Charles William Miller (24 November 1874 – 30 June 1953; ) was a Brazilian sportsman, who is considered to be the father of football in Brazil.

Early life

He was born in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

to John Miller, a Scottish railway engineer and

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian mother of English descent, Carlota Fox. In 1884 he was sent to the Banister Court public school in

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 ...

, England where he learnt to play football and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

. Whilst at school, he played for and against both the Corinthians and St. Mary's (now Southampton FC). He was recorded in the

1891 United Kingdom census The United Kingdom Census 1891 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland carried out on Sunday 5 April 1891. A question was added to record the number of rooms in a household, in response to concerns about overcrowding in ci ...

whilst a boarder at

Millbrook School Millbrook School is a private, coeducational preparatory boarding school located in Stanford, New York, United States. History Millbrook School was founded in 1931 by Edward Pulling. Pulling was a graduate of both Princeton University and Cam ...

Influence

When he returned to Brazil in 1894, Miller brought two footballs and a set of Hampshire FA rules in his suitcase. Miller was instrumental in setting up the football team of the

São Paulo Athletic Club São Paulo Athletic Club - officially these days Clube Atlético São Paulo, but generally referred to as SPAC, is a Brazilian sports club founded on 13 May 1888 by Charles William Miller and several English immigrants, being one of the first a ...

(SPAC) and the Liga Paulista, the first football league in Brazil. With him as striker SPAC won the first three championships in 1902, 1903 and 1904. By 1906, Miller was playing in

goal A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ...

and as such participated in SPAC's heaviest defeat, 9–1 to Sport Club Internacional of São Paulo (not to be confused with

Sport Club Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonato ...

). After the result SPAC resigned from the league as did Miller from its directorate. SPAC eventually came back in 1907, even winning the 1911 title, and continued competing in the Campeonato Paulista until 1912, when it withdrew from official competitions. It was Miller who suggested the name to the first President of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista.

Personal life

Miller worked at the São Paulo Railway Company, becoming the Royal Mail's agent and Acting British

Vice-Consul A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in 1904. He invested in the construction of

garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, and ...

s in

, designed by Barry Parker and

Raymond Unwin Sir Raymond Unwin (2 November 1863 – 29 June 1940) was a prominent and influential English engineer, architect and town planner, with an emphasis on improvements in working class housing. Early years Raymond Unwin was born in Rotherham, York ...

, profiting considerably. In January 1906, he married the renowned

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

Antonietta Rudge, with whom he had two children, Carlos (b. 1907) and Helena (b. 1909). In the late 1920s the couple split and Antonietta moved in with the poet Menotti Del Picchia. In 1939, on perhaps his last return to England, he was nearly killed in the first

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

bombing on the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

; his daughter stopped to window shop just seconds before the bomb went off on the steps to the nearby underground station. He continued to play cricket and golf in later life. He died on 30 June 1953 in

, and is buried in the Protestant cemetery there.

Sources

*Lacey, Josh (2007) ''God Is Brazilian: Charles Miller, the Man Who Brought Football To Brazil''. NPI Media Group.

References

External links