Mark Millar (born 23 February 1988) is a Scottish

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 le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Kilwinning Rangers. Millar started his career with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, spending a six-month spell on loan at

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

. Millar then moved to

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

club

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

. In June 2012 Millar signed a three-year deal with

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. Millar returned to Falkirk on loan for the majority of the 2013–14 season before being released from his contract at

Tannadice Tannadice Park ( gd, Pàirc Thanachais), usually referred to as Tannadice, is a football stadium in Dundee, Scotland. It is the home ground of Dundee United F.C., who have played at Tannadice since the club was founded as Dundee Hibernian in 1 ...

in May 2014. Millar has since had spells with

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

and Queen of the South, before moving to the

West Lothian West Lothian ( sco, Wast Lowden; gd, Lodainn an Iar) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and was one of its shires of Scotland, historic counties. The county was called Linlithgowshire until 1925. The historic county was bounded geogra ...

club, Livingston. After leaving Forfar in 2018, he dropped down the league to play for Largs Thistle,

East Stirlingshire East Stirlingshire Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish association football club based in the town of Falkirk. The club was founded in 1881 and competes in the , in the fifth tier of the Scottish football league system. The club's origins ca ...

and St Cadoc's. Millar has been capped at both under-19 and under-21 level for Scotland.

Career

Millar started his career with

. In 2009, Millar moved on a six-month loan to Hungarian

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

club

. Millar signed for First Division side

in June 2010, he signed on a two-year contract and Falkirk said that two SPL clubs were interested in him. On 21 September 2011, he scored a 90th minute freekick in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

to give Falkirk a 3–2 win over Rangers. The 2011–12 season was very successful for Millar as he was one of Falkirk's best players. With his contract expiring at the end of the season he attracted interest from several clubs, including

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 ...

team

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. On 1 April 2012, he played for Falkirk in their 1–0 win over

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

in the

2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final The 2012 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the Ramsdens Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was an association football match between Falkirk F.C., Falkirk and Hamilton Academical F.C., Hamilton Academical on 1 April 2012 at Almondvale S ...

. Millar agreed to sign for

club

for the 2012–13 season. Manager

Peter Houston Peter Houston (born 19 July 1958) is a Scottish football player and manager who is currently assistant manager of the Scotland under-21 side. Houston played as a striker for Airdrieonians, Livingston United, Albion Rovers, Falkirk, Dumbarton a ...

said that he thought United had signed the two best players in the First Division in Millar and

Michael Gardyne Michael Gardyne (born 23 January 1986) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Montrose. Gardyne previously played for Ross County, Morton, Kilmarnock, Dundee United and Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Club career B ...

of Ross County. He also said that he thought Millar was a different type of player to what United already had and that he would become a fans' favourite due to his style of play. After only making one appearance for United in the opening quarter of the 2013–14 season, on 31 October 2013, Millar returned to former club Falkirk on a short-term loan deal until January 2014. He scored his first goals since his return to the

Falkirk Stadium The Falkirk Stadium is a football stadium in Falkirk, central Scotland, which is the home ground of Scottish League One club Falkirk and Lowland Football League club East Stirlingshire. The stadium has a capacity of and currently consists of t ...

on 23 November 2013, with a brace in a 4–0 win over

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

. On 6 January 2014, the deal was extended until the end of the season. Millar played a pivotal role in helping The Bairns reach the play-offs, putting in many fantastic performances in the centre of the park. He was the scorer of a last minute penalty against Queen of the South on 23 February 2014, that put Falkirk clear in third place. His last appearance in his second spell at Falkirk came in a 1–0 (2–1 on aggregate) defeat to Hamilton in the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

Play-Off Semi-Final 2nd leg. After making 30 appearances in all competitions and scoring 6 goals, Millar returned to his parent club

. On 4 June 2014, Millar was released from his contract by Dundee United. On 16 August 2014, Millar signed for

on a short-term contract until January 2015. He made his debut on the same day in a 2–0 win against

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in Scottish League One. They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United ...

. Millar signed for

Dumfries Dumfries ( ; sco, Dumfries; from gd, Dùn Phris ) is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is located near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth about by road from the ...

club Queen of the South on 8 January 2015. Millar's first Queens goal was scored on 18 April 2015 against

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

at Recreation Park in a league match which had given Queens a 2–1 lead. Millar left

Palmerston Park Palmerston Park is a football stadium on Terregles Street in Dumfries, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is the home ground of Scottish League One club Queen of the South, who have played there since 1919. South of Scotland League club He ...

on 6 January 2017, signing for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

on the same day. Millar signed for

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

in July 2017. After a season with the club he moved into Junior football, signing for Largs Thistle. In June 2019,

agreed a fee with Largs for the transfer of Millar.

International career

Millar played three times in friendlies for Scotland under-19s. His debut came on 23 March 2007 against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He played twice the following month against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He has also played once for Scotland under-21s. His debut came on 18 November 2008 in a friendly match against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in a match played at Hamilton.

Style of play

Millar is a

. Although he is small he is an aggressive tackler. During his time in Hungary he noted how the players there were skilful but didn't like being closed down and he used this to his advantage by putting in many tough tackles. Millar is also a good player technically and has been described as a "

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

Career statistics

Honours

;

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2011–12 ;

: 2016–17

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Mark 1988 births Living people Scottish footballers Association football midfielders Celtic F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Hungary Újpest FC players Scotland youth international footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Professional Football League players Peterhead F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Largs Thistle F.C. players East Stirlingshire F.C. players Kilwinning Rangers F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players West of Scotland Football League players Lowland Football League players St Cadoc's Y.C. players