Soccer: Millwall spirit still shines on

Millwall's not the most glamorous of English football clubs. In fact, it's one of the most reviled clubs in the professional leagues.

Millwall fans are well aware of their reputation, given their favourite chant is 'no one likes us, we don't care' and they did little to improve their image when 900 went on a hate-filled riot through the streets of Bermondsey in London when their side was knocked out of the division one playoffs by Birmingham in 2002.

More than 100 police officers were injured that night, a number of them seriously. Scores were convicted for their role in the violence when fans attempted to take out their disappointment on rival supporters and the club was forced to bring in a membership scheme to ward out hooligans that ultimately cost the club millions.

People tend to forget what happened on the field that season, when a little-known bunch of players fell agonisingly short of breaking into the Premiership. A number of them have become household names - Tim Cahill (Everton), Lucas Neill (Blackburn), Steven Reid (Blackburn) and Tony Warner (Fulham) and there were a couple of old hands in Dion Dublin (formerly Manchester United and Aston Villa) and Steve Claridge (he's played at 20 clubs over 23 seasons, including Crystal Palace, Wolves and Leicester).

Also in the ranks was a diminutive and unfashionable left-back by the name of Ronnie Bull, who stands at just 1.52m, weighs 69kg and has more freckles than Dennis the Menace. He just happened to be Millwall's player of the year in that 2001/02 season and epitomised their spirit - the players were also well aware no one liked them but, like their fans, didn't seem to care. As goalkeeper Warner used to say: "We'd roll into town, do the business and roll out".

Millwall was quite a good fit for Bull. Because of his physical limitations as he grew up on London's Hackney Marshes - again, not the most fashionable of areas - Bull learned to look after himself. He moulded himself into one of the toughest tackling defenders in the league and is now leaving his mark, quite literally at times, on opposition A-League strikers.

"I've always looked at guys like Stuart Pearce and Ben Thatcher, who aren't the biggest, and realised that if the ball is there to win, then that's what I'll do," he offered in his thick East End accent. "I'm not saying they were nutcases but that's the way they were."

That's the way Bull is, as well. Beyond the white lines of the football field, however, he's one of those nice guys, albeit laden with a fair bit of bling. In England he'd be described as something of a geezer, a chav - whatever term is doing the rounds at the time - but in a likeable rogue kind of way. He also has an energy that galvanises team-mates and fans alike.

It's quite some change, then, for a professional footballer to journey to the relative unknown of the New Zealand Knights. Whereas most of his Knights team-mates who have been lured from the UK are on the wrong side of 30, Bull is just 24 - an age when his best football, as pundits like to say, is still ahead of him, although he was forced to miss Friday's 3-1 defeat against Sydney with a hamstring injury.

"A lot of people asked me why I've come [to the Knights]. I wanted to come to a brand new league," Bull said, without really getting into the nitty-gritty behind his decision. "The gaffer might not like me adding to expectations but I do want to win things," he offered further, adopting another favourite saying among English footballers.

The thing with Bull is, since the heights of 2002, his career has been in decline and the Knights represent a fresh start in a completely new environment. After Millwall, where he fell down the pecking order after a series of injuries and fell out of favour with new manager Dennis Wise, he went on loan to Yeovil and Brentford, before teaming up with Grimsby in English League Two last season. A clause in his contract allowed him to leave if the club failed to reach the top half of the table.

He comes to the A-League with one curious statistic, given he's been booked during an FA Cup tie but has never played an FA Cup game. He missed out on Millwall's cup run that took them to the final against Manchester United in 2004 but, during their campaign, was booked for running on the pitch while warming up against Cambridge in an earlier tie. He also helped a Brentford side stave off relegation in 2003, only to send his next club, Grimsby, to the lower leagues.

It's fair to say, then, that things happen when Bull is around. He's aware of the status of football over here but, like a number of his team-mates who have moved to the other side of the world, it's part of the attraction.

As much as it's unfashionable, there's a certain Millwall spirit in Bull. He's used to being the underdog and that suits him just fine.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY