seamus dubhghaill

Promoting Irish Culture and History from Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

Tag Archives: Free Transfer (association football)


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Birth of Liam Miller, Irish Professional Footballer

Liam William Peter Miller, Irish professional footballer, is born on February 13, 1981, in Cork, County Cork.

Miller grows up in Ovens, County Cork, and attends Coachford College in Coachford, County Cork. As a boy, he also plays Gaelic games for his hometown club, Éire Óg, and represents Cork GAA at youth level. His family is his largest influence in football, and Martin O’Neill and Sir Alex Ferguson are also influential to his career.

Miller begins his career with Celtic and is later loaned to the Danish sports club Aarhus Gymnastikforening in 2001. He returns to Celtic Park and breaks into the first-team squad during the 2003–04 season. Rejecting the offer of a new contract from Celtic, he joins Manchester United in 2004 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling. Loaned to Leeds United during the 2005–06 season, he makes 22 first-team appearances for Manchester United.

Miller represents the Republic of Ireland team internationally, making his debut in 2004 against the Czech Republic. He earns 21 caps over the next five years, scoring one international goal.

From 2006 until 2009, Miller plays for Sunderland, followed by a short stay at Queens Park Rangers from January until May 2009, when he is released. He joins Hibernian in September 2009 on a free transfer. He moves to Australia‘s A-League in 2011 after his contract with Hibernian expires, and represents Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City there.

On January 15, 2015, he joins League of Ireland Cork City club, choosing his hometown club over several offers in Asia. He makes his debut on March 7 as the season begins with a 1–1 draw at Sligo Rovers. He is a regular in his only season at Turners Cross, in which the team finishes as runners-up in the league and the FAI Cup to Dundalk. On January 19, 2016, he chooses to leave the team.

Miller signs with American third-tier United Soccer League side Wilmington Hammerheads on February 18, 2016. He makes 27 total appearances for the North Carolina-based club, scoring a last-minute equaliser in a 2–2 draw at Orlando City B on July 24.

In 2017, Miller holds an assistant coaching role at Real Monarchs, a USL affiliate of Real Salt Lake. He leaves in November for health reasons.

In November 2017, it is made public that Miller is receiving treatment for pancreatic cancer. He has chemotherapy at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Salt Lake City before returning to Ireland. He dies in Cork on February 9, 2018, only four days shy of his 37th birthday.

A benefit football match is played on September 25, 2018, with the intention of raising funds for Miller’s family and charities. The Gaelic Athletic Association permits the game to be played at Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork, which would not normally be allowed under GAA rules. The match, between a Manchester United XI and a team composed of former Celtic and Republic of Ireland players, ends with the United XI winning on penalties following a 2–2 draw.


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Birth of Steve Morrow, Professional Footballer & Manager

Stephen Joseph Morrow, Northern Irish former professional footballer and manager, is born on July 2, 1970, in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Morrow makes his full international debut for Northern Ireland in May 1990 against Uruguay. He goes on to win 39 caps for his country from then until 1999.

Morrow becomes a semi-regular with Arsenal in 1992–93. He plays most of his matches in midfield, replacing the injured Paul Davis as Arsenal reaches the League Cup and FA Cup finals. He starts the League Cup final against Sheffield Wednesday. After falling behind to a John Harkes goal, Arsenal equalises through Paul Merson, and then Merson sets up Morrow to score the winner, which is also his first for the club. In the celebrations after the match, Arsenal skipper Tony Adams attempts to pick up Morrow and parade him on his shoulders, but Adams slips, and Morrow awkwardly hits the ground. He breaks his arm and has to be rushed to hospital.

As a result, Morrow misses the rest of that season, including the 1993 FA Cup Final, where Arsenal completes the Cup Double. Before the final kicks off, he receives his League Cup winners’ medal.

Morrow is fit enough by the start of the next season but plays only 13 matches, compared to 25 the previous season. One of those is the scene of an Arsenal triumph, the club’s 1994 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final win over Parma. In an Arsenal midfield depleted of John Jensen and David Hillier, he makes his first appearance in the competition that season partnering 20-year-old Ian Selley in central midfield as Arsenal beats Parma 1–0 with an Alan Smith goal.

Morrow nearly leaves the club in March 1994, following an approach from the Premier League‘s bottom club Swindon Town, but the transfer falls through and he signs a new contract with Arsenal, where he spends three more years.

Morrow goes on to play over 20 matches the following season, including a second Cup Winners’ Cup final, which Arsenal loses to Real Zaragoza. He scores his second Arsenal goal in the League Cup once again against Sheffield Wednesday, and scores his first Arsenal league goal in a 3–1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers, who win the Premier League that season. However, he never finds favour under new Arsenal boss Bruce Rioch, who only gives the Irishman five matches in 1995–96.

After the arrival of Arsène Wenger in 1996, Morrow is told he is surplus to requirements at Highbury, and he is loaned to Queens Park Rangers (QPR) in March 1997, the deal being made permanent that summer. He plays 85 games for Arsenal in total, scoring three goals.

At QPR, Morrow is initially a regular, but the club struggles, going from contenders for promotion to the Premiership to facing relegation to the Football League Second Division. Injuries to his shoulder ligaments ruled him out for most of the 1999–2000 season, and he loses his place in the side. He later has a loan spell at Peterborough United, but it does not become permanent, and he is released on a free transfer in the summer of 2001.

Struggling to find a club in the United Kingdom, Morrow moves to the United States to play for Major League Soccer (MLS) side Dallas Burn. He spends two seasons at Dallas, who rename themselves FC Dallas in 2004, before retiring because of a persistent neck injury.

On February 3, 2004, Morrow is named as an assistant coach to FC Dallas but resigns in late May due to personal reasons. However, he returns to the club on January 27, 2005, under coach Colin Clarke. When Clarke is fired on November 7, 2006, Morrow is named interim head coach. On December 11, 2006, FC Dallas removes the ‘interim’ from his title. He is fired as coach on May 20, 2008.

On September 12, 2008, Morrow returns to Arsenal as International Partnerships – Performance Supervisor, managing Arsenal’s international partnerships, which includes the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer in the United States, BEC Tero of Thailand and Hoàng Anh Gia Lai of Vietnam, and assisting Arsenal’s academies in countries such as Egypt and Ghana. From 2014, he works as Arsenal’s head of youth development. He leaves Arsenal in 2019 following a coaching staff shake up.

On May 7, 2021, Morrow is appointed The FA’s head of player selection and talent strategy working across England men’s teams.