Keith Derek Millen (born 26 September 1966) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

and former player who played as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He was most recently manager of

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

. Millen was appointed as

Steve Coppell Stephen James Coppell (born 9 July 1955) is an English professional football manager and former player. As a player, he was a highly regarded right winger known for his speed and work rate. He won domestic honours with Manchester United and rep ...

's successor, after Coppell chose to resign from Bristol City and retire from football. Millen spent most of his professional career at

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, where he reached the

Associate Members' Cup The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

final in 1985, and won the

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

in 1992. After leaving Brentford in 1994, he finished his playing career with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Following retirement, Millen remained at City as a member of the coaching staff. He was caretaker manager at Ashton Gate following

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

's departure towards the end of the 2009–10 season. He took charge of nine competitive matches, winning five, drawing three and losing once. He was caretaker manager at Crystal Palace for 4 matches in the 2013–14 season winning one drawing one and losing 2. He was again appointed caretaker manager at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

on 14 August 2014. On 27 August 2014

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

was appointed full-time

and at that time Millen's role at the club was not certain. However, on 12 September 2014 it was reported that Warnock was happy for Millen to continue in the role of assistant manager at Crystal Palace. Millen was re-appointed as caretaker manager on 27 December 2014 after Warnock was sacked following a poor run of results. On 2 January 2015,

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final th ...

was appointed to replace Warnock, and Millen reverted to assistant manager. On 9 January 2017, after

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English association football, football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent most ...

was appointed as manager, Millen left Crystal Palace.

Playing career

Brentford

After spells as an apprentice at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

, Millen also spent time as a junior at

, before turning professional in 1983. Between then and 1993 he made 305

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 Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

appearances for the club, scoring 17 goals. He helped Brentford reach the final of the

in 1985, where they were defeated 3–1 by

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He helped the club to the

title in 1991–92, and earned a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

in 1993 following ten years as a professional.

Watford

Millen joined Watford along with defensive partner Colin Foster in March 1994, helping them escape relegation that season. Although Watford were eventually relegated in 1996, Millen later played a part in the club achieving successive promotions under

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

between 1997 and 1999. In total, Millen made 165 appearances for Watford, scoring 5 goals.

Bristol City

Millen joined

in November 1999. In the

2000 Football League Trophy Final The 2000 Football League Trophy Final (known as the Auto Windscreens Shield for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th final of the domestic football cup competition for teams from the Second and Third Division of the Football League. The match wa ...

at Wembley, Millen captained Bristol City in a 2–1 defeat to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

. He played his last competitive game in August 2002, a 2–0 home win over

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

before retiring in 2003, and later joining the club's coaching staff.

Coaching and managerial career

Bristol City

Following his retirement from football, Millen became under-17 manager at Bristol City. When

Brian Tinnion Brian Tinnion (born 23 February 1968) is an English former football player and manager. He made over 450 appearances for Bristol City, including a spell as player-manager where he is currently in the role of Academy Director. He started as a l ...

was promoted to

player-manager A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

in 2004, he appointed Millen as his assistant. Under Tinnion's management City won 22 of 61 matches, and Millen was appointed as caretaker when Tinnion left the club. However, he publicly ruled himself out of the running to become the permanent manager. He was made

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...

of City when

left the club in March 2010, and became manager on a full-time basis on a three-year contract when Johnson's replacement, Steve Coppell, departed on 12 August 2010. Millen left the manager's position on 3 October 2011.

Crystal Palace

After a brief spell as Head of Coaching and Development at

earlier in the year, Millen was appointed Assistant Manager at

in November 2012, following former

manager

Ian Holloway Ian Scott Holloway (born 12 March 1963) is an English professional football manager, former player, media personality and television pundit who was most recently the manager of Grimsby Town. A midfielder, he notably played in the Premier League ...

. On 23 October 2013, Millen was appointed as caretaker manager after Holloway left by mutual consent. On 26 November 2013, newly appointed Crystal Palace manager

Tony Pulis Anthony Richard Pulis (; born 16 January 1958) is a Welsh football manager and former footballer who last managed Sheffield Wednesday. Pulis obtained his FA coaching badge at age 19, followed by his UEFA 'A' licence aged 21 – making him one ...

announced that Millen will be kept as backroom staff. This is likely because Millen had successfully restored team spirit back into the Crystal Palace squad and inspired Palace to 3 points closer to safety of relegation with 0–0 home draw to Everton, followed by a 1–0 away win over

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

. After Tony Pulis' surprise departure from Crystal Palace on 14 August 2014 (only 2 days before the start of the new

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

season) Millen was again appointed caretaker manager. However, when

was appointed permanent

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

on 27 August 2014, Millen's future was not made clear. On 12 September 2014 it was reported that

was happy for Millen to continue as assistant manager at

. On 27 December 2014, Millen took over as caretaker manager of Crystal Palace for a third time following Warnock being sacked. When

was appointed to replace Warnock on 2 January 2015 Millen reverted to assistant manager. On 9 January 2017, subsequent to the appointment of

as manager of Crystal Palace, it was announced that Millen had left the club. He then worked with the Tottenham Hotspur development squad while seeking a new first team role.

Milton Keynes Dons

On 23 January 2018, after a brief spell working on the coaching staff at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, Millen joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

assistant manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. On 22 April 2018, following the mutual contract termination of first team manager

Dan Micciche Dan Micciche (born 30 November 1979) is an English football coach and manager, who most recently served as assistant manager at EFL League Two club Crawley Town. He was manager of the England U16 national team from 2015 to 2017 and Milton Keyn ...

, Millen was appointed caretaker manager of the club.

Carlisle United

On 26 October 2021, Millen was appointed manager of League Two side

on an 18-month contract following the sacking of Chris Beech three weeks previously. On 23 February 2022, with the club sitting in the relegation zone in 23rd position, Millen left the club by mututal consent.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Brentford *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

runner-up: 1984–85 *

Football League Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the ...

: 1991–92 Watford *

Football League Division Two The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

: 1997–98 Individual * Brentford Supporters' Player of the Year: 1991–92 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1991–92 * Brentford Hall of Fame

As a manager

Individual * Football League Championship Manager of the Month: November 2010

References

External links

*
Keith Millen Stats at neilbrown.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millen, Keith 1966 births Living people English footballers Footballers from Croydon Association football defenders English football managers English expatriate football managers Southampton F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Watford F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Bristol City F.C. managers English Football League players Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff Crystal Palace F.C. managers Premier League managers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. non-playing staff Örgryte IS managers Carlisle United F.C. managers Expatriate football managers in Sweden