Liam Alan Millar (born September 27, 1999) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

left winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

and the Canada national team. Millar featured in the youth ranks of Brampton Youth SC and

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ho ...

before moving to England to join Fulham Academy aged 13. After three years with Fulham, he joined the Liverpool Academy in 2016.

Early life

Millar was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and raised in

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

and Oakville. He moved to England at the age of 13 for footballing purposes. He began playing soccer at age four with Brampton YSC. Afterwards he played with

and Burlington YSC. His father played for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

and is an

electrician An electrician is a tradesman, tradesperson specializing in electrical wiring of buildings, transmission lines, stationary machines, and related equipment. Electricians may be employed in the installation of new electrical components or the ...

who works on television series, including ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''.

Club career

Early career

Millar began his career with Brampton Youth SC at the age of four. After two years he joined

and remained at the club until his move to England. He joined

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

at the age of 13 but felt he struggled to adapt to English football. On moving to England, Millar said "It took me a while to adjust to how English football is, it probably took me a good two-and-a-half years."

Liverpool

In July 2016, he joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on a free transfer with striking options limited in the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. Millar scored four minutes into his Liverpool U18s career and marked his debut in the

U18 Premier League The Professional Development League is a system of English youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player P ...

with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 4–0 victory against Blackburn Rovers U18s in August 2016. A month later, he signed a professional contract on his 17th birthday. Injury ruled Millar out for three months of his inaugural season but a return in January saw him finish the season with six goals in 17 appearances in the U18 Premier League. He featured in every game of Liverpool's 2017–18 UEFA Youth League campaign and scored twice in eight games. After 18 months under the guidance of

Steven Gerrard Steven George Gerrard MBE (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and a former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time and one of Liverpool's greatest ever players,FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

fourth-round replay against

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

. He was replaced by Joe Hardy in the 82nd minute. In mid-2020 Liverpool turned down multiple transfer offers for Millar, who received loan interest from clubs in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

and

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

Loans to Kilmarnock

On January 31, 2019, Millar signed a long-term first-team contract with Liverpool and joined Scottish Premiership side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock ( ; ; , ), meaning "the church of Mernóc", is a town and former burgh in East Ayrshire situated in southwest Scotland. The town has served as the administrative centre of East Ayrshire Council since 1996 and is the region's main ...

on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. He made his debut on February 1 in a 2–1 loss to Heart of Midlothian. He scored his first goal on March 11 against St Mirren. He returned on loan to Kilmarnock in August 2019. This loan period was cut short in January 2020 when he returned to his parent club.

Loan to Charlton Athletic

On January 5, 2021, Millar completed his move to

on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal for Charlton on January 26 in a 1–0 league win over MK Dons. Over the season he played 27 games for the club scoring two goals.

Basel

On 8 July 2021,

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

club

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

announced that they had signed Millar on a four-year deal until June 2025. Liverpool confirmed the transfer the same day. The transfer fee was reported to be £1.3 million, with a negotiated a 20 per cent sell-on clause. Having completed medical checks on Tuesday, he signed his contract and joined the team on Thursday 8 July for their 2021–22 season under head coach

Patrick Rahmen Patrick Rahmen (born 3 April 1969) is a Swiss football coach and former player. He played as midfielder or forward. He was most recently the head coach of Young Boys in the Swiss Super League. Club career Patrick Rahmen learned his football s ...

. After playing in two test games, Millar played his domestic league debut for his new club in the away game in the

Letzigrund Letzigrund () is a stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, the home of the football (soccer), football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich, as well as the Sport of athletics, athletics club . The original stadium was constructed by members of FC ...

