| John Miller | |
| Fullname: | John Miller |
| Birth Date: | c. 1870[1] |
| Birth Place: | Dumbarton, Scotland |
| Death Place: | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Height: | [2] |
| Years1: | 1890–1891 |
| Years2: | 1891–1892 |
| Years3: | 1892–1893 |
| Years4: | 1893–1894 |
| Years5: | 1894 |
| Years6: | 1894–1895 |
| Years7: | 1895–1897 |
| Years8: | 1897–1898 |
| Clubs1: | Union Dumbarton |
| Clubs2: | Dumbarton |
| Clubs3: | Liverpool |
| Clubs4: | The Wednesday |
| Clubs5: | Airdrieonians |
| Clubs6: | Clyde |
| Clubs7: | Derby County |
| Clubs8: | Bolton Wanderers |
| Caps2: | 21 |
| Goals2: | 16 |
| Caps3: | 21 |
| Goals3: | 22 |
| Caps4: | 13 |
| Goals4: | 7 |
| Caps6: | 17 |
| Goals6: | 12 |
| Caps7: | 62 |
| Goals7: | 20 |
| Caps8: | 8 |
| Goals8: | 0 |
| Nationalyears1: | 1892 |
| Nationalteam1: | Scottish League XI |
| Nationalcaps1: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 2 |
John Miller (c. 1870 in Dumbarton – 1933 in Glasgow) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and The Wednesday.[3]
Miller began his career with his local club Union Dumbarton, before being signed by Dumbarton in 1891.[4] He made his debut and scored on 2 May 1891 against St Mirren, which was the final league game of the season.[5] He then played two weeks later and scored in the League Play-Off against Rangers.[6] In the 1891–92 season, Miller made 20 league appearances and scored 15 goals as the Sons won the title outright, having shared the championship the previous year.[7] At its end, he played for the Scottish League XI against the rival Scottish Football Alliance, scoring twice.[8] [9]
In June 1892, Miller joined Liverpool in their first season.[10] He made his debut and scored the sixth goal in Liverpool's first ever match, which was a 7–1 win friendly against Rotherham Town on 1 September.[11] Miller was his league debut on 24 September against Bury, in which he also scored.[12] He went on to make a further 20 league appearances and score a further 21 goals, including 5 against Fleetwood Rangers on 3 December, helping Liverpool to win the Lancashire League.[13] [14] He also made 3 appearances in the FA Cup in which he scored a hat-trick against Nantwich on 15 October.[15] Miller played all of Liverpool's matches in the Lancashire Senior Cup and Liverpool Senior Cup (4 and 3 appearances, respectively) and scored a total of 3 goals.[16]
At the end of the season, Miller wanted a pay rise of "£100 down and £3 per week" which was rejected by Liverpool, so after his contract expired in June 1893, he signed for The Wednesday, playing in the First Division.[17] He played in the first match of the season, but was injured and on 8 December, he was granted a leave of absence to his home in Dumbarton due "ill-health and the injury".[18] He returned a month later and in the season he made a total of 13 appearances, scoring 7 goals.[19]
He returned to Scotland to join Airdrieonians, before joining Clyde on 28 June 1894, playing in Scottish Division One.[20] [21] He made 17 appearances and scored 12 times that season, finishing as the league's top goalscorer. On 13 June 1895, Miller joined Derby County. Over his 2 seasons at the club, he made 62 league appearances, scoring 20 goals. He also made 9 appearances in the FA Cup and scored 5 goals.[22] In October 1897, Miller transferred to Bolton Wanderers for a fee of £100.[23] He made 8 league appearances and 1 appearance in the FA Cup, but didn't score.
Liverpool
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Dumbarton | 1890–91 | Scottish Football League | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| 1891–92 | 20 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 18 | |||
| Liverpool | 1892–93 | Lancashire League | 21 | 22 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 31 | 28 | |
| The Wednesday | 1893–94 | First Division | 13 | 7 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 13 | 7 | |
| Clyde | 1894–95 | Scottish Football League | 17 | 12 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 15 | |
| Derby County | 1895–96 | First Division | 30 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 17 | |
| 1896–97 | 28 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 7 | |||
| 1897–98 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |||
| Bolton Wanderers | 8 | 0 | ? | ? | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |||
| Career Total | 142 | 77 | 18 | 14 | 8 | 4 | 168! | 95 | |||