Colin Miller

Name: Colin Fyfe Miller

DOB: 04/10/64

POB: Hamilton

Position: Fullback, centre back

Clubs: Toronto Blizzard,
Rangers, Doncaster Rovers, Hamilton Steelers, Hamilton Academicals, St Johnstone, Heart of Midlothian,
Dunfermline, Ayr United, Abbotsford Mariners.

Managed: Hamilton Academical,
Canadian National Team, Abbotsford Rangers, Victoria Highlanders.

International caps: 61 (for Canada)

Colin Miller’s career has gone full circle, exiting and
entering NASL almost thirty years apart. He even managed to miss out the
massive period in the middle when there wasn’t even a league called NASL – the
institution going bust after fans couldn’t be bothered watching former stars
picking up their pension any more. Now the NASL is the second tier of
professional football (we’re refusing to use the “s” word) even if it doesn’t
provide the ability to enter the MLS – a concept that shall be familiar to
anyone with a basic knowledge of the Scottish Third Division.

This Canadian hero was surprisingly born in Hamilton – a
Scottish boy born to Scottish parents who emigrated across the Atlantic to Vancouver when the young
lad was ten years old. What a culture shock that must have been for the
football daft Miller; landing in a country where ice hockey was king and
‘soccer’ (ugh) sat far down the food chain behind the popular Yankee sports
from across the border. Young Colin persevered, retained his football passion
and dreamt that one day he would make it professional.

Luckily enough, there was some interest in the sport, albeit
a dying one, thanks to Toronto Blizzard’s participation in the top North
American league. Now Vancouver might be about as
far away from Toronto as Scotland is,
but this didn’t stop our hero making the trek across the vast country to play
consistently with the franchise over a two year stretch. The league may have
been close to dying out but Miller’s career was just starting. Rangers had been
keeping tabs on the fresh faced expatriate and saw enough to bring him back to Scotland for a
two year stay starting in 1984.

Miller would play only a handful of times in his two years
at Ibrox in what was widely considered to be a difficult period of transition
for the Scottish football powerhouse as they witnessed Celtic, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hearts overtake
them in the league table. In fact, ironically, one of Miller’s few starts was a
Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of the Edinburgh
club, but more on that later.

Doncaster Rovers provided a humble platform in which to show
his worth and the full-back performed consistently over a two year period. Even
still, it wasn’t quite the heights he’d envisioned when leaving his adopted
homeland and he was soon returning back to those comforts to sign for the
Hamilton Steelers in 1988. The one year period did enough to stoke the fire
inside Miller and he swiftly accepted an offer to return to Scotland, making
the rare switch from Hamilton to Hamilton; Steelers to Academical.

Back in his original home the full-back finally found stability
in which to build his career, plying his trade first in the Premier Division
and then in the second tier when the club slipped out of the top flight at the
conclusion of his opening season. He could go not re-establish Hamilton amongst the big time but did aid the
club in winning the Challenge Cup in consecutive seasons, while building a
reputation as a reliable defensive option in the lower leagues. Physically
Miller was not all that impressive – slight build, not particularly fast or
tall – but he put everything into his game and possessed a rare shooting
ability for a defender.

Paul Sturrock was impressed enough to make him one of his
first signings at St Johnstone as the young manager looked to haul the Perth
club back into the Premier Division. His performances were solid in one half
season before Hearts came sniffing around, looking to plug the hole left by the
departure of Tosh McKinley to Celtic. Miller was suitably flattered at the
interest and made it known his desire to leave for the challenge in the top
flight despite him being St Johnstone captain at the time. Sturrock was happy
to see the player granted his wish but only if the club could get defensive
cover as compensation. Jim Weir was one player happy to make the move and the
deal was struck in early 1995.

The defender found the abilities of top flight attackers a
little difficult to adjust to but he would soon have the game of his life in a
familiar setting. Hearts v Rangers, Scottish Cup match at Tynecastle; nine
years on and Miller was starting in the fixture once again, this time in the
maroon of Hearts. He had almost not played in the game due to an injury to his
calf, but the left-back played through the pain and gave Hearts the lead with a
low free-kick that slipped under the Rangers’ wall and off Ally Maxwell’s post.
The home side would go on to win the game 4-2 with Miller posting an impressive
man marking job on Brian Laudrup. He really could have used the confidence to
kick-start his time in Gorgie but the calf injury that threatened to rule him
out of the tie eventually cost him a majority of the remaining matches that
season.

By the time he’d gotten himself fit for the new campaign
there was a new gaffer at Tynecastle in the shape of Jim Jefferies and he soon
made it evident that Miller did not belong in his long term plans. After being
offered as a make-weight in a failed bid for Ian Cameron he was sold on to Dunfermline for a small fee. The 31-year old showed
enough left in the tank to perform admirably at East End Park for the better
part of three seasons before short stints with Ayr United and Hamilton (Accies,
again) preceded his retirement from playing and switch into coaching.

Even as a 21-year old, Miller had used his spare time to
learn the art of coaching and he viewed the move behind the scenes to be the
natural progression once his playing days were through. He didn’t start all
that well as player-manager of Accies, however, winning only eight of 46 games
and being forced out the door in August 1999. A move back to Canada saw
happier times and he was made interim coach of the Canadian national team in
2003. The 61 times capped player remained undefeated in his three matches,
although he didn’t win any either, and the added exposure helped him land jobs
with Abbotsford Rangers and Victoria Highlanders either side of a brief spell
as Derby County’s assistant coach.

Where is he now? After working in the Vancouver Whitecaps
organisation for a number of years he landed himself a job of his own with FC
Edmonton. It’s role he keeps to this day along with another short spell as the
interim coach of the Canadian national team. The country’s FA came calling on
their former hero to handle the friendlies in March of this year while they
searched for a full-time replacement for Stephen Hart.

Show: Alex Neil: Next Swansea Manager