BAD OMEN FOR CARDIFF

From the BBC:

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is heading for an FA Cup final reunion on May 22 with the referee he once branded "a joke". Jeff Winter will officiate at the Millennium Stadium match with Millwall and will retire after the game.

Ferguson has had a series of run-ins with the Stockton official. The Football Association banned Ferguson for two matches after Winter, acting as a fourth official, sent him from the dugout at Newcastle.

In February Winter earned further criticism from Ferguson when he sent off Gary Neville in the Manchester derby for headbutting Steve McManaman.

Ferguson accused Winter of allowing a melee to develop and described the referee's decision as "an absolutely ludicrous piece of refereeing".

Winter has not awarded a penalty in any of the Premiership games he has officiated this season.

But he gave Cup finalists Millwall two spot-kicks in their 4-1 win over West Ham at The New Den in March.

In a fiery match, he also awarded one to West Ham and dismissed Hammers keeper Stephen Bywater.

Meanwhile in the Telegraph:

Millwall and Manchester United officials will meet representatives of the Football Association and local authorities in Cardiff today to discuss security measures for the FA Cup final in the Millennium Stadium on May 22.

While there is no history of ill-feeling between the finalists, who have rarely met, the authorities are aware that the reputation of Millwall could prove a dubious challenge for supporters of Cardiff, who visit the Den for a First Division fixture tonight.

The south-east London club's unlikely appearance in the final has many believing the nation should be on red alert, an inevitable if stereotyped concern in the wake of riots involving Millwall fans in games against Birmingham in 2002, Luton in 1985 plus Ipswich back in 1978.

While it may be premature to call them New Millwall, the efforts put in by chairman Theo Paphitis and the club to combat hooliganism seem to be paying off. Millwall are doing all they can about the present and the future.

There were only 18 arrests at their stadium in 2002-03, while, this season, there have been just two Millwall fans arrested home or away for violence.
Two supporters were arrested for racial abuse and the club's zero-tolerance approach towards this has seen 19 banned from the Den indefinitely. Two fans from Sunderland but not a single Millwall supporter was arrested at Old Trafford last Sunday.

"We can do no more," said Ken Chapman, who is the head of Millwall's security. "We can't change history and it's something we have to live with but people shouldn't knock us for what we are trying to do."