The new season is now upon us with a great result at Bristol City where the whole team played well. It was a deserved victory and Kenny was very pleased with the work ethic of the entire squad. I personally would have taken a draw prior to the game.
Our pre-season went pretty well, games as always are just to gain fitness and match practice with the result not being that important, although talking to the squad they all want to win every match they play in.

The downside of the pre-season friendlies is the injuries. The lower league sides seem to think they have a point to prove and at times the games can become very physical. Shaun Batt fell foul of that (pardon the pun) and looks likely to be out for a fair while.
Kenny is always on the lookout to strengthen the squad but Batt's injury puts more pressure on him to try to find cover. I think the signing of James Henry is a good one and testament to the way the club is going with a young talented player coming to Millwall and signing a long contract. Let's hope he can reproduce the form we saw when he was with us previously.

Kenny Jackett has also put pen to paper. Kenny is a great asset to the club and the changes we have seen since he has arrived are nothing short of miraculous when you think of the times we had under previous managers.

As a lot of you will already know, Kenny lost his father prior to the Huddersfield Play-Off game. Such is his professionalism he carried on regardless which could not have been easy. A group of fans saw fit to start a collection to give to a charity of Kenny's choice in his father's memory. I spoke to Kenny about this and he felt very honoured that the fans did this. It's a shame there is rarely mention of the good our fans do in the national press.

There are a lot of high profile games this season and the media will have their eyes on us just waiting for the slightest misdameanour so they can regurgitate the 25 year old Luton footage. If we can get a nice quiet start, hopefully the authorities will see they don't need to move our kick-off times to the early hours of the morning for high profile games. Likewise, at some point the media will realise we as a club are no different than others. We have a minority of followers who are problematic, but that minority get the major share of media coverage while other clubs, whose fans cause trouble hardly get a mention.All I would like to see is some consistency in the reporting. The bias against us only harms all the good work Millwall FC carry out, not only at the football club but in the local community as well.

The regeneration issue has popped up again with a company called Renewal distributing plans to regenerate the area surrounding the ground. The club has its own plans for regeneration and will obviously work hand in hand with anyone to improve the area as long as it is beneficial to Millwall FC, its fans and its shareholders. John Berylson has committed a lot of time to the Millwall regeneration project so let's hope at some point it comes to fruition and brings much needed revenue to the club.
I popped along to have a look and the plans look good. All we need is to ensure that any regeneration benefits Millwall Football Club and does not have any major impact on our ability to watch football at the ground

I was honoured to be asked to unveil the plague that has been erected at the site of the old Den. It has been a long time coming and it seems strange that a place that has such an emotional significance for many people just disappeared without any reference to days gone by. Nick Hart from the Lions Trust, the MSC and the club put in a lot of time and effort working with the local council (Lewisham) to get the plaque erected. Many people in the local area are unaware of the importance of the spot, good work by all involved.

Finally, our own legend Neil Harris enjoyed the testimonial he deserved after over 10 years of service to the club. We all know he had a bit of a break and went to pastures new, but he has come back and regained his renowned scoring prowess, netting the goals that helped us to promotion.

What a great day we had a Wembley thanks to Neil and the rest of the squad. How different was the feeling this year after last years disappointment? I was lucky enough to be able to see the team get the trophy from the royal box. After a very difficult year for me, it was an amazing feeling and I must thank my fellow fans who voted for me. I never take my position for granted and realise how blessed I am to be so near the heart of the club.

I caught up with Neil for a chat during the training camp in the Devon. He told me that there was a great camaraderie within the squad that can only bode well for the coming season. We somehow got around to speaking about superstitions and I pushed him on the point to see if our own legend had any of his own. It transpires that Neil cannot go out on the pitch without touching the "This is the Lions Den" sign, and when he goes out at away games he needs to jump up and touch something as he leaves the tunnel. Strange behaviour!
Neil was a tremendous help and support for me during my recent treatment for cancer and for that I would like to publicly thank him.

As always any queries/questions email me at petergarston@hotmail.com