Paul Millar
Personal information
Full name Paul William Millar[1]
Date of birth (1966-11-16) 16 November 1966[1]
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland[1]
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder / forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1987 Glentoran 43 (12)
1987–1988 Portadown 32 (10)
1988–1991 Port Vale 40 (5)
1990 → Hereford United (loan) 5 (2)
1991–1995 Cardiff City 120 (17)
1995–1998 Linfield 52 (13)
1998–2000 Portadown 28 (7)
2000–2001 Bangor 66 (23)
2001–2002 Ards 32 (7)
2002–2003 Ballymena United 14 (0)
2003–2005 Brantwood
Total 432+ (96+)
International career
1990 Northern Ireland U21 1 (0)
1990 Northern Ireland U23 1 (0)
1994 Northern Ireland B 1 (0)
Managerial career
2000–2001 Bangor (player-manager)
2002–2003 Ballymena United (player-coach)
2005–2006 Newry City
2006–2007 Glentoran
2007–2008 Bangor
2008–2012 Larne
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paul William Millar (born 16 November 1966) is a Northern Irish former football player and coach.

As a player, he played in midfield and attack. He started at Glentoran, moving on to Portadown, before signing with Port Vale in 1988. Three years later he transferred to Cardiff City, and helped the Welsh club to top the Third Division in 1992–93. In 1995, he left the Football League to return to Ireland, signing with Linfield and later returned to Wales to play for Bangor. He won youth caps for his country, and also earned a Northern Ireland B cap.

As a manager, he was appointed manager of Bangor, before moving on to Ballymena United. In 2005, he was made manager of Newry City, moving on to Glentoran the next season, and then returning to the management position at Bangor in 2007. In 2008, he was appointed manager at Larne, before he left the club in April 2012.

Playing career

Millar started his career with Glentoran, after scoring 15 goals in 28 appearances, he moved to Portadown. The young forward was selected as the Irish Young Footballer of the Year in 1986, and scored the winning goal in the final of the Irish Cup. He joined Port Vale in the English Third Division for £20,000 in December 1988.[1] After playing just one reserve team game he seriously damaged his knee ligaments in training and after recovering finally made his debut at Vale Park in a 1–1 draw with Middlesbrough on 30 October 1989, coming on as a substitute.[1] With Vale now competing in the Second Division he struggled to gain a place in the first team and was loaned to Fourth Division side Hereford United in October 1990, returning to Vale the next month after two goals in five games at Edgar Street.[1] Overall, he made 44 appearances for John Rudge's "Valiants", though most of these were as a substitute.[1] He was sold to Cardiff City for £60,000 in August 1991.[1]

He made over 100 appearances in four years under "Bluebirds" manager Eddie May. Cardiff missed out on the play-offs by three points in 1991–92, before winning promotion to the Second Division as Third Division champions in 1992–93.[3] Avoiding relegation by two points in 1993–94, Cardiff were relegated in 1994–95 after finishing twelve points short of safety. At this point Millar returned to Northern Ireland, signing with Linfield and then Portadown. He later became a player-manager, increasingly focussing on the management side of the game.

Management career

Millar had player-manager roles at Bangor, Ballymena and Brantwood, where he gained his European A Coaching Licence. He took up a full-time managerial position at IFA Premiership side Newry City in November 2005,[4] getting the club into the top six in his first season.

Following the resignation of Roy Coyle, he was appointed as the manager of Glentoran in February 2006.[5] Manager of the month in March 2006,[6] he picked up the award for a second-successive month after "Glens" secured second place in the league.[7] The 2006–07 season started with Millar's side clear at the top,[8] but a slump in the second half of the season saw them runners-up in the league for the second-successive season. He was sacked in May 2007 after just 16 months in the job,[9] he claimed he could "leave with his head held high" after securing a UEFA Cup spot.[10] A week later he returned to Bangor,[11] but quit that post in May 2008 after claiming an eight-match suspension handed to him by the Irish Football Association hindered his ability to manage the club.[12]

