An interview with Colin Miller, by Callum McFadden for WFi.
You moved from Lanarkshire to Canada when you were 10. How did that change your football development?
“It’s interesting. We moved to Vancouver in 1975 when I was 10. I had no coaching, per se – it was all street football, like it was for most boys at that time.
“We grew up in a small mining village called Allanton, near Shotts in Lanarkshire, and every day was football. It didn’t matter if it was rain or sleet, we were playing on red ash. At Christmas, everyone got a new Rangers strip and a new ball, although nobody wanted to kick the new ball because you wanted to keep it pristine!
“When we moved to Canada, it was almost like you thought you were going on a big holiday. We initially went to Prince George, about 500 miles north of Vancouver, but my dad’s job fell through and we came back to Vancouver.
“My brother and I got into the community through school and started playing for Grandview Legion. There were a lot of Europeans in Vancouver and a real football culture, with very passionate parents.
“We were probably ahead of the average Canadian kid because of how much football we’d played back home. We knew every player in Scotland and, as kids, we thought we were going to be those players. People liked us straight away and it just snowballed from there.”
You eventually had the opportunity to return to Scotland and play for Motherwell before your move to Rangers. What do you remember from that period?
“I was drafted by the Toronto Blizzard at 17 and had the privilege of playing against Franz Beckenbauer and Johan Neeskens with the New York Cosmos. I was the youngest player in the North American Soccer League.
“Our manager, Bob Houghton, wanted to send me back to Scotland for pre-season. He asked which professional team was closest to where I was from, and I said Motherwell.
“He knew Jock Wallace, so he arranged for me to spend a month at Motherwell before Toronto went to Orlando. My first day was like going to a new school. I’d just arrived from Vancouver and my gran had made me a load of haggis and black pudding.
“I didn’t realise Tuesday morning was when the players got battered! I’d only just got off the plane and it wasn’t long before I saw my breakfast again at training.
“Big Jock told me afterwards, ‘If you hadn’t joined back in, you could have effed off back to Canada.’ So I knew what I was up against!
“I did quite well, though, and settled into the group. Gary McAllister was a terrific fella and there were some really good people there.
“Before I left, Jock brought me into his office and asked, ‘How do you feel about Celtic?’ I said, ‘I’m like a bull when he sees red, Gaffer.’
“He then said, ‘If you rip up your contract with Toronto, you’ll play left-back for Motherwell on Saturday because we’re playing Celtic at Fir Park.’
“It was probably impossible for that to happen, but that’s how it really happened.”
Then came the opportunity you had dreamed about – joining Rangers. What did that mean to you?
“Jock told me the North American Soccer League was going to fold and that, as soon as it did, Rangers would get me back. I couldn’t believe it, but sure as sugar, it happened.
“I did the full pre-season with Rangers in the summer of 1985 and had a good pre-season. Then, just before our first official game, the gaffer knocked on my door and said, ‘Sorry, wee man. You can’t play.’
“I asked why and he said, ‘You need international clearance.’
“It took nearly seven weeks to come through. At one point I was going to start in the first-team pre-season game, and then I couldn’t even play in an official reserve game.
“Long story short, I played seven first-team games for Rangers. But I was the last Rangers captain under Jock Wallace, in a friendly against Tottenham Hotspur at Ibrox.
“As a lifelong Rangers supporter, it meant so much to me. I still get up at four in the morning to watch Rangers. I played with such pride.
“I don’t get too carried away because I know it was only seven first-team games, but I won the Reserve League medal and still have friends from that team. I’m in a group chat with the Rangers guys from the 1980s and it’s brilliant.
“For me, it was an absolute privilege. I loved it to death.”
Who were the characters in that Rangers dressing room?
“Ally McCoist was the one for sure. He seemed to be late every day before training and was always getting fined. He’d say, ‘Gaffer, I don’t understand this. This is the earliest I’ve been late yet.’