, coming on as substitute for Valentin Stocker in the 72nd minute, as Basel won 2–0 against Grasshopper Club on the opening day of the season on 25 July. He scored his first goal for his new team in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

away game on 19 September. It was the first goal of the match in the 35th minute as Basel went on to win 3–0 against amateur club FC Rorschach-Goldach. He scored his first league goal the team two weeks later, on 26 September, in the home game in the

St. Jakob-Park St. Jakob-Park () is a Swiss sports stadium in Basel. It is the largest football venue in Switzerland and home to FC Basel. "Joggeli", as the venue is nicknamed by the locals, was originally built with a capacity of 33,433 seats. The capacity w ...

as Basel won 3–1 against

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He scored his first goal in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

in the away game on 4 November. It was the equaliser, in the 57th minute, as Basel played a 1–1 draw against Cyrian team Omonia. That season Millar played 31

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

games, scoring seven goal, three

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

games, scoring one goal and 12 Conference League games with two goals. The team advanced as far as the round of 16 in this competition, but here were eliminated 4–2 on aggregate by

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. In the following league season he played 26 matches, four in the

and 16 in the Conference League scoring his sole goal of the entire season against Irish team

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

. The team advanced as far as the semi-finals in this competition, but here were eliminated 4–3 on aggregate by

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

Loan to Preston North End

In September 2023 Millar signed with

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

on a loan deal until the end of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

. He made his debut on 16 September against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

, scoring the second goal in a 2–1 victory at

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

. On

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

, he registered a goal and an assist in a 2–1 home win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

Hull City

On August 9, 2024, Millar returned to the

with

. Signing a permanent three-year deal, he arrived for an undisclosed fee. Millar made his debut the next day for the opening game of the 2024–25 season, coming off the bench in a 1–1 home draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

International career

Youth

Millar was first involved in the international set-up at the age of 14 in the squad for the Tournoi Montaigu. After being invited to an U20 camp in Costa Rica in 2016, he made his debut in the

CONCACAF Under-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

in February 2017. He made three appearances as Canada finished third in Group A and failed to progress to the classification stage. In May 2018, Millar was named to Canada's under-21 squad for the

2018 Toulon Tournament The 2018 Toulon Tournament (officially ) was the 46th edition of the Toulon Tournament. It was held in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône from 26 May to 9 June 2018. England won the tournament for the third successive year beating Mexico 2–1 i ...

. Millar was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

on February 26, 2020.

Senior

In March 2018, Millar was named in

John Herdman John Herdman (born 19 July 1975) is an English professional football manager widely recognized for his contributions to Canadian soccer. He is the only coach to have led both a women’s and men’s national team from the same country to a FIF ...

's first squad as national team manager. In that same camp, Millar made his senior debut and first start for Canada during a 1–0 win over

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, impressing while doing so. In May 2019, Millar was named to the 23-man squad for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was p ...

. In November 2022, Millar was called-up to Canada's squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. He made one appearance at the tournament, in Canada's opening match against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. In June 2023, Millar was named to the 23-man squad ahead of the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. Canada and the United ...

. He scored his first goal for Canada during the tournament on July 4 against

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

, netting the final tally in an eventual 4–2 victory. In June 2024, Millar was named to Canada's squad for the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

Style of play

Millar's preferred position is as a number nine, but was utilised in various roles with Liverpool due to his flexibility. He has been noted for his ability on the left flank. In August 2016, manager

Neil Critchley Neil Critchley (born 18 October 1978) is an English football coach who was most recently the head coach of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian. A former association football, footballer, he previously played ...

said: "He's a goalscorer. He can run down the side of defenders, he runs in behind, he gives them real problems with his movement and he's a good finisher off both feet. He's got a good brain, good awareness, very calm and can finish. He's a good player, a good all-round player."

Personal life

Millar is married to Daniela Paniccia, who played for the

Penn State Nittany Lions The Penn State Nittany Lions are the athletic teams of Pennsylvania State University, except for the women's basketball team, known as the Penn State Lady Lions basketball, Lady Lions. The school colors are navy blue and white. The school mascot ...

and Oakville Hornets in the

Provincial Women's Hockey League The Ontario Women's Hockey League U22 Elite (OWHL), formerly the Provincial Women's Hockey League, is a women's junior ice hockey league in Ontario, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is considered to be the highest level of amateur women's ice hockey ...

. They have a daughter together.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Millar goal.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Liam 1999 births Living people Soccer players from Oakville, Ontario Soccer players from Brampton Soccer players from Toronto Canadian men's soccer players Men's association football forwards North Mississauga SC players Fulham F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players FC Basel players Preston North End F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players English Football League players Swiss Super League players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2024 Copa América players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 21st-century Canadian sportsmen