Miller: William Peter (Liam)

2005-2006 (Leeds Player Details)(Player Details)

Midfield

Born: Cork, Republic of Ireland: 13-02-1981

Debut: v Preston North End (h): 05-11-2005

5’7” 10st 6lb (2007)

After starting with Cork club, Ballincollig AFC, the midfielder furthered his career with Celtic in 1997, but, after making his Scottish League debut as a seventy-seventh minute for Ryan McCann in a 2-0 win over Dundee United at Parkhead on 21st May 2000, he struggled to break through into regular first-team football. He was playing with his boyhood heroes at Celtic. He became a fan favourite, after putting in a number of impressive performances, and scoring in the UEFA Champions League. During his time there, he had a six-month loan spell with Danish football club, AGF Aarhus, during the 2001-02 season, playing eighteen games, as he proved his fitness after a long spell injured. The Danish club considered signing him permanently, for £300,000. However hejoined Manchester United on a free transfer on 1st July 2004, after signing a pre-contract agreement in January that year, when negotiations with Celtic, over a new contract, fell through. This caused an outcry amongst the Celtic fans, who perceived Miller to be showing a distinct lack of loyalty to the club, which had supported him through long-term injury. While he had showed a remarkable ability to score decisive goals, having opened his account with an eighty-fifth minute goal in a 4-0 away win at FBK Kaunas in a Champions League on 30th July 2003, after coming on as a seventy-third minute substitute, he had also got the opening goal in a major Champions League win over Lyon by 2-0 at Parkhead,on 30th September 2003, fourteen minutes after coming on as a sixty-fourth minute substitute. He open the scoring in the ninth minute and closed it in the fiftieth as he registered his first goals in the Scottish League in a 5-0 home win over Heart of Midlothian on 18th October 2003 and then got another vital Champions League strike with Celtic's second goal in the seventeenth minute of a 3-1 home win over Anderlecht on 5th November 2003. In his time at Parkhead he only started thirteen League games but he also had another thirteen in substitute appearances and managed two goals. In addition he made one start in the League Cup and he also made a substitute appearance in that competition as well as one in the Scottish Cup. It was in European games where he fuelled the fans adulation with three goals in five starts and ten substitute appearances, but he was also a member of the Celtic Scottish Premier Championship winning team of 2003-04. He had also started his International career while at Parkhead. He had already represented the Republic of Ireland at Under Fifteen, Under Sixteen and Under Seventeen levels but was part of the Republic's successful Under Eighteen team that won the Third Place Playoff. He had started in the 1-0 win over Russia in Group Four of the Qualifiers at Tolka Park on 9th October 1998 and played in both of the Second Round Group Two matches against Northern Ireland which the Republic won both by 2-1 at the Oval, Belfast on 9th March 1999 and at Tolka Park on 11th May 1999. This took the Republic to Group B of the Finals in Sweden and they produced the upset of the Tournament as they defeated Spain 1-0 at Kopparvallen, Atvidaberg, on 19th July 1999. They played a 3-3 draw with Georgia at Grosvads IP, Finspang, which gave the Georgians their only point in the Group, two days later but two days after that they went down to Italy 0-2 at Idrottsparken, Norrkoping, with both of the Italian goals coming after Miller had been sent off in the sixty-sixth minute. The result left the Republic and Spain on equal points as Italy had previously played a draw with the Spaniards, but by a quirk in the rules, even though they had an inferior goal count they progressed to the third place play-off because they had beaten Spain in the Group game. The Sending-off meant that Miller missed the game which the Republic won 1-0 to clinch Third place in the Tournament on 25th July at Linkoping. Miller played his seventh and final Under-Eighteen game in a 1-0 win over Malta in the Group Two Qualifiers at Hibernians Ground, Corradino, Paola, Malta, on 24th November 1999. He played his first Under-Twenty-One International in a Group Two game of the UEFA Championship Qualifiers on 5th October 2001 at Strokestown, Roscommon as Cyprus were defeated 3-0. He played two more Friendlies as Denmark were beaten 3-2 at Turners Cross in his home town of Cork on 26th March 2002 and they played a 3-3 draw with Austria at Kindberg on 16th April. The Republic found themselves in a tough Group B of the Toulon Under-Twenty Tournament in 2002, losing to both Japan, at Nimes on 7th May 2002, and Italy by 0-2, at Toulon, two days later and 1-2 to South Africa in Frejus on 13th May but couldn't avoid the wooden spoon by drawing with Germany 2-2 at La Seyne, two days later. His eighth Under-Twenty-One cap came in a friendly 1-0 win against Finland at Finnair Stadium, Helsinki. He made four more appearances in the Group Ten Qualifiers in the UEFA Championships to take his caps to twelve with games against Russia on 7th September 2002 and a 0-2 defeat at the Torpedo Stadium, Moscow, a 