Liam Millar

Liam Alan Millar (born September 27, 1999) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and the Canada national team. He featured in the youth ranks of Brampton Youth SC and North Mississauga SC before moving to England to join Fulham Academy aged 13. After three years with Fulham, he joined the Liverpool Academy in 2016.

Not to be confused with the Irish professional footballer Liam Miller.

Liam Millar
Millar with Liverpool U18 in 2017
Personal information
Full name Liam Alan Millar[1]
Date of birth (1999-09-27) September 27, 1999[2]
Place of birth Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 49
Youth career
2003–2005 Brampton Youth SC
2005–2013 North Mississauga SC
2013–2016 Fulham
2016–2019 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Liverpool 0 (0)
2019–2020 → Kilmarnock (loan) 33 (2)
National team‡
2017– Canada U20 3 (0)
2018– Canada U23 4 (0)
2018– Canada 8 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of December 26, 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of September 11, 2019

Early life

Millar was born in Toronto and raised in Brampton and Oakville.[4] He moved to England at the age of 13 for footballing purposes.[5] His father played for Charlton Athletic and is an electrician who works on television series, including Game of Thrones.[6][7]

Club career

Early career

Millar began his career with Brampton Youth SC at the age of four.[4] After two years he joined North Mississauga SC and remained at the club until his move to England. He joined Fulham at the age of 13 but felt he struggled to adapt to English football.[8] On moving to England, Millar said "It took me a while to adjust to how English football is, it probably took me a good two-and-a-half years."[8]

Liverpool

In July 2016, he joined Premier League club Liverpool on a free transfer with striking options limited in the Academy.[9]

Millar scored four minutes into his Liverpool U18s career and marked his debut in the U18 Premier League with a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory against Blackburn Rovers U18s in August 2016.[10] A month later, he signed a professional contract on his 17th birthday.[11] Injury ruled Millar out for three months of his inaugural season but a return in January saw him finish the season with six goals in 17 appearances in the U18 Premier League.[8]

He featured in every game of Liverpool's 2017–18 UEFA Youth League campaign and scored twice in eight games.[12] After 18 months under the guidance of Steven Gerrard in the Under-18s, Millar received his first call-up to the Under-23 squad in January 2018.[13]

Loans to Kilmarnock

On January 31, 2019, Millar signed a long-term first-team contract with Liverpool[14] and joined Scottish Premiership side Kilmarnock on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.[15] He made his debut on February 1 in a 2–1 loss to Heart of Midlothian.[16] He scored his first goal on March 11 against St Mirren.[17]

He returned on loan to Kilmarnock in August 2019.[18] This loan period was cut short in January 2020 when he returned to his parent club.[19]

Return to Liverpool

He made his senior Liverpool debut on February 4, 2020 starting in the FA Cup fourth-round replay against Shrewsbury Town.[20] In the mid-2020 Liverpool turned down multiple transfer offers for Millar, who received loan interest from clubs in the Championship and Bundesliga.[21]

International career

Youth

Millar was first involved in the international set-up at the age of 14 in the squad for the Tournoi Montaigu.[4] After being invited to an U20 camp in Costa Rica in 2016, he made his debut in the CONCACAF Under-20 Championship in February 2017.[22] He made three appearances as Canada finished third in Group A and failed to progress to the classification stage.[23] In May 2018, Millar was named to Canada's under-21 squad for the 2018 Toulon Tournament.[24] Millar was named to the Canadian U-23 provisional roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship on February 26, 2020.[25]

Senior

In March 2018, Millar was named in John Herdman's first squad as national team manager.[26] In that same camp, Millar made his senior debut and first start for Canada during a 1–0 win over New Zealand, impressing while doing so.[27][28] In May 2019, Millar was named to the 23-man squad for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[29]

Playing style

Millar's preferred position is as a number nine, but he has been utilised in various roles with Liverpool due to his flexibility. He has been noted for his ability on the left flank.[30] In August 2016, manager Neil Critchley said: "He's a goalscorer. He can run down the side of defenders, he runs in behind, he gives them real problems with his movement and he's a good finisher off both feet. He's got a good brain, good awareness, very calm and can finish. He's a good player, a good all-round player."[9]

