 2009 and 2016, and they were promoted as winners in 2010 and 2017. The Lions won the Football League Group Cup in 1983 and were runners up in the Football League Trophy in 1999. Richard Parker holds the record for most goals scored in a season with 38, which he set in the 1926–27 season. Millwall's highest average home attendance is 27,373, which they set in the 1938–39 season just before the Second World War broke out.^[5]

Seasons

Overall

As of the 2024–25 season, Millwall have spent 98 consecutive seasons in the Football League.

• Seasons spent at Level 1 of the football league system: 2
• Seasons spent at Level 2 of the football league system: 48
• Seasons spent at Level 3 of the football league system: 43
• Seasons spent at Level 4 of the football league system: 5

Season	∆	Division	Pos	∆	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	League Cup^[6]	FA Cup^[7]	Other competitions		Manager(s)^[8]	Top goalscorer(s)^[9] ^[10]		Att.^[11]
1885–86			East London FA Cup	bgcolor=gold	W	Committee / Captain
1886–87		East London Senior Cup	bgcolor=gold	W
1887–88	2Q	East London Senior Cup	bgcolor=gold	W
1888–89	1Q	East London Senior Cup	bgcolor=gold	W
1889–90	1Q		Fred Kidd^(s)
1890–91	1Q
1891–92	2Q
1892–93	3Q
1893–94	3Q
1894–95		bgcolor=seagreen rowspan=21	SL	bgcolor=gold	1st		16	12	4	0	68	29	+39	28		1R	Archibald McKenzie	21	5,375
1895–96	bgcolor=gold	1st	18	16	1	1	75	16	+59	33	1R	Charlie Leatherbarrow	20	3,444
1896–97	bgcolor=silver	2nd	20	13	5	2	63	24	+39	31	1R	United League	bgcolor=gold	1st	John Calvey	33	3,350
1897–98	9th	22	8	2	12	48	45	+3	18	3Q	United League	7th	18	3,454
1898–99	3rd	24	12	6	6	59	35	+24	30	4Q	United League	bgcolor=gold	1st	33	5,292
1899–1900	7th	28	12	3	13	36	37	-1	27	SF	Southern Combination	bgcolor=gold	1st	Edward Stopher^(s)	Herbert Banks	26	6,821
1900–01	4th	28	17	2	9	55	32	+23	36	1R	Western League	7th	George Saunders^(s)	25	6,286
1901–02	6th	30	13	6	11	48	31	+17	32	Int	Western League	4th	Ben Hulse	22	5,167
1902–03	7th	30	14	3	13	52	37	+15	31	SF	Western League	5th	32	6,533
1903–04	7th	34	16	8	10	64	42	+22	40	1R	London League	bgcolor=gold	1st	William Maxwell	34	6,882
1904–05	15th	34	11	7	16	38	47	-9	29	1R	Western League	6th	23	5,941
1905–06	12th	34	11	11	12	38	41	-3	33	2R	Western League	6th	Percy Milsom	17	6,588
1906–07	7th	38	18	6	14	71	50	+21	42	2R	Western League	6th	Alf Twigg	28	6,632
1907–08	3rd	38	19	8	11	49	32	+17	46	1R	Western League	bgcolor=gold	1st	30	7,368
1908–09	12th	40	16	6	18	59	62	-3	38	3R	Western League	bgcolor=gold	1st	17	7,000
1909–10	16th	42	15	7	20	45	59	-14	37	1R			Jack Martin	12	5,857
1910–11	15th	38	11	9	18	42	54	-12	31	1R			Bert Lipsham	14	10,611
1911–12	8th	38	15	10	13	60	57	+3	40	1R			Wally Davis	15	12,021
1912–13	6th	38	19	7	12	62	43	+19	45	1R	Southern Alliance	4th	33	15,684
1913–14	15th	38	11	12	15	51	56	-5	34	3R			28	15,642
1914–15	8th	38	16	10	12	50	51	-1	42	3R			23	7,789
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended between 1915 and 1919 due to the First World War.
1919–20		bgcolor=seagreen	SL	14th		42	14	12	16	52	55	-3	40		1R			Bob Hunter	Jimmy Broad	33	12,952
1920–21	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=1	Div 3	7th	51st	42	18	11	13	42	30	+12	47	1R			William J. Keen	10	18,762
1921–22		bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=7	Div 3(S)	12th	56th	42	10	18	14	38	42	-4	38	QF			16	17,524
1922–23		6th	50th	42	14	18	10	45	40	+5	46	2R			Harry Morris	17	17,238
