Gary Mills

Gary Roland Mills (born 11 November 1961) is an English football manager and former professional player. He played in the Premier League and Football League for Nottingham Forest, Derby County, Notts County and Leicester City and managed in the Football League with Notts County and York City. He was recently the manager of club Corby Town.

Mills, who played as a right-back and as a midfielder, started his career with First Division club Nottingham Forest. He became the club's youngest league player after making his first-team debut at the age of 16 in 1978. He played in the victorious 1980 European Cup Final, which made him the youngest finalist in European Cup history. He joined the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League in 1982 and played for them for one season, which culminated in a loss to the New York Cosmos in Soccer Bowl '82. While with them Mills had a loan at Derby County, making 23 appearances for the Second Division club. He returned to Forest in 1983, and made 168 appearances over two spells at the club. He left for their rivals, Notts County of the Third Division, in 1987. Mills then joined Leicester City in 1989, and after two unsuccessful forays into the First Division play-offs he helped them win promotion to the Premier League in 1994. He soon returned to County, by this time playing in the First Division, after 232 appearances for Leicester. Here Mills earned the last honour of his playing career, winning the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1995. He retired from professional football in 1996 due to an injury, having made 159 appearances for County over two spells.

Mills started his managerial career as player-manager with Grantham Town in 1996. He left the club after leading them to the Southern League Midland Division title in his second season. He then served as player-manager at Southern League Premier Division club King's Lynn from 1998 to 2000, which was brought to an end after he resigned. He was appointed player-manager of Southern League Premier Division club Tamworth in 2001, before leaving to join the coaching staff at Coventry City in 2002. Mills was handed his first managerial role in the Football League with Notts County in 2004, but was dismissed several months after the club was relegated to League Two. He managed Alfreton Town of the Conference North from 2005 to 2007 when he returned to Tamworth. The club was relegated from the Conference National before Mills led them to the Conference North title in 2009. He left Tamworth in 2010 to become manager of their Conference Premier rivals York City. Mills oversaw York's victories in the FA Trophy and Conference Premier play-offs in 2012, the latter resulting in promotion to League Two. He was dismissed by York in 2013 before taking over at Gateshead, and after leading them to the Conference Premier play-offs in 2014 he was named the Non-League Manager of the Year. Mills took over as manager of their National League rivals Wrexham in 2015, but was dismissed the following year.

Early and personal life Mills was born in Northampton, Northamptonshire to Roly, also a footballer, and Jean (née Frost). As a youngster Mills displayed talent in multiple sports, being capped for England schools in both football and rugby union, and showed promise as a sprinter, running 100 metres in 11 seconds as an English Schools' Athletics Championships finalist. Aged 14 he broke into Forest's reserve team, which played in the Central League. Mills also played for Long Buckby's youth team, and was part of the team that won a national under-16 competition. He started his senior career at Forest under the management of Brian Clough, making his first-team debut in a 2–1 victory at home to Arsenal in the First Division on 9 September 1978, and in doing so became Forest's youngest league player at the age of 16 years and 203 days. Mills signed a professional contract with Forest on 13 November 1978, two days after his 17th birthday, after serving his apprenticeship He scored his first goal for Forest with the opening goal of a 2–1 win away to Leeds United on 15 May 1979. He finished the 1978–79 season, in which Forest were First Division runners-up, with six appearances and one goal. Mills played more frequently in 1979–80, making 20 appearances and scoring 1 goal, as Forest finished fifth in the league. Mills missed only one league match for Forest from February 1981 to the end of 1980–81, and finished the season with 34 appearances and 7 goals, with Forest placed seventh in the First Division. He started for Seattle in Soccer Bowl '82 before being substituted for Roger Davies, and the match was won 1–0 by the New York Cosmos with a 31st-minute goal scored by Giorgio Chinaglia. Less than a month later he made a temporary return to England by signing for Forest's local rivals Derby County on loan on 13 October 1982. However, this acted as a wake-up call for Mills, who said: "It made me work really hard and that's what made me go on and play until I was 47. I never stopped working on my fitness". County reached the Southern Area final of the Associate Members' Cup, being beaten 4–1 on aggregate by Wolverhampton Wanderers. He slotted straight into the starting line-up, making his debut two days after joining in a 1–0 victory at home to Walsall. and was named the club's Player of the Year.

Mills made 49 appearances and scored 5 goals for Leicester in 1990–91, missing only one match all season. Mills went one better in 1991–92 by appearing in all 62 Leicester fixtures that season, scoring 7 goals, and was named the club's Player of the Year for the second time. Leicester beat Derby County 2–1 and thus earned promotion to the Premier League.