“Bobby Russell was a character, and Davie Cooper really took me under his wing. He lived in Hamilton and didn’t drive, so I’d sometimes drive him home.
“Ian Ferguson was a character as well, John McDonald, Nicky Walker – there were loads of them. It was a really good group of people and they were good to me.
“I’d drive in with Craig Paterson, Stuart Munro, Andy Bruce and Scott Nisbet. We’d meet at Harthill and take turns driving into training.
“I really enjoyed my time at Rangers. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out.”
Graeme Souness then arrived and changed the landscape at Rangers. How did that affect you?
“Graeme Souness, who was my favourite player of all time, took over. I’ll never forget the day he walked into the dressing room. He said he was going to wake British football up and wake a sleeping giant at Ibrox.
“Lo and behold, he did. With the English clubs banned from European football at the time, Rangers brought in the big guns – Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and others.
“I was training with the first team every day and then Walter Smith called me and said, ‘Listen, wee man, come into the hotel. The gaffer wants to speak to you.’
“I knew Terry Butcher had been unwell, so I thought maybe I was getting a chance in the squad. I went to the Grosvenor Hotel and sat down with Phil Boersma, Walter Smith and the gaffer.
“Souness said, ‘If I have to wait on the young guys coming through, I’m going to be out of a job. You’re one of the guys I can move on to bring someone in.’
“So I eventually moved down south to Doncaster Rovers and Neil Woods came up to Rangers. That’s how it happened, and my career sort of took off from there.
“My 18 months at Rangers were still very, very special and I’m incredibly proud of that accomplishment.”
Doncaster gave you the chance to establish yourself as a first-team player before returning to Canada. How important was that period?
“I had a couple of good seasons, although the second wasn’t as good. Dave Cusack was the manager who signed me, along with Stuart Beattie, and I actually recommended Stuart to him.
“Stuart was going to be a player for the future. Leeds United were sniffing around him, but unfortunately he suffered a serious back injury and had a couple of discs removed. That’s still a sickener for me because he’s a good pal and he was a very, very good centre-half.
“I became captain within a couple of weeks, which was a great privilege. We were sitting second in the league at Christmas, but then we had incredible snow and ended up playing 12 games in about 25 days.
“It was basically a first-team game every two or three days. I couldn’t keep up with them!
“Moving to Doncaster was really good for me because it helped me serve an apprenticeship as a first-team player. Rangers was fantastic, but I was mainly playing reserve football. You were playing alongside Scottish internationals, but sometimes the opposition wasn’t what you needed to further your career.
“Doncaster gave me that experience before I returned to Canada and played for Hamilton Steelers. I then came back and joined the Accies, where I went on to make over 200 appearances.
“I came back to John Lambie and Jerry Collins, who was his assistant. They were characters – one was blue and one was green, as you can imagine!
“I loved my time as a player at the Accies. I really did.”
You made more than 200 appearances for Hamilton Academical across two spells, as well as representing St Johnstone, Hearts and Dunfermline. What stands out from your time in Scottish football?
“The Accies had some very good teams and we just missed out on promotion. It seemed to be us and Partick Thistle who were so close all the time. We had some really good times and won the B&Q Cup twice, but we were always in the top third of the First Division.
“The frustrating thing was that so many supporters in the area were going to either Ibrox or Celtic Park. If they had supported the Accies, maybe we could have got over that wee hurdle.
“I then had the chance to go to Wrexham. Brian Flynn, who I’d played with at Doncaster, was the manager and we’d agreed terms. I’d shaken hands on it, but when I got back to Hamilton, Ian Munro pulled me in and said, ‘Sorry, the deal is done. It’s not going to go through.’
“The Accies ended up selling me to St Johnstone instead. Paul Sturrock was the manager and it was a great club with really good people and teammates. We were doing well in the First Division and it wasn’t long before I got the move to Hearts.”
What was it like joining Hearts and experiencing that level of support?
