Robert Millar (soccer)

Infobox Football biography
playername= Bob Millar
fullname = Robert Millar
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date|1890|5|12
cityofbirth = Paisley
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath = death date and age|1967|2|26|1890|5|12
cityofdeath = Staten Island, New York
countryofdeath = United States
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Inside Left
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1909-1911
1912-1913
1913-1914
1914-1916
1916-1918
1916
1916
1918-1919
1919-1920
1920
1920-1921
1921
1921-1922
1922-1923
1923
1923-1925
1925-1927
1927-1928
1928-1929
clubs = St. Mirren
Disston A.A.
Brooklyn Field Club
Bethlehem Steel
Babcock and Wilcox
→ Philadelphia Hibernian (loan)
→ Allentown (loan)
Bethlehem Steel
Robins Dry Dock
J&P Coats
Erie
→ Tebo Yacht Basin (loan)
J&P Coats
Fall River Marksmen
New York Field Club
New York Giants
Indiana Flooring
→ New York Nationals
New York Giants
caps(goals) =
21 (10)
06 0(3)
05 0(0)
42 (11)
57 (29)
22 0(2)
nationalyears = 1925
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 0(0)
manageryears = 1925-1927
1927-1928
1929
1928-1930
managerclubs = Indiana Flooring
→ New York Nationals
Newark Skeeters
United States
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Robert "Bob" Millar (born May 12, 1890 in Paisley, Scotland; died February 22, 1967 in Staten Island, New York) was a Scottish-American soccer forward and coach of the USA team at the first FIFA World Cup. During his Hall of Fame career, Millar spent two seasons in the Scottish Football League before moving to the United States. During an at times tumultuous career, Millar played with over a dozen teams in at least five leagues. He finished his career as a successful professional and national team coach.

Playing

Professional

In 1909, Millar began his professional career with St. Mirren of the Scottish Football League. He left Mirren in 1911 to move to the United States, joining Disston A.A. during the 1912-1913 season. In 1913, he moved to the Brooklyn Field Club of the National Association Football League (NAFBL). In January 1914, Brooklyn played Disston in an early round of the first National Challenge Cup. During the game, Millar was involved in a fight with a Disston fan on the sidelines which resulted in a brawl between fans and players from both teams. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9907E3D81F3BE633A2575BC1A9679C946596D6CF January 18, 1914 New York Times] ] Brooklyn won the Challenge Cup over Brooklyn Celtic, with Millar assisting on the winning goal. This victory made Brooklyn the first team to win what could become known as the U.S. Open Cup. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/year/1914.html U.S. Soccer History – 1914] ] In September 1914, Millar moved to Bethlehem Steel F.C. for the 1914-1915 Allied League of Philadelphia season. That season, he scored fifty-nine goals in thirty-three league and cup games, setting a U.S. record. The season culminated with Bethlehem winning the 1915 National Challenge Cup, 3-1 over Brooklyn Celtic. Millar scored Bethlehem’s first goal. [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usacuphist.html U.S. Open Cup at RSSSF] ] In early 1916, Millar signed with Babcock and Wilcox of the NAFBL, but played on loan to both Philadelphia Hibernian and Allentown. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl022316.html February 23, 1916 The Globe article] ] At some point, Millar may have played for a team in the St. Louis Soccer League as a December 27, 1918 newspaper article mentions his return from playing there. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl122718.html December 27, 1918 The Globe article] ] In December 1918, Millar rejoined Bethlehem Steel, [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl121718.html December 17, 1918 The Globe article] ] but left seven months later to sign with Robins Dry Dock for the 1919-1920 season. However, he had significant disagreements with his team mates and left Robins some time in the spring of 1920 to join J&P Coats of the Southern New England Soccer League. He then moved to Erie A.A. for the 1920-1921 season. In January 1921, he was suspended for two months after striking former Robins team mate Neil Clarke during the halftime of Erie’s National Challenge Cup loss to Robins. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl011021b.html January 10, 1921 The Globe article] ] Since Millar was unable to play for the remainder of the NAFBL season, Erie loaned him to Tebo Yacht Basin F.C. In May, Millar met up with Robins when Tebo defeated Dry Dock in the New York State Cup. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl051621.html May 16, 1921] ] Ironically, Robins Dry Dock and Tebo Yacht Basin were both subsidiary companies of Todd Shipyards. Millar rejoined J&P Coats for the first season, 1921-1922, of the recently established American Soccer League. In 1922, Millar left Coats and signed with the Fall River Marksmen, but the team released him in January 1923, after he played only six games. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl012223b.html January 22, 1923 The Globe article] ] He joined New York Field Club, for the remainder of the season, as well as the 1923-1924 season. However, he again did not complete the season with New York, but moved to the New York Giants. In August 1925, Millar signed with Indiana Flooring as a player and coach. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl090125.html September 1, 1925 The Globe article] ] In 1927, Charles Stoneham purchased Flooring and renamed the team the New York Nationals. Millar continue to coach and play for the Nationals until the onset of the 1928 Soccer Wars. In that internecine conflict, the United States Football Association declared the American Soccer League an “outlaw league”. In October 1928, Millar resigned from the Nationals, informing the team management, “"I hereby advise you that I must refuse to continue as playing manager of the New York Nationals Football Club. I hereby tender my resignation, because to engage further in unsanctioned soccer football will materially endanger my status in organized soccer and will thereby affect my future livelihood as a professional soccer player. You have not lived up to the terms of my contract, which call for me to play and manage under the rules and regulations of the United States Football Association, and by forcing me to engage in outlaw soccer, you are breaking my means of gaining a living. I am compelled to seek a position in organized football." [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl101328.html October 13, 1928 The Globe article] ] He then jumped to the New York Giants who had been expelled from the ASL as part of the “Soccer War”. The USFA then brokered the creation of the Eastern Soccer League as a home for ASL teams which wanted to regain their status as “official” FIFA teams. He remained with the Giants until they returned to the ASL in 1929.

National team

In 1925 Millar was called into the U.S. national team for two games with Canada. Canada won the first game, 1-0, on June 27, 1925. The U.S. won the return game, 6-1, on November 11, 1925. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usa-intres-det69.html RSSSF] ] This game was tied 1-1 at halftime, but Millar assisted on the second U.S. game, scored by Archie Stark soon after halftime. [ [http://www.geocities.com/bethlehem_soccer/gl110925.html November 9, 1925 The Globe article] ]

Coaching

Club

Millar began his coaching career when he was hired by Indiana Flooring in 1925 as both a player and a coach. He remained with Flooring as coach through its 1927 name change to the New York Nationals, but resigned in October 1928 during the soccer wars. He later coached the the Newark Skeeters in 1929.

National team

Millar was selected as the coach of the U.S. national team for the 1930 FIFA World Cup. The success of the national side at the first World Cup in finishing as semi-finalists came as a surprise, more so since they won both of their group matches (against Belgium and Paraguay) without conceding a goal. In the semi-final they suffered considerable ill-luck, two players being injured during the game against Argentina. Following their elimination from the cup, the U.S. played a series of exhibition games against South American professional and regional All Star teams. Of those games, a 4-3 loss to Brazil was the only official international game. Millar finished his term as national team coach with a 2-2 record. [ [http://ussoccer.com/common/stContent.jsp_16-TMNT29.html USSF Coaches Records] ]

Millar was inducted into the US Soccer Hall of Fame in 1950. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/hall.html Soccer Hall of Fame inductees] ]

External links

* [http://www.nationalsoccerhall.org/famers/robert_millar.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame profile]
* [http://soccerballworld.com/1930%20Soccer%20Ball.htm 1930 World Cup team photo]

ources

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References