Ian Miller
Personal information
Full name Ian Miller[1]
Date of birth (1955-05-13) 13 May 1955[2]
Place of birth Perth, Scotland
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3]
Position(s) Right winger
Youth career
Jeanfield Swifts
Bury
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1973–1975 Bury 15 (0)
1975 Nottingham Forest 0 (0)
1975–1978 Doncaster Rovers 124 (14)
1978–1981 Swindon Town 127 (9)
1981–1989 Blackburn Rovers 268 (16)
1989–1990 Port Vale 21 (1)
1990–1991 Scunthorpe United 12 (0)
1992 Stafford Rangers
Total 567+ (40+)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ian Miller (born 13 May 1955) is a Scottish former footballer who played his football in England as a winger. He made 660 league and cup appearances in the English Football League over an eighteen-year professional career, scoring 48 goals.

He began his career at Bury, helping the club to win promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1973–74. He was then at Nottingham Forest, but did not feature for the first team before transferring to Doncaster Rovers in 1975. Voted onto the Fourth Division PFA Team of the Year in 1975–76, 1976–77 and 1977–78, he moved on to Swindon Town in 1978. He switched to Blackburn Rovers in 1981, and spent the next eight years with the club, lifting the Full Members Cup in 1987. He then had brief spells with Port Vale and Scunthorpe United, before ending his career with non-League Stafford Rangers. He went into coaching straight after his retirement as a player, and worked behind the scenes at a wide variety of clubs in the Football League.

Playing career

Bury

Miller started his career with Scottish junior club Jeanfield Swifts, before turning professional with English club Bury in 1973. The "Shakers" won promotion out of the Fourth Division in 1973–74, with manager Bobby Smith playing Miller in fifteen league games.

Nottingham Forest to Doncaster Rovers

Miller then moved on to Nottingham Forest of the Second Division, then led by Allan Brown. He failed to play a league game for Forest in 1974–75, and instead moved on to Doncaster Rovers in a player exchange for Micky French in July 1978, who were in the Fourth Division and managed by Stan Anderson.[2] He provided many assists for strike duo Peter Kitchen and Brendan O'Callaghan in the 1975–76, also scoring nine goals himself, including a hat-trick in a 5–1 win over Newport County in November.[4] He played a total of 139 games for "Donny" in league and cup competitions, scoring 15 goals, as the side posted mid-table finishes in 1976–77 and 1977–78. He was voted onto the PFA Team of the Year for the fourth tier in all three of his seasons at Belle Vue as his accurate crosses provided a huge amount of goalscoring chances for Kitchen and O'Callaghan.[2]

Swindon Town

He was transferred to Third Division club Swindon Town in exchange for Mick French, in a move that reunited him with manager Bobby Smith.[2] He was signed to provide crosses for Andy Rowland and Alan Mayes.[2] The "Robins" declined from fifth in 1978–79 to tenth in 1979–80 and then seventeenth in 1980–81 – just one point above the relegation zone. He played 159 games for Swindon in all competitions, scoring 14 goals.

Blackburn Rovers

Miller then signed with Second Division Blackburn Rovers, then managed by Bobby Saxton, who authorised a £60,000 fee.[5] He went on to become a popular player with the club's fans.[3] Rovers finished in the top-half of the table in 1981–82, 1982–83 and 1983–84, before missing out on promotion to the First Division by just one point in 1984–85. However, they then plummeted in 1985–86, avoiding relegation by just three points. Saxton was replaced by Don Mackay halfway through the 1986–87 campaign. Rovers also won the Full Members Cup in 1987, as they beat Charlton Athletic 1–0 in the Wembley final after Miller set up Colin Hendry for the only goal of the game.[5] He then led them to a play-off finish in 1987–88, though Rovers lost to Chelsea at the semi-final stage. They then reached the play-off final in 1988–89, but lost out to Crystal Palace 4–3 over the course of two legs.