1923–24		3rd	47th	42	22	10	10	64	38	+26	54	1R			19	16,671
1924–25		5th	49th	42	18	13	11	58	38	+20	49	1R			Alf Moule	18	15,286
1925–26		3rd	47th	42	21	11	10	73	39	+24	53	5R			19	14,953
1926–27		3rd	47th	42	23	10	9	89	51	+38	56	QF			Richard Parker	38	14,173
1927–28		bgcolor=gold	1st ↑	45th	42	30	5	7	127	50	+77	65	3R	London Challenge Cup	bgcolor=gold	W	Jack Landells	34	17,690
1928–29	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=6	Div 2	14th	36th	42	16	7	19	71	86	-15	39	4R			Jack Cock	29	20,306
1929–30		14th	36th	42	12	15	15	57	73	-16	39	5R			18	18,685
1930–31		14th	36th	42	16	7	19	71	80	-9	39	3R			15	14,455
1931–32		9th	31st	42	17	9	16	61	61	+0	43	3R			Leslie Smith	17	14,073
1932–33		7th	29th	42	16	11	15	59	57	+2	43	4R			George Bond	17	13,807
1933–34		21st ↓	43rd	42	11	11	20	39	68	-29	33	4R			Billy McCracken	Jimmy Yardley	9	14,377
1934–35	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=4	Div 3(S)	12th	56th	42	17	7	18	57	62	-5	41	4R			18	11,021
1935–36		12th	56th	42	14	12	16	58	71	-13	40	3R			Jimmy McCartney	13	10,561
1936–37		8th	52nd	42	18	10	14	64	65	+10	46	SF			Charlie Hewitt	Ken Burditt	25	19,010
1937–38		bgcolor=Gold	1st ↑	45th	42	23	10	9	83	37	+46	56	3R			Dave Mangnall	20	22,756
1938–39	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=1	Div 2	13th	35th	42	14	14	14	64	53	+11	42	4R			Sid Rawlings	14	27,373
The Football League and FA Cup were suspended during the Second World War. The FA Cup returned in 1945 and League football in 1946.
1945–46			4R		Jack Cock
1946–47	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=2	Div 2	18th	40th	42	14	8	20	56	79	-23	36	3R			Johnny Johnson	10	22,211
1947–48		22nd ↓	44th	42	9	11	22	44	74	-30	29	3R			Willie Hurrell	7	21,748
1948–49	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=10	Div 3(S)	8th	52nd	42	17	11	14	63	64	-1	45	2R			Charlie Hewitt	Jimmy Constantine	25	24,644
1949–50		22nd	66th	42	14	4	24	55	63	-8	32	1R			14	20,883
1950–51		5th	49th	46	23	10	13	80	57	+23	56	4R			28	20,078
1951–52		4th	48th	46	23	12	11	74	53	+21	58	2R			Frank Neary	15	20,184
1952–53		bgcolor=silver	2nd	46th	46	24	14	8	82	44	+38	62	3R			Johnny Shepherd	21	19,114
1953–54		12th	56th	46	19	9	18	74	77	-3	47	2R			George Stobbart	20	13,484
1954–55		5th	49th	46	20	11	15	72	68	+4	51	3R			Dennis Pacey	15	13,921
1955–56		22nd	66th	46	15	6	25	83	100	-17	36	1R			Charlie Hewitt, Ron Gray	Johnny Summers	24	9,191
1956–57		17th	61st	46	16	12	18	64	84	-20	44	5R			Ron Gray	Johnny Shepherd	24	11,443
1957–58		23rd	67th	46	11	9	26	63	91	-28	31	2R			Ron Gray Jimmy Seed	12	12,257
1958–59	4	bgcolor=#DC143C rowspan=4	Div 4	9th	77th	46	20	10	16	76	69	+7	50	2R			Jimmy Seed	Ron Heckman	12	11,647
1959–60		5th	73rd	46	18	17	11	84	61	+23	53	1R			Reg Smith	Alf Ackerman	18	14,447
1960–61		6th	74th	46	21	8	17	97	86	+11	50	1R	1R			Reg Smith, Ron Gray	Peter Burridge	38	9,544
1961–62		bgcolor=Gold	1st ↑	69th	44	23	10	11	87	62	+25	56	1R	1R			Ron Gray	24	11,583
1962–63	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=2	Div 3	16th	60th	46	15	13	18	82	87	-5	43	1R	2R			Pat Terry	19	13,206
1963–64		21st ↓	65th	46	14	10	22	53	67	-14	38	4R	1R			Ron Gray, Billy Gray	13	10,443
1964–65	4	bgcolor=#DC143C rowspan=1	Div 4	bgcolor=Silver	2nd ↑	70th	46	23	16	7	78	45	+33	62	2R	4R			Billy Gray	Hugh Curran	19	9,178
1965–66	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=1	Div 3	bgcolor=Silver	2nd ↑	46th	46	27	11	8	76	43	+33	65	4R	2R			Len Julians	24	13,919
