Willie Miller

For other people of the same name, see William Miller.

Willie Miller

Personal information
Full name	William Ferguson Miller MBE
Date of birth	2 May 1955 (1955-05-02)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Central defender
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1972–1990	Aberdeen	558	(20)
National team
1975–1989	Scotland	65	(1)
1976	Scottish League XI	1	(0)
Teams managed
1992–1995	Aberdeen
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

William Ferguson Miller, MBE (born 2 May 1955 in Glasgow) is a former professional football player who made a club record 558 league appearances for Aberdeen. He is currently the club's Director of Football. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in the world".

Playing career

Aberdeen

Miller signed for Aberdeen in 1972 at the age of seventeen and was made captain four years later by manager Ally McLeod. His central defensive partnership with Alex McLeish was integral to Aberdeen's success in the 1980s, as they won all the major domestic honours and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. He retired from playing in 1990 due to an injury picked up whilst playing for Scotland. In 2003, Willie Miller was voted the greatest Aberdeen player of all time in a poll to mark the club's centenary.

Honours

• European Cup Winners' Cup Winner: 1

1982–83

• European Super Cup Winner: 1

1982–83

• Scottish Premier Division Winner: 3

1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85

• Scottish Cup Winner: 4

1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86

• Scottish League Cup Winner: 3

1976–77, 1985–86, 1989–90

Scotland

Miller won 65 international caps for Scotland and scored one goal. He was an inaugural inductee to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame, in 2004.

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 soughts the fans' opinion on the greatest ever Scotland players. Viewers also chose Alex McLeish as his central defence partner.

Career statistics

Club

[1]

Club	Season	League		Scot Cup		Lge 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

[2]

Scotland national team
Year	Apps	Goals
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

Management career

Aberdeen

In February 1992, he was appointed Aberdeen manager, replacing the sacked Alex Smith. Despite two second-place finishes in the league and two losing cup finals, Miller was sacked in February 1995.

In May 2004, Miller was appointed to the Aberdeen board and given executive responsibility for football. He played a large role in the appointment of Jimmy Calderwood as manager.

Career outside football

He has worked for the BBC as a football commentator and analyst between leaving Aberdeen as manager in 1995 and returning as Director of Football in 2004. He has written two autobiographies, The Miller's Tale and The Don, the latter being published in 2007.

External links

• Willie Miller, Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database

Preceded by Bobby Clark

Aberdeen FC captain

Succeeded by Alex McLeish