“It was a real thrill to go to another big club and play for the Jambos. Tommy McLean was the manager, with Tom Forsyth and Eamonn Bannon also there, and it was a real privilege.
“I loved my time at Hearts. I was amazed by the size of the support. Outside Rangers and Celtic, I’d definitely put Hearts as the third-biggest club in terms of support in Scotland. I don’t say that without regard to Hibs and Aberdeen, but I saw it with my own eyes.
“We played Airdrie in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden and I bet there were 25,000 to 27,000 Hearts supporters there. We lost 1-0, if I recall correctly, but everywhere we went there was huge travelling support. Tynecastle was always a terrific atmosphere too.”
Your move to Dunfermline came after Jim Jefferies told you that you weren’t part of his plans. How important was that decision for your career?
“I liked Jim, but when a manager tells you you’re maybe not in his plans, I wanted to play. Some guys are quite happy saying, ‘I played for this club,’ even if they never play a game. I wanted to have a career where I could look back and say I played.
“Jim mentioned Dunfermline and I knew Dick Campbell very well from taking my coaching licences at Largs. Dick was a character, but I just liked how he worked. He made you feel good about yourself and had a terrific knack of dealing with players.
“When I went from St Johnstone to Hearts, I was replacing Tosh McKinlay. How in the world do you replace Tosh McKinlay? Then I went from Hearts to Dunfermline and replaced Jackie McNamara. I was following in the footsteps of these phenomenal football players. I’m just a ham-and-egger!
“But we had a great time. We won promotion in my first season and then finished fifth and sixth in the Premier League. Bert Paton and Dick Campbell did a great job, and the team spirit was excellent.”
Dick Campbell is still managing in 2026. Does that surprise you?
“No, it doesn’t surprise me at all. I need to phone Dick. I don’t know if he still has the same number, but I need to touch base with him because he was such a big influence on me.
“He was the main reason I went to Dunfermline. I knew some of the players too, including Alan Moore and Hamish French. They were very good people, and Andy Smith became one of my best pals.
“We travelled through together and met in Stirling. It was just an absolute laugh a minute. You had no idea what we could get up to, but it was great stuff.”
You also won 60-plus caps for Canada and captained the country 38 times. How proud are you of that part of your career?
“I’m very proud of it. People say, ‘Why didn’t you play for Scotland?’ I would never have been good enough to play for Scotland, but I took as much pride in playing for Canada as anyone would have done playing for Scotland.
“I knew what it was like growing up in Scotland and playing in Scotland, and I knew what it meant to wear the national team jersey. I treated playing for Canada exactly the same way.
“I had some unbelievable privileges. I was part of the 1986 World Cup squad and won my first cap against Scotland in Toronto. I’ve still got Gordon Strachan’s jersey. We played Scotland again in Toronto with Craig Brown and Andy Roxburgh in charge, and I’ve got Ally McCoist’s jersey too.
“I was always very fortunate, very grateful and very privileged to play for Canada.”
Is there one international memory that stands above the rest?
“The game against Brazil in Edmonton really stands out. In fact, you won’t believe this, but I opened a box recently that I hadn’t opened since we moved back 26 years ago. It was in my garage and I found the actual game pennant that Dunga and I exchanged. I cherish that now because it’s an incredible piece of memorabilia to have.
“I’ve been fortunate with some of the stuff I’ve collected over the years.”
You’ve unearthed some incredible memorabilia from your playing career. What did you find?
“It was unbelievable. I found this box that had all the Scottish programmes and programmes from every club I’d been at. I’d actually told my son I was going to throw the boxes out and he said, ‘Dad, you don’t dare throw those boxes out.’
“When I found everything that was in there, I thought, ‘Holy shit, imagine if I’d thrown that out.’ It’s my career, you know. I’ve also got Lothar Matthäus’ jersey from when we played Germany and some other incredible memorabilia. Then there were games like playing in front of 130,000 people at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico. They were phenomenal experiences.”
