Paphitis: Rioting stopped me quitting Den

"When I joined the club I said it would take five years to get the club back on its feet and become a force in Division One.

"We were in administration and in the Second Division wondering if we were going to get relegated.

"We had achieved what we wanted in the timescale but it was not possible to leave because of the problems after the play-offs. Millwall went through a nightmare and the club were back in trouble again and I could not walk away. Everything had to change again."

Hooligans rioted when the club were knocked out of the play-offs at The Den and as well as injuring police and smashing up property they damaged the reputation Paphitis cared so much about.

In his first five years he worked hard to move Millwall away from the associations they had with violence and racism and felt he was getting somewhere.

He had not lined up a successor but a peaceful time in the play-offs would have paved the way for him to leave the club in a healthy position to a richer benefactor.

Instead, the riot required Paphitis to take an even tighter grip at the club and prompted a tough membership scheme which has kept the trouble-makers out.

An indication of the success of his zero-tolerance approach came when Millwall fans booed their West Ham counterparts for causing trouble at The Den nine days ago.

"I was proud of them that day and it made all the aggravation and hard work involved in getting things right worth the effort," Paphitis said.

Two years after one of Millwall's darkest days, the club appear to have made considerable progress off the pitch.

On the playing side, Paphitis's decision to replace manager Mark McGhee and assistant Archie Knox with Dennis Wise and Ray Wilkins last October has been vindicated.

A win against Sunderland at Old Trafford on Sunday in Millwall's first semifinal for 67 years would secure a Millennium Stadium trip to play Arsenal or Manchester United.

It would also give them European football next season by virtue of the other finalist qualifying for the Champions League through the Premiership. That could mean extra income of between £500,000 - £3million depending on their success and television rights sales.

There is also the small matter of a £20m windfall if Millwall make it to the Premiership through the play-offs.

If Paphitis wanted to go while the club are doing well, the end of this season is likely to be as good a time as any. But he is having too much of a good time.

Player-manager Wise says his future at Millwall is tied to Paphitis's.

The chairman said: "It's been really enjoyable in the last few months and we are both committed to being here next season. I don't want to go anywhere at the moment when I am enjoying it so much, but that is as far as we can look at the moment.

"When it is the right time for me to go I will know. We all have our sell-by date."