The reputation of Millwall’s followers is among the worst in the English Football League.
But The Lions’ embittered fans are adamant the bad press is not all justified.
No One Likes Us… but one man at least, photographer Jérôme Favre, cares enough to document life among those infamous fans at The Den in South East London.
Favre called his project No One Likes Us after finding himself drawn towards life at The Den.
He followed The Lions through the 2021/22 season as the club chased promotion to the Premier League, narrowly missing out on making the playoffs.
Originally from Lens in northern France, Jérôme moved to New Cross in south London and immediately identified with his local team.
He wanted to follow a working class club, as he did from childhood back home, and felt Millwall fitted the bill, describing top flight football in general as “gentrifying”.
No One Likes Us | Jérôme Favre
A photo documentary by Jérôme Favre on Millwall fans and life at The Den.
A limited edition A5 zine containing 84 colour photographs across 56 pages.
He was after something that felt cultural, working class, and traditional in its roots.
He was also drawn towards the club’s supporters’ bad reputation and his pictures are the result of a fresh and honest look at their fans as he re-evaluates their position in contemporary football culture.
“Football clubs and communities have always gone hand in hand,” he says. “Millwall’s original fans came from a canning factory on the Isle of Dogs.”
His hometown club back in France, RC Lens, shares similar traits. For decades after they were formed players and supporters alike worked side by side at the coal face of the local pit.
He sees this traditional feel to the identities of most clubs gradually eroding, particularly in the top flight, yet finds hope whenever supporters come together in a fight to retain, or reclaim, such origins.
He found those cultural traditions at Lens, and he’s rediscovered just the same at The Den.
No One Likes Us the fans sing. Jérôme Favre is among those that do.
Favre shot his photo documentary using a Fuji XT3 with a 35mm lens and a Nikon D850 with a 50mm lens.
A selection of Jérôme’s photographs are available as high quality prints through Lower Block.
If you enjoyed that, you may also like Tottenham Hotspur – Can’t Smile Without You, where photographer and lifelong supporter Martin Andersen turns his camera on fellow fans to give a candid view of life on and off the terraces during the final years at the old White Hart Lane.
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