You played against Brazil shortly before their 1994 World Cup triumph. What was it like facing a team of that calibre?
“It was incredible. There were 53,000 people there, which was the biggest paying crowd Canada had ever had. Every single person had paid to get into the stadium.
“You had Dunga, Rai, Bebeto, Romário – that team went to the States and won the World Cup a month later. Romário scored and sent about four of us the wrong way before cutting in and finishing.
“Then, right out of the blue, Eddie Berdusco scored a bullet with about 15 minutes to go. The stadium erupted. We finished 1-1 and it was fucking mental.
“I asked Dunga to exchange jerseys afterwards and he said no. I told him, ‘Dunga, that’s the last fucking chance you get to have Colin Miller’s jersey.’
“I’ve told that story a million times and people laugh and say, ‘Yeah, that’s just you.’ But what a performance it was from Brazil. At one minute, you thought there were 15 or 16 Brazilians on the park. They were that good and had that presence about them.”
You moved into coaching after your playing career. Looking back, how do you reflect on your time at Hamilton Academical?
“I was devastated by how things turned out at Hamilton. I was playing for Ayr United and we played the Accies one weekend at Somerset Park. A week later, at 33 years of age, I was the manager of Hamilton.
“I had my A Licence and was qualified, but I regret that I didn’t serve an apprenticeship. If I had, I think I would have lasted longer in management back home.
“It was a difficult time. We didn’t have a stadium and were playing at Firhill, and the crowd weren’t looking favourably at the board. It just wasn’t a healthy environment.
“I did everything I could to try to mend the two sides and put a lot of hard work into it. But football doesn’t care about you. I found that out at the Accies. It didn’t matter how much work I did; sometimes it just made things worse.”
You subsequently worked with Billy Davies at Derby County and lived with the late Craig Brown. What was that experience like?
“I got the privilege to go back and be Billy Davies’ first-team coach at Derby County in the Premier League. I loved it.
“Unfortunately, I left my wife and kids, Maria, Ryan and Sarah, back in Canada. I actually lived with Craig Brown for five and a half months.
“Everything you could imagine that being, it was exactly that. It was like living with the headmaster! He was phenomenal – the kindest man and one of the most knowledgeable people I’ve ever met. He had an incredible football brain, was so humble and was just amazing to live with.
“But Billy Davies was the best I’ve worked with on the grass. I thought he was amazing.”
You also worked with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Teitur Thordarson. How much did you enjoy that period?
“I got the opportunity to be the Whitecaps assistant manager with Teitur Thordarson. Teitur was brilliant. He spoke seven different languages.
“I said to him, ‘Teitur, if you give me enough Guinness, I can speak seven different languages as well.’ [laugh]
“We had a great relationship. It was the first year we went into MLS and I really, really enjoyed the time.”
You later managed FC Edmonton for five years. What did that experience teach you?
“It was fabulous. It was just the right job in the wrong city because my family were back in Abbotsford, which is about an hour and ten minutes away by flight.
“We were the small provincial club in that league, if you like, while there were billionaire owners elsewhere. We were up against it all the time, but it was a great experience and a great education for me.
“When the league folded, I lost my job because the league folded. I came back home and since then I’ve been involved in grassroots football.
“I miss the professional side every day, but being technical director at Abbotsford Soccer Association keeps me going. I’m trying to influence coaches and help the kids. It’s great.”
You’ve also remained involved with the Whitecaps as a broadcaster. How have you seen MLS develop?
“It has definitely grown. I’ve done the radio colour commentary for the Whitecaps for the last six years and I’m watching the games all the time.
“Ryan Gauld has been a fantastic player for the Whitecaps and deservedly got the chance to play for Scotland under Steve Clarke. I’m devastated for him with his injury because I think he would have added something to the Scotland side at the World Cup in the summer for sure.
“The club now has Thomas Müller which was an incredible signing for the club and MLS as a whole. He has incredibly high standards and it is clear to see the impact he’s had on everyone at the club.”
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