He was appointed as manager of IFA Championship side Larne in December 2008.[13] He led the Inver Park club to eighth and ninth-place finishes in 2008–09, 2009–10 and 2010–11. On 16 January 2010, fighting broke about between Larne and Newry City players and coaching staff, and Millar was sent off.[14] An IFA Commission was set up to investigate the brawl,[15] and Millar was handed a four-game ban, whilst the club were fined £1,200 and Larne player Anthony Lagan was suspended for the rest of the season.[16] Newry chairman Paul McKenna condemned the lenient punishments, stating that the commission "bottled it",[17] though the IFA ruled that they "acted fully in line with regulations and procedures".[18] The fixture was abandoned and Newry were awarded a 2–1 victory.[19] Larne finished tenth in 2011–12, and Millar resigned in April 2012 to take up the position as Gary Hamilton's assistant at Glenavon.[20][21] After seven years at the club, Millar departed Glenavon on 2 April 2019 and returned to Glentoran as new manager Mick McDermott's assistant.[22] McDermott praised Millar when he picked up the Manager of the Month award for December 2021.[23] McDermott was relived of his duties in January 2023.[24]

Personal life

His son, Philip, died from a drugs overdose in 2017.[25]

Career statistics

Source:[26]

Club Season Division League FA Cup Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale1989–90Second Division2342010264
1990–91Second Division1710010181
Total 4052020445
Hereford United (loan)1990–91Fourth Division52000052
Cardiff City1991–92Fourth Division1501042202
1992–93Third Division3331141385
1993–94Second Division3776060497
1994–95Second Division3571040407
Total 120179118314721

Honours

as a Player

Individual

  • Irish Young Footballer of the Year: 1986

Glentoran

Cardiff City

as a Manager

Individual

  • Northern Ireland Football Writers' Manager of the Month: March 2006, April 2006[6][7]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 198. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. ↑ Rollin, Jack (1995). Rothmans football yearbook, 1995-96. Headline. ISBN 978-0-7472-7823-8. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 Mitchelmore, Ian (7 March 2017). "Tributes paid to son of Cardiff icon Paul Millar after sad death". Wales Online. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  4. ↑ "Millar keen for success at Newry". BBC Sport. 30 November 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  5. ↑ "Millar appointed Glentoran boss". BBC Sport. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Millar scoops top manager award". BBC Sport. 7 April 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  7. 1 2 "Double delight for manager Millar". BBC Sport. 2 May 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  8. ↑ "Boss Millar looks for title surge". BBC Sport. 9 December 2006. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "Glentoran boss Millar is sacked". BBC Sport. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Millar defends record at Oval". BBC Sport. 18 May 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "Millar unveiled as Bangor manager". BBC Sport. 30 May 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  12. ↑ "Millar resigns as Bangor manager". BBC Sport. 3 May 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  13. ↑ "Millar appointed manager of Larne". BBC Sport. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2009.
  14. ↑ "Newry-Larne Irish Cup game abandoned after fighting". BBC Sport. 16 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  15. ↑ "IFA to discuss disciplinary action on Newry-Larne brawl". BBC Sport. 22 January 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "IFA impose initial penalties on brawling Newry & Larne". BBC Sport. 12 February 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "Larne will not appeal fine imposed for part in brawl". BBC Sport. 15 February 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "IFA rejects Newry City appeal over Irish Cup fine". BBC Sport. 24 February 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Loughgall-Newry game off after Larne cup appeal". BBC Sport. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  20. ↑ "Millar quits Larne". larnetimes.co.uk. 9 April 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  21. ↑ "Millar set to return to Inver with Glenavon". larnetimes.co.uk. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2012.
  22. ↑ "Paul Millar: Former Glentoran boss to join Mick McDermott's coaching set-up at the Oval". BBC Sport. 3 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  23. ↑ Crawford, Steven (17 January 2022). "Mick McDermott hails Paul Millar's role in Glentoran's success story". News Letter. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  24. ↑ Crawford, Steven (17 January 2023). "Mick McDermott replaced as Glentoran boss but remains at club at boardroom level". BelfastLive. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  25. ↑ "'My son Philip was a happy-go-lucky young man yet he ended up a prisoner to drugs... the last time he was in hospital I said if he didn't get help he'd be coming home in a box... four months later he was dead'". Belfast Telegraph. 24 October 2017. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  26. ↑ Paul Millar at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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