Jimmy Miller (footballer, born 1871)

{{For|other players by this name|Jimmy Millar (disambiguation){{!}}Jimmy Millar}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Jimmy Miller

| image = Jimmy Miller (1871–1907).png

| caption = With Sunderland in 1894

| full_name = James Miller

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1871|02|10|df=y}}{{cite book | last = Mitchell | first = Andy | url=https://www.scottishsporthistory.com/the-men-who-made-scotland.html |title = The men who made Scotland: The definitive Who's Who of Scottish Football Internationalists 1872-1939 | publisher = Amazon | year = 2021 | isbn=9798513846642}}

| birth_place = Annbank, Scotland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1907|02|05|1871|02|10|df=y}}[http://www.doingthe92.com/display_player.asp?step=61&ID=6&pid=61094&ptag=Jimmy_Millar Jimmy Millar], Doing The 92

| death_place = Fulham, England

| height =

| position = Forward

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Primrose

| years1 = 1889–1890

| years2 = 1889–1890

| years3 = 1890–1896

| years4 = 1896–1900

| years5 = 1900–1904

| years6= 1904–1905

| years7 = 1905–1906

| clubs1 = Annbank

| clubs3 = Sunderland

| clubs4 = Rangers

| clubs5 = Sunderland

| clubs6 = West Bromwich Albion

| clubs7 = Chelsea

| caps1 =

| caps3 = 140

| caps4 = 53

| caps5= 97

| caps6 = 11

| caps7= 0

| goals1 =

| goals3 = 83

| goals4 = 30

| goals5 = 25

| goals6 = 0

| goals7 = 0

| totalcaps = 301

| totalgoals = 138

| nationalyears1 = 1897–1898{{cite web|url=http://www.londonhearts.com/SFL/players/james1millar.html|title=[SFL player] James Millar |website =London Hearts Supporters Club|accessdate=29 January 2019}}

| nationalteam1 = Scottish League XI

| nationalcaps1 = 3

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| nationalyears2 = 1897–1898

| nationalteam2 = Scotland

| nationalcaps2 = 3

| nationalgoals2 = 2

}}

James Miller (10 February 1871 – 5 February 1907) was a Scottish footballer who played for Sunderland, Rangers and the Scotland national football team as a forward.

Club career

Initially playing with hometown village team Annbank, Miller was one of several skilled Scottish players brought to Sunderland by manager Tom Watson, which collectively became known as the 'team of all talents'.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2011/jul/08/joy-six-oft-forgotten-title-winning-managers|title=The Joy of Six: Oft-forgotten title-winning managers |author=Scott Murray|work=The Guardian|date=8 July 2011|accessdate=29 January 2019}} A player noted for his skill on the ball rather than physical power,{{cite web|url=https://www.safc.com/history/the-roker-roar/jimmy-millar|title=Jimmy Millar|publisher=Sunderland A.F.C.|accessdate=29 January 2019}} he made his debut for the Black Cats on 13 September 1890 against Burnley, a match Sunderland lost 3–2.{{cite web|url=http://www.thestatcat.co.uk/Imatchdets/IMD4706.asp|title=Burnley 3-2 Sunderland|publisher=The Stat Cat|accessdate=2008-07-30|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821121413/http://www.thestatcat.co.uk/Imatchdets/IMD4706.asp|archivedate=2008-08-21}} He played for Sunderland over two different spells: 1890–96 (winning three Football League championships in four seasons) and 1900–04 (claiming a fourth title), separated by a stint in his homeland at Rangers where he won two Scottish Football League titles and two Scottish Cups.{{cite web|url=http://mail.a-love-supreme.com/100%20greatest/10-1.htm|title=SAFC Top 100: 10-1|website=A Love Supreme|accessdate=29 January 2019}}{{cite magazine|title=A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players|author=John Litster|magazine=Scottish Football Historian magazine|date=October 2012}} Overall he made 260 appearances for Sunderland, scoring 123 goals. His uncle Billy Dunlop (only two years older)[https://londonhearts.com/scores//images/1893/1893012004.htm Ayrshire's Best Half-back.] The Scottish Referee, 20 January 1893. Scan via London Hearts Supporters Club was a teammate at Sunderland and Rangers, and his wife Marion was the sister of another teammate, Will Gibson.

He later had a short spell with West Bromwich Albion and then joined Chelsea for the club's first-ever season, but although registered as a player he did not make a competitive appearance and was mainly acting as trainer, the role he was still in at the time of his death from tuberculosis in February 1907, aged 36.

International career

Having been considered ineligible for selection during his productive first spell at Sunderland (the Scottish Football Association ignored players at English clubs until 1896), Miller was capped for Scotland three times between 1897 and 1898 during his time with Rangers, scoring twice, both in matches against England; his first was the winning goal to secure the 1896–97 British Home Championship at Crystal Palace, while his second at Celtic Park almost exactly a year later proved to be merely a consolation for the hosts as England won both the match and the tournament.{{cite news|url=https://www.londonhearts.com/scotland/players/james1millar.html|title=[Scotland player] James Millar profile|publisher=London Hearts Supporters' Club|accessdate=29 January 2019}} He also represented the Scottish League XI three times in the same period.

Honours

Sunderland{{cite web|url=http://www.thestatcat.co.uk/Player.aspx?PlayerID=612|title=Jimmy Millar|website=The Stat Cat|accessdate=29 January 2019}}

Football League: 1891–92, 1892–93, 1894–95, 1901–02
World Championship: 1895{{cite web|url=http://www.roker-roar.com/navbar/worldchampions.html|title=World Champions!|website=Roker Roar|accessdate=29 January 2019}}
Sheriff of London Charity Shield: 1902–03{{cite book|editor-last1=Corbett|editor-first1=B. O.|title=Annals of the Corinthian Football Club, page 159|publisher=LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.|url=https://archive.org/details/annalscorinthia00corbgoog|accessdate=29 January 2019}}

Rangers{{efn|Miller's appearances are recorded under two records in the source.{{cite web|url=http://www.fitbastats.com/rangers/player.php?playerid=1947|title=Rangers player Jim Miller profile|website=FitbaStats|accessdate=29 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.fitbastats.com/rangers/player.php?playerid=1938|title=Rangers player Jamie Miller profile|website=FitbaStats|accessdate=29 January 2019}}}}