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Gary Mills (footballer, born 1981)

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Gary Mills
Mills playing for Stevenage Borough in the 2009 FA Trophy Final
Personal information
Full name Gary Leonard Mills
Date of birth (1981-05-20) 20 May 1981 (age 43)
Place of birth Isle of Sheppey, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
000?–1997 Coventry City
1997–1998 Rushden & Diamonds
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2006 Rushden & Diamonds 124 (0)
2006–2007 Crawley Town 21 (0)
2007 Rushden & Diamonds 17 (0)
2007 Tamworth 4 (?)
2007–2008 Kettering Town 27 (2)
2008–2009 Stevenage Borough 32 (0)
2009–2011 Mansfield Town 44 (1)
2010 → Forest Green Rovers (loan) 2 (0)
2011 Rushden & Diamonds 20 (0)
2011 Bath City 4 (0)
2011–2012 Nuneaton Town 25 (?)
2012–2013 Lincoln City 18 (0)
2013–2014 Boston United 0 (0)
2013–2014 → King's Lynn Town (loan) 20 (0)
2016 King's Lynn Town 8 (0)
2016–2017 Corby Town
Total 366+ (3)
Managerial career
2015 Rugby Town
2016–2017 Corby Town
2023–2024 Burton Albion (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:58, 30 May 2016 (UTC)

Gary Leonard Mills (born 20 May 1981) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder.

He was assistant manager at Wrexham until 31 March 2015.[1] He was appointed the new manager at Rugby Town in May 2015 but left after a poor start to the season.[2] He was player/coach at King's Lynn Town after his appointment in May 2016 before later being offered an opportunity to take over the hotseat at Corby Town as player/manager in October 2016.[3]

Career

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Rushden & Diamonds

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Born in Isle of Sheppey, Mills began his career with Coventry City before joining Rushden & Diamonds in their youth system on 21 July 1997.[4] His debut for the club, at the age of 17, came on 22 December 1998 in a Conference League Cup game away to Farnborough Town.[4] He went on to make 16 league appearances during the 1999–2000 season, being named in the starting line-up 8 times.

The following season, Mills was part of the Rushden squad that secured promotion to the Football League after winning the Football Conference, playing in 2 league games.

Although expected to battle against relegation, the Rushden team of 2001–02 exceeded expectations by reaching the Third Division play-off final, though they lost to Cheltenham Town. During this time, Mills was still used as a fringe player, only playing 2 games.

The Diamonds continued to impress in the league, finishing first in Division Three and winning promotion the next season. Mills established himself as one of the club's first choice midfielders, playing in 30 league games. Likewise, in the next campaign, Mills played a further 30 games, though the club had far less success as they were immediately relegated back to Division Three. He did, however, score his first goal for the club that season in a 2–1 victory over Tranmere Rovers.[5]

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.[6]

After the success Mills had enjoyed in the early part of his career, he was then part of the Rushden team relegated to the Conference in the 2005–06 season. He left Nene Park on 20 April 2006, his contract cancelled by mutual consent having not played since early February.[7] Rushden's relegation from The Football League was confirmed nine days later.[8]

Crawley Town

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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.[9] After six months and 21 appearances, he left the club.

Return to Rushden

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Mills re-joined Rushden & Diamonds on 9 January 2007 on a short-term contract. Despite numerous managerial changes at the club, Mills became a regular in the first team squad, making 7 appearances for the remainder of the season as Rushden finished in mid-table.[10] He was not offered a contract extension by Rushden manager Garry Hill, and left the club in May 2007.

Tamworth

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On 25 May 2007 Mills signed for Conference North side Tamworth, managed by Mills' namesake Gary Mills, though of no relation.[11]

On 24 October 2007, 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 at."[12]

Kettering Town

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Following his acrimonious departure from Tamworth, Mills went into talks with fellow Conference North club Kettering Town, signing for the club just three days later.[13] He played 27 games, scoring twice, as the club stormed to promotion to the Conference National with 97 points. His contract was not renewed at the end of the season.

Stevenage Borough

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Mills playing for Stevenage Borough in the 2009 FA Trophy Final

Mills signed for Stevenage Borough on 13 May 2008, having been previously managed by manager Graham Westley whilst he was at Rushden & Diamonds.[14] A regular fixture in the team, Mills played 37 games, including at Wembley Stadium in Stevenage's 2–0 victory in the 2009 FA Trophy Final over York City.

Mansfield Town

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On 26 May 2009, Mills rejected a contract offer from Stevenage Borough to sign for Mansfield Town on a two-year deal.[15]

Forest Green Rovers

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In October 2010, Mills signed for fellow Conference side Forest Green Rovers on a one-month loan deal.[16] Mills played just two times for Forest Green before returning to Mansfield.

Third spell at Rushden

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In January 2011, after being released from Mansfield Town, Mills was snapped up by Rushden manager Justin Edinburgh for his third spell at the club.[17]

Bath City

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Mills joined Bath City on a one-year deal in May 2011.[18] However Mills quit the club in September 2011 when the travelling distances from his Northampton base became too much.

