Exclusive: Teddy Sheringham reveals Millwall mindset during 1988/89 top-tier title push | OneFootball

Sheringham and his team were realistic about their chances of winning the top-flight title in 1988/89, despite climbing to the top of the league.

Highlights

Teddy Sheringham has revealed that Millwall didn't expect to win the First Division title during the 1988/89 campaign despite climbing to the top of the division during the early stages of that season, making this admission to Football League World.

Sheringham, 58, debuted for the Lions in the 1980s and was able to build up some valuable first-team experience before they won promotion to the top tier back in 1988.

This was a significant achievement for John Docherty's side, with the club managing to secure a place in the top tier for the first time in their history.

With this in mind, some may have expected them to struggle, but they did extremely well with forwards Sheringham and Tony Cascarino playing a big part in their success.

After a 3-2 win against Queens Park Rangers in October 1988, they climbed to the summit of the top-tier table, which is a remarkable achievement considering they were only promoted just a matter of months before.

However, they were unable to retain their place at the top of the division and finished the campaign in 10th place, the lowest position they were in throughout the entire season.

That reinforces just how impressive they were during that season - and fans who were there to witness it will look back on that period with fondness.

Teddy Sheringham on whether Millwall thought they could win the 1988/89 top-tier title

Leicester City performed a miracle back in 2016, narrowly avoiding relegation during the previous year before going on to win the Premier League title.

The Lions could have achieved something similarly remarkable by winning the league back in 1989, but Sheringham and his team were realistic.

Asked whether he and his team thought they could go on and win the title during that season, Sheringham said via TG Casino: "No we didn't. We were delighted to be in the top division for the first time ever in the club's history.

"As for even thinking about winning it (the league title), no.

"We knew our place, it was exciting at the time but we knew it wasn't going to last, no way.

"We had just come up from the division below and we were delighted to be involved."

Both clubs did very well during their remarkable seasons, but there is a key difference between the two teams.

The Lions hadn't competed in the top tier before 1988/89 and this was the first ever time they had competed at the top level.

Leicester, on the other hand, were in the top flight during the 2014/15 season and they were able to get a taste of what being at the top level was like before their remarkable 2015/16 campaign.

The Foxes also appointed a new manager before 2015/16, which may have made them slightly unpredictable, even though Claudio Ranieri had managed in the English top tier before.

The Lions may not have been able to win the league, but they can be very proud of their 1988/89 campaign, looking back.