2-3 home defeat by Switzerland at Buckley Park, Kilkenny, on 15th October 2002, in which Miller scored his first International goal as he gave his team a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes. This was followed by two away draws, 1-1 with Georgia at the Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi, on 28th March 2003 and 0-0 with Albania at the Selman Stermasi Stadium in Tirana, four days later. He completed his fifteen caps with a Friendly on 2nd June 2003 in a 2-2 draw with Germany in Cork, in which he squared the game in the eighty-eighth minute with his second International goal, before two further home games in the UEFA Group Ten, which were both won, as Albania were beaten 2-1 at Dalymount Park on 6th June 2003 and Russia 2-0 at the Regional Sports Centre, Waterford on 5th September 2003. It was not until 31st March 2004 that Miller made his debut for the Republic at full International level, but by the time he had left Celtic he had made four appearances. His debut was at Lansdowne Road in a 2-1 win over Czechoslovakia, as a seventy-first minute substitute for Gary Doherty of Tottenham Hotspur. His run-on debut came on 28th April 2004 at the Zdzislaw Krzyszkowiak Stadium, Bydgoszczin a 0-0 draw with Poland, which was followed by a 1-0 win over Romania at Lansdowne Road on 27th May 2004 and two days later by a 3-0 defeat by Nigeria in a Unity Cup game at the Valey, in which he was replaced by Martin Rowlands of Queens Park Rangers at half-time. With Manchester, he scored his first goal in the fifty-seventh minute of a Carling Cup tie on 26th October 2004 against Crewe Alexandra, with the second goal in a 3-0 win at Gresty Road. However, after an initial promising start with the Red Devils, he found first-team opportunities rare towards the end of the 2004-05 season, making only twenty-two first-team appearances in all competitions and exactly half were as substitute. He only started three League games. Before earning his first full Irish cap, Miller was also eligible to play for Scotland, as his father was Scottish. Despite failing to secure a first-team position at Manchester United, Miller remained a regular in the Irish squad and added a further six caps to take them to ten. On 18th August 2004 he started in the 1-1 draw with Bulgaria at Landsdowne Road but was replaced after fifty-two minutes by Stephen Carr of Tottenham Hotspur. on 13th October he came on as a fifty-seventh minute substitute for John O'Shea of Manchester United in the 2-0 European Group Four win over Faroe Islands in the World Cup at Lansdowne Road. His next three caps were all won 1-0 at Landsdowne Road, over Croatia on 16th November, over Portugal on 10th February 2005, when he came on as a sixty-ninth minute substitute for Damien Duff of Chelsea, and China on 29th March 2005, when he again came on as an half-time replacement for Damien Duff. His final International as a Manchester United player came on 17th August 2005 at Landsdowne Road in a 1-2 defeat by Italy, when he replaced team mate John O'Shea after seventy-eight minutes. On 4th November 2005, Miller joined Leeds United, initially for three months, but this was later extended to the end of the 2005-06 season. He scored one goal during his time at Leeds, the winning goal in the stunning 4-3 away win, against Southampton, and he also helped Leeds to reach the CCCL play-off final, a game in which he featured. However, Leeds failed to overcome Watford, and so were not promoted to the EPL. He only gained one cap in his time at Leeds but it was in a 3-0 win over Sweden at Landsdowne Road on 1st March 2006, when he replaced Joey O'Brien of Bolton Wanderers on the one hour mark and eleven minutes later he scored he third Irish goal with his only International goal. Picking the ball up on the half way line, Miller raced towards the Swedish penalty area, letting loose a fine shot from 25 yards, which beat the Swedish keeper, Andreas Isaksson, and dipped into the net. In July 2006, it was reported that Miller would be allowed to leave Manchester United, should the Red Devils receive a suitable offer. It had been made clear that Miller was not part of Alex Ferguson's plans. Despite the huge number of senior players missing, he was still only a substitute, in the opening game of the Red Devils' tour of South Africa. Throughout the summer, Miller had been linked with Scottish side Aberdeen. However, on 31st August 2006, he moved to Sunderland, on a free transfer, in a three-year deal, joining up with new Sunderland Manager, and former Manchester United and Ireland captain, Roy Keane. While back at Old Trafford he had taken his caps to thirteen with two more defeats at Landsdowne Road, by 0-1 to Chile on 24th May 2006 when he started the game but was replaced by Aiden McGeady of Celtic after fifty-three minutes, and a 0-4 loss to the Netherlands on 16th August 2006 in a game where he came on as a half-time replacement for Steven Reid of Blackburn Rovers. Miller made thirty appearances for Sunderland in his first season, scoring his first goal for them against Leeds United, in a 3-0 victory at Elland Road on 13th September 2006. He had started his Sunderland career in the CCCL with a 2-1 win over Derby County at Pride Park on 9th September 2006 and