Gary Mills

Rushden & Diamonds

Mills spent time in the Academy at Coventry City. He later came through the Rushden & Diamonds youth team and was rated as a £50,000 talent by manager Brian Talbot in December 1999. In the following season, Mills was part of the Rushden squad that secured promotion to the Football League after winning the Conference. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–1 victory over Tranmere Rovers on 25 February 2004. On 11 September 2004, Mills suffered a dislocated ankle in a league match against Oxford United, leading him to miss the rest of the 2004–05 campaign. He left Nene Park on 20 April 2006, his contract cancelled by mutual consent, having not played since early February. Rushden's relegation from the Football League was confirmed nine days later.

Later career

Mills joined fellow Conference National side Crawley Town on 10 August 2006, though he also had an unsuccessful trial with League One side Yeovil Town in July. Mills rejoined Rushden & Diamonds on 9 January 2007 on a short-term contract. On 25 May 2007 Mills signed for Conference North side Tamworth, managed by namesake Gary Mills. On 24 October, Mills was sacked by Tamworth following an argument with manager Gary Mills. The manager accused Mills of having "no bottle, no balls, and no discipline", regarding the player's lack of effort and reaction to being dropped from the first team. The player Mills, meanwhile, retorted that Tamworth was "the worst club [I have] ever been…

Mills was a midfielder who harassed and pressured opponents, breaking up play and passing the ball on to teammates.

Mills was assistant manager to Kevin Wilkin at Wrexham from May 2014 until March 2015, when he and Wilkin both left the club following defeat in the 2015 FA Trophy final. Mills was appointed as manager at Northern Premier League Division One South club Rugby Town on 13 May 2015. He won one of his seven league games in charge. He played two league games. He resigned on 11 September. In June 2016, Mills returned to his former club, King's Lynn Town, as player-coach. He was promoted to assistant manager in September 2016. On 19 October 2016, Mills was appointed as the manager of Southern League Division One Central side Corby Town. He was sacked on 9 April 2017 after a run of five games without a win that left the Steelman 21st in the table. He then joined Northampton Town within their academy set-up as the lead coach at under-16 level. He joined St Ives Town as a coach in July 2020. In December 2022, he was appointed lead professional development coach at Coventry City, joining the club from Milton Keynes Dons where he had held a similar position. In September 2023, Mills was appointed first-team coach at League One club Burton Albion. Following the sacking of Dino Maamria on 9 December 2023, Mills was appointed caretaker manager. He returned to his role of first-team coach following the appointment of Martin Paterson on 11 January 2024. On 31 May 2024, Mills departed Burton Albion following the departure of Paterson. He joined Steve Evans coaching staff at Rotherham United…

His son, Harley, turned professional at Peterborough United.