Matt Mills

Matt Mills

Mills playing for Leicester City
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Claude Mills
Date of birth	14 July 1986 (1986-07-14)
Place of birth	Leicester, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	Leicester City
Number	5
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2003–2006	Southampton	4	(0)
2004	→ Coventry City (loan)	4	(0)
2005	→ Bournemouth (loan)	12	(3)
2006–2008	Manchester City	2	(0)
2007	→ Colchester United (loan)	9	(0)
2007	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	14	(2)
2008	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	23	(1)
2008–2009	Doncaster Rovers	41	(0)
2009–2011	Reading	61	(4)
2011–	Leicester City	25	(1)
National team‡
2004	England U18	1	(0)
2004–2005	England U19	8	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 February 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:00, 30 May 2011 (UTC)

Matthew Claude "Matt" Mills (born 14 July 1986 in Leicester) is an English footballer who currently plays for and was captain of Leicester City in the Npower Championship. Matthew also has a younger brother and Championship rival Joseph Mills who plays for Reading F.C.

Club career

Southampton and Manchester City

The promising England U19 defender signed for Manchester City from Southampton on a three-and-a-half-year deal in January 2006. A tall, athletic and composed centre back, Mills linked up again with City reserve boss Steve Wigley, who worked with the youngster during his spell in charge of Saints' Academy. Mills displayed his potential during a handful of Football League Championship appearances for the south-coast club, whilst also enjoying loan spells at Bournemouth and Coventry City. On 26 January 2007, he joined Colchester United on loan, returning in April.

Doncaster Rovers

On 17 August 2007, Mills joined Doncaster Rovers on a six month loan deal, linking up with manager Sean O'Driscoll for a second time in his career. He had his loan spell cut short on 21 November 2007, but he then rejoined Doncaster on loan following his spell out through injury and stayed at the South Yorkshire club for the rest of the season. He was part of the starting eleven which won promotion to the Championship, beating Leeds United at Wembley Stadium in the Football League One Play-off Final in May 2008.

He expressed his desire to join Doncaster Rovers after winning promotion at Wembley and was expected to sign in the close season. After two months of speculation about his future, and his move to Doncaster Rovers in doubt after a change of manager at Manchester City, he was eventually unveiled as Doncaster Rovers' record signing when he signed a three year contract with Doncaster on 30 July 2008. Doncaster Rovers paid £300,000 for his services which smashed the club's transfer record, previously set with the signing of James Hayter for £200,000 in 2007. On signing permanently for Doncaster Rovers, Mills was given the number 5 shirt which had been vacated by the departure of Graeme Lee; Mills had previously worn number 22 when he was on loan with the club.

In the summer of 2009, Mills had attracted the interest of a number of bigger clubs including Birmingham City and Newcastle United. However on 10 June 2009, Nottingham Forest put in an offer of £2,000,000 for Mills which was rejected by Doncaster Rovers. A subsequent offer from fellow Championship side Reading was accepted, however, and Mills left Doncaster in August 2009.

Reading

On 5 August 2009, Mills was officially unveiled as a Reading player, signing a three-year contract. The exact transfer fee was left undisclosed, however the transfer fee is believed to be somewhere in the region of £2,000,000. Mills made his debut for Reading in a 0–0 draw against Swansea City on 18 August 2009. During the 2009-10 season, Mills appeared in 30 matches and scored two goals in all competitions for Reading.

Mills started the 2010-11 season in goalscoring fashion, scoring twice in the Carling Cup 2nd Round 3–3 draw against Northampton Town, before scoring the winner in a 2–1 win away at Leicester City just 3 days later, where he also made a last-ditch goal line clearance, ensuring the Man of the Match award. On 1 March 2011, Mills scored the winning goal against Everton in a 1-0 victory to take Reading through to the FA Cup Quarter-finals. On 30 May 2011, in the Npower Championship play-off final against Swansea City, Mills skippered the Royals and scored a header from a corner kick on 57 minutes and got booked in their 4-2 defeat at Wembley Stadium and he also completed the full 90 minutes.

Leicester City

Mills in a league match against Cardiff City on 25 September 2011.

On 7 July 2011, Mills signed a four year contract with Leicester City for an undisclosed fee, and was later confirmed as club captain for the 2011–12 season. Although officially undisclosed, the transfer deal was estimated to be worth an initial ₤5,000,000, with additional clauses meaning the fee could in the future rise past the ₤5.5 million mark.^{[citation needed]} If this was to occur, Mills would become the most expensive player in Leicester City history.^{[citation needed]}

He made his league debut in a 1-0 win over Coventry City at the Ricoh Arena on 6 August 2011, scoring his first goal for the club in a 2-0 win over Southampton at St Mary's Stadium on 24 January 2012. On 16 October, Mills was sent off in the 55th minute of the 2–0 defeat at Birmingham City for a two-footed tackle on Morgaro Gomis. and he was sent off again on 6 weeks later against Hull City for a professional foul on Aaron McLean.

A number of poor performances then saw Mills lose the captaincy and fall down the pecking order behind Sean St. Ledger, Wes Morgan and Sol Bamba. Mills' did not train with the squad or travel for the 1-0 victory against Derby County on 23 February 2012, prompting questions over his future at the club.

International Career

Mills has represented England at England U18 and England U19 level.

Family

His youngest brother, Joseph, was a trainee at Southampton, and made his first team debut in 2008. He now plays for Reading. His other brothers, Jon-Paul and Jamie both play for Hellenic Football League side Witney United. His former girlfriend was former Hollyoaks and Prisoners’ Wives actress Emma Rigby.

External links

• Matthew Mills career stats at Soccerbase
• Matthew Mills profile at readingfc.co.uk

Sporting positions
Preceded by Matt Oakley	Leicester City Captain 2011-2012	Succeeded by Richie Wellens