Millwall’s Away Edge: Key to Play-Off Success
Casper De Norre knows exactly where Millwall’s season will be defined. Not under the lights at The Den, but far from south London, in hostile grounds and tight games where points feel heavier.
Last year, the Lions turned those trips into a weapon.
Alex Neil’s side posted the best away record in the Championship in 2025-26, collecting 41 points from 23 matches on the road. Only champions Coventry City could match their 11 away wins. That travelling form dragged them into the promotion picture and kept them there until the final day.
On Saturday, they picked up that thread again.
A controlled, clinical 2-0 victory at Bristol City opened the new campaign and instantly revived the sense that Millwall are built to hurt teams away from home.
“It’s very important if you want to achieve what we’re trying to achieve, to go and get into those play-offs again,” De Norre told BBC Radio London. “You have to be very good both at home and away, so it’s very good that we can start with an away win.
“We’re off to a perfect start. It’s always a difficult game away at Bristol. I think the game just played out perfectly for us.”
Chasing a different ending
The numbers are brutal. Four times they have reached the second-tier play-offs. Four times they have fallen in the semi-finals. Last season added a fresh sting: they missed automatic promotion by a single point, edged out by second-placed Ipswich Town in May.
That near miss still hangs over this campaign. It also sharpens the target.
When asked what counts as realistic this year, with two extra play-off spots now on offer, De Norre didn’t talk about consolidation or caution.
“Try to be a bit better than we were last year,” the 29-year-old said. “Go into the play-offs and try and finish it in the play-offs rather than going out.”
It is a simple message, but it cuts to the core of Millwall’s recent history. For a club that has not played top-flight football since 1990, the play-offs have been both gateway and graveyard. Each run has promised a breakthrough; each has ended one step short of Wembley.
So the equation for Neil’s squad is clear. Replicate the ferocity and resilience that made them the Championship’s most dangerous away side. Add just enough extra quality and composure when the season tightens into knockout football.
If Millwall can carry that Bristol performance into the rest of their travels, the road might finally lead somewhere they haven’t been for 36 years.
