Born April 13th, 1954 Alfie Miller became a household name in the hockey hotbed of the North East of England.
Taking up the sport at he tender age of twelve and his first organised games were played in the period intervals in the senior games in Whitley Bay. He was soon to challenge for a place in the senior team and in 1969, when Whitley iced two teams in the Northern League, he played firstly for the Braves and then the Warriors. Appearing in 20 games and scoring 16 points from 8 goals and 8 assists, Miller won the Montford Trophy as ‘Rookie of the Year.’ He gradually moved up in the scoring charts until in the 77/78 season, he topped the list for the Autumn Cup and followed that up by winning the Northern League scoring race for the next two seasons. All Star nominations flowed with A-team selections in 76/77, 78/79 and 80/81, when he was also named ‘Player of the Year.’ A quartet of nominations was completed with a B-team place in 77/78.
Alfie Miller made his England debut against Scotland aged just sixteen and played many times against the old enemy. He was also chosen for four consecutive GB entries in Pool C of the world championships, 1976 in Poland, 1977 in Denmark, 1979 in Spain and 1981 in China.
In 1982, when the competitions of the Northern Association ceased, Alfie Miller stood fifth on the all-time scoring list. Continuing into the British League era, he registered his 1000th pointing all competitions on December 13th, 1984 as the Whitley Warriors played to a 13-13 tie in Billingham.
Alfie Miller more than made up for his lack of inches with his tremendous skating and stick handling skills, and whilst not averse to the rough and tumble side of the game, he had a well-earned reputation as one of the most sporting of players. Fellow Hall of Famer and Warriors long-time coach Terry Matthews described his former captain as being, “the thinker on the team” and appointed Miller to be his assistant coach of the GB team for the Pool D tournament in Belgium in March 1989.
In 580 games for the Whitley Warriors, spread over a mammoth 19 seasons, Alfie Miller scored an enormous 1,265 points by way of 549 goals and 716 assists with a miserly 197 minutes of penalties.
Along with the Matthews brothers Terry and Kenny, Hep Tindale, and Peter Johnson, in 1998 Alfie Miller was further honoured by being one of the first five inductees into the Wall of Fame, the North East’s own tribute to ice hockey.
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris – April 1989.
Read More
