Tommy Miller

Thomas William Miller (born 8 January 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently the interim manager of Spennymoor Town.

He has previously played for Hartlepool United, Ipswich Town, Sunderland, Preston North End, Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield Town, Swindon Town, Bury and FC Halifax Town.

Born in Shotton Colliery, County Durham, Miller was in the Ipswich Town youth system as a youngster but was released at 15 and went on to join Hartlepool United, where he signed his first professional deal. After 160 appearances and 41 goals in Division Three, he attracted the interest of several clubs and so left the club in 2001. Before joining Ipswich Town, Miller was close to joining Norwegian side Brann in order to play in the Champions League Campaign on a three-month loan deal. However, Miller's move to Brann was unlikely because FA rules state a player can only join a team outside of Britain for a minimum of three months.

Miller signed back to Ipswich on 12 July 2001 by manager George Burley for £750,000. In his first season at Ipswich Town, he only made eight league appearances and his side was 18th place which resulted relegation to Football League Division One. On 1 November 2001, he made his European cup debut in the UEFA Cup against Swedish side Helsingborg in a 3–1 win. On 25 November 2001, Miller made his league debut for the club in 0–0 draw against Middlesbrough after coming on as a substitute on a 75 minutes for Sixto Peralta. The following season, the club did play in the UEFA Cup again due to UEFA Respect Fair Play ranking where Miller was involved in the First Round against Smederevo and won 2–1 on aggregate.

He then spent four years at Ipswich, scoring 15 goals in 50 appearances in the 2004–05 season and helping them to an unsuccessful Championship play-off appearance. After his last season, Ipswich Town offered Miller a new contract on a two years, only for him to rejected as his contract was set to expire which attracted interests from Premier League and Championship clubs.

Miller moved to Sunderland in June 2005 on a two-year contract, beating Scottish club Celtic and Leeds United who were chasing after him. On 13 August 2005, he made his debut for the club in a 3–1 loss against Charlton Athletic. On 25 September 2005, he scored his first goal in the Premier League and for Sunderland in a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough, giving their first win in the Premier League since 2002. The next game on 1 October 2005, Miller scored his second goal in a 1–1 draw against West Ham United. It took seven months for Miller to score in a 2–1 loss against Portsmouth on 22 April 2006. However he struggled as they returned to the Championship after just one season, finishing bottom with a record low of 15 points. In his first season, Miller played 29 games in the Premier League and played in the midfield position.

He started the first three games of the season under new manager Niall Quinn, but after the appointment of Roy Keane he found himself sidelined and in the pecking order which led him being loaned to Preston North End. On 28 November 2006, Miller made his debut for the club in a 1–1 draw against Coventry City. On 30 December 2006, Miller played against his parents club in a 1–0 win despite being on loan. On 10 March 2007, Miller made his last appearance for club in a 2–0 win over Barnsley. He was released at the end of the 2006–07 season as Sunderland were promoted to the Premier League again after one season at the Championship.

After being released, Miller was linked to Championship sides Stoke, Coventry and Sheffield Wednesday, League One sides Nottingham Forest and Leeds United, and also SPL side Hearts.^{[citation needed]} Also interested was Romanian side Steaua București who want to sign him with reports claiming that he could discuss a move. However, Miller snub moving to Steaua București in order to stay in England.