Willie Miller

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For other people called Willie Miller, see William Miller.

Personal information
Willie Miller
Full name	William Ferguson Miller MBE
Date of birth	May 2, 1955 (1955-05-02) (age 54)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position	Central Defender
Senior career¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1972-1990	Aberdeen	558 0(20)
National team
1975-1989	Scotland	065 00(1)
Teams managed
1992-1995	Aberdeen
¹ 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. Miller won 65 international caps for Scotland, and was an inaugural inductee to the Scotland Football Hall of Fame. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in the world".^[1]

Miller signed for Aberdeen at the age of seventeen and was made captain four years later. His central defensive partnership with Alex McLeish was integral to Aberdeen's great success in the 1980s, as they won all the major domestic honours and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. He retired from playing in 1990 due to an injury picked up whilst playing for Scotland.

In February 1992, he was appointed Aberdeen manager, but despite two second-place finishes in the league and two losing cup finals, Willie was sacked in February 1995. He has since worked for the BBC as a football commentator and analyst. Miller was subsequently appointed to the Aberdeen board in May 2004 and given executive responsibility for football. He played a large role in the appointment of Jimmy Calderwood as manager. Miller is now the The Director of The Aberdeen Youth Academy.

[edit] References

^ Harry Reid (2005), The Final Whistle?, Birlinn, 237-8 ISBN 1-84158-362-6

SPFA Players' Player of the Year

SFWA Footballer of the Year

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup

1 Rough • 2 McGrain • 3 Gray • 4 Souness • 5 Hansen • 6 Miller • 7 Strachan • 8 Dalglish • 9 Brazil • 10 Wark • 11 Robertson • 12 Wood • 13 McLeish • 14 Narey • 15 Jordan • 16 Hartford • 17 Evans • 18 Archibald • 19 Sturrock • 20 Provan • 21 Burley • 22 Leighton • Coach: Stein

v • d • e Scotland squad – 1986 FIFA World Cup

1 Leighton • 2 Gough • 3 Malpas • 4 Souness • 5 McLeish • 6 Miller • 7 Strachan • 8 Aitken • 9 Bannon • 10 Bett • 11 McStay • 12 Goram • 13 Nicol • 14 Narey • 15 Albiston • 16 McAvennie • 17 Archibald • 18 Sharp • 19 Nicholas • 20 Sturrock • 21 Cooper • 22 Rough • Coach: Ferguson

Aberdeen F.C. – Managers

Philip (1903–23) · Travers (1923–38) · Halliday (1938–55) · Shaw (1955–59) · Pearson (1959–65) · Turnbull (1965–71) · Bonthrone (1971–75) · MacLeod (1975–77) · McNeill (1977–78) · Ferguson (1978–86) · Porterfield (1986–88) · Smith & Scott (1988–91) · Smith (1991–92) · W. Miller (1992–95) · Aitken (1995–97) · A. Miller (1997–98) · Burkinshaw (1998–99) · Hegarty (1999) · Skovdahl (1999–2002) · Speirs (2002) · Paterson (2002–04) · Calderwood (2004–09) · McGhee (2009–)