On August 7th 1999, some Millwall fans enhanced their club's supporters' reputation by using the internet to arrange a mass brawl with opposition, Cardiff fans after the match between the two teams.
The was the first time that football hooliganism had gone "on line", with one site commentating on events in Cardiff's "cafe" quarter, causing the urban district to close down for two hours.
Cardiff City ran out 3-1 winners against Millwall in the Championship clash, but there were ugly scenes off the pitch, with police and stewards forced to take action. The Bluebirds won the fiery fixture, with a brace from Aden Flint and a goal from Sean Morrison earning them all three points. However, during the Championship clash, police and stewards were seen jostling with Millwall supporters, with a number escorted out of the stadium.
It is unclear what sparked the trouble, but right from the off there was a clear divide between both the two sets of players and the two sets of fans, when Cardiff opted to take the knee, only for their opponents to remain standing.
Taking the knee has been booed by Millwall supporters in the opening weeks of the season and manager Gary Rowett recently suggested the movement was ‘causing a rift’.
The 47-year-old said: “Up and down the country I think there are so many football clubs that do such good work in their communities around equality and anti-racism.“We need the authorities to help clubs out and find a better way to unify people. I don't want to comment on individual people's decision to do that but we just need to find a way to unify people. “At the moment, you know, 20 seconds, 30 seconds, before a game is just causing such a rift and divide. Football is a great spectacle. We're privileged to be part of it.”
Cardiff boss, Mick McCarthy, meanwhile confirmed he fully backed the continuation of the knee taking, explaining on Friday: “I have an input on every decision I make. If I didn’t think it was worth respecting, I wouldn’t do it. “Quite clearly I do and so do the players. I checked with my team and they still wanted to do it. As long as they want to do it, we’ll continue to do it.” The home supporters at the Cardiff City Stadium backed the taking of the knee with applause, while the away end loudly booed.
On the pitch, it was goalless at half-time before central defender Flint picked up where he left off in midweek with another brace, scoring two inside five minutes. Benik Afobe halved the deficit with 15 minutes to go, before Morrison clinched the victory with a goal in the closing ten minutes.
Remarkably all of Cardiff’s eight goals scored this season have come from headers, with the Welsh side sitting on eight points from four games.
As for Millwall, they've endured a miserable early portion of the campaign, failing to win any of their opening quartet of matches and sitting just one place above the relegation zone. There was a crowd of 10,193
| 07 Aug 1999 | Cardiff City v Millwall | D | 1-1 | League Division 2 |
Further north, in St James' Park, Alan Shearer was sent off for the first time in his career, when Uriah Rennie dismissed the England and Newcastle United captain following a foul on Aston Villa's, It was his 100th appearance for the Toon. Shearer was shown his second yellow card in the 71st minute for an innocuous challenge on Villa defender Colin Calderwood and Rennie’s decision incensed the partisan St James’ Park faithful. But it had been coming. Shearer was booked in the first half after his elbow had caught Calderwood in the face and then he escaped further punishment for a similar infringement on Gareth Southgate moments before he was ordered off.
Ian Taylor. Villa won 0-1, scored by:
| Julian Joachim | 75 |  |
There were 8 bookings; 5 for Newcastle and 3 for three for the oppo.
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