helped them gain promotion to the EPL, as Champions of the CCCL, in his first season of 2006-07 and got his second goal for the club with a last minute winner in a 2-1 win in the reverse fixture with the Rams on 24th February 2007. Miller was placed on the transfer list by Manager Roy Keane on 27th February 2008, due to a 'lack of discipline' and 'poor timekeeping' shown in his frequent lateness for training sessions. Several reports linked Miller to a return to Leeds on loan for the rest of the season, but it failed to eventuate. After scoring three League goals in forty-one starts and sixteen games from the bench, and one start in the F.A. Cup and one start and one game from the bench in the League Cup without scoring, he left Sunderland for Queens Park Rangers on 15th January 2009 on a free transfer with a contract until the end of the season, having played his final game for them on 29th November 2008 in a 1-4 defeat by Bolton Wanderers at the Stadium of Light. While at Sunderland he had added a further six caps to his name, with two drawn games in Group D of the European Championship, the first in a 1-1 draw with Cyprus at Croke Park, Dublin, when he was a half-time substitute for Joey O'Brien, and a 2-2 draw with Wales at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 17th November 2007, which he started but was replaced by Stephen Hunt of Reading after an hour. He had been picked for the squad for the European games but had missed the games against Cyprus and Czech Republic in October 2006 when he was kept out of the games by a foot injury.He then play three home friendlies, in a 0-1 defeat by Brazil at Croke Park on 6th February 2008, a 1-1 draw with Serbia on 24th May 2008, again at Croke Park, and a 1-0 win over Columbia five days later, at Craven Cottage, home of Fulham. For his nineteenth cap he played in the 1-2 defeat by Georgia in Group Eight of the European Qualifiers for the World Cup on 6th September 2008 at the Bruchwegstadion, Mainz, Germany, when he was a Seventy-Seventh minute replacement for Kevin Doyle of Reading. He made his Queens Park Rangers debut in a 3-0 win at Blackpool, on 27th January 2009 when he started the game and was replaced by Hogan Ephraim after fifty-four minutes. He played his final game for Rangers in a 0-0 home draw with Plymouth Argyle on 25th April 2009, in which he was replaced by Peter Rampage in thesixty-second minute. He was released by Queens Park Rangers on 19th May 2009, after eleven starts and two substitute games in the League without scoring. He signed for Hibernian on a free transfer on 10th September 2009 with a two year contract. He made his debut for Hibernian in a 0-2 defeat at Hamilton Academical on 13th September 2009 and scored his first goal in a 2-0 home win over Aberdeen on 31st October 2009. He quickly established himself as a first team regular at Easter Road and stayed with the club until the end of his contract, playing his final game for them in a 1-3 home defeat by Aberdeen on 14th May 2011. He brought his Irish Caps to twenty-one during his time with Hibernian, his twentieth being in a 1-1 draw with Nigeria in a friendly at Craven Cottage on 29th May 2009 and his final cap came on 14th October in a Group Eight World Cup Qualifier in a 0-0 draw with Montenegro at Croke Park. While at Easter Road he scored seven Scottish League goals in sixty-two starts and four games as a substitute, but he also started six Scottish Cup, two Scottish League Cup and two Europa League games without scoring. He had served Hibernian well and had won the Scottish Premier League Player of the Month for October 2009. However, despite early praise from new Manager Calderwood, Miller was no longer in his first-team plans, as evidenced by the purchase of other midfielders and thus it was time to move and he joined A-League side Perth Glory on a two year contract on 3rd June 2011, on a free transfer. Despite being stretchered off in a pre-season game 2-2 draw with Sydney FC on 24th September 2011, he came back strongly, scoring his first goal eight minutes from the end of a 3-0 win against Adelaide United at Hindmarsh Stadium on 29th January 2012 and following it a week later with a goal in the fifty-third minute in a 4-0 home win over the Gold Coast. Perth finished third in the League, eight points behind top team Central Coast Mariners and six behind second placed Brisbane Roar, who beat them 2-1 in the Grand Final play-off, after extra-time with a controversial penalty in injury-time. He started twenty-five games in 2011-12 and scored twice and started twenty-four games in 2012-13, without scoring. On 17th April 2013, he would not re-sign for Perth at the end of his contract despite an offer from Perth Glory and on 22nd May he signed a two year contract with Brisbane Roar on a free transfer. He was selected for the A-League All Stars to meet the touring Manchester United team on 20th July 2013. He was substituted for Billy Celeski of Melbourne Voctory at half-time. He took part in the pre-season games for Brisbane Roar, scoring the opening goal in the twelfth minute in a 2-1 win over Central Coast Mariners at Carrington Park, Bathurst on 7th September 2013 and is expected to feature strongly in the 2013-14 A-League season for the Brisbane Roar.