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Leeds United: Danny Mills looks back on Whites career
Revered in a non-too-subtle terrace ditty joyously sung by Leeds United's masses, the respect will always be reciprocated from the inimitable Danny Mills.
Nothing Compares To You would probably be the most appropriate soundtrack to sum up the former England full-back's feelings towards United, who will forever be the club which tugs hardest on his heartstrings.
Hard-tackling on-pitch commitment personified, it was never going to require a degree in rocket science to understand that Mills was always destined to be a Kop favourite after joining Leeds from Charlton Athletic for 4m in the summer of 1999.
After a stop-start beginning to his Elland Road career, champagne moments arrived at home and abroad under David O'Leary in 2000-01 when United were drunk on success during an intoxicating ride that saw them beat the likes of AC Milan, Lazio and Deportivo in the Champions League en route to the last four.
No-one needs telling twice how the bubbly ultimately turned sour for Mills and Leeds, with the infamous "Living The Dream" project jettisoned with the club on the verge of financial meltdown a few years later.
The defender proved an early cost-cutting victim when he was farmed out on loan to Middlesbrough at the start of the 2003-04 season, which ended with him winning the only major honour of his career – a Carling Cup winners' medal.
Mills ended up joining Manchester City on a full-time basis in July 2004, with United in total freefall. It's arguably only now that the club are seeing some light following plenty of dark days.
But despite some bitter-sweet times at Elland Road, Mills – happily settled with his family in Harrogate – will forever remain a White.
Now busy pulling no punches in his part-time role as a summariser for Radio Five Live, he gets to Elland Road when he can, while trying to bring up the next generation of Millses as Whites supporters, his sons!
Mills, who retired from playing at just 32 in August, said: "I'd love to see Leeds back in the Championship and then the Premiership. It's a fantastic club with a great history and tradition and a great set of fans.
"I still bring my boys to Elland Road. My eldest is 10 coming up 11 and I used to take him at two or three and it's good to bring them back.
"Elland Road is one of the great old traditional grounds. It's not taken over by the modern era of Meccano stadiums which are all the same and it's always had a great atmosphere."
He added: "For me, Leeds will always be by far the biggest and best club that I played for.
"I still live in the area and had fantastic times there. I'd have never have left, apart from the way circumstances went when I was forced to leave, really.
"It was mainly fantastic – right from when I first heard about making the move.
"When I heard about it at Charlton, I had nothing else on my mind. This was a club that was in the top four; I'd had one season in the Premiership and was then looking to play in Europe. It was a dream come true.
"I had a good start, then fell off a little bit, but then really got going and had some fantastic times, which coincided with me playing for my country.
"It was only the good times I really remember, although there were obviously difficult ones at the end.
"I was forced to go on loan to Middlesbrough when Peter Reid came in during the season we got relegated (2003-04). I did actually try and come back in the January when Eddie Gray took over. Eddie's a good friend of mine.
"I wanted to come back and play for Leeds and came back and did pre-season when Leeds were in the Championship.
"But unfortunately, I was told I was too expensive, they couldn't afford me and I had to go. It was a very difficult decision; not one I wanted to make, but had to make for me and Leeds. Had I and other players stayed, the club would probably have folded."
While the end of his time with United was tarnished, no-one can take away a medley of golden moments which Mills is able to appreciate even more now that his playing days are behind him.
Mills, capped 19 times by England in his time with United and a member of the 2002 World Cup squad, said: "Every season I played regularly, we finished in the top six, apart from one.
"In terms of games that stand out, I actually remember a game against Coventry at home (in 2001). I'd played the first few games, had a dip in form and was out of the team and Gary Kelly was in for a long time. There were rumours I'd possibly move on, the talk was Leicester and Peter Taylor was there and I knew him very well.
"But I got a chance against Coventry and hit the post or bar from a daft long shot. It was my final game effectively, I either played well, stayed in the team or that was me gone and the dream's over.
"That was where my infamous song came from and from that moment on in the Champions League season, I stayed in the team.
"Another that sticks out is Milan at home (in 2000). There were lots of dubious 'spectators', namely myself and Michael Duberry at centre-half and everyone was saying 'oh God, we are going to get battered!'. I relished and thrived on the pressure. We won 1-0 with a fluky goal, but at least deserved a draw and got the win against what was possibly the best strikeforce in Europe of (Oliver) Bierhoff and (Andrei) Shevchenko.
"The other game I remember really well was Barcelona away in 2000 when we got absolutely mugged!
"We were far too respectful and didn't get out of our half until late into the second half. We couldn't get near them or the ball and when we got near them still couldn't kick them!
"That was a lesson. We'd hit the big time and thought we weren't going to do well in the Champions League, but in our robust style we turned it around, although didn't quite make it to the final.
"But they were great days. I don't keep in touch with many of the Leeds boys, but occasionally, I still see Nigel Martyn – he was my room-mate at Leeds and a great guy.
“But bizarrely, every year since I’ve left, I’ve got a Christmas card from Batts (David Batty)! I think the last card was from Marks and Spencer’s which must have cost him a few pennies and he even put a stamp on it, which must have cost him even more!”
After his playing retirement, Mills is currently taking time out, while keeping his eye in with the game by way of some media work and devoting his energies to his family. He is very much open minded regarding the future.
Along with United, another thing massively close to his heart is his charity work, with Mills a tireless fundraiser for the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH) of which he is a patron.
And his training regime is set to step up in time for next April’s inaugural Brighton Marathon, when he will attempt to complete the course in a wheelchair.
Mills, whose son Archie died from the condition in 2002, said: “Now that I’ve finished playing, I wanted to do something big and eventful to raise awareness and I had a long think and came up with the Brighton Marathon.
“Everest might have been a struggle with a bad knee!
“I am also going to do it for the National Association of Disabled Supporters and highlight some of the issues and struggles they face – not just in football matches, but everyday life.”
Unfortunate
On the end of his playing days, Mills added: “I felt I was very unfortunate to finish at 32; football’s all I’d known for the previous 17 years.
“But I’d been out injured for 18 months before I retired and I always knew it was a good chance it would be a career-threatening injury.
“I’d started to make plans and eased my way into it (retirement). I had a fair idea what was coming, although it was still hard and not easy.
“It’s not so much watching football now, but if I see myself on some black and white TV shows with re-runs of old goals it hits home that I did used to play and it was what I was good at and enjoyed.
“You learn to live with it and move on. I did my coaching badges in the summer as an option really to get them out of the way and I’ve developed a bit of a media career with the newspaper stuff as well.
“But effectively, I’m taking a year out and decided after 17 years in football, I’d do that.
“It was the first holiday the family have had in a July this year – usually I’d go back for pre-season on the first week in July when the kids break up.
“Hopefully, we’ll take some more holidays at Christmas as well. In terms of the future, I’ll wait and see what happens.”
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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