5Q | Paul ‘Maxi’ Miller – 50 years a Spur and a whirlwind at Charlton – including a relegation-saving goal at Stamford Bridge!
We all know Paul Miller as a defensive rock of Keith Burkinshaw’s glory, glory years of the early 1980s.
Signed on apprentice professional forms in 1976 – 50 years ago – ‘Maxi’ and Keith’s players had a second home from the Lane – Wembley.
In the space of four years, including replays and two-legged encounters, Paul started seven finals, winning back-to-back FA Cups in 1981 and 1982 and the UEFA Cup in 1984. A title tilt followed the next season, 1984/85 as we eventually finished third.
During that time, Maxi formed a formidable partnership with Graham Roberts – players who shed blood for the Lilywhite cause.
After Spurs though, some quite incredible days at Charlton.
Departing for south London in 1987 – although, at the time, Charlton shared Palace’s Selhurst Park with The Valley closed – Maxi spent a rollercoaster 18 months with The Addicks that just about had it all.
Ahead of our Carabao Cup, second round tie at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night (7.45pm UK), our first meeting with Charlton – who returned to the Valley in 1992 – since an FA Cup tie in 2011, we caught up with the legendary former defender, who remains a popular matchday host.
Q1 | First up, it’s 50 years since you signed as an apprentice professional – what do you remember about walking through those famous black gates at the Lane?
Paul: “I've actually been here since I was 13, so, a bit earlier than that, but started as a schoolboy, training Tuesday and Thursday nights, and summer holidays. We used to get changed in the away dressing rooms with the younger pros, 16-19, who hadn’t quite made it yet. It was a tough atmosphere! I'd had quite a lot of publicity about joining the club, so half of them had the needle with me straight away, ‘here he comes, the flash boy’ and all that. So, I ended up having about three fights in the first week! I’ll never forget, we had a match on the Saturday and Peter Shreeves, youth manager back then, said to me, ‘right, you’ve been fighting all week, any chance of showing some of that aggression today?’ We ended up beating Fulham 3-0 in the South-East Counties League, all went for a beer afterwards and then watched the first team. It was great after that!”
Q2| How did the move to Charlton come about?
Paul: “A lot of us were leaving the club at the time, 1987. I met the manager, Lennie Lawrence, Charlton were struggling and I think there were 11 games to go in that 1986/87 season. The challenge just appealed to me. A few of the other lads said, ‘are you crazy – you’ll get relegated’, but I just fancied it.”
Q3 | It sounds like a whirlwind time at Charlton!”
Paul: “Garth Crooks soon followed me over there, and between the two of us, we got hold of some good young lads at Charlton, gave them a bit of an education and in the last 11 games, we won five, drew three, lost two and ended up in the first ever play-offs. We beat Ipswich and ended up playing Leeds in the final over two legs. Obviously, Leeds were odds-on favourites to beat us, but we won 1-0 at home and then lost 1-0 away. We then had a third game, a decider at Birmingham City and we ended up beating them 2-1 in extra time. We stayed up, Leeds stayed in Division Two. The following season, so we’re now 1987/88, we got in trouble again, but the last game of the season, we played Chelsea and I scored the equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge! That eventually relegated Chelsea – they had to go into the play-offs, and went down, lost to Middlesbrough. No wonder I’ve never been too popular with the Chelsea fans! Okay, Charlton went down after that (they went down in 1989/90) but they built back up and became a good Premier League team (they were in the Premier League 1998-2007), back at the Valley, a great club, great supporters… I loved it there.”
Q4 | What are your thoughts on Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup tie?
Paul: “As I said, I loved it there, great supporters and they’ll be here in force tonight, I know that. Whatever Charlton’s allocation, they’ll fill it and they’ll make some noise because it’s quite a while since they’ve been here, 16 years. It's a great London cup tie for them and us, hopefully we’ll play well in front of our fans, get the result and take it from there. I’m sure Roberto and the lads will be delighted to be at home, and I’m sure Charlton will be happy to be playing at Tottenham as well!”
Q5 | Finally, what are you up to now, Maxi?
Paul: “Well, I've just started work for a trading house called CMC Markets back in the city, in Liverpool Street, where I've worked for many years. Funnily enough, the company is now front-of-shirt sponsor of Everton! That’s a great club, like ourselves. We had some great battles in the mid-1980s with them, great side, title winners. It’s funny, I often bump into the likes of Graeme Sharp, Peter Reid (key players in that Everton side of mid-1980s) – we used to kick lumps out of each other! We were up there last season, met Sharpy, and Ossie Ardiles saw us together, came over and said, ‘how come you two aren’t fighting?!’. So, I’ll be up there a bit this year – it will be interesting when we play up there!”