Nuneaton Town

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After leaving Bath, Mills instantly signed for Conference North outfit, Nuneaton Town.[19] In October 2011, Mills picked up a knee injury which ruled him out of action for three months.[20] On 13 May 2012, Mills was a part of the Nuneaton side that was victorious in the Conference North play off final that earned promotion to the Conference National.[21]

Lincoln City and Boston United

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On Monday 21 May 2012 it was reported that Gary had signed a one-year contract with Lincoln and was named captain City.[18] On Monday 4 March 2013 it was reported that the Lincoln City captain left the club by mutual consent. In May 2013, Mills joined Boston United. He then signed on loan for King's Lynn Town in January 2014 on a deal that lasted until the end of the season.[22]

Coaching and Management career

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Mills was assistant manager to Kevin Wilkin at Wrexham until March 2015 when he and Wilkin both left the club. However, Mills was then given his first taste of management after being appointed as Dave Stringer's replacement at Step 8 side Rugby Town on 13 May 2015, with former Bedford Town manager Craig Adams joining as his assistant. He left the club after a poor start to the 2015/16 season.[23][24]

In May 2016, Mills returned to his former club, King's Lynn Town as player-coach.[3] On 19 October 2016, Mills was appointed as the manager of Corby Town with fellow former Rushden & Diamonds academy product David Bell joining him as his assistant.[25] After leaving the team on 21st in the table, and didn't manage to get a single win in the last five games, he got fired on 9 April 2017.[26]

In December 2022, Mills was appointed lead professional development coach at Coventry City, joining the club from Milton Keynes Dons where he had held a similar position.[27]

In September 2023, Mills was appointed first-team coach at League One club Burton Albion.[28] Following the sacking of Dino Maamria in December 2023, Mills was appointed caretaker manager.[29] He returned to his role of first-team coach following the appointment of Martin Paterson on 11 January 2024.[30] On 31 May 2024, Mills departed Burton Albion following the departure of Paterson.[31]

Honours

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Rushden & Diamonds

Kettering Town

Stevenage Borough

Nuneaton

References

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  1. ^ Welton, Blake (31 March 2015). "Gary Mills exits Wrexham FC day after Kevin Wilkin sacked". Daily Post. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Rugby Appoint Mills". 13 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Mills Returns to Lynn as Player-Coach". 30 May 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Gary Mills". Rushden & Diamonds F.C. (hosted by RDFC1992). 5 August 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  5. ^ "Rushden 2-1 Tranmere". BBC Sport. 25 February 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  6. ^ "Oxford 0-0 Rushden". BBC Sport. 11 September 2004. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Rushden release midfielder Mills". BBC Sport. 20 April 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Rushden defeat means relegation". BBC Sport. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  9. ^ "Glovers may hand chance to Mills". BBC Sport. 5 July 2006. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  10. ^ "Rushden return for defender Mills". BBC Sport. 9 January 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  11. ^ "Tamworth complete deal for Mills". BBC Sport. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  12. ^ Clayton, Dave (24 October 2007). "Manager scathing over namesake's departure". Tamworth F.C. Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 1 November 2007.
  13. ^ "Poppies sign midfielder Mills". PoppiesFans.com. 27 October 2007. Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 8 January 2010.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  14. ^ "New signings confirmed". Stevenage Borough F.C. 12 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2008. [dead link‍]
  15. ^ "Stags swoop for Stevenage's Mills". BBC Sport. 26 May 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
  16. ^ "Forest Green Rovers sign Mills, Enver-Marum and Kamara". BBC Sport. 19 October 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Gary Mills set for third Rushden & Diamonds spell". BBC Sport. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  18. ^ "Midfielder Gary Mills joins Bath City on one-year-deal". BBC Sport. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  19. ^ "Mills impressed by Nuneaton set up". Non League Daily. 20 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ^ "Mills loss is bitter blow for Nuneaton". Non League Daily. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  21. ^ "Gainsborough Trinity 0-1 Nuneaton". BBC Sport. 13 May 2012.
  22. ^ "Mills returns to Lynn on loan". Non League Pitchero. 4 January 2013.
  23. ^ "Rugby Town FC | Official Website | 2015-16 | Gary Mills Appointed New Valley Manager".
  24. ^ "Adams Appointed as Mills' Assistant". 22 May 2015.
  25. ^ "| Gary Mills is the New Corby Boss". Archived from the original on 6 February 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
  26. ^ Gary Mills Departs Steel Park Archived 16 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine‚ corbytownfc.co.uk, 9 April 2017
  27. ^ "NEWS: Gary Mills appointed Lead Professional Development Phase Coach". www.ccfc.co.uk. 23 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  28. ^ "GARY MILLS APPOINTED AS FIRST TEAM COACH". www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk. 15 September 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  29. ^ "CLUB STATEMENT FROM THE CHAIRMAN". www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
  30. ^ "MARTIN PATERSON APPOINTED MANAGER OF BURTON ALBION". www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk. 11 January 2024. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  31. ^ "GARY MILLS AND JOHN DREYER DEPART BURTON ALBION". www.burtonalbionfc.co.uk. 31 May 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
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