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Alex Millar (footballer)

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Scottish association football player Not to be confused with Alex Miller.

Alex Millar
Personal information
Full name Alexander Millar
Birth name Alexander Urbonis
Date of birth 21 October 1911
Place of birth Mossend, Scotland
Date of death 28 January 1977(1977-01-28) (aged 65)
Place of death Bellshill, Scotland
Position(s) Centre half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
– Mossend Celtic
1933–1934 Parkhead
1934–1935 Shawfield
1935–1938 Celtic 10 (0)
1938–1946 Preston North End
1946–1947 Dundee United 25 (0)
1947–1949 Morton
1949–1950 Stranraer
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Alexander Millar (21 October 1911 – 28 January 1977) was a Scottish footballer who played as a centre half.

Career

Born with the surname Urbonis, Millar was a member of North Lanarkshire's Lithuanian immigrant community. After playing with several local Junior teams until the age of 23, he began his senior career with Celtic in 1935, where he was a reserve behind Willie Lyon in the queue for selection; he made five appearances as the club won the 1937–38 Scottish Division One title, but it is doubtful that he would have been presented with a medal. With the situation unchanged going into the following campaign he moved on, joining Preston North End in October 1938. He had little time to become established in English football prior to the outbreak of World War II ten months later, and during the conflict he appeared as a guest player for Scottish clubs including Celtic and Motherwell, featuring for the latter in the 1945 Southern League Cup Final which ended in defeat by Rangers.

In 1946 Millar signed for Scottish Division B side Dundee United, transferring back up to the top tier with Morton in late 1947 and playing for them in the 1948 Scottish Cup Final – again losing out to Rangers, this time after extra time in a replay; his performance in both matches against his internationalist opponents Billy Williamson and Willie Thornton, at the age of 36, was singled out for particular praise in press reports. After Morton were relegated in the 1948–49 season, he moved on to Stranraer for a short spell prior to retiring.

Millar also served as chairman of the Scottish Football Players Union in the post-war period. He was the first of several Scots of Lithuanian descent to play for Celtic between the 1930s and 1960s, all of them defenders, the most famous being Billy McNeill.

References

  1. ^ Statutory registers - Deaths - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  2. ^ John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. "Lithuanians in Lanarkshire". Legacies: UK history local to you. BBC. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  4. ^ And they gave us James McGrory and Danny Dawson, Matt Corr, The Celtic Star, 18 March 2020
  5. (Celtic player) Millar, Alex, FitbaStats
  6. Keen Cup Final | Motherwell Unlucky, The Glasgow Herald, 14 May 1945
  7. Motherwell Beaten 2-1, The Scotsman, 14 May 1945, via London Hearts Supporters Club
  8. Alec Miller Player Profile, Arab Archive
  9. Thrills in Hampden Wind, The Glasgow Herald, 19 April 1948
  10. Memorable Exhibition by Morton Centre Half, The Glasgow Herald, 22 April 1948
  11. Neil Brown. "Greenock Morton: 1946/47 - 2013/14". Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Transfer Database. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  12. PFA Scotland/Scottish Football Players Union, ScottishLeague.net, 11 May 2008
  13. Every footballer has a story, especially if he played for Celtic, Michael Beattie, Celtic Quick News, 11 March 2017
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