'My wife's first game was West Ham vs Millwall. Everything was boarded up outside the stadium - like they were expecting a hurricane' Ex-Hammer recalls high-drama derby with 80 arrests

"West Ham and Millwall hadn't faced each other for four-and-a-half years when the two teams were drawn together in the League Cup back in 2009. The Hammers had been promoted to the top flight some years prior while Millwall were languishing two divisions below in League One. In their past six meetings, West Ham were winless against their great rivals and had not tasted victory over the South Londoners for the past 18 years, adding further fuel to the fixture."

""It was surreal," Spector says. "I remember we didn't normally meet up as a team at a hotel for a home game. And so we did that, and we ended up then taking a bus to the stadium, because they knew that there could be some issues getting [there], they didn't want the players driving their cars there and running into any problems.""

West Ham and Millwall met in the 2009 League Cup after a four-and-a-half-year gap, with West Ham in the top flight and Millwall two divisions lower in League One. West Ham had been winless in their previous six meetings and had not beaten Millwall in 18 years. Millwall's visiting allocation was limited to 1,500 instead of the usual 3,000. Jon Spector recalled an unusual build-up that involved meeting at a hotel, taking a bus to the stadium, and seeing windows and surroundings boarded up amid fears of trouble. West Ham began the season with a win over Wolverhampton then lost to Tottenham.

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