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Lee Mills

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Lee Mills
Personal information
Full name Rowan Lee Mills[1]
Date of birth (1970-07-10) 10 July 1970 (age 54)[2]
Place of birth Mexborough, England[2]
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1991–1992 Stocksbridge Park Steels
1992–1995 Wolverhampton Wanderers 25 (2)
1995 → Derby County (loan) 1 (1)
1995 Derby County 15 (6)
1995–1998 Port Vale 109 (35)
1998–2000 Bradford City 65 (29)
2000 → Manchester City (loan) 3 (0)
2000–2001 Portsmouth 26 (4)
2001 → Coventry City (loan) 8 (2)
2001–2003 Coventry City 30 (5)
2003 → Stoke City (loan) 3 (1)
2003 Stoke City 8 (1)
2003–2004 Telford United 26 (9)
2004–2005 Hereford United 31 (7)
Total 350 (102)
Managerial career
2010–2011 Bridgnorth Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Rowan Lee Mills (born 10 July 1970) is an English former footballer who played as a striker.

In a fourteen-year career, he made 293 appearances in the Football League, scoring 86 goals. He played for numerous clubs and was transferred for some big money moves, totalling around £2 million. Arguably his most successful period came at Port Vale and Bradford City in the late 1990s. He helped Vale to their highest post-war finish in the league, whilst he helped Bradford win promotion into the Premier League.

Playing career

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Born in Mexborough, Mills started his career with Stocksbridge Park Steels before being brought to the Football League with Wolverhampton Wanderers, and Derby County.

In July 1995, he joined John Rudge's Port Vale as Derby paid £475,000 plus Mills in exchange for Robin van der Laan.[4] He made his debut for the "Valiants" as a substitute on 13 August 1995, in a goalless draw with Derby at The Baseball Ground.[4] At the end of the season Derby were promoted, but Vale finished in twelfth spot. On 13 October 1996, he came off the bench at the Victoria Ground to score a last minute equaliser in a Potteries derby game with Stoke City.[5] He finished the 1996–97 season with fifteen goals and was handed the club's player of the year award as the club posted their highest post-war finish – eighth place in the First Division.[6] During the 1997–98 season Mills was the club's top scorer with 16 goals, as Vale narrowly avoiding relegation.

"Three years at Port Vale is enough for anybody."

— By the time he signed with Bradford, Mills had had enough of the Potteries.[7]

Mills became Bradford City's first £1 million player when Paul Jewell purchased him in preparation for the 1998–99 season. Mills made a large contribution to Bradford's promotion to the Premier League, becoming the club's top scorer with 24 goals. He also scored on his return to Vale Park, perhaps with a point to prove after a Port Vale matchday programme article described him as "poor" and his touch as "frequently awful".[8] The 1999–2000 season was a poor one for Mills, scoring just six goals as he was troubled with injury and had a falling out with manager Paul Jewell.[9] He spent March 2000 on loan with First Division Manchester City. His poor form left him labelled as a "forgotten man" when he scored twice in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup against Lithuanian side FK Atlantas.[10] New manager Chris Hutchings put Mills on a list of seven "underachievers", with a warning that a continuation of poor form would see those players released.[11] Hutchings' reign lasted only a further four months. However, at that time, Hutchings had sold Mills to Portsmouth for a club-record £1.25 million to make way for Ashley Ward. Pompey later struggled to pay the fee and were put on a transfer embargo by the FA.[12]

He scored five goals in 27 games during the 2000–01 season. He played just two games the following season before a one-month loan to Coventry City in December 2001, which soon turned into a £250,000 move at the end of the year.[13] He aimed to fire the "Sky Blues" to the play-offs,[14] though the season ended with Coventry occupying 11th spot. By some measure of irony, he played at Fratton Park in a Portsmouth shirt, Graham Barber having deemed both Coventry strips were too similar to Pompey's home strip forced the side to borrow Portsmouth's orange away strip.[15]

In July 2001 he broke his arm in a "freak" training ground incident, this came after recently recovering from a potentially career threatening knee injury.[16] He came back later in the season with "a bang", Mills saying: "I've come in and done OK and let's hope that continues."[17] He was soon battling with an ankle injury, choosing to take injections to avoid time on the sidelines.[18] In February 2003, following a one-month loan with Tony Pulis' Stoke City, where John Rudge was now Director of Football, he signed for the "Potters" permanently.[19] The next month he was involved in a traffic collision on the M6 motorway and escaped with only minor injuries.[20]

In July 2003, he signed with Telford United. Manager Mick Jones was delighted with the capture, stating: "I don't want to put too much pressure on Lee but I am hopeful he might have the same kind of impact as Alan Shearer had when he moved from Blackburn to Newcastle".[21] After eleven goals in thirty games, Mills tore his ankle ligaments during a training accident,[22] keeping him out of action for three months.

