Ralph Milne

Ralph Milne

Personal information
Full name	Ralph Milne
Date of birth	13 May 1961 (1961-05-13)
Place of birth	Dundee, Scotland
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
	Dundee Celtic BC
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1977–1987	Dundee United	179	(44)
1987–1988	Charlton Athletic	22	(0)
1988	Bristol City	30	(6)
1988–1991	Manchester United	23	(3)
1990	→ West Ham United (loan)	0	(0)
1991–1992	Sing Tao
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ralph Milne (born 13 May 1961) is a Scottish former footballer whose clubs included Dundee United, Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Manchester United. He played as a midfielder.

Career

Jim McLean, Milne's manager at Dundee United, summed up Milne's career and footballing ability when writing his own autobiography:-

"If I had an outstanding failure then it was Ralph Milne. He should have been playing in World Cups. He should have won a bundle of Scotland international honours. It was a tragedy that that boy was not playing for his country all the time. He had tremendous talent - and I failed with him. He did not have the right attitude to the game and I could not instil that into him."

Dundee United

Milne is Dundee United's all-time top scorer in Europe with a tally of 15 in the two competitions - the UEFA and European Cups.

Charlton Athletic

He was sold to English Football League First Division club Charlton Athletic in the summer of 1987, but stayed there less than a year (in which he failed to score in 22 league games).

Bristol City

Milne dropped down two divisions to join Bristol City, where he was more successful with six goals in 30 Third Division games.

Manchester United

This was enough to convince Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson that he was still worth a contract with a top flight club, and in November 1988 he moved to Old Trafford in a £150,000 deal. Ferguson was looking to build a title winning side two years after joining United, but had seen his side finish second in the league the previous season and now they were on a winless run in the league that saw them mid table behind unfancied clubs including Millwall, Norwich City and Coventry City.

Milne managed three goals in 22 league appearances in 1988-89, the first on 3 December 1988 in a 3-0 home win over Charlton Athletic, which ended United's nine-match winless run (eight draws and a defeat) in the Football League First Division. He also found the net on Boxing Day in a 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest, before scoring his third and final United goal on 25 March 1989 in a 2-0 home win over Luton Town, once again in the league.

However, he was not a popular player with United fans and is regularly mentioned when the club's worst-ever players are being debated.^{[citation needed]} On 18 November 2009, at an inaugural dinner of the League Managers' Association Hall of Fame 1000 Club, celebrating the 18 men to have managed more than 1,000 domestic league or cup matches, Ferguson remarked that Milne was his worst signing, saying "I only paid £170,000 but still get condemned for it".

After his arrival, United did recover their winning ways for a while and were third in the league by mid February, but another slump dragged them down to 11th in the final table.

In September 1989, Ferguson signed Danny Wallace from Southampton. Wallace was not a particularly successful buy for United, and was soon struggling to hold down a place in the first team, but the emergence of Lee Sharpe meant that Milne was forced out of the first team picture at Old Trafford in 1989-90, making one substitute appearance in the league. During that season, as United struggled in the league but won the FA Cup, Milne was loaned out to West Ham United, where he made the final appearance of his career in a League Cup tie.

He remained on the United's payroll until 30 June 1991, when he was given a free transfer.

Personal life

Milne has admitted to problems with alcoholism and gambling addiction during and after his playing career.

Milne's manager at Dundee United, Jim McLean has since stated that Milne would have had greater success in his career were it not for his problems with alcohol and discipline.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League		Cup		Lg Cup		Europe		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Dundee United	1979-80	13	2	0	0	4	0	2	0	19	2
	1980-81	21	7	6	0	5	3	1	0	33	10
	1981-82	35	8	4	0	8	2	8	4	55	14
	1982-83	34	16	1	0	6	2	8	3	49	21
	1983-84	25	5	4	0	10	3	8	4	47	12
	1984-85	19	4	5	0	5	2	2	2	31	8
	1985-86	18	1	2	0	3	2	6	1	29	4
	1986-87	14	1	0	0	5	0	7	1	23	2
	Total	179	44	22	0	43	14	42	15	286	73
Charlton Athletic	1986-87	12	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		12	0
	1987-88	10	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		10	0
	Total	22	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		22	0
Bristol City	1987-88	19	4	N/A		N/A		N/A		19	4
	Total	19	4	N/A		N/A		N/A		19	4
Manchester United	1988-89	22	3	N/A		N/A		N/A		22	3
	1989-90	1	0	N/A		N/A		N/A		1	0
	Total	23	3	N/A		N/A		N/A		23	3
West Ham United (loan)	1989-90	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
Career total		243	51	22	0	44	14	42	15	351	80

External links

• Sporting Heroes profile
• Dundee United profile
• Manchester United profile