South London derby

South London derby

Millwall and Charlton shake hands before kick-off at The Den in November, 2019.
Other names	South East London derby
Location	South London, England
Teams	Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Sutton United, AFC Wimbledon
First meeting	Millwall 0–3 Crystal Palace[a] (PFA Charity Fund, 31 October 1910)
Latest meeting	AFC Wimbledon 0–1 Sutton United (League Two, 26 December 2023)
Stadiums	The Den Gander Green Lane Plough Lane Selhurst Park The Valley
Statistics
Meetings total	331[b][c]
Most wins	Millwall (96)
All-time series	Millwall: W96 D73 L71 Crystal Palace: W80 D52 L69 Charlton Athletic: W50 D52 L83 AFC Wimbledon: W8 D6 L13 Sutton United: W5 D1 L3
Largest victory	Millwall 6–0 Charlton Athletic (Second Division, 3 January 1931)

The South London derby is the name given to a football derby contested by any two of Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Sutton United, and AFC Wimbledon, the five professional Football Association clubs that play in the Football League in South London, England.^[1] It is sometimes more specifically called the South East London derby when played between Charlton and Millwall.^[2] The close geographical proximity of all the teams contributes significantly to the rivalries.

Charlton and Millwall are located in South East London, with Millwall's The Den based in New Cross and Charlton's The Valley situated in Greenwich, being less than four miles apart. Crystal Palace are based further south in the suburb of Selhurst, their stadium Selhurst Park being six miles from The Den and eight from The Valley. Since 2020, AFC Wimbledon have been located at the new Plough Lane in Merton, South West London, which is five miles west of Selhurst Park, eight from The Den, and seven and a half from The Valley. Sutton United play at Gander Green Lane in west Sutton, five miles south of Plough Lane and nearly eight miles west of Selhurst Park.

According to a 2013 fan survey on football rivalries, Charlton considers their main rival to be Crystal Palace, with Millwall being their second biggest rival. Millwall's main rivalry is with East London club West Ham United, with Palace placed second and Charlton third. Crystal Palace fans consider their main rival to be Brighton, with Millwall second and Charlton third. AFC Wimbledon's main rivalry is with Milton Keynes Dons, with their fans considering Crawley Town as their second biggest rival. Sutton's rivals include AFC Wimbledon and Crawley Town.

Millwall was founded in 1885, with Palace and Charlton both founded twenty-years later in 1905. The earliest fixture between two of the teams was in 1906 when Crystal Palace and Millwall first met in the Southern League. The two teams have contested the most games, over 130 derbies. Palace and Millwall both entered the Football League in the 1920–21 season. Charlton joined the next year in the 1921–22 season, playing in the same division as Palace and Millwall for the first time. Wimbledon were founded in 1889 and spent the majority of their history as an amateur club, until joining the Football League in the 1977–78 season. In 2003 Wimbledon were relocated to Milton Keynes as part of a franchise takeover and became Milton Keynes Dons. During this period of decline, the club reformed as a phoenix club in 2002, founded by supporters against the move, renaming itself AFC Wimbledon, as it won a rapid succession of non-League promotions to gain Football League status nine years later. AFC Wimbledon played their first derby in 2009, an FA Cup game against Millwall. Sutton United were founded in 1898 but only played their first competitive derby in 2017, an FA Cup game against AFC Wimbeldon. Sutton gained promotion into the English Football League for the first time in the 2020–21 season, finishing champions of the National League.

Charlton are the only team who has played against all four South London teams, and only hold a winning record against Sutton. Millwall hold a winning record over Charlton, Palace, and Wimbledon. Wimbledon and Crystal Palace both have winning records against Charlton but have yet to play a game against each other. Sutton has a winning record over Wimbledon. As of the 2023–24 season, Crystal Palace play in the Premier League, Millwall play in the Championship, Charlton play in League One, and Sutton United and AFC Wimbledon play in League Two.

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