Terry Miles

Terrence Miles (born 7 May 1937) is an English former professional footballer. A midfielder, he played for Port Vale between 1955 and 1968, helping them to the Fourth Division title in 1958–59. He later turned out for Eastwood, before returning to Vale Park as a coach.

Terry Miles
Personal information
Full name Terence Miles[1]
Date of birth (1937-05-07) 7 May 1937[1]
Place of birth Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent, England[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Milton Youth Club
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1955–1968 Port Vale 365 (17)
Sandbach Ramblers
Eastwood
Michelin
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Miles attended Carmountside Secondary Modern, and played for Milton Youth Club alongside Harry Poole.[2] He worked in Hanley at Smith and Warrilow pottery firm for 18 months before becoming a professional footballer.[3] Miles joined Port Vale in June 1955 and made his debut in a 2–1 defeat to Huddersfield Town on 30 March 1957.[1] He went on to make five Second Division appearances in the 1956–57 relegation season.[1] He played six games in the Third Division South in the 1957–58 season.[1] He then became a first team regular, and missed only one match of the 1958–59 Fourth Division title winning season.[1] He played 41 games in the 1959–60 season, as the "Valiants" posted a mid-table finish in the Third Division under the stewardship of Norman Low.[1] He also scored his first goal in the Football League, in a 2–1 win over Norwich City at Vale Park on 23 January.[1] However he was diagnosed with Tuberculosis, along with teammate Peter Ford, and spent 12 weeks in hospital recovering after the disease was fortunately caught in the early stages.[4] He was an ever-present in the 55 game 1960–61 season, and bagged three goals against Chesterfield and in both fixtures with Notts County.[1]

Miles played 52 matches in the 1961–62 campaign.[1] He retained his place under new boss Freddie Steele in the 1962–63 season, playing 41 games and claiming three goals against Reading, Bradford Park Avenue, and Bristol Rovers.[1] However he featured just 27 times in the 1963–64 season, finding the net against Southend United and Colchester United.[1] He posted 35 appearances in the 1964–65 season, and bagged goals against Peterborough United (2), Bristol City, Brentford, and Southend United; Vale were relegated at the end of the season, despite the introduction of new boss Jackie Mudie.[1] Miles became the club's first ever playing substitute in the Football League in a 2–0 home win over Stockport County on 4 September 1965.[1] He went on to play 30 games in the 1965–66 season, as Vale struggled at the foot of the Fourth Division table.[1]

Miles played 45 games in the 1966–67 campaign, and found the net against Exeter City, Newport County, and Stockport County.[1] He was given a testimonial match, shared with Harry Poole, in August 1967; the testimonial featured names such as Nat Lofthouse, Terry Alcock, Neil Franklin, Jimmy O'Neill, Ken Barnes and Ronnie Allen.[5][6] However Miles lost his first-team place under new manager Stanley Matthews, and played only 22 games in the 1967–68 season.[1] He was given a free transfer to semi-professional club Sandbach Ramblers in May 1968, alongside Harry Poole.[1] Miles later played for Eastwood and Michelin.[1] Norman Low tried to get him to sign for the Cleveland Stokers, but Miles declined as he did not wish to move abroad.[3]

Coaching career

Upon his retirement as a footballer, Miles became the coach and assistant manager of Wolstanton Park Rangers and then schoolboy coach for Port Vale.[1] He left the club after they turned down his recommendation to sign a teenage Adrian Heath,[7] though he remained a keen Vale fan.

Personal life

He married Maureen in 1960 following a long courtship; the couple had two daughters.[3]

Career statistics
Club Season Division League FA Cup Other[A] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale 1956–57[8] Second Division 50000050
1957–58[8] Third Division South 60000060
1958–59[8] Fourth Division 4501000460
1959–60[8] Third Division 3416000401
1960–61[8] Third Division 4633030523
1961–62[8] Third Division 4407040520
1962–63[8] Third Division 3733010413
1963–64[8] Third Division 2422010272
1964–65[8] Third Division 3351010355
1965–66[8] Fourth Division 2801010300
1966–67[8] Fourth Division 4233000453
1967–68[8] Fourth Division 2100010220
Total 365172709040117
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup, Football League Trophy, English Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

Honours

Port Vale

References
  1. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 198. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
  2. "Nostalgia Letter: 'I loved every minute of my footballing days'". The Sentinel. 5 September 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
  3. "The Terry Miles (& Maureen) Interview". The Vale Park Beano. 129: 2–5.
  4. Smith, Peter (12 August 2020). "Ex-Stoke City and Port Vale midfielder Peter Ford dies at 86". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  5. "The Harry Poole and Terry Miles testimonial". onevalefan.co.uk. 24 October 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. Fielding, Rob (28 November 2018). "Photo Essay: The stars turn out for Poole and Miles testimonial". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  7. Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. p. 29. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3.
  8. Terry Miles at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  9. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Fame and Fortune (1950–1959)". The Valiants' Years: The Story of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 171–196. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.