Day-Lewis

“No One Likes Us - We Don’t Care.” That’s the motto of Millwall supporters and refers to the notorious past of this South London football club. Over the decades, the supporters, who call themselves The Bushwackers, have been involved in riots and brawls. One of the high points, or low points, was the pitch invasion over thirty years ago during a cup match at Luton Town. A state of emergency was declared for matches against Leeds United, West Ham United, and Chelsea.

But the idea that no one likes the hooligans is no longer true. This Saturday, before the derby against Charlton, the dockworkers’ club, founded by Scots, received support from two Hollywood celebrities: Gary Oldman and Daniel Day-Lewis. The former grew up near The Old Den (pictured), the old stadium in New Cross. Many Millwall fans get pre-match drinks at his father’s local pub, The Five Bells. But this 67-year-old Churchill impersonator(among other roles) is also a Manchester United fan, where George Best was one of his favourite players.

Day-Lewis, a year older than him, grew up in nearby Greenwich, where he attended Invicta (pictured) and Sherington primary schools. My son Lieven also attended the former. There, he was bullied for his Jewish and wealthy background. To the dismay of his father, the renowned poet Cecil Day-Lewis, the young Day-Lewis was full of mischief, including shoplifting and fighting. When things threatened to get out of hand, his father decided to send the future film star to a boarding school in Sevenoaks, and later to the progressive school Bedales.

He would eventually become famous for his roles in The Last of the Mohicans, Lincoln, The Age of Innocence, The Crucible, and There Will Be Blood. In 2008, when he received a BAFTA for his lead role in the latter film, he nostalgically reflected on his childhood places in a speech. “Invicta Infants School,” he said, “Sherington Primary School in Charlton, Greenwich Park, Blackheath, the streets of Deptford, Lewisham, and New Cross, the bomb craters on the Isle of Dogs, the quays and dark alleys of the docks in southeast London, the stands of Millwall, the football pitches of those playgrounds from my early childhood.”

That must have been on his mind during the Day-Lewis Derby….