Following the collapse of Telford United, there was a race to Mills' signature,[23] which was eventually won by Hereford United. Graham Turner having signed Mills, Mark Robinson and Jonathan Gould, looked to improve upon 2003–04's second-place finish, which saw the "Bulls" agonizingly close to automatic promotion to the Football League. Nine league goals from Mills in the 2004–05 season could not help United catch runaway champions Barnet, for a second consecutive season they crashed out in the play-off semi-finals. Four of his goals had come in the first two months, despite starting just five matches.[24] Mills was released after the semi-final defeat, as was fellow veteran Graham Hyde.[25]

Style of play

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Mills was a strong forward who could head the ball well and kick with both feet.[26]

Managerial career

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In December 2009, Mills was linked to the management position at Midland Football Alliance club Rocester.[27]

In May 2010 he was confirmed as new manager of Midland Football Alliance club Bridgnorth Town.[28] However, at the end of the 2010–11 season, Mills and his assistant Tony Dinning resigned from their posts at Bridgnorth Town, citing a wish to move on to a new challenge.[29] After missing out on the vacant management position at Stafford Rangers, Mills was instead appointed as assistant manager at Bridgnorth's league rivals Ellesmere Rangers.[30] He quit the club in January 2012, due to other commitments.[31] He coached at Dudley College and was appointed as Academy team manager at Stourbridge in May 2018.[32]

Career statistics

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[33]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[a] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers 1993–94 First Division 14 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 17 3
1994–95 First Division 11 1 3 1 0 0 2 1 16 3
Total 25 2 4 2 1 0 3 2 33 6
Derby County 1994–95 First Division 16 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 7
Port Vale 1995–96 First Division 32 8 2 0 2 1 6 4 42 13
1996–97 First Division 35 13 0 0 6 2 0 0 41 13
1997–98 First Division 42 14 1 0 2 2 0 0 45 16
Total 109 35 3 0 10 5 6 4 128 44
Bradford City 1998–99 First Division 44 24 2 1 4 0 0 0 50 25
1999–2000 Premier League 21 5 2 0 2 1 0 0 25 6
2000–01 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 3 5 3
Total 65 29 4 1 6 1 5 3 80 34
Manchester City (loan) 1999–2000 First Division 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Portsmouth 2000–01 First Division 24 4 0 0 3 1 0 0 27 5
2001–02 First Division 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 26 4 0 0 3 1 0 0 29 5
Coventry City 2001–02 First Division 20 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 5
2002–03 First Division 18 2 1 1 3 3 0 0 22 6
Total 38 7 1 1 3 3 0 0 42 11
Stoke City 2002–03 First Division 11 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 2
Telford United 2003–04 Conference National 26 9 4 1 0 0 2 1 32 11
Hereford United 2004–05 Conference National 31 7 2 1 0 0 3 1 36 9
Career total 350 102 18 6 23 10 19 11 410 128
  1. ^ Includes Anglo-Italian Cup, FA Trophy, and UEFA Intertoto Cup.

Honours

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Individual

Bradford City

References

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  1. ^ "Lee Mills". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Profile". pompeyrama.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  3. ^ Rothmans football yearbook 2002-03. London : Headline. 2002. ISBN 978-0-7553-1099-9. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 200. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  5. ^ "Football: Stoke denied by Mills". The Independent. 14 October 1996. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  6. ^ a b Hayes, Dean (1998). Port Vale Football Club: An A-Z. Sigma Leisure. p. 102. ISBN 1850586101.
  7. ^ Shaw, Phil (2008). The Book of Football Quotations. Ebury Press. pp. 181. ISBN 9780091923334.
  8. ^ Shaw, Phil (14 April 1999). "Football: Bradford cause boosted by Mills". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  9. ^ "Mills: Bank on me". BBC Sport. 23 July 2000. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Mills makes his mark". BBC Sport. 9 July 2000. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  11. ^ "Hutchings prepared to wield axe". BBC Sport. 10 July 2000. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  12. ^ "League lift Pompey transfer ban". BBC Sport. 11 July 2001. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  13. ^ Tynan, Gordon (1 January 2002). "Coventry sign cut-price Mills". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2009.[dead link‍]
  14. ^ "Mills eyes play-offs". BBC Sport. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  15. ^ "Sky Blues' red faces". BBC Sport. 27 February 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  16. ^ "Pompey suffer Mills blow". BBC Sport. 14 July 2001. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  17. ^ "Mills back with a bang". BBC Sport. 20 September 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  18. ^ "Mills gets the needle". BBC Sport. 28 November 2002. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  19. ^ "Stoke complete double signing". BBC Sport. 17 February 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  20. ^ "Mills injured in car crash". BBC Sport. 18 March 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  21. ^ "Mills signs for Telford". BBC Sport. 7 July 2003. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  22. ^ "Mills faces long lay-off". BBC Sport. 2 February 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  23. ^ "Molby ends Mills interest". BBC Sport. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  24. ^ "Mills keen to keep scoring". BBC Sport. 10 October 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  25. ^ "Hyde/Mills released by Hereford". BBC Sport. 13 May 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  26. ^ "The Stewart Talbot Interview (Part 2)". The Vale Park Beano. 107.
  27. ^ "Football: Poor run is due to player turnaround says Beaman". The Sentinel. 14 December 2009. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
  28. ^ "Lee Mills to manage Bridgnorth". Shropshire Star. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 20 November 2010.
  29. ^ "Town boss quits". bridgnorthjournal.com. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  30. ^ "Lee Mills teams up with Matt Burton at Ellesmere". Shropshire Star. 4 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  31. ^ "Ellesmere boss Lee Mills decides to take break". Shropshire Star. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  32. ^ Gregg, Nigel (10 May 2018). "Lee Mills Appointed As Academy Team Manager". www.stourbridgefc.com. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  33. ^ Lee Mills at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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