A final decision on the "compulsory purchase" of League One side Millwall’s land "is due on Thursday night" in the municipal "splendour" of Lewisham council’s civic suite, according to Barney Ronay of the London GUARDIAN. Already the club’s hopes "have received a bitter blow with the publication of an in-house council report recommending the Labour cabinet forces though the order." The land "would then be sold on to an offshore-registered company called Renewal," a move that could see Millwall "threatened ultimately with a gentrification-led exit from their own backyard." Renewal’s ownership remains unknown, "although in an arresting coincidence, company documents show it was originally set up" by "none other than" previous Labour Mayor Dave Sullivan. It is a "bewildering state of affairs generally, not just for football but also for anyone concerned by the opacity of local government." Already there are "fears the compulsory purchase order may open the door to other football clubs being forced out of their homes" by rising land prices and local authorities with an eye on the benefits of "regeneration." At Millwall’s annual general meeting last Friday, club Owner John Berylson spoke of the "black cloud" over the team’s future. He said, "Our landlord will be Renewal, an offshore company domiciled in tax havens with anonymous directors and no experience whatsoever, as it admits, of completing a scheme of this complexity" (GUARDIAN, 12/13).