Career statistics

Club
As of December 29, 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Domestic cup League cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Liverpool 2018–19[31] Premier League 0000000000
2019–20[32] Premier League 0010000010
Total 0000000010
Kilmarnock (loan) 2018–19[31] Scottish Premiership 131100000141
2019–20[32] Scottish Premiership 201002000221
Total 332102000362
Career total 332202000372

    International
    As of September 11, 2019[4]
    Canada national team
    YearAppsGoals
    201840
    201940
    Total80

    Personal life

    Millar is engaged to hockey goalie Daniela Paniccia,[33] who played for Penn State Nittany Lions and Oakville Hornets in the Provincial Women's Hockey League.[34]

    gollark: *picks up random AP egg**is from terrafreaky*
    gollark: AP hunting is great right now.
    gollark: Ah, yes, delicious hard-boiled dragon egg.
    gollark: The names of four-dimensional solids are *great* dragon names, too!
    gollark: For a brief, glorious moment after that occurs, CB metals will become maybe a few times more common.

    References
    1. "40-Player National Team Roster: 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup: Canada" (PDF). CONCACAF. p. 2. Retrieved May 20, 2019 – via Bernews.
    2. "Liam Millar". PremierLeague.com. Premier League. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    3. "Canada Soccer". www.canadasoccer.com. Retrieved February 7, 2019.
    4. "Liam Millar (CAN)". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    5. "Former NMSC Player Liam Millar Signs Pro Contract with Liverpool". North Mississauga Soccer Club. September 28, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    6. Armstrong, Laura (November 17, 2018). "Millar at epicentre of Canadian soccer youthquake". The Toronto Star. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
    7. "Alan Millar". IMDb. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
    8. "Meet the Academy: Liam Millar". Liverpool FC. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    9. Kelly, Andy (August 15, 2016). "Who is hat-trick hero Liam Millar?". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    10. "A star in the making – 16-year-old Liam Millar scores hat-trick on U18s debut". The Empire of The Kop. August 15, 2016. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    11. Hunter, Steve (September 27, 2016). "Academy striker Liam Millar signs professional contract". Liverpool FC. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    12. uefa.com. "UEFA Youth League - Liam Millar – UEFA.com". UEFA.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    13. Pearce, James (March 12, 2018). "International call for Liverpool youngster". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    14. Williams, Sam. "Liam Millar signs new LFC deal and joins Kilmarnock on loan". Liverpool FC. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
    15. "Canadian international joins on loan from Liverpool". www.kilmarnockfc.co.uk. January 31, 2019. Archived from the original on February 1, 2019. Retrieved January 31, 2019.
    16. "Kilmarnock 1-2 Hearts: Killie fall to home loss". February 1, 2019.
    17. "St Mirren 0 Kilmarnock 1: Jubilant scenes in Paisley as Liam Millar grabs late winner". March 11, 2019.
    18. "Kilmarnock: Liverpool forward Liam Millar returns to Kilmarnock on loan". BBC Sport. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
    19. "Liverpool's Liam Millar returns from Kilmarnock as loan is cut short". BBC Sport. January 8, 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
    20. "Liverpool vs. Shrewsbury Town - 4 February 2020 - Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com.
    21. Sam Carroll (July 15, 2020). "Liverpool international prospect attracting transfer interest from Bundesliga". Liverpool Echo.
    22. "Canada Soccer". canadasoccer.com. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    23. "CONCACAF Under 20s – Men". concacaf.datafactory.la. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    24. Alicia Rodriguez (May 19, 2018). "Canada national team roster for prestigious Toulon Tournament released". Major League Soccer.
    25. "Canada Soccer announces Provisional List for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying". Canada Soccer. February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
    26. Molinaro, John (March 12, 2018). "John Herdman names roster for 1st match in charge of men's team". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved March 12, 2018.
    27. Sferra, German (March 24, 2018). "Canada 1, New Zealand 0 | International Friendly Recap". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
    28. "Ricketts lifts Canada to victory over New Zealand in friendly". Sportsnet. March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
    29. "Together We Rise: Canada Soccer announces squad for the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup". May 30, 2019.
    30. "Who is Liverpool's young Canadian forward Millar?". This Is Anfield. October 4, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
    31. "Games played by Liam Millar in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
    32. "Games played by Liam Millar in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
    33. "Who is Liverpool FC striker Liam Millar's girlfriend? When's the wedding? Details on dating life". TV Trend Now. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
    34. "Daniela Paniccia". Elite Prospects. Retrieved December 8, 2018.
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