1966–67	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=9	Div 2	8th	30th	42	18	9	15	49	58	-9	45	1R	3R			Benny Fenton	17	16,112
1967–68		7th	29th	42	14	17	11	62	50	+12	45	4R	3R			Keith Weller	14	13,474
1968–69		10th	32nd	42	17	9	16	57	49	+8	43	3R	4R			Derek Possee	16	16,343
1969–70		10th	32nd	42	15	14	13	56	56	+0	44	2R	3R			19	11,672
1970–71		8th	30th	42	19	9	14	59	42	+17	47	3R	3R			17	9,835
1971–72		3rd	25th	42	19	17	6	64	46	+18	55	2R	4R			17	16,210
1972–73		11th	33rd	42	16	10	16	55	47	+8	42	4R	5R			Gordon Bolland Alf Wood	19	10,258
1973–74		12th	34th	42	14	14	14	51	51	+0	42	QF	3R			Alf Wood	23	9,486
1974–75		20th ↓	42nd	42	10	12	20	44	56	-12	32	1R	3R			Benny Fenton, Gordon Jago	Phil Summerill	7	8,550
1975–76	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=1	Div 3	3rd ↑	47th	46	20	16	10	54	43	+11	56	2R	2R			Gordon Jago	10	7,667
1976–77	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=3	Div 2	10th	32nd	42	15	13	14	57	53	+4	43	QF	3R			John Seasman	16	10,590
1977–78		16th	38th	42	12	14	16	49	57	-8	38	3R	QF			Gordon Jago, Theo Foley^(c), George Petchey	Ian Pearson	13	8,096
1978–79		21st ↓	43rd	42	11	10	21	42	61	-19	32	2R	3R			George Petchey	John Seasman	10	7,021
1979–80	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=6	Div 3	14th	58th	46	16	13	17	65	59	+6	45	1R	4R			John Lyons	21	6,000
1980–81		16th	60th	46	14	14	18	43	60	-17	42	1R	2R			George Petchey, Terry Long^(c), Peter Anderson	Nicky Chatterton	9	4,495
1981–82		9th	53rd	46	18	13	15	62	62	+0	67	2R	3R			Peter Anderson	Dean Horrix	18	4,625
1982–83		17th	61st	46	14	13	19	64	77	-13	55	1R	1R	Football League Group Cup	bgcolor=gold	W	Peter Anderson, Barry Kitchener^(c), George Graham	Dean Neal	25	4,010
1983–84		9th	53rd	46	18	13	15	71	65	+6	67	2R	2R	Associate Members Cup	bgcolor=Silver	RU	George Graham	19	4,384
1984–85		bgcolor=Silver	2nd ↑	46th	46	26	12	8	73	42	+31	90	2R	QF	Associate Members Cup	3R	Steve Lovell	27	6,467
1985–86	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=3	Div 2	9th	31st	42	17	8	17	64	65	-1	59	2R	5R	Full Members Cup	2R	19	5,474
1986–87		16th	38th	42	14	9	19	39	45	-6	51	3R	3R	Full Members Cup	2R	John Docherty	Teddy Sheringham	16	4,460
1987–88		bgcolor=gold	1st ↑	22nd	44	25	7	12	72	52	+20	82	2R	3R	Full Members Cup	3R	24	8,433
1988–89	1	bgcolor=gold rowspan=2	Div 1	10th	10th	38	14	11	13	47	52	-5	53	3R	4R	Full Members Cup	3R	Tony Cascarino Teddy Sheringham	15	15,468
1989–90		20th ↓	20th	38	5	11	22	39	65	-26	26	3R	4R	Full Members Cup	2R	John Docherty, Bob Pearson^(c), Bruce Rioch	Teddy Sheringham	12	12,427
1990–91	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=2	Div 2	bgcolor=steelblue	5th	25th	46	20	13	13	70	51	+19	73	3R	4R	Full Members Cup	2R	Bruce Rioch	Teddy Sheringham	38	10,841
1991–92		15th	37th	46	17	10	19	64	71	-7	61	2R	4R	Full Members Cup	2R	Bruce Rioch, Mick McCarthy	Jamie Moralee	15	7,907
1992–93		bgcolor=silver rowspan=4	Div 1	7th	29th	46	18	16	12	65	53	+12	70	2R	3R	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	Mick McCarthy	Alex Rae	10	9,189
1993–94		bgcolor=steelblue	3rd	25th	46	19	17	10	58	49	+9	74	2R	3R	Anglo-Italian Cup	Grp	13	9,823
1994–95		13th	35th	46	16	14	16	60	60	+0	62	QF	5R		10	7,687
1995–96		22nd ↓	42nd	46	13	13	20	43	63	-20	52	3R	3R	Mick McCarthy, Jimmy Nicholl	16	9,559
1996–97	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=5	Div 2	14th	58th	46	16	13	17	50	55	-5	61	1R	1R	Football League Trophy	2R	Jimmy Nicholl, John Docherty	Stephen Crawford	15	7,753
