ALAN MILLER

Born: 29 March 1970

Came from: Arsenal   Went to: Arsenal

First game: 26 November 1988   Last game: 18 February 1989

Appearances: 15 (15/0)   Goals: 0

Born in Epping, Miller will go down as a serious contender for the best-ever loan player to grace Home Park after a sparkling 15-game spell for the club.

The goalkeeper was brought to the Westcountry on a three-month loan from Arsenal in 1988, and was an instant hit. He was a big man with fantastic agility, solid handling skills and an amiable nature, but the presence of John Lukic and then David Seaman denied him the chance to establish himself at Highbury.

On arrival at Home Park, he was just 18, but had already played age-range football for England at schoolboy level (1985, two caps), under-16 (1985-86, nine caps) and then went on to the under-21s (1988-90, four caps).

He proved to he a big favourite with Argyle fans, pulling off a string of magnificent stops, including a blinding and unforgettable save from Oldham Athletic's Andy Ritchie. There was a brief hope that he might be persuaded to settle in the Westcountry (he had Cornish connections) but such dreams were dashed when he was recalled as cover for John Lukic. His impact was so great that he nearly won the 1988-89 season's Player of the Year award based on just those 15 games, and some still consider him Argyle's best-ever keeper.

Returning to Highbury, he eventually left Arsenal after six seasons, during which he played just eight times for the first team, which included loan spells with West Bromwich Albion (three appearances) and Birmingham City (13 appearances), However, during his time in North London he did pick up a haul of medals notably the FA Youth Cup (1987-88), FA Charity Shield (shared) (1991), FA Cup (1992-93), Football League Cup (1992-93) and the European Cup Winners' Cup (1993-94).

He then went on to join Middlesbrough, ultimately helping the Teesside club to promotion to the Premier League in 1995. Despite a promising start to his time there, Miller could not win a regular place in the first team and was loaned to Huddersfield Town (no appearances), Grimsby Town (three appearances) and West Brom again (a further two appearances). This last move led to a permanent transfer to the Hawthorns. In total he had played 57 games for Boro. He went on to become a virtual ever-present over the following three seasons at the Hawthorns. This included being voted into the PFA Team of the Year for the 1997-98 First Division season.

A back injury, however, led to him losing his place and, eventually, to a transfer to Blackburn Rovers after 93 appearances in his third spell with West Brom. However, he rarely played for Rovers (one appearance) though did pick up a Football League Cup winners' medal (2001-02) as a squad player. Whilst at Ewood Park he was loaned to Bristol City (four appearances), Coventry City (one appearance) and St Johnstone (18 appearances) his previous back injury forced him to retire from the professional game in 2002, aged just 31. His professional career consisted of a surprisingly low number of games, particularly for a goalkeeper, of just short of 250 appearances in all competitions. This would have surely been higher had it not been for his initial loyalty to Arsenal.

Miller later lived in Holkham, Norfolk, where he worked as business development manager at Holkham Hall, a stately home in the county. Tragically he died following a heart attack in Holkham, in June 2021, aged just 51 years old.