Alfred Miles (January 1884 – February 1926), also known as Freddie, was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. As a professional he only played for Aston Villa. He was a full-back who made 269 appearances for Aston Villa in his 11-year career at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. After his retirement as a player he became the first team trainer, a job he held for 11 years. He died in

Wylde Green Wylde: * Wylde Green * Wylde Green railway station See also * Wilde * Wyld (disambiguation) * Wild (disambiguation) Wild, wild, wilds or wild may refer to: Common meanings * Wild animal * Wilderness, a wild natural environment * Wildne ...

, Sutton Coldfield on 8 February 1927.

Career

He was signed from Aston St Marys where he played his early football as an amateur. He made his Villa debut in a 7–3 win at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

on 19 December 1903. During his first season at Villa he developed a good understanding with

Howard Spencer Howard Spencer (23 August 1875 – 14 January 1940) was an English professional footballer. Often referred to as the "Prince of Fullbacks" due to his sportsmanship and ability, Spencer is considered one of the greatest Aston Villa captains of al ...

. In 1905 he won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

after Aston Villa beat Newcastle United 2–0. When Spencer retired in 1907, Alf Miles teamed up with

Tommy Lyons Tommy Lyons is an Irish former Gaelic football manager and player from County Mayo who managed two inter-county teams. He was also a regular panellist/analyst on RTÉ's '' The Sunday Game''. Although born in County Mayo, Lyons considers him ...

to become one of the most effective defensive pairings in the First Division culminating in the First Division win in 1909–10 season. Alf Miles retired in the summer of 1914 having played a total of 269 league and cup games. He then became the club trainer until 1925. Miles was called as a witness at the trial of George Stagg, who was found guilty of the murder of Aston Villa's defender Tommy Ball in November 1923.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miles, Alf 1884 births 1926 deaths Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands Association football defenders Aston Villa F.C. players English footballers FA Cup Final players