Millwall have free transfer to thank for remarkable Wolves drama: View | OneFootball

Millwall have free transfer to thank for remarkable Wolves drama: View | OneFootball

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Football League World

·14 September 2024

Millwall have free transfer to thank for remarkable Wolves drama: View

Article image:Millwall have free transfer to thank for remarkable Wolves drama: View

Ricardo Fuller had a day to remember for the Lions back in 2014

If anyone was ever going to describe Ricardo Fuller, they would probably use phrases like ‘erratic’, and ‘on his day’ quite a lot, such was his in-and-out form throughout his career.


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A blinding performance one week could be followed by a non-existent showing the next, which could be the cause of much frustration for any of the 10 English sides he played for in his career.

Although most prominently regarded as part of a Preston North End or Stoke City side, the forward spent one of his final seasons in the game at Millwall, who got their chance to be irked by the attacker’s fluctuating performance levels.

But for one afternoon in October 2014, the ‘erratic’ striker was most definitely ‘on his day’, with Wolverhampton Wanderers feeling the brunt of it as he turned back the clock with a match-defining performance.

Ricardo Fuller joins Millwall after underwhelming Blackpool stint

Fuller was almost still living off past glories during the swan song of his career, with time at Charlton Athletic and Blackpool after his six-year stint with Stoke came to an end.

The Jamaican flattered to deceive in both South London and in the north west of England, and returned back to the capital for one last roll of the dice in the second tier, as Millwall welcomed him with open arms.

And what would you know, the striker began to rub the Lions fans up the wrong way, with his goal-shy antics contributing towards the Bermondsey outfit struggling near the bottom of the second tier.

But in a season of few high points, Fuller did produce one of the moments of the campaign as Kenny Jackett’s promotion-chasing side came to town, with a late, late show that sent the home fans into delirium.

Ricardo Fuller rescues Millwall with superb late brace

With both sides fending at opposite ends of the table, things looked to be proceeding towards their expected resolution at The Den on October 18, 2014, with the Black Country outfit steaming into a three-goal lead with just 25 minutes remaining.

All those in Cold Blow Lane were probably expecting the worst as the visitors piled forward with panache and pizzazz, with Danny Batth, Ethan Ebanks-Landell and Bakary Sako finding the back of the net.

Fuller had been thrown into the mix just before the hour-mark when there had been just a one-goal deficit, but within seven minutes of his arrival, his side had three goals to make up to salvage anything from the game.

But after Lee Gregory had clawed one back minutes later, a ripple of hope murmured its way around the Den, with the Lions beginning to roar like they hadn’t really done all season.

But for all their huff and puff, Millwall couldn’t find another breakthrough, with it looking like being another frustrating day at the office, and attention once again going to their misfiring strike force up top.

But as had so often been the case throughout his career, Fuller went from lingering and lolloping to goal-poacher-in-chief in the blink of an eye, with a spectacular volley reducing the arrears with just eight minutes on the clock.

With Scott McDonald peeling away at the back post, all the Jamaican had to do as stand waiting in the penalty area, before unleashing a powerful drive to bamboozle Carl Ikeme in the visitors’ net. Game on.

Article image:Millwall have free transfer to thank for remarkable Wolves drama: View

The Den was pulsating by now, with the veins of every single one of the die-hards behind the net throbbing out of their foreheads, as the heady days of a point against the mighty Old Gold looked more and more likely.

The sleeping Lions of before were no more, and Fuller was at the heart of it all, with his half-hour performance offering more promise than much of his previous showings combined, and ever the showman, he saved another bit of quality to round off the comeback minutes later.

Back to goal. Edge of the penalty area. Lee Martin swings in another disappointing delivery. Everything is routine as usual, before Fuller turns into prime-Bergkamp, you can almost smell the class oozing out of him with a first touch that takes the defender out the game.

Richard Stearman - the man chucked on just a minute before to steady the ship and preserve a point - can only see a flash before his eyes, as Fuller, days before his 35th birthday, sidles past him and rifles in his second of the day.

The Den are collectively off their heads, Bermondsey is burning with Fuller the fire starter; memories are made that will last a lifetime.

They say you can sometimes have too much of a good thing, which is maybe why Fuller saved 50% of his Millwall league tally for that very day, just to give the Lions a teaser of what he was about.

Ten years on, it is still an EFL moment for the ages, with the Jamaican rolling back the years to produce the most grandiose of finales.

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