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The acquisition of Millwall by property developer Peter de Savary (or PDS as he likes to be known) has prompted some puzzlement in football circles. 'From Land's End to League's End' was one comment, recalling PDS's one time ownership of England's last piece of mainland. PDS thinks that Millwall can be one of the top fifteen clubs in the country in five years. Money would be made available, but he would not say how much. Football, he asserted, was like any other business. Maybe, although it has a habit of turning big fortunes (PDS is thought to be worth about £20 million) into small ones. Why should someone whose previous sporting interest was in yacht racing become interested in a less than glamorous club in decidedly down market New Cross? One possibility is the 'development potential' of the club. A property expert has suggested that Millwall is conveniently placed in an area of South East London that could benefit from the coming of the Olympic Games. There is already a half-full stadium and some development potential nearby. Of course, this overlooks the fact that the site is tightly constricted by railway lines and a nearby power station that burns rubbish to create power. Despite a lot of hype surrounding nearby Deptford, its move up market looks decidedly uncertain in an area that is still far from salubrious even if it isn't far as the crow flies from Canary Wharf. So perhaps there isn't a crock of gold at the New Den after all and another successful businessman has blundered into football without much thought about the consequences for his wallet.
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