1997–98		18th	62nd	46	14	13	19	43	54	-11	55	2R	1R	Football League Trophy	2R	Billy Bonds	Paul Shaw	13	7,022
1998–99		10th	54th	46	17	11	18	52	59	-7	62	1R	1R	Football League Trophy	bgcolor=Silver	RU	Keith Stevens	Neil Harris	18	6,958
1999–2000		bgcolor=steelblue	5th	49th	46	23	13	10	76	50	+26	83	1R	1R	Football League Trophy	1R	Keith Stevens & Alan McLeary	25	9,262
2000–01		bgcolor=gold	1st ↑	45th	46	28	9	9	89	38	+51	93	2R	2R	Football League Trophy	2R	Keith Stevens & Alan McLeary, Steve Gritt^(c) & Ray Harford^(c), Mark McGhee	28	11,442
2001–02	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=3	Div 1	bgcolor=steelblue	4th	24th	46	22	11	13	69	48	+21	77	2R	4R		Mark McGhee	Steve Claridge	18	13,380
2002–03		9th	29th	46	19	9	18	59	69	-10	66	1R	4R	Steve Claridge Neil Harris	12	8,512
2003–04		10th	30th	46	18	15	13	55	48	+7	69	1R	bgcolor=Silver	RU	Mark McGhee, Dennis Wise	Tim Cahill	12	10,500
2004–05		bgcolor=silver rowspan=2	Champ	10th	30th	46	18	12	16	51	45	+6	66	3R	3R	UEFA Europa League	1R	Dennis Wise	Barry Hayles	12	11,656
2005–06		23rd ↓	43rd	46	8	16	22	35	62	-27	40	2R	3R		Steve Claridge, Colin Lee, Dave Tuttle, Tony Burns^(c) & Alan McLeary^(c)	Ben May	11	9,529
2006–07	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=4	Lge 1	10th	54th	46	19	9	18	59	62	-3	66	2R	3R	Football League Trophy	QF	Nigel Spackman, Willie Donachie	Darren Byfield	16	9,234
2007–08		17th	61st	46	14	10	22	45	61	-16	52	1R	4R	Football League Trophy	1R	Willie Donachie, Richard Shaw^(c) & Colin West^(c), Kenny Jackett	Gary Alexander Jay Simpson	8	8,669
2008–09		bgcolor=steelblue	5th	49th	46	25	7	14	63	53	+10	82	1R	4R	Football League Trophy	1R	Kenny Jackett	Gary Alexander	15	8,940
2009–10		3rd ↑	47th	46	24	13	9	76	44	+32	85	2R	3R	Football League Trophy	1R	Steve Morison	23	10,835
2010–11	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=5	Champ	9th	29th	46	18	13	15	62	46	+14	67	3R	3R		17	12,438
2011–12		16th	36th	46	15	12	19	55	57	-2	57	3R	5R	Darius Henderson	19	11,484
2012–13		20th	40th	46	15	11	20	51	62	-11	56	1R	SF	Chris Wood	11	10,559
2013–14		19th	39th	46	11	15	20	46	74	-28	48	2R	3R	Steve Lomas, Neil Harris^(c) & Scott Fitzgerald^(c), Ian Holloway	Martyn Woolford	9	10,848
2014–15		22nd ↓	42nd	46	9	14	23	42	76	-34	41	2R	3R	Ian Holloway, Neil Harris	Lee Gregory	9	10,902
	3	bgcolor=#cd7f32 rowspan=2	Lge 1	bgcolor=steelblue	4th	48th	46	24	9	13	73	49	+24	81	1R	3R	Football League Trophy	F(S)	Neil Harris	27	9,009
		6th ↑	50th	46	20	13	13	66	57	+9	73	2R	QF	Football League Trophy	2R	Steve Morison	19	9,339
2017–18	2	bgcolor=silver rowspan=8	Champ	8th	28th	46	19	15	12	56	45	+11	72	2R	4R		Lee Gregory George Saville	10	13,368
2018–19		21st	41st	46	10	14	22	48	64	-16	44	3R	QF	Lee Gregory	13	13,624
2019–20		8th	28th	46	17	17	12	57	51	+5	68	2R	4R	Neil Harris, Gary Rowett	Matt Smith	14	13,734
2020–21		11th	31st	46	15	17	14	47	52	-5	62	1R	3R	Gary Rowett	Jed Wallace	11	2,000
2021–22		9th	29th	46	18	15	13	53	45	+8	69	3R	3R		Benik Afobe	13	12,970
2022–23		8th	28th	46	19	11	16	57	50	+7	68	1R	3R		Tom Bradshaw	17	14,767
2023–24		13th	33rd	46	16	11	19	45	55	-10	59	1R	3R	Gary Rowett, Joe Edwards, Neil Harris	Zian Flemming	8	16,540
2024–25														Neil Harris
Season	∆	Division	Pos	∆	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	League Cup	FA Cup	Other competitions		Manager(s)	Top goalscorer(s)		Att.

