Six arrested as 400 officers police Millwall vs West Ham derby amid spitting allegation

Six people were arrested as 400 Metropolitan Police officers formed a security cordon around The Den for the Championship derby between Millwall and West Ham on Saturday, 19 September, a match that ended 2-2 and was further clouded by a spitting allegation against West Ham striker Taty Castellanos.

The Met said the fixture passed “without significant disruption” across south-east London. Offences leading to arrest included tailgating, assault on a police officer, and entering or attempting to enter a stadium while intoxicated, with all six individuals remaining in custody as of 4pm. A Section 35 dispersal order covering the surrounding area remained in force until midnight.

A separate Live Facial Recognition deployment at London Bridge led to three additional arrests — including one man on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs and possession of a bladed article — though the Met confirmed none of those were football-related.

On the pitch, Millwall led 2-0 at half-time through goals from Caleb Taylor and Camiel Neghli, but West Ham — who arrived at The Den top of the Championship and chasing a fifth consecutive win — levelled through Mohamadou Kante and Konstantinos Mavropanos. The Hammers finished with ten men after Kante was shown a red card, ending the clubs’ first meeting since 2012 with a share of the points.

The game was further marred by an incident in the 65th minute when Castellanos closed down Millwall goalkeeper Filip Marschall. Marschall subsequently lodged a complaint with match officials, including referee Paul Tierney, gesturing that the Argentinian had spat at him during the challenge. It was Marschall’s Championship debut.

Millwall manager Alex Neil declined to press the matter, saying: “I haven’t asked him about it, but it’s like anything else — I’m sure there’ll be footage of it, or not of it if it didn’t happen.” West Ham head coach Nuno Espirito Santo had not publicly commented on the allegation at the time of reporting.