Later career

Miller departed Ewood Park and joined Second Division Port Vale in June 1989, as manager John Rudge needed cover for an injured Gary Ford.[6] He began the 1989–90 season as a regular, but lost his place by December and was released in August 1990, having played 24 games in all competitions, scoring once against Ipswich Town on New Year's Day. He moved on to Mick Buxton's Scunthorpe United, and helped them to the Fourth Division play-offs, where they lost to Blackpool at the semi-final stage. Miller then ended his career with Stafford Rangers in the Conference.

Style of play

Miller was a pacey right-winger with good dribbling and erratic crossing abilities, as well as a high defensive work rate.[3]

Coaching career

Miller remained active in the game after retiring as a player. He returned to Port Vale as the Community Programme leader in August 1991 and became the youth development officer in May 1992. In November 1994 he left Vale Park to become the reserve team coach at Wolverhampton Wanderers.[7] He later coached at Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool (assisting Colin Hendry), Bury, Leicester City and Manchester City before joining the staff at Leeds United in 2008.[8] On 1 February 2012, chairman Ken Bates sacked manager Simon Grayson, his assistant Glynn Snodin, and Miller.[9] He followed Grayson on to Huddersfield Town the next month, and later went with him to Preston North End and Sunderland.[10][11] He also joined Grayson at Blackpool in July 2019, marking a return to Bloomfield Road after fourteen years.[12] He left the club, along with Grayson, on 12 February 2020.[13]

Career statistics

Source:[14]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other[A] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bury 1973–74 Fourth Division 1500011161
Nottingham Forest 1974–75 Second Division 00000000
Doncaster Rovers 1975–76 Fourth Division 4391050499
1976–77 Fourth Division 4652140526
1977–78 Fourth Division 3501020380
Total 124144111013915
Swindon Town 1978–79 Third Division 4434042525
1979–80 Third Division 40262110574
1980–81 Third Division 4342050504
Total 127912220215913
Blackburn Rovers 1981–82 Second Division 4231030463
1982–83 Second Division 3241010344
1983–84 Second Division 3631021394
1984–85 Second Division 3844020444
1985–86 Second Division 3813010421
1986–87 Second Division 2801041331
1987–88 Second Division 2300020250
1988–89 Second Division 3112070401
Total 2641613023230018
Port Vale 1989–90 Second Division 2110030241
Scunthorpe United 1990–91 Fourth Division 1204020180
Career total 5674033360566048
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup, Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

Honours

Individual

Bury

Blackburn Rovers

References

  1. ↑ "Ian Miller". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Swindon-Town-FC.co.uk – Ian MILLER – Player Profile". swindon-town-fc.co.uk. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Jackman, Mike (1994). Blackburn Rovers : the official encyclopaedia. Derby: Breedon. p. 163. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  4. ↑ "Rover of the Day: Ian Miller". doncasterroversfc.co.uk. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 Cryer, Andy (3 December 2010). "Walker's greatest legacy is now felt, says former Blackburn Rovers star". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
  6. ↑ Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)". The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 258–290. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  7. ↑ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 199. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  8. ↑ "Boss appoints his first member of coaching staff..." leedsunited.com. 27 December 2008. Archived from the original on 15 March 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Leeds United: Ken Bates dismisses criticism". Yorkshire Evening Post. 1 February 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  10. ↑ Thomson, Doug (3 March 2012). "New coach Ian Miller excited by Huddersfield Town challenge". The Huddersfield Daily Examiner. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Wheelock, Paul (21 November 2015). "Familiar faces on both sides as Blackburn Rovers renew rivalries with Preston North End". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  12. ↑ "Dundee 1-0 Blackpool: Simon Grayson's Seasiders begin pre-season with defeat at Dens Park" – Blackpool Gazette, 9 July 2019
  13. ↑ "David Dunn Placed In Caretaker Charge" – Blackpool F.C., 12 February 2020
  14. ↑ Ian Miller at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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