Return to Notts County Mills returned to Notts County on 26 September 1994 after re-signing for a fee of £50,000, He picked up his last playing honour this season as part of the team that won the Anglo-Italian Cup after County beat Ascoli 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium. He retired from professional football in May 1996 as a result of the injury he sustained that season. He won his second and last cap in a 4–0 victory over Belgium on 17 January 1979. He was capped again in a 0–0 with draw Norway in a friendly on 8 September 1981. and the two went on to frequently work together as a management team. He played regularly this season, making 46 appearances and scoring 3 goals. Grantham also reached the quarter-final of the FA Trophy for only the second time in the club's history. He joined Gresley Rovers of the Southern League Premier Division as a player in July 1998, making his debut in their 0–0 away draw with Bromsgrove Rovers on 22 August. He appeared regularly for Gresley, playing in their first seven matches of 1998–99. He made 30 appearances and scored 1 goal in 1998–99, King's Lynn improved on their league performance in 1999–2000, finishing in fifth place in the table. and had made 16 appearances and scored one 1 up to that point in 2000–01. He was not in charge for the following day's 3–0 home defeat to Boston in the FA Trophy, with Tim Steele continuing as caretaker manager for this match. His first match as manager was a 2–2 home draw with Havant & Waterlooville on 20 January 2001, in which he played and scored. Tamworth finished the season in 12th place in the Southern League Premier Division, and Mills made 16 appearances and scored 2 goals. He played often for Tamworth this season, making 30 appearances. In 2002–03, Mills' reserves finished bottom of the Premier Reserve League Southern Division in 14th place. He spoke to Telford United regarding the managerial vacancy at the Football Conference club in May 2003, but decided to stay at Coventry saying he was happy at the club. Mills later spoke of his regret at leaving Tamworth for Coventry, saying: "It was the biggest decision I've ever made in football. I was very happy at Tamworth and we were winning most games".

Notts County Mills took over as manager of Second Division Notts County on 9 January 2004 after the resignation of Bill Dearden, with the club lying 23rd in the Second Division table. After a run of good form from late February to early March 2004 County rose out of the relegation zone, but a run of one victory from the last 12 matches of 2003–04 saw the club relegated to League Two in 23rd place. Despite having a healthier playing budget and a reorganisation of the squad during the summer of 2004, County made a disappointing start to 2004–05. and he declined the offer of a lesser position with the club. He resumed his playing career during early 2005 with Northern Counties East League Premier Division club Glapwell, playing under Lee Wilson, who Mills had previously played with and managed.

Alfreton Town He was appointed as manager of Conference North club Alfreton Town on 25 May 2005 on a three-year contract, becoming the first full-time manager in the club's history. Alfreton went into 2005–06 with a reduced playing budget and Mills was able to keep the club on an even keel. His first match as Alfreton manager was a 2–1 home defeat to Vauxhall Motors on 13 August 2005, and having flirted with relegation the team finished the season in 17th place in the Conference North. although a few months into 2006–07 more budget cuts were made and this limited his ability to add to a squad lacking in depth. When he left Alfreton they were 13th in the Conference North, and he was playing less frequently, making five appearances in 2006–07. He joined with the team 24th in the table and following his appointment he said: "It feels fantastic to be back. It is an amazing football club that means a lot to me". He was in charge for the home match against Crawley Town the day after his appointment, the visitors winning 1–0 with a 54th-minute goal scored by Mark Wright . Mills was unable to keep Tamworth up, the club being relegated to the Conference North with a 22nd-place finish in the Conference National. Tamworth spent most of 2007–08 in midtable, eventually finishing 15th in the Conference North;

Mills was given time to rebuild the squad over the summer of 2008, bringing in players like Bradley Pritchard, Alex Rodman, Chris Smith, Tom Shaw and Michael Wylde. He won the award again for March 2009 after Tamworth were top of the table with five wins and two draws, including a 1–0 victory away to title rivals Southport. Mills led Tamworth to promotion back to the Conference Premier after winning the Conference North title in 2008–09 and this was confirmed with a 1–0 victory over local rivals Hinckley United on 21 April 2009. The final match of the season, a 0–0 draw away to AFC Telford United, saw Mills come out of retirement after he came on as a 90th-minute substitute for Rodman. He was given a standing ovation from the travelling supporters in the process.

