Increased police provision has been arranged for Saturday’s South London derby between Crystal Palace and Millwall.
The Eagles and the Lions meet at Selhurst Park in the FA Cup fifth round at Saturday lunchtime in a match which kicks off at 12:15pm GMT.
Standard Sport has learned that the Metropolitan Police have dispatched a greater number of officers to the ground for the match than typically work at a Palace home match, following an individual-match risk assessment.
More officers have been posted to Saturday's match than worked at the Eagles’ Premier League victory over Aston Villa on Tuesday night.
Palace are understood to be implementing an “enhanced searching regime” at turnstiles, including detection dogs.
For safety reasons, Thornton Heath train station will be closed two hours prior to kick-off and two hours after the final whistle. Norwood Junction and Selhurst stations are expected to operate as normal.
While Millwall’s main rivals are West Ham, the derby between themselves and Palace is one of a number of South London rivalries.
The two sides have rarely met in the last 15 years due to Palace tending to play a league up from Millwall.
They last met in league action in the Championship in April 2013, the same year Palace were promoted to the Premier League, where they have been ever since. Their only meeting since then was an FA Cup third round match in January 2022 which Palace won 2-1 at the Den.
In a statement about the policing provisions in place for Saturday’s match, a Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Standard Sport: “The Met is experienced when it comes to policing sporting events in the capital. An appropriate policing plan will be in place for fixtures this weekend.”
The Football Association were approached for comment.
Crystal Palace declined to comment.
