Millwall fell short of a Championship playoff place but it wasn’t a season devoid of promise and there were plenty of thrills and spills along the way.
It will no doubt come as a disappointment that the Lions failed to achieve a top-six spot, but we look back at the highlights of the season in Bermondsey.
Solid Start
Millwall kicked off the campaign with a 0-0 home draw against Stoke, but it didn’t take long for the Lions to pick up their first win of the season when beating Rotherham 1-0 at the New York Stadium.
Gary Rowett’s side then went on a run that saw them lose just one of their opening eight second-tier matches, highlighted by good wins against Luton and Swansea.
The Lions were up to third after the first eight games of the Championship campaign and a good season looked on the cards.
Wallace Leads the Way
Things rather dried up for the Lions in the coming weeks and a run of five straight draws followed a promising beginning. However, those stalemates came against the likes of Champions Norwich and play-off contenders Reading and Cardiff.
Jed Wallace’s superb 35-yard free-kick against the Royals stole the show during that run and the strike was a worthy goal of the season contender.
Brilliant Bialkowski Builds a Wall
Bartosz Bialkowski landed the Millwall player of the season award last year and his safe hands saw him take the crown for a second campaign running.
The Polish international has kept 17 clean sheets this season and that includes shut-outs against all of the Championship’s top-three outfits, Norwich, Watford and Brentford.
Bialkowski kept 16 clean sheets last term and to go one better this season is an excellent achievement.
Moving Into Promotion Picture
A brilliant mid-season run saw Millwall move firmly into the promotion picture, with Rowett guiding his side to just three defeats in 17 second-tier matches, stretching from January to April.
That improved form included wins over Reading, Middlesbrough and Stoke and was highlighted by a 4-1 hammering of Sheffield Wednesday at the Den.
Signing off in style
There may not have been fans at the Den for the majority of the season, but Millwall managed to sign off their second-tier home campaign with an excellent 4-1 win against Bristol City.
Supporters of the Lions will be hoping to be back in the stands to see further progress from their side next term.
