Willie Miller

William Ferguson Miller MBE (born 2 May 1955) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, who made a club record 560 league appearances for Aberdeen. Sir Alex Ferguson described Miller as "the best penalty box defender in the world".

Club career Born in Glasgow, Miller was raised in the Bridgeton area of Glasgow. He had little interest in football as a child, and when he did become drawn to the game he played initially as a goalkeeper. winning the SFL Reserve Cup in 1973, established himself in that position in the first team in place of Henning Boel, as they won all the major domestic honours and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983. He made at least 40 appearances for Aberdeen in 14 consecutive seasons, He had already received a testimonial in 1981 against Tottenham Hotspur.

In 2003, Willie Miller was voted the greatest Aberdeen player of all time in a poll to mark the club's centenary. In 2015 it was no surprise when he was named in Aberdeen's 'greatest ever team' by supporters of the club.

Miller was voted Scottish Football Writers' and SPFA Players' Player of the Year in 1984. He had been runner-up for the SFWA award in 1983.

International career Having appeared at under-21 and under-23 level, Miller won 65 full international caps for Scotland between 1975 and 1989, scoring one goal. His 50th cap came against West Germany during the 1986 FIFA World Cup. and is also on the international roll of honour, having won 50 international caps. 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 sought the fans' opinion on the best Scotland players since the 1960s. Viewers also chose Alex McLeish as his partner in central defence.

Managerial career 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 in 1992–93, Miller was sacked in February 1995 with the club in danger of being relegated for the first time in its history (survival was eventually achieved via a playoff).

In May 2004, Miller was appointed to the Aberdeen board and given executive responsibility for football. as well as progressing the club's youth academy. He departed again in 2012.

Career statistics

Club

International + Appearances and goals by national team and year No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition1 21 May 1980 Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland 1–0 1–0 1979–80 British Home Championship

Managerial record

TeamFromToRecordPWLDWin %AberdeenFebruary 1992February 1995

Honours

Player Peterhead Aberdeenshire Cup: 1971–72

Aberdeen Scottish Premier Division: 1979–80, 1983–84, 1984–85 Scottish Cup: 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1985–86; finalist 1977–78 Scottish League Cup: 1976–77, 1985–86, 1989–90; finalist four other times Drybrough Cup: 1980 European Cup Winners' Cup: 1982–83 European Super Cup: 1983

Scotland The Rous Cup: 1985

Manager Scottish Cup: runner-up 1992–93 Scottish League Cup: runner-up 1992–93 Aberdeenshire Cup: 1992–93

Individual PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year: 1984 SFWA Footballer of the Year: 1984 Scottish Football Personality of the Year: 1984 Scotland national football team roll of honour: 1986 Scottish Football Hall of Fame: 2004