Charlie Miller

Early life

Miller was born in Glasgow and raised in the Castlemilk district of the city; he was brought up by his mother and has never met his father. He attended Castlemilk High School before leaving early to join the staff at Rangers, having been on a youth contract with the club since the age of 11. He had been introduced to football by his two uncles, one of whom supported Rangers and the other Celtic; Miller has stated that he attended games of both clubs as a child and had no particular affection for either until he started to play regularly for Rangers' affiliated boys club.

Rangers

Miller made his senior debut in 1993 aged just 17, and showed he was talented enough to make an impression in the nine-in-a-row team under Walter Smith, winning three Scottish Premier Division titles between 1995 and 1997 (providing the cross for Brian Laudrup to score the championship-clinching goal in the latter), as well as lifting the Scottish League Cup in 1996 and starting matches in the UEFA Champions League against the likes of Juventus, Borussia Dortmund and Ajax, all by the age of 21. When David Beckham scored his famous goal from the halfway line against Wimbledon on 17 August 1996, he did so in boots custom-made for Miller ("CHARLIE" was embroidered on the boots), which had been given to Beckham by mistake. However, a lifestyle of parties and an unhealthy diet (with both his old Castlemilk pals and others such as teammate Paul Gascoigne's entourage)…

Miller won his sole cap for Scotland in a 1–1 draw with Poland in 2001. Steven Caldwell, Kenny Miller, Barry Nicholson, Gavin Rae, John O'Neil and Andy McLaren (the latter a childhood friend of Miller from Castlemilk) also made their Scotland debuts in the same game. Scotland manager Craig Brown stated that 'Charlie Miller has always been a talented player and now I think his club manager Alex Smith has got the best out of him and this is a new challenge for him'. Brown resigned as Scotland boss later in 2001 after failing to qualify for the 2002 World Cup and Miller was overlooked by Brown's successor Berti Vogts. Scotland captain Barry Ferguson stated that Miller 'should be in the Scotland team', but Vogts did not take his advice.

Rangers

Scottish Premier Division: 4 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 Scottish League Cup: 1 1996–97

Brann

Norwegian Cup: 1 2004

Individual

Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year: 1 1995 A-League Foreign Player of the Year: 2008–2009