Miller Joe Image 1 Middlesbrough 1929

Description

Coleraine, County Londonderry born right half Joe Miller began his football career in Scottish junior football with Largs Thistle in 1918, and joined Port Glasgow Athletic in 1919. He joined Scottish League Morton in 1920 but was not part of their 1922 Scottish Cup winning team, spending part of the same year on loan at Arthurlie before moving to Johnstone in 1923. Miller came south to try his luck in English football in 1924, initially joining Birmingham League club Nuneaton Town.

In June 1925 Miller joined Third Division (South) club Aberdare Athletic and made his Football League debut at Watford that August, scoring 4 goals in 40 appearances for Aberdare before being signed by Second Division Middlesbrough in August 1926. He missed only two matches a season in each of the next three seasons, and developed a reputation for his reading of the game, his ability to intercept a pass and feed his forward line. He was a key member of the Middlesbrough team that won the Second Division Championship in both 1927 and 1929 after suffering relegation from the top flight in 1928.

Just short of his thirtieth birthday, Miller was awarded long overdue international recognition, making his Ireland debut in a satisfactory 2-2 draw against Wales at The Racecourse Ground, Wrexham in February 1929, adding a second cap in a 7-3 defeat to Scotland at Windsor Park, Belfast three weeks later. Despite the heavy defeat Miller held onto his place for the next season’s opening international fixture in October 1929, a 3-0 defeat by England, again at Windsor Park, in which Boro teammate George Camsell scored twice.

But back in the top flight with Middlesbrough, Miller lost his place in January 1930 and played only 3 more games for the club before a move to Irish League cluh Dolphin in October 1930 after 153 appearances for ‘Boro. He quickly joined Hibernian the next month and made 22 appearances for Hibs during the remainder of the 1930-31 season. He returned to Irish League football joining Ards in the 1931 close season but the same November returned to Football League action, joining Third Division (South) club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. Despite making only three appearances in April 1932 he was retained, and became a regular in The Cherries’ side over the next two seasons, before joining Ballymena United in the summer of 1934 after 81 appearances for Bournemouth. He finally joined Highland League club Ross County in 1935, already aged 36, before his eventual retirement.