Willie Miller

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Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in the world".<ref>Harry Reid (2005), The Final Whistle?, Birlinn, 237–8 Template:ISBN</ref>

Club career

Born in Glasgow, Miller was raised in the Bridgeton area of Glasgow. He had little interest in football as a child, and when he did become drawn to the game he played initially as a goalkeeper.<ref name="don"/> He was scouted by several professional clubs while playing as a forward with Glasgow Schools and Eastercraigs Boys Club.<ref name="dream">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=AFC/>

Having been on unofficial schoolboy terms in 1969, Miller signed full-time for Aberdeen in 1971 at the age of 16 and spent a season on loan with Peterhead in the Highland League, scoring 24 goals;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=AFC/> upon his return he was converted to a central defender/sweeper in the reserves on the advice of Teddy Scott,<ref name="dream"/><ref name=fame>Template:Cite web</ref> winning the SFL Reserve Cup in 1973,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> established himself in that position in the first team in place of Henning Boel,<ref name="don"/><ref name=AFC/> and by 1975 had been made captain by manager Ally MacLeod.

Miller's central defensive partnership with Alex McLeish was integral to Aberdeen's success in the 1980s,<ref name=AFCMcL>Template:Cite web</ref> as they won all the major domestic honours and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. He made at least 40 appearances for Aberdeen in 14 consecutive seasons,<ref name=AFC/> amassing a total of 12 trophies won as well as appearing in several other finals.<ref name=fame/> His total of 797 competitive appearances for the club is comfortably (by more than 100 matches) the all-time record.

He retired from playing in 1990 due to an injury picked up whilst playing for Scotland.<ref name="dream"/><ref name=Norway>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=AFC/> A farewell testimonial match in his honour took place in December 1990 with Aberdeen facing a 'World Cup XI' (featuring Kenny Dalglish, David O'Leary, Mark Hughes and Danny McGrain among others) at Pittodrie Stadium.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had already received a testimonial in 1981 against Tottenham Hotspur.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2003, Willie Miller was voted the greatest Aberdeen player of all time in a poll to mark the club's centenary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2015 it was no surprise when he was named in Aberdeen's 'greatest ever team' by supporters of the club.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Miller was voted Scottish Football Writers' and SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He had been runner-up for the SFWA award in 1983.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

International career

Having appeared at under-21<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and under-23<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> level, Miller won 65 full international caps for Scotland between 1975 and 1989, scoring one goal. His 50th cap came against West Germany during the 1986 FIFA World Cup.<ref name=AFC/> His international career was effectively ended by an injury suffered during the last game of 1990 FIFA World Cup qualification.<ref name="dream"/><ref name=Norway/> Although he did not play in the 1990 FIFA World Cup finals, Miller was presented with the match ball from Scotland's 1–0 loss to Brazil to thank him for his contribution to Scottish football.Template:Citation needed

He was an inaugural inductee to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame in 2004,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and is also on the international roll of honour, having won 50 international caps. In 2010, Miller was chosen as one of the eleven members of Scotland's Greatest Team, by viewers of the Scottish Television documentary series, which sought the fans' opinion on the best Scotland players since the 1960s.<ref name=greatest>Template:Cite news</ref> Viewers also chose Alex McLeish as his partner in central defence.

Managerial career

In February 1992, he was appointed Aberdeen manager, replacing the sacked Alex Smith.<ref>'Fan power was on the rampage': How Alex Smith paid the price for Aberdeen's troubled 1991-92 season, Neil Drysdale, Press & Journal, 11 October 2021</ref> Despite two second-place finishes in the league and two losing cup finals in 1992–93, Miller was sacked in February 1995<ref name=AFC/><ref name=fame/><ref name=sever>Template:Cite web</ref> with the club in danger of being relegated for the first time in its history (survival was eventually achieved via a playoff).

In May 2004, Miller was appointed to the Aberdeen board and given executive responsibility for football.<ref name=AFC/> He played a large role in the appointment of Jimmy Calderwood (a friend from their Glasgow Schools days)<ref name="don"/> as manager,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as progressing the club's youth academy.<ref name=fame/>

In June 2011, he was appointed as Aberdeen's Director of Football Development, with the responsibility of finding new playing talent for the club.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He departed again in 2012.<ref name=fame/><ref name=sever/>

Career outside football

Miller has worked for the BBC, particularly for Radio Scotland, as a football commentator and analyst.<ref name=AFC/> He has written two autobiographies, The Miller's Tale and The Don, the latter being published in 2007.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="don"/> His third book, Willie Miller's Aberdeen Dream Team, was published in 2011.<ref name="dream"/>

During the 2014 Scottish independence referendum Miller was a supporter of the Better Together campaign against Scottish independence.<ref name="football">Template:Cite web</ref>

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Club Season League Scottish
Cup 		Scottish
League Cup 		Europe Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Aberdeen 1972–73 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
1973–74 31 1 1 0 9 0 4 0 46 0
1974–75 34 1 4 1 6 0 0 0 44 2
1975–76 36 0 2 1 6 0 0 0 44 1
1976–77 36 0 3 0 8 0 0 0 47 0
1977–78 36 2 6 0 6 0 2 0 50 2
1978–79 34 0 5 1 8 0 4 0 51 1
1979–80 31 1 5 1 8 0 2 0 46 2
1980–81 33 2 1 0 6 0 4 0 44 2
1981–82 36 0 6 0 10 0 6 0 58 0
1982–83 36 2 5 0 8 0 11 1 60 3
1983–84 34 2 7 1 9 1 10 0 60 4
1984–85 35 3 6 0 1 0 2 0 43 3
1985–86 33 1 6 1 6 0 6 1 51 3
1986–87 36 2 3 0 2 0 2 0 43 2
1987–88 42 3 6 0 5 0 4 0 57 3
1988–89 22 1 0 0 5 2 2 0 29 3
1989–90 15 0 0 0 5 0 2 0 22 0
1990–91 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
Career total 560 21 66 6 109 3 61 2 797 32

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year<ref>Template:NFT player</ref><ref name=AFC/>
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 1975 1 0
1978 1 0
1979 1 0
1980 6 1
1981 7 0
1982 5 0
1983 9 0
1984 6 0
1985 8 0
1986 8 0
1987 4 0
1988 7 0
1989 2 0
Total 65 1
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Miller goal.
List of international goals scored by Willie Miller<ref>http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/football_player_profile.cfm?page=2492&playerID=9&squadID=1 SFA profile</ref>
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 21 May 1980 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland Template:Fb 1–0 1–0 1979–80 British Home Championship

Managerial record

<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Team From To Record
P W L D Win %
Aberdeen February 1992 February 1995

Template:WDL

Honours

Player

Peterhead

Aberdeen

Scotland

Manager

Individual

See also

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Navboxes Template:Navboxes Template:Aberdeen F.C. managers

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