Key

English Football League tier:

bgcolor=Gold

First

bgcolor=Silver

Second

Third

Fourth

bgcolor=seagreen

Southern League (non-league)

Finishing position and cup competitions:

bgcolor=Gold

1st or Winners

bgcolor=Silver

2nd or Runners-up

Third-place

bgcolor=steelblue

Play-offs

Playoff winners

↑ (Promoted)

↓ (Relegated)

Key to league record

• ∆ = Tier on Football League pyramid
• Pos = Final position
• ∆ = Final league placing in pyramid
• Pld = Matches played
• W = Matches won
• D = Matches drawn
• L = Matches lost
• GF = Goals for
• GA = Goals against
• GD = Goal difference
• Pts = Points

Key to divisions

• Champ = EFL Championship
• Lge 1 = EFL League One
• Div 1 = Football League First Division
• Div 2 = Football League Second Division
• Div 3 = Football League Third Division
• Div 3(S) = Football League Third Division South
• Div 4 = Football League Fourth Division
• SL = Southern Football League Division One

Key to rounds

• Grp = Group stage
• 1Q = Qualifying round 1
• 2Q = Qualifying round 2
• 3Q = Qualifying round 3
• 4Q = Qualifying round 4
• 5Q = Qualifying round 5
• Int = Intermediate round
• 1R = 1st Round
• 2R = 2nd Round
• 3R = 3rd Round
• 4R = 4th Round
• 5R = 5th Round
• 6R = 6th Round
• QF = Quarter-finals
• SF = Semi-finals
• F(S) = Southern area final
• RU = Runners-up
• W = Winners

Key to managers

• (s) = Secretary
• (c) = Caretaker manager
• & = denotes joint-managers

Key to Average attendance

• Avg. Att. = Average attendance for all home league games only.

See also

• List of Millwall F.C. records and statistics
• History of Millwall F.C.

References

Bibliography

• Book: Tarrant, Eddie . Richard Lindsay . Millwall: The Complete Record . DB Publishing . 2010. 978-1-85983-833-4.

Notes and References

1. Book: Lindsay. Millwall: A Complete Record, 1885–1991 . 310 .
2. Book: Lindsay . Millwall: A Complete Record, 1885–1991. 250 .
3. Web site: England : All Time Table . Statto.com . 28 July 2011 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723041354/http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/all-time-table . 23 July 2011.
4. Web site: England – Professional Football All-Time Tables 1888/89-2009/10. The Rec. Sports Soccers Statistics Foundation. 28 August 2010.
5. Web site: Millwall Stat Zone. The Millwall History Files. 28 August 2010.
6. Web site: England League Cup Full Results 1960-1996 . Rec Sports Soccers Statistics . 27 March 2011.
7. Web site: The FA Cup Archive . The Football Association (The FA) . 27 March 2011. Individual seasons accessed via dropdown menu.
8. Book: Tarrant . 208. Millwall: The Complete Record .
9. Web site: A Season by Season Diary of Millwall FC. Millwall FC Museum, Eddie Tarrant. 28 March 2011.
10. Web site: Top Goal Scorers. The Millwall History Files. 28 March 2011.
11. Web site: Millwall Attendances. The Millwall History Files. 28 August 2010.