Liam Miller

He came close to scoring in the 64th minute of the 7–0 win (11–0 aggregate).

Liam William Peter Miller (13 February 1981 – 9 February 2018) was an Irish professional footballer.

Miller joined Celtic in 1997 as a youth player, and made his professional league debut against Dundee United on 21 May 2000, as a 77th-minute substitute for fellow debutant Ryan McCann.

His UEFA Cup debut came against Luxembourg-based club Jeunesse Esch on 24 August 2000 in the second leg of the qualifying round.

Miller began his career with Celtic and was later loaned to Aarhus in 2001.

During his time at Celtic Park, he had been on a six-month loan spell with Danish football club AGF Aarhus during the 2001–02 season, making 18 appearances without scoring a goal.

They considered signing him permanently for £300,000.

He returned to Celtic Park and broke into the first-team squad during the 2003–04 season.

Miller scored his first professional goal on 30 July 2003 in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, coming on as a late substitute to complete a 4–0 win at Lithuania's Kaunas.

Two months later in the group stage, he scored against Lyon, and subsequently manager Martin O'Neill offered him a long-term contract, attempting to keep Miller at the club.

His first Scottish Premier League goals came in a 5–0 win over Hearts on 18 October, and on 5 November he scored a goal and was given a standing ovation when he was substituted in a 3–1 European win over Anderlecht at Celtic Park.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson attended the game to scout Anderlecht's Vincent Kompany, but instead was convinced to approach Miller.

Miller was on the pitch as a substitute when Celtic secured the 2003–04 Scottish Premier League title.

Rejecting the offer of a new contract from Celtic, he joined Manchester United in 2004 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.

Miller represented the Republic of Ireland team internationally, making his debut in 2004 against the Czech Republic.

He earned 21 caps over the next five years, scoring one international goal.

Despite his offer of a new contract, Miller signed a pre-contract agreement on 9 January 2004 with English Premier League club Manchester United.

This move greatly disappointed O'Neill, who had intended to build a new Celtic team around Miller.

Miller joined Manchester United for free on 1 July 2004, at the expiration of his Celtic contract.

After the start of his career for the Red Devils, he found first-team opportunities rare towards the end of the 2004–05 season.

Loaned to Leeds United during the 2005–06 season, Miller made 22 first-team appearances for Manchester United.

He was given a rare first-team start in January 2005 in an FA Cup tie against non-league Exeter City, but turned in a poor performance and was substituted in the second half.

In his entire time at the club he made only 22 first-team appearances.

Miller later commented that "Man Utd didn't work out but I have no regrets about giving it a go."

On 4 November 2005, Miller joined Championship club Leeds United on loan for three months, though this was later extended to the end of the 2005–06 season.

He made his debut at Elland Road the next day by starting in a goalless draw with Preston North End.

Miller scored one goal during his time at Leeds, the winning goal in the 4–3 away win against Southampton on 19 November, this coming after Leeds had been 3-0 down with 19 minutes remaining.

From 2006 until 2009, he played for Sunderland, followed by a short stay at Queens Park Rangers from January until May 2009, when he was released.

Miller joined Hibernian in September of that year on a free transfer.

Miller featured in the play-off final on 21 May 2006, in which his team lost 3–0 to Watford and he was substituted after 62 minutes for David Healy.

In a web chat in 2007, Miller said that his family was his largest influence in football, and that Martin O'Neill and Sir Alex Ferguson were also influential to his career.

He moved to Australia's A-League in 2011 after his contract with Hibernian expired, and represented Perth Glory, Brisbane Roar and Melbourne City there.

He made his United debut on 11 August as a 67th-minute substitute for Darren Fletcher in a 2–1 win at Dinamo Bucharest in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League.

Four days later he made his debut in England's top flight, starting in a 1–0 loss at eventual champions Chelsea on the opening day.

He scored his first goal for the club on 26 October against Crewe Alexandra in the third round of the League Cup, finishing a pass by David Bellion in a 3–0 win at Gresty Road.

In 2015, he joined his hometown team Cork City, and a year later Wilmington Hammerheads.

Miller died of pancreatic cancer in 2018.

Miller was born in Cork, Ireland, to Billy Miller, a Scot who was a Celtic fan.

He grew up in Ovens, County Cork, and attended Coachford College.

As a boy, Miller also played Gaelic games for his hometown club Éire Óg and represented Cork GAA at youth level.