Tamworth started 2009–10 in good form, and by late September 2009 were occupying a play-off spot in the Conference Premier. this represented the second highest league placing in the club's history. This was his third appearance of the season. meaning they were not able to offer contracts as lucrative or long as many clubs. Mills complemented the competitiveness of his team in this division, saying: "For a small club like us, it's great to be mixing with these teams. But, while we may be smaller, like last year, we will make sure that we are capable of getting results." He replaced Martin Foyle, who resigned the previous month, and at the time of his appointment York were 16th in the table. He was not registered as a player at York, although chairman Jason McGill would refuse Mills a playing contract on multiple occasions. In the third round of the competition Mills' York played Premier League team Bolton Wanderers, who won 2–0 with late goals from Kevin Davies and Johan Elmander. York made a push toward the play-off places, and by mid March 2011 were sixth in the Conference Premier, just one place outside the play-offs. York finished 2010–11 in eighth place in the Conference Premier,

Mills made a statement of intent to win the Conference Premier title in 2011–12. His summer recruitment was focused on signing players who would improve the team's goalscoring record, and he succeeding in doing this when signing Matty Blair, Paddy McLaughlin and Jason Walker. York consistently occupied a play-off position throughout 2011–12, eventually securing one after finishing fourth in the table. The team played a passing style in the first half of the season, before often grinding out results with The Press saying they "compensated for a loss of craft with bundles of graft".

After beating Mansfield Town 2–1 on aggregate in the play-off semi-final, Eight days later Mills took his York team back to Wembley Stadium for the 2012 Conference Premier play-off final, and following a 2–1 victory over Luton Town with goals from Ashley Chambers and Blair, York were promoted to League Two, ending an eight-year absence from the Football League. This was the first time any club had won the FA Trophy and the Conference Premier play-offs in one season.

Mills' signings for 2012–13 proved to be less influential than his signings the previous summer, a number of new players being left out of the team with little playing time. York were in midtable for most of the first half of the season, and his signings in the winter transfer window had little impact on the team. At the time Gateshead were 19th in the table, one point above the relegation zone. His first match was a 2–1 home win over Hereford United on 7 September 2013, and both goals were scored by Josh Walker. This was the first time Mills had won his opening match as manager at a new club. Gateshead's form continued to improve and by mid January 2014 they had moved into a play-off place;

Gateshead qualified for the Conference Premier play-offs for the first time in their history after finishing third in the table in 2013–14, which represented the club's highest league placing since being voted out of the Football League in 1960. With a 4–2 aggregate win over Grimsby Town in the semi-final, Gateshead played at Wembley Stadium for the first time in the play-off final; despite entering the match on the back of a 14-match unbeaten run they were beaten 2–1 by Cambridge United. Mills said after the match that "I told the lads that they'll be better for it. My job next year is to emulate or better this season". He was named the Non-League Manager of the Year for 2013–14 at the National Game Awards, ahead of John Still, who led Luton to the Conference Premier title.

Wrexham Mills was appointed manager of Gateshead's National League rivals Wrexham on 28 April 2015 on a one-year rolling contract. On 13 October 2016, Mills was dismissed by Wrexham, after a run of four defeats from six matches left them 15th in the table.

Return to York City

On 16 October 2016, Mills was reappointed as manager of York City, with the team 19th in the National League. He succeeded Jackie McNamara, who remained at the club as chief executive. However, on 21 May 2017, Mills' York beat Macclesfield Town 3–2 at Wembley Stadium in the 2017 FA Trophy Final. Mills was dismissed by York on 30 September 2017, on the same day as a defeat to South Shields in the FA Cup third qualifying round. A club statement read that "the current league position is unacceptable", with York seventh in the National League North and 11 points away from the only automatic promotion place.

Corby Town Mills was appointed manager of Southern League Division One Central club Corby Town on 8 August 2020. The "Steelmen" parted company with Mills immediately after their 2-0 defeat to Belper Town on the final day of the Northern Premier League Midlands season, having finished 15th.

Style of management Mills' management style was influenced by a number of managers he played under, including John Barnwell, Brian Clough, Alan Hinton, Howard Kendall, Brian Little, David Pleat, Russell Slade and Neil Warnock. He learned simplicity from Clough, saying: "He never did complicate anything. Football is a simple game and Cloughie was no coach, he didn't confuse us with sessions straight out of the manual". Fulford also commented on Mills' thoroughness, saying he wanted information on each players' performances after the reserves played. He has stuck with this formation despite charges from some of being tactically stubborn, saying: "I'm not going to change the way my teams play, the systems. I've not even had a thought about that".

Personal life Mills is married to Sue. He released an autobiography, Young Millsy, in September 2021.

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Honours As a player Nottingham Forest European Cup: 1979–80

Notts County Anglo-Italian Cup: 1994–95

Individual Notts County Player of the Year: 1987–88 Leicester City Player of the Year: 1989–90, 1991–92

As a manager Grantham Town Southern Football League Midland Division: 1997–98

Tamworth Conference North: 2008–09

York City Conference Premier play-offs: 2012 FA Trophy: 2011–12, 2016–17

Individual Conference North Manager of the Year: 2008–09 Conference North Manager of the Month: September 2008, March 2009 Conference Premier Manager of the Month: November 2010, October 2013 Non-League